Have you ever been poor?

[Little Raven]

The jokers over at Popehat pointed me to the blog of John Scalzi, who had a post on being poor in America.

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Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they're what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there's not an $800 car in America that's worth a damn.

Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.

...

Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.

...

Being poor is deciding that it's all right to base a relationship on shelter.

...

Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won't listen to you beg them against doing so.

This goes on at some length, and was expanded upon by many in the comments section.

I have never been poor. For a while, my family dropped down to 'struggling middle class,' and they did struggle. We lived without a refrigerator for a while...that was a pain. I ate over at friends whenever possible during that period. My parents engaged in some very 'creative' financing options. But we were never poor. I've been 'starving college student' poor, but there was always a safety net I could have fallen back on. And even during the worst days of the .com crash, when my wife I were watching our savings dwindle away and wondering how were going to pay the bills, there were still retirement funds and other investments that we obviously did not want to liquidate, (and ultimately, did not have to) but could have tapped. We've never been absolutely and completely out of money.

As one of my friends put it, "I've been broke, but never poor."

You?

 

[Truronian]

Monetarily yes. We went through a period of eating lots of microwave turkey and we also had no fridge or freezer. Luckily mum got back on her feet pretty quick though.

 

[amadeus]

No, but this site has some good answers to that "being poor" post.

My father's family was poor, but they never shoplifted or had roaches, they just didn't have money. You can still make good choices and be poor, something the author of that list doesn't seem to believe.

 

[FredLC]

No, never. Never had problems for food or shelter, and actually, I have never owed a penny to anyone in my life (I mean, I do have credit card bills, but I can pay all my future bills right now if I want to). I have had some help from my parents, but I even managed to buy and place all furniture in my apartment at age of 28 whitout having to ask for a loan - it's all mine and i don't own anybody anything for it.

I am still seeking for jobs which pay better (mine pays poorly for international standard, a little less $ 2,000.00 US dollars/month, and I think I have all it takes to get a job that pays five times that in a relatively short future), for my income is not in pair with my responsibility (if I screw up, damages can amount to millions), but still, it's quite a decent pay for Brazilian's standards.

I guess i'm luck.

Regards .

 

[Rambuchan]

I've gone from having a very comfortable childhood to being flat broke and working to help earn a crust at the age of 18 when my father suffered bankruptcy during the 90s recession.

For about 6 years after then I remained stoney broke, during studies and for some time after that. After university this was whilst trying to make it in the film industry - firstly as a writer, then as a Production Manager and Producer. Aside from it being a ridiculously competitive field to work in (often you have to work for nothing to get noticed cos some other punk will if you don't), especially in the UK, the industry is very much of such a freelance nature. So I would typically earn the pro rata equivalent of say US$50-100,000 for a month long commercials job (I thought I had made it) but then I had to sit back and wait for a month and then I'd get a crap, really low paying job. Classic feast or famine. And the deceptive cycle just kept repeating itself. It all equated to not a great wage in itself.

So I know all about mice in your kitchen, scrapping the pennies out of the couch to go get some lame ass lunch, jumping the train or bus cos I couldn't afford to get myself to work. I also know about hoping the toothache will go away and having to ask girls I fancied if they wanted to go 'for a walk in the park' cos I couldn't afford to buy them a drink even. I know about bailiffs at your door, having to take out a resolve loan, maxing the heck out of your charge card and also about serious depression as a result of all this.

I'm glad I saw sense in the end. I set myself a deadline to earn a decent living by, didn't make it and got myself a proper job. I've only just finished repairing all that financial damage, some 2 years after leaving it all behind.

 

[Perfection]

Nope, and I don't plan on ever being poor!

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Nope I have never been poor. I have a strong roof over my head and good food in my belly. Not to mention all kinds of luxuries - computer, TV and a DVD player in my room for example.

 

[Dida]

Poor! oh yeah, very poor I was. I used to live in a smelly shack with holes in the wall and no heat in the winter. There was a single 14" TV for the family and no fridge. I slept in the living room with 2 other persons. Our family owned no car, we always walked to work.
But being poor isn't the end of the world, with hard work, confidence and intellegience, this adversity can be overcomed.

 

[Taliesin]

My family was below the poverty line until I was eight, but thanks to helpful relatives, exemplary financial prudence, and hard work, we are now comfortably in the upper part of the middle class. I don't expect to ever be poor myself, unless the economy collapses.

EDIT: I should note that we were never desperately poor.

 

[Bluemofia]

I've been really poor when I was really young, poor enough to get stuff from the government. No relitives to help, because my parents moved here, and my parents can only pay for 3/5 of the cost for pre-school, and only the teacher paying the other 2/5 was I allowed to go. (Yes, the teacher liked me)

Now we obviously got better, but it wasn't easy. Now I look at my brothers and notice how spoiled they seem. One wines for stuff almost every day, and the other wines and actually gets stuff nearly every day.

 

[ainwood]

We were a farming family in a drought-prone area. During one of the worst droughts, it was only that there were very many farmers in the same situation, and that our bank manager had faith in the farming abilities of my father and that my mother returned to work (other than farm-work) that we were not forced off our land (and it was debatable whether the mortgagee sale of our farm would have covered what was owing - considering that there was basically no grass left on it....) During this time, we were poor - but comfortable in our own way (no flash toys, new stuff etc).

We survived that, and I went on to University where I was living on a student loan.

Now, I earn relatively well - to the point where we can afford what we need as well as a few things that we don't.

 

[BlueMonday]

I have vague memories as a small child my family having problems. But everyone in my family has been college educated for as long back as we can trace our family history and we all managed to get by. We were far from rich in those days with my dad the only one working supporting four kids. But once I was far enough in school my mother finished her degree and started working again, and that was the end of those lean times. Now my mother actually makes two or three times as much as my father ever did, so it's kind of a funny situation.

The closest I've come was in my college days. I opted to pay for college myself instead of using the money my parents set aside for me. It was a case of my pride coming before my good judgement, but nevertheless I got through it, albeit with a few student loans that are going to come due in a few months. It wasn't a problem though really, because most other college students are in the same boat. You end up finding ways to have fun with your friends without spending too much money and hating the one or two people who's parents bought them a new BMW for christmas. You all end up eating ramen noodles together and devising clever ways to invent cash. It's actually one of the fonder memories in my mind.

I don't think I'll ever be in such a situation again, saying as I'm now college educated and working in a very promising field. I don't make great money, but because I dont' have kids, a wife, or even a steady girlfreind for that matter, the money is just piling up in my bank account. And hey, I've only been out of college for a few months. Even if I did lose all that I'm still sitting on a big bag of money that my dad left me when he went to visit that big cement plant in the sky...life insurance really is a pretty nice thing.

 

[Syterion]

My parents moved to America and immediately started saving money that is being used now by the expensive town I live in. I was never poor, and my mom raised me with the possibility of my getting into a good college and hopefully career. If I am poor later it will be because I was a terrible engineer. I hope my sister will be able to do something with whatever degree she is getting, so I don't have to support my mom and her. Because I will definitely have to support my mother's retirement.

 

[downtown]

my family has been down on their luck, but we havent been *poor*. When my dad became disabled, we had to make a lot of sacrifices to make ends meet before my was able to finish school so she could work. We cut the TV and the internet, we carpooled, cut the heat and AC in the house, so we just had to put on more sweaters, but that wasnt much

then my little sister got diabetes, and things got a little worse...but we're still hanging in there

As a college student, personally, I *am* poor. I'm borrowing around 8 grand a semester, and i know i cant keep that up. im busting my ass, working two jobs, taking 17 credit hours etc etc...but DC is expensive. its rough being lower middle class at a rich kid school in a rich kid town

 

[Riesstiu IV]

My family has never been poor but there were times we struggled with money and had to carefully budget expenses.

Edit: technically my dad was poor after graduating from university but that was more in part due to him wanting to travel the country and not enter the work force right away. When he got married to my mom, she whipped him into shape, made him settle down and get a steady job.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

If I ever do end up poor, it'll probably be my own fault. I've had a fantastic start to life.

 

[Sophie 378]

My parents were before I was born - walking all the way across London rather than paying for a bus, scavenging furniture out of skips and growing your own vegetables to save money poor - but since my dad stopped having to do house jobs and got his consultancy we've been well above the comfort line. Now he's Consultant Microbiologist, Clinical Director and Head of Pathology at the local hospital, and my mother works two afternoons a week for fun.

 

[Sanaz]

No, but this site has some good answers to that "being poor" post.

Great one, I read it through.

I've been "college poor", "fiscal ******" poor, and "self-centered idiot" poor. Lived on the streets a few times, without enough money for a loaf of bread. But I've never been really "poor" in a long term sense, and thank god I've managed to learn a few things later in life, like what an idiot I was when I was a poor, self-centered, insecure moron.

 

[Elta]

I guess sorta
mt mom has allways keept us in a 4 or 5 bedroom house
plenty of food (as my gut is a testement too )
20 pairs of cloths every new school year
2 pairs of shoes a year
christmas and birthdays
a new car paid of every 3 years (her car)
a computer and all that but I don't think my mom has ever made over 30,000 a year but thats pretty good for an illegal alien in vegas
In 6 more years I should be a master electrican making 80k a year so it's all good I guess

 

[luiz]

Never poor for brazilian standards, probably poor for american or western european standards when I was a young child. Though to be fair I barely remember those "dark" years, and by the time I was 7 we were already a relatively priviledged family.