Growing up in poverty can have a profound and lasting impact on an individual’s life. It can influence their outlook, behaviors, and attitudes toward money, relationships, and success. Someone recently asked, “What’s a sign that someone grew up poor?” and here are the 27 top answers.
Never Throwing Away Food
One person said that occasionally, their dinner consists of assorted bits and pieces solely because those items are nearing their use-by date. It bothers them when their partner throws away entire slices of pizza because they are full, and they detest that.
Another said, “When you can’t finish a meal, but you pull it apart to eat the meat because that’s the expensive part. Or just force-feeding yourself because you cannot waste food.”
Repairing Things
“Yes! Like never replacing anything unless there’s no way to use the old thing anymore and going to absurd lengths to keep something useable.”
“The motto back home was ‘use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.'”
Never Buying Full-price Clothing
Someone said that if it’s not on sale, it just feels illegal.
Another noted, “True, but no one should do that, poor or not. Full-priced clothes are always a rip-off.”
Asking for Permission To Buy Things
“I asked my wife if I could buy a video game because I hadn’t logged in to check our financial state and didn’t know if the money was already set aside for bills. She looked at me and said, “did you just ask permission to buy a $2.50 game with your own money?”
“I’d say the hesitance to buy anything for yourself, regardless of how cheap it is.”
Only Knowing About Free TV Shows
“I wasn’t in the know with all the cool Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows; I could only watch Arthur, Cyberchase, Clifford, and Dragon Tales.”
“I LOVED the PBS kids’ shows, but so many people don’t. have the intense nostalgia I have about them. My friends and I are constantly joking about how I missed out on so much.”
Hoarding
“I keep a stack of boxes because there’s still this fear in the back of my mind that I’ll have to move again at a moment’s notice. I make a decent salary now and have lived where I am for nearly seven years, but I still can’t part with those boxes despite the space they take up.”
“Hoarding is very much a poor person’s go-to psychosis.”
Cheap Menu Selections
One user said, “I always scan the menu for the cheapest option when at a restaurant. It’s okay. The soup really is enough for me.”
Another person said that he received an invitation to visit Disney World with his best friend. Whenever they dined out at different restaurants, he would always order a cheeseburger, while his friend and their parents opted for large steaks and various types of seafood.
Waiting For Something To Be Unusable Before Replacing It
“I have what I call “poverty mentality,” while I can afford new shoes and clothes, they have to be literally falling apart for me to replace them.”
“I will buy the new pair of shoes but keep them until the current pair is completely non-functional. My shoes got so bad once that my friend offered to buy me a new pair!”
Always Asking If Guests Have Enough Food
“I am constantly asking guests if they have ENOUGH food. My husband (middle-class background) enquires about the quality of the food and if they like it. I think, when you grow up poor, food is very much quantity over quality.”
“My fiancé’s parents grew up poor and are so generous now. If I finish my plate before them, they’ll offer me food off their plates. They always make sure I have enough.”
Being Easily Impressed
“I’m in a place in my life now where my fridge has TWO ice makers, and I feel so fancy. Ice for days! No ice trays!”
“I still marvel at a fridge with an ice maker and those side-by-side doors.”
“Dishwashers are exciting! In my hometown, you didn’t have a dishwasher; that’s a rich person thing.”
Quickly Spending Unexpected Cash
“Living with the bone-deep certainty that money will just go away means if you get some extra money, you buy the kids a trampoline or something.”
“I grew up pretty poor. As an adult, I have an issue with spending money as soon as I get it because I’m afraid it’ll go away. It’s caused some tension between my wife and me.”
Financial Anxiety
“I still get anxious when I spend money on literally anything, including bills and food, which are essentials.”
“I have the money in my account for the next three months of bills, yet my budget is still based on that money not being there. After next week I should have a ‘breathing room’ amount. Inflation isn’t helping, either. I’m just so tired of worrying about it.”
Poor Dentistry
“As far as dental work, it was basically emergency only. I always thought that people who could afford braces were rich. I paid for my own as an adult and made sure that all my kids had them, so they wouldn’t look poor.”
“Teeth are a status symbol in the U.S. People with straight, white teeth that are their own are either lucky or well off.”
Sentimentality
“My dad, whose parents grew up in the rural South during the great depression, wants to keep every little thing of my mom’s. Everything.”
“Poor people don’t have the luxury of beautiful personal mausoleums, or headstones, or anything else in the Western death culture; they have to make do with sentiment.”
Lack Of Experiences
“Lack of exposure to cultural events and missing out on experiences that others may take for granted, such as attending concerts, traveling, or extracurricular activities.”
“Really identify with this. I grew up very poor, and other kids went holidaying in a nearby resort town; I could name all the activities there without ever having been.”
Poverty Toes
“Shoes were worn until they died, regardless of fit. My toes are curled and with prominent knuckles from being scrunched into too-small shoes.”
“My mom has this because her family was poor, and she had lots of siblings; 60 years later, her feet still look odd. Her little toe on each foot curls under the one next to it.”
Adult Poverty
“I can’t pursue higher education because I live in poverty, which means only minimum wage jobs are available for me (keeping me in poverty). Even if I could go to college for free, I still need to work in order to help my family out with bills.”
“There was an 800-year study in England that found wealth is more heritable than height.”
Pre-Purchase Obsessing
“I will neurotically research a “major” purchase for months before I pull the trigger. It has to be right the first time. That’s the mentality you have to have when you’re poor. I never grew out of that mentality.”
“I will think about something that would improve my life for three months before I buy it.”
Re-using Everything
“My girlfriend asked me why I was washing Ziploc bags. It was only after a long discussion and some thinking that I realized it’s not very normal.”
“I only throw them away if they don’t seal, break, or have something smelly/go bad in them. I even use them for storage.”
Gratefulness
“We had a guy in our platoon who was homeless for an extended period of time before enlisting. He slept right through wake-up calls because he was so comfortable and hadn’t slept so well in a long time. He was always exclaiming how good the food was. It put a lot of things in perspective for me.”
“That’s downright dystopian; he was ecstatic with the bare minimum.”
Preparedness
“Having duplicates of essentials; you develop a mind for every “just in case” situation.”
“The amount of shelf-stable pantry goods I have are 100% a result of this.”
“I have a gallon of water, blanket, emergency rations, folding shovel, and paramedic-level first aid kit taking up half the trunk, plus three umbrellas.”
Medical Hesitancy
“If you’re not bleeding or unconscious, you’re not going” – my parent’s thoughts on medical care growing up in rural Kansas.”
“I’m still hesitant to go to the doctor when medical care is needed because of copays – even if I can afford it.”
Inappropriate Excitement
“I get excited when the temp drops below 40 because that used to mean we could go to bed with sleeping bags as well as blankets. It was super comfy to get bundled up and read stories before sleep.”
“I realized as an adult that my parents couldn’t afford to heat the apartment constantly, but I still get pumped that first night I put an extra comforter on the bed.”
Alternative Treat Foods
“Enjoying cinnamon, sugar, and butter on a slice of bread because we couldn’t afford sweet treats.”
“Cinnamon toast was our own kind of delicacy.”
“My grandma used to make tortillas with salt and butter or lime. It was surprisingly good.”
No Extracurricular Activities
“Someone asked if my kid was doing dance or gymnastics. I was confused as to why. They asked, “Didn’t you do it as a kid?” No, because it costs money. I was lucky to play with a knock-off Barbie.”
“Right, and not just because of the fees, but being unable to get there and back because gas costs money and parents can’t go due to their work schedules!”
Refilling Your Drink Before Leaving
“I will do this till the day I die, no matter how much money I have.”
“I grew up low income. My husband grew up upper class. When we order fast food, he throws his drink away halfway through—I drink mine to the bottom and then refill the ice and soda before leaving.”
Wearing The Same Outfit
“A lot of the poorer kids that I’ve seen at school wear the same clothes quite often.”
“As an adult, I still have people poke fun at me for this quite frequently. “You wear the same thing every day, like a cartoon character.” It’s so old.”
“This is the reason school uniforms are a great idea; too socialist for the U.S, though.”
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Source: Reddit
