Poverty brings a unique perspective on life, with both negative and positive aspects. The wealthy may lack an understanding of the struggles and solutions of the poor, as money can solve problems for them without them even recognizing it.
advertisement
#1
How expensive it is to be poor
#2
How to be hungry. Not what it feels like to be hungry, but how to live your life even though you’re hungry all the time. Heh. Edited to add (because somehow this is apparently necessary) that the chosen situation of being on a diet is not the same as being hungry and unable to afford to do anything about it.
advertisement
#4
Your paycheck is already gone before you get paid.
#5
The exact price of everything.
You could probably raise the price multiple times on an everyday item and a rich person wouldn't even notice. A poor person would notice when something's 5-10c more expensive than before.
advertisement
#6
Drinking water stops the hunger for a short while
advertisement
#7
It can be cyclic
E.g. Low income means old second-hand cars, which means poor reliability, high maintenance costs and unreliable work attendance. Car difficulty discourages longer commutes or those without public transport alternatives - further restricting employment opportunities. Limited or unstable employment worsens income and prevents investment in more reliable cars, etc.
The difficulty is finding an exit opportunity to end the positive feedback loop
advertisement
#8
If money does not buy happiness then it sure as f**k is the most common happiness bottleneck out there. More money gives the happiness a lot more traction.
advertisement
#9
The fear of being poor again once you get out of the vicious cycle.
advertisement
#10
1)Putting water in shampoo, conditioner or body wash so it's "more",
2)Eating the same food everyday specially at the end of a month,
3)Walking long distances because can't afford transportation,
4)Watching friends go on vacations when the most they got is going to grandma's house for *vacation*,
4)Never being able to celebrate birthdays,
5)Parents promising to buy something but they never do,
6)Dad repairing the same shoes again and again just so his children can have better things,
7)Moms skipping meals and lying about it,
8)spending the hot days without a fan because the electricity bill will be too much.
9)Giving parents the money you got as gift from relatives so it can be used for the household etc
10)Pushing yourself to study hard, overwork yourself so you don't have to pay for education (scholarships)
This is how a "lower middle class" family works in a 3rd world country. My dad got scammed of so much of his pension money and things aren't going well. Inflation is hell. I'm so glad I got scholarship for university and never have to pay for education. That's the best I could do for my poor parents. Because I know if I didn't get the scholarship they'd loan money for it and that'd be so hard to pay off. Also the unknown illness of mother... Can be cancerous. Idk, wdk, she suffers .
Sorry it's like a vent. I had to pay 75% of my monthly money for rent today(I was late to pay). Rest of this month, same free meal from my campus.
advertisement
#11
The excitement of finding a dollar on the ground
advertisement
#12
That we don't have the same rights as rich people.
I mean, yeah, the same laws apply to everyone, but if you're poor you can't afford lawyers and are not able to skip work to go to court. And landlords and bosses know this and will drag any procedure as long as possible until you quit.
advertisement
#13
How to cook a chicken. I mean like really cook a chicken
Roast the whole bird. Eat 1 breast
Remove the other breast, thigh meat and any other light meat you can
Throw the carcass in a slow cooker for 8 hours with cheap stock cubes, whatever herbs you can afford and the cutoffs from the roast veg - carrot tops, potato peelings etc.
Drain pot into a jug to keep the stock, then pick through the carcass with your fingers for all the meat that now comes off easily
Return that meat and some veg to the pot for 4/8 hours to make a stew
Use the rest of the saved meat for another meal.
A 1.2kg chicken does me for 5 days this way. It’s something I learned from my mum, whose mother raised 3 kids on a very low income post WW2 - this is how they would make the Christmas chicken work for multiple days
#14
1,001 ways to prepare a potato
advertisement
#15
That there is no family to help you out financially in though situations.
No BIG inheritance waiting for you.
Nothing nil zilch!
No money is NO MONEY !
At all!
#16
The feeling of watching all your friends go on a field trip without you because your parents couldn't afford it.
advertisement
#17
How much confidence you lost when you are poor. It seems like everyone around you look down on you. You keep doubting yourself for no good reason
#18
Being homeless. There is nothing like it. To me, it means that every single person you know has given up on you. Parents, siblings, friends… everyone. Homelessness taught me I have no one. Maybe more importantly, it taught me to have others backs even when they don’t want it.
advertisement
#19
The length to which "disposable' items can be reused/upcycled.
#20
Using coupons and getting excited that you saved a whole 5 bucks.
advertisement
#21
How long it takes for the power company to shut your lights off if you're late on the bill
#22
The sheer joy when once a year as a kid, you could have an outfit that hadn't already been worn by at least 3 other kids before you. This includes underwear.
advertisement
#23
Desperation. Getting to a point that you will do anything to be able to feed yourself or your child, even if it means selling your posessions, or your body.
#24
When your parents are lying to you saying they're full when they're not so you can have the last bite.
advertisement
#25
How to get all the peanut butter out of the jar