What’s something kids who grew up poor would only understand?

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What’s something kids who grew up poor would only understand?

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  1. Ecstatic_Trip_8305 Avatar

    I always felt immense guilt when my friends parents would give me food. I would tell my friends “I hope you know I’m not using you for your food”
    Also I’d cry myself to sleep at night if my mom bought me anything like presents

  2. poupoupopular Avatar

    packed lunch when everyone was getting the hot school meals and pretending to have played the video games all the other kids were talking about, knowing full well i didn’t even have the console.

  3. RelationshipWinter97 Avatar

    Noodles and sugar can be a meal.

  4. Dangerous_Age337 Avatar

    If you’re poor enough, food actually becomes cheap. You can have a complete source of protein with beans, cheese, and rice. You learn that offal like heart and liver is way cheaper, more often on sale, and has far more nutrients than meat.

  5. Allenrw81 Avatar

    Holding on to clothes way longer than most people would.

  6. boocarat Avatar

    as long as it’s working, u dont need to replace it. an example of it is a phone with a broken screen or shitty camera, as long as the phone is working and can accept calls or provide leisure, i wont replace it with a new one

  7. Alli_Liza_Crossing Avatar

    Being excited when I was given snacks at my friends houses cause we never had snacks at home

  8. dingdongdahling Avatar

    feeling so guilty about how much things cost / the shame of needing to ask for something

  9. Barbarian_soul Avatar

    Optimum use of minimal resources

  10. Otherwise_Pressure61 Avatar

    Going to bed hungry more than one night in a row

  11. joordllowie Avatar

    Your older brother is essentially a walking catalogue of stuff you’ll eventually own.

  12. Rivas-al-Yehuda Avatar

    butter noodles

    tortilla rolls stuffed with crappy cheese

  13. tom8o Avatar

    I made my own toys from scrap wood and broken things I found in the old ‘dump’ in the woods.

  14. baddielyn Avatar

    Being genuinely excited about school lunch because it might be the only real meal that day.

  15. OldBanjoFrog Avatar

    How close so many people are to being homeless

  16. bobrigado Avatar

    Dying inside while pretending to relate when friends talk about all the fun summer trips they’ve been on with their families

  17. SidewaySojourner5271 Avatar

    you dont get options. parents decide everything for you and its like the clearance/sale/discount. no name brands, no nice trips, no nice foods. at least the initial years of life – you just take what you are handed and are grateful. richer people have so many options. you go to a store, lets say skincare. there are at least 15 different brands to choose from. we poor people dont have that. at most we get to choose from two or three. and im not complaining but rich people sometimes talk down to poor people like they’re lazy or making bad choices. what choices? there are no choices. even working all day all week there are no choices.

  18. UnlikelyCancel3411 Avatar

    Always off brand soda😂

  19. WolfCut909 Avatar

    Getting called poor and getting made fun of

  20. Poobutt6 Avatar

    I remember syrup sandwiches

  21. NekoBlueHeart Avatar

    Wiping my ass with newspaper because we couldn’t afford TP. 

  22. LordKevnar Avatar

    I grew up in a poor neighborhood. So when that one kid on the block got the first gaming console, every kid in the hood was there in his living room every damn day waiting for their turn. Friends of friends that he didn’t even know were mad because “I was supposed to be after Billy!” And the guy who owned the thing had to wait four hours to get his two minute turn.

    Then when he finally got pissed off and kicked everybody out, he was the most hated kid in the neighborhood. I was one of the poor kids, but I felt bad for him.

  23. inappropriateshallot Avatar

    Workin hard to be able to go chug beer in problematic quantities and smoke cigarettes and shit in the woods for a couple weeks each year in an rv

  24. orangecrush1287 Avatar

    Ketchup sandwich

  25. HelgaGeePataki Avatar

    Having to ask neighbors for food

    Having one mom who would feed any kid who needed it. But you weren’t allowed to have a drink until you cleaned your plate.

    Having everyone want to unload hand me down clothes on you.

    Receiving the donations your classmates gave at school.

  26. dawnmarigold Avatar

    Knowing exactly which bills can be late without getting stuff shut off.

  27. GrumpyOldMan59 Avatar

    Your parents never being at school events because they were working. Raising yourself.

  28. Sanguinetti Avatar

    School bus pass was your birthday present

  29. dirt-dumb000 Avatar

    Hearing debt collection on the answering machine, and feeling the most intense anxiety

  30. a_ghost_in_the_storm Avatar

    Eating hotdogs with regular bread instead of hot dog buns

  31. MacDugin Avatar

    Put the cardboard inside your shoes and don’t drag your feet.

  32. NervousCommittee8124 Avatar

    Feeling uncomfortable at your friend’s house because it’s nice and you know you don’t belong there.

  33. xyloplax Avatar

    You spend most of your time over at your friend’s place because they had actual toys, color TV, and even an Atari.

  34. velahaze Avatar

    Using the oven to heat the house in winter

  35. adolannan Avatar

    Knowing you’re eating the meal and mom is pretending she isn’t hungry

  36. InADoggggsAge Avatar

    Dumpster diving with my Mom was actually so goddamn fun. I know it’s fked up now. But damn if it wasn’t exciting af being out way past my bedtime looking for treasure.

    Found my favorite soccer ball in one!! And one time she moved this big bag and it split open and absolutely COVERED her head to toe in powdered goat milk. To this day I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh that wonderfully and free. She didn’t deserve the cards life dealt her. Those memories are so dear to me. I love you Mom.

  37. StupidendousTimes Avatar

    Sometime your only meal is sleep

  38. genericthrowaway_101 Avatar

    You learn to never ask for anything because you know your parents can’t afford it and will say no.

  39. MagpieKaz Avatar

    Not being able to make impulsive purchases.

    By my country’s standards, nowadays I’m rich, but I still only have 5 pairs of underwear, 10 pairs of socks, one hoodie, 2 pairs of jeans, 4 t-shirts, etc. I have a lot of trouble justifying buying myself stuff I don’t strictly need. I’ve been about to buy myself my first sports bra (I have only 2 of the regular kind) for almost a year.

    Money spent on shit you don’t need can’t be spent on shit you do need if by any chance you’re out of a job tomorrow

  40. Electrical_Iron_1161 Avatar

    I remember telling my Mom as a kid like 7 years old when she asked what I wanted for Christmas I’d say I don’t care whatever you want to get me because I knew she didn’t make much back then and I didn’t want to ask for something I knew she probably wouldn’t be able to afford I was just happy to get something

  41. jccaclimber Avatar

    Not wanting to eat purchased (vs home cooked) food when offered it by adults. Mind you I grew up with an awful lot more than many in this thread, but I remember my mother getting both worried and a bit angry because the aunt I was visiting had called her up and asked her if she was withholding food from me. Mind you she wasn’t. The issue was that buying food while out was totally normal for my aunt and something that I’d been taught never to do because it was so expensive. As a result I’d say that I didn’t need anything whenever my aunt asked, then promptly wolf down anything that had already been purchased and put in front of me, before insisting that I didn’t need any more.

  42. suddenspiderarmy Avatar

    Wearing clothes until theyre worn out

  43. iwouldhugwonderwoman Avatar

    I was poor but thankfully no food issues since we had a freezer full of deer and fish that we hunted and caught to eat. My story is mild compared to a lot.

    I played sports year round so the amount of effort I put into keeping my shoes so they could last an entire year is something a lot of people haven’t had to do.

    I got really good using epoxy and hot glue to make temporary traction on the bottom of my shoe to keep my shoes having traction longer.

  44. YoucantdothatonTV Avatar

    Sometimes the power was off.
    We’re making pancakes for dinner tonight (gas stove).

  45. MaryPop130 Avatar

    True hunger.

  46. jaksmalala Avatar

    People pitying you behind your back but having to pretend like they’re not to your face. I often appreciated charitable acts like getting clothes from other families but the pity was so humiliating and condescending.

  47. HereForTheBoos1013 Avatar

    Margarine containers are dishes.

  48. manatorn Avatar

    Gluing the soles of your sneakers on. For the third time or more.

    Knowing you’ll need to do it again.

    Edit: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

  49. trashaccounter1 Avatar

    July meant some veggies would be edible in the garden we watered with buckets daily for the previous 90 days.

    Squirrels taste like chicken rabbit too. https://www.themeateater.com/cook/recipes/chicken-fried-squirrel-or-rabbit-recipe

    Turtle soup can be delicious. https://honest-food.net/turtle-soup-recipe-creole/

    So can cooked plantain. https://mommypotamus.com/plantain/

    So can salt and mustard sandwiches. Recipe unnecessary as it’s bread. Mustard and a layer of salt.

    Gutting fish just fresh off the line so you can bread em as you throw them on the parks charcoal grill is also delicious. 🤤

  50. No-Fix1210 Avatar

    I grew up in the 90s when school lunches were quite a bit different… so this might vary based on your childhood… but fresh vegetables and fruits.

  51. 57_Eucalyptusbreath Avatar

    Having just five or six outfits for the school year and had to make sure i mixed them up as best I could. Promises of shopping that didn’t materialize- frankly because there wasn’t enough funds for that. But my mom didn’t want to tell me that. Classmates and friends would go shopping several times during the summer and most weekends and I’d tag along but never be able to buy anything. It is what it is but boy it sucked. Thankfully birthday gifts usually had a couple of items.

  52. Additional-Gain-1875 Avatar

    Socks and underwear are legitimately good Christmas gifts. 

  53. readerf52 Avatar

    Surplus food cheese blocks and tubs of peanut butter.

    I guess this was before food stamps or SNAP.

  54. Key-Custard-8991 Avatar

    Mismatching Tupperware, like cool whip containers, I can’t believe it’s not butter container, etc. Keeping everything even when it’s broken. 

  55. probably_to_far Avatar

    I didn’t know you could buy hamburger/hotdog buns. I thought only restaurants had them. I remember going to a friend’s house and they had hamburgers/hotdogs on buns and not just a piece of bread.

  56. tinyasiantravels Avatar

    Not wanting to waste food because you grew up without food security.

  57. AdNecessary1139 Avatar

    The feeling of the first time you actually got name brand shoes. 

  58. clsmn13 Avatar

    Taking a nap for Dinner

  59. The-General-Redditor Avatar

    “This Christmas brought to you, by those that care and love your mom/dad/parents most.”

    Appreciation, love, and guilt all wrapped up in a festive ball of, yikes.

  60. Digital_loop Avatar

    Learning to be self reliant. No one is going to help you out so you just stop asking for help.

  61. Hellboydce Avatar

    Washing in cold water

  62. New-Adhesiveness-822 Avatar

    The biiiiiiiig bag of generic brand cereal. Having your mind blown any time you went to a friend’s house and saw how nice it was / all their cool stuff / how much food they had. Never having money on field trips (if we could go). “Breakfast for dinner.” Free school lunch or $0.40 lunch. Ripped 5+ year old sweatpants. Being unable to sleep because of your parents fighting. Peanut butter or bologna sandwiches on Wonder bread.

  63. Handofdoom222 Avatar

    Being cold and hungry constantly grey everywhere everything was grey and walking constantly for miles and miles never being given a ride anywhere if you wanted to go somewhere or do something you walked no matter how far it was in the freezing cold and total hunger.

  64. undercover-dad Avatar

    Soms of yall got me in tears with nostalgia

  65. ElGrandeRojo67 Avatar

    Parents who say no.

  66. Imakeshituptofoolyou Avatar

    The feeling of guilt when one of your friends or just anyone in general buys you something never really leaves.

  67. Zelnite Avatar

    Not taking a sick day so you can look forward to eating school lunch.

  68. zigot021 Avatar

    bananas are valuable

  69. TheReader016 Avatar

    Compiling the unused pages of notebooks and reuse it like new

  70. hatcher1981 Avatar

    Going to vacation Bible school for the free snacks

  71. kururong Avatar

    Not my experience, but my mom is so poor that they couldn’t afford deodorant or sanitary pads. The shame of knowing you smell bad but you need to go to school. Or that you cloth pad slips up and your classmate saw your bloody rag in the hallway.

  72. Clitendo_Switch Avatar

    If someone buys me food, I always choose the cheapest item on the menu. Then I split it into two and take home leftovers, so I get two meals.

  73. Comfortable-Idea-396 Avatar

    I didn’t have a plate growing up, my lunch and dinner used to be instant ramen from an old pot lid. I miss eating out of that thing. Weird, I know. Just made me feel “safe,” I guess only others who grew up poor like I did would really understand.

    I make over 300k annually today but I still think back to how comforting that small pot lid was to eat out of.

  74. LineRex Avatar

    The first property you use to describe something is how little you paid or how much of a deal you got. Kind of a defense for explaining why you, a poor, have a nice thing.

    “This steak is good!” “Thanks I got it for half off at the Jumbo Bin, guess they got extra.”

    “Hey nice shirt.” “Thanks, Threads was having a clearance sale and I got it for $5.”

    “That’s a nice bike.” “Thanks, I found it being scrapped and restored it.”

    So on and so forth, for everything.

  75. OnyxCobra17 Avatar

    being jealous of air conditioning. being used to broiling in my room. being terrified of breaking anything i owned cause i knew i wasnt getting another one.

  76. panofeggs Avatar

    Food stamp day

  77. peg_panda Avatar

    Whatever you want from mall, fairs and shop, Maa has better one at home!

  78. Beautiful-Signal7249 Avatar

    You don’t touch the AC unless it’s literally dangerous not to have it on, and even then you keep it at like 80 and put the pets in the one room/floor you’re cooling. Either sweat half to death in your room or lay some thick blankets down and sleep in the living room with the rest of us.

    Similar with the heat; you get used to setting aside an extra layer of sweatpants and hoodie and thick socks as the “outer layer” for at home on top of the leggings/jeans/sweatshirt you’re wearing underneath. You don’t go in certain rooms of the house during certain parts of the year because you definitely don’t want to pay for climate control for the whole house.

    I’ve lived with people who would come in from the summer heat and instantly blast the AC at 66F throughout the whole apartment and it just made me so angry to be splitting that utility bill evenly. I’ve also had partners come over and adjust the thermostat without asking/saying anything and didn’t understand why it was a major no for me.

  79. sarahsuebob Avatar

    Bandaids and kleenex are luxuries.

  80. InsidiousColossus Avatar

    Not poor but always money conscious. I will never ever buy something without knowing the price, even if it’s a loaf of bread or a pack of gum. If I go to a restaurant, I will check the menu before. I can afford these things, but I in my mind I have to know in advance what I am paying for.

  81. Snickersandlola Avatar

    Going without and accepting it as Normal.

  82. grimreaper5015 Avatar

    Hunger, no fancy clothes, being bullied for being poor these are just a few things, I would have to write a book to go through all of them.

  83. Mystikalrush Avatar

    Crushing cans for money ♻️

  84. DustOne7437 Avatar

    Eating only what you grew. Summertime we had a ton of fresh vegetables. Wintertime was stuff that was canned from summertime. Very rarely had meat unless it came from my dad’s hunting buddies. Also, pinto beans. Tons of those.

  85. breadlyplateau Avatar

    Gaining a habit of not going to the doctor as an adult, even if you have insurance. Scared of going to the dentist because you fear finding out the cost of fixing your teeth.

    Fear of finding out the cost of things you NEED, I guess.

    Feeling uncomfortable at your friend’s nice house. Feeling guilty being fed.

    Attachment issues.

  86. spazzvogel Avatar

    The acceptance of having a family take you in and help give you the rest of the family skills you’ve never learned.

  87. raeflower Avatar

    No one ever wants to stay the night at your house.

    Bonus if it was also because of the outhouse and lack of indoor toilet

  88. AngryBowels Avatar

    Getting the same present(a tamagotchi) I got for my birthday rewrapped at Christmas.

  89. laserjared Avatar

    Stocking up on 39 cent hamburgers at McDonalds

  90. AngryBowels Avatar

    Going to the sale section in stores first.

    The best before date is a vague guideline, I’ll toss it if it smells funky.

  91. gegroff Avatar

    Chipped beef on toast can be made with roughly $5 in ingredients and feed a family.

    Buy a couple packs of budding beef (the $.99 packs). Cut up the beef and mix it into a sauce made with milk, butter, flour, and salt. Let it thicken a bit, then pour it over toast. I make decent enough money now, but still make this every now and then.

  92. GrandTie6 Avatar

    If the pool is only 6ft deep, you must dive out, not down.

  93. nemesismkiii Avatar

    If i go to sleep early, I won’t feel hungry.

  94. PorqueOhQue Avatar

    I remember my “rich” aunt gave me an Old Navy sweater once for Christmas, and it was the first time I had received clothing that was brand name, new and not from the thrift store… I was in awe.

  95. DogsGoingAround Avatar

    Growing up I was always patching cars together. This meant that the fixes were always precarious and temporary. Then as a “grown up” I developed a serious and expensive drinking habit and continued to patch everything together, home and car. Now I am five years sober and can afford to fix things the correct way that will last but I still lean towards a cheap patch job. I’m trying to break the habit.

  96. flearhcp97 Avatar

    BLTs without the B and the L

  97. buttons123456 Avatar

    Being out if money at end of month after paying rent, phone,electricity, college bills,etc. so a lot of baked potatoes and cheese: my ‘cheap meal’.

  98. DogsGoingAround Avatar

    Wearing the work boots from Payless Shoe Source because they lasted longer than the tennis shoes. A few of us poor kids tried to make it seem like it was cooler to wear big clunky work boots in third grade. Nobody was buying it.

  99. ptbus0 Avatar

    For me its the realization that I was happier “poor”. I didn’t care what people thought about me, I was actually kind of proud of it in a perseverance kind of way.

    Now as an adult for some reason I walked into a sense that I had to prove that I could do better, multitudes better. I have, but I’m multitudes less happy.

    I know no amount of money will buy back my self acceptance but in my mind it will eventually buy that cabin in the woods or the homestead that will somehow provide a slower lifestyle and allow me to just kick back and just… Not care about money or things again.. right? 🥴

  100. HeavyExplanation45 Avatar

    Walking with my brother 3 miles to the church where they were issuing commodities and lugging home a 5lb block of cheese and one large can of powdered milk and a “turkey roll” (a 3lb can of pressed turkey meat) and knowing that they had to last for two weeks.

  101. Skevinger Avatar

    Never going on vacation.

  102. PurePsycho Avatar

    She loved you. It’s all that matters. No amount of gifts can replace this.

  103. MooMooTheDummy Avatar

    Pretending to be full to give my dad or brother my leftovers so they could eat some more. When I got hurt or sick really bad I’d try to downplay it because we didn’t have insurance. Always checking the prices before asking for something at the store/ hardly ever asking for anything I’d even lie when my dad asked me to make a birthday or Christmas wishlist. Having a deep deep hatred for every other child in my elementary school because I was severely jealous of them all. Also being extremely uncomfortable, sad, angry, and jealous in other peoples nice homes because I knew I didn’t belong and because why did they get to be born into a family with 2 parents and money but not me? Also I believed I must’ve been the worst person ever in my past life and so I was being punished in this one I’d day dream about my past life wondering what horrors I committed.

    Food and money were constantly on my mind instead of things a child should be thinking about it’s probably why i don’t remember ever not being depressed

    I always knew that “money doesn’t buy happiness” was a lie because money buys peace of mind and that is happiness

  104. Sea_Art2995 Avatar

    My dad grew up poor. His love language is giving me sweet food eg cakes, chocolate, because he never got to have them

  105. newtoreddit247 Avatar

    The difference between sleeping in a bed when you could and having to sleep on the couch.

  106. Scooter-breath Avatar

    Sharing is a nice thing to do.

  107. StatusVacation9966 Avatar

    i will always remember how it felt to have to miss out on school events and field trips because we couldn’t afford it. i wouldn’t wish the feeling of seeing everyone come back with their souvenirs on my worst enemy.

  108. luckyjadeturtle Avatar

    Sharing a bed with my sister.
    Sharing a bathroom with 6 people.
    Adding extra water when making juice from frozen concentrate.
    Being excited to drink real milk when visiting friends because at home we drank powdered nonfat milk.

  109. Impressive-Dog-2481 Avatar

    Not being able for asking for anything neither help

  110. dogshelter Avatar

    The joy of food banks. You mean I can take anything??? Even the (slightly expired) brand name cereals?!?!

  111. AvantGarde327 Avatar

    Not going on vacation. Eating at fast food or restaurant in general.

  112. crisbabyx1 Avatar

    TV remote? Nah, you were the remote.