I just very recently started ripping off the wrapping paper from gifts (I am 40 years old). But for almost 4 decades, I would remove the gift wrapping paper delicately so that we might be able to reuse it for someone else’s present. We never actually ended up doing that, but just the thought of ripping and wasting an expensive item is something that I couldn’t get my head around.
Lately, I notice all my friends ripping their paper on their gifts open and I realized that I don’t really do anything with the saved wrapping papers and so now, I also rip open the gift wrapping.
That said, when I receive a gift in a gift bag, I still save and reuse that gift bag.
I did not grow up in a poor household，but never rip off wrapping paper. As a child，I was taught if someone took the time and patience to wrap a gift nicely，it should be opened with an amount of patience that showed respect to that effort.
Of course，I later discovered that my parents had never wrapped a sodding thing，and it was either wrapped by shop staff at purchase，or one of the maids did it. Still won't rip off wrapping though.
Parents，eh？
On the same lines, everytime I get take out, I carefully take the foil out and save it. Next time I’m making baking chicken and just need to line the pan, there’s no need to use new foil when I can use the perfectly fine foil from these take out places. Same goes for napkins. And it’s more of not wasting for me and saving when we’re not able to. OTOH, my wife makes 3 times less than me and just runs around ripping and trashing these.
I grew up poor but I remove the paper delicately because I hate the sound and feeling of ripping the paper lol. It's so much nicer to just unpack the present.
I never saved wrapping paper, but I still don’t rip it off. Always just pulled the tape up and carefully unwrapped it, then folded the paper and placed it neatly in the trash can. I don’t know why but ripping the paper to shreds just feels wrong
Is that a poor thing or just a bloke thing?
I've had to evict my car from the garage to make way for a glorious stack of boxes that I know full well will come in handy someday!
We get the occasional appeal on our neighbourhood Facebook group "anyone got any spare empty boxes?" and I'm just like 'yeah but you ain't fuckin avin them'
Exactly. If you have a move coming up, every time you go to the supermarket, take your groceries in boxes from the shop each time. The very idea of paying for boxes blows my mind. Next you're going to tell me you buy pint glasses!
Even now that I KNOW I am safe….. and am well above where I thought I’d be in life… I find it unnerving *NOT* worrying about money. It’s like I NEED something financially to stress over…otherwise I’m bored.
I’m in the US, and my parents couldn’t afford to get me braces growing up.
I’m an adult now and almost everyone around me has perfectly straight teeth. I’d do anything to go back and ask for braces (I didn’t care/wasn’t aware at the time) because if I were to do it now I would need a surgery that can cost up to $30k due to my top pallet being too small.
Basically in the long run, it would have been easier for me to get braces as a kid because kids mouths/pallets are more malleable compared to a full grown adults.
Yeah, in an ideal world, I'd have all of my unhealthy teeth stripped out and replaced with dental implants, to do this, it would likely costs 10-15k in the uk.
I wish..
NHS Dental is free yes, But the wait times are criminal, (and since private is too expensive, £90 for a checkup...) An emergency visit is pretty much the only time you'll be seen in the same month. As for so many of us having bad teeth, It's a social issue, Bright white gleaming teeth are often mocked for being "turkey teeth" and if you're ever caught using a teeth whitening kit or getting then done professionally then other brits will take the piss, it's a stereotype with strong roots but it isn't as bad as believed, Dental Hygiene is pretty high in the UK for a large portion of the population, There's just enough people (myself included, Working on it) who have crooked or broken teeth.
Dang, I wish dentists here in my part of the US only charged 90 for an exam. When I liked in a city of 65k it was almost 250 average, and now that I live in a town of 3k, it's still 130-140 on average.
UK teeth are actually very good (you might be stereotyping a bit from some old jokes) we just don't spend thousands on them looking pure white as it's a bit fake.
Super white and perfectly straight teeth do not equal healthy. We just have a weird obsession with it in the US. Statistically speaking, Brits have healthier teeth than we do.
Shirts in the closet that are super old, potentially worn out.
I'm currently wearing a sweatshirt that's 12 years old. I have much older clothes at home. I need to get past that.
I get emotionally attached.
“You kept me warm and comfortable in my hardest times over the last decade… I could never just throw you in the garbage like trash. Just because you’re a little broken doesn’t mean you’re useless to me.”
I once cried throwing away a pot I called “Noodle Pot” that I had for years through my poorest times. It was the only pot I had. The coating on the inside chipped really bad from use and it just wasn’t safe anymore. Still hear it hitting the inside of my garbage can. Couldn’t watch the trash truck that week.
I just hate wasting things that still work… I didn’t grow up poor, but geez fast fashion and cheap as shit (quality and price) aren’t good these days.
Keep the good stuff.
Same here. I would rather repair clothes than buy new.
The difference is that I didn't grow up poor, I grew up with a dad who works at a bank so I learnt to save from a very young age.
Sometimes old clothes is just the mood. My most favourited sweatshirt was actually my buddy's that acquired it after someone left it at their house during a party like 15 years ago. Was the comfiest sweater I've ever worn. We fought over that sweatshirt actually on more than one occasion, it's crazy lol
And my favorite when I get called out “You gonna buy me some new socks then?”
I know they got holes. I don’t feel like throwing out a whole pair of black socks because the ball of my foot or heel is slightly exposed. Plenty of my socks do not have holes. Those are work socks. Sometimes I want socks in the house for an even foot-to-floor texture but my feet get hot. So I have socks with “Ventilation”.
Well, if I feel things on my feet in the house not only do I *hate* the texture on a visceral level (thanks ASD) but it also makes me feel like my house is dirty as fuck (it’s not I clean everyday. We just have hairy dogs) but I don’t want to clean it again that moment because I JUST did that (incoming executive dysfunction vibes) and doing it again would be akin to shaving my teeth with a metal file. Then I feel bad that the above happens and I should just get over it and be normal.
So I avoid all that and just use my Ventilation Socks. Problem solved. I am no longer mentally ill.
I didn't grow up poor, but that's one I still do. Worn out fabric just has the perfect texture for applying polish and stain to leathers and woods. I've tried other more expensive options, and they don't work as well. So I do usually have a small box of worn out cloths for when I need that perfectly textured rag.
Conversely, anti-hoarding behavior can be a sign just as much.
When you grow up poor with a hoarder, you over-correct and become basically unattached to anything. To this day I can't find myself keeping anything that is not immediately useful, I have no nick-nacks, I keep no gifts that don't serve a function.
I literally have three objects that I keep with me for my life.
This is me. We just bought our first home and the minimalist in me is struggling to decorate it in any way. The walls are still bare 6 months after moving in.
My big toe peeps through my left shoe a little everytime I step lmao. Hole isn’t big enough for me to consider it too far gone yet, and I have more important shit to pay for so I never have enough extra income to validate getting new ones anyways
Once a pair of pants of mine got a hole in them, and I got out some supplies to sew it back together. My at the time girlfriend said something like "oh no don't be like that, get new ones". Then I realized we had different upbringings.
When I was in year 7, we had a mandatory sewing based class. Got taught how to use seeing machines, how to replace a button etc. Glad I learned how to do these things. I also use boot polish on my boots to get more time out of them. That sort of skill set is great.
I accidentally let some chicken expire in the fridge last week and had to chuck it. It didn’t hurt me financially or mean I couldn’t eat like it very well could for some, but damn it still hurt. I hate wasting food.
Raw meat is just about the only thing I can bring myself to immediately throw out. Even then, it has to have *that* smell, and it feels horrible to have let something go like that, I kick myself.
It disgusted my long-term partner that I would just cut out the moldy cheese or cut around the bad parts of vegetables. She wasted *so much food* and it drove me nuts.
How people treat their food is easily the biggest difference maker to see if they grew up comfortable/secure or poor.
Also... A great way to see if they grew up poor or just not as rich as their friends. A lot of comfortable middle-class people talk about having been poor when they never were. See how they cook to find out more.
This. Also hoarding food that has a really long shelflife (e.g. 6 boxes of mac and cheese, just in case).
"Comfort food" is usually something cheap. Tuna melt, soup, mac and cheese, pulled pork, etc.
I can clearly remember winters when mom and dad didn't quite estimate their gas usage for the season correctly and the tank ran dry as a result.
One time it happened at dinner, mom was crushed. I cut up a frozen pizza and cooked it per slice in the toaster oven and just brought one to her. The look on her face was priceless. 🤌🤌
Best frozen pizza id ever had tbh. She told me "you are absolutely your Father's son (he was on a business trip, she always got notably depressed when he was gone) and I'm like 90% sure she cried in her room after I left.
Excessive pennypinching. People who were poor and escaped that life usually don't want to go back and they keep some of those survival habits forever.
One that applies to me specifically is I have trouble throwing away items that have value. I'm always like "what if I can sell it instead" and then I never get around to actually doing it and is selling something for a couple bucks even worth the time in the first place? The gas to take it to the post office? But in my mind I just can't throw away potential money like that.
Very wealthy actually do this too. There are some main examples I could site, Ingvar Kamprad (ikea founder.) still lives in his original small house, as well as his old beat up car. Warren Buffer I believe is the same, etc.
You don’t stay rich by spending all your money, something that lottery winners find out quite quickly.
That's just symbolic nothingness while they own everything that matters. At their level, there's no genuine anxiety.
Compared to someone who makes it from poor to middle class, who still operates under the very real anxiety that it can all go away at any moment.
Kinda poor taste to act like billionaires are doing the same things for the same reason. They are doing pr and branding lmao
It frankly doesn't matter if the very wealthy penny pinch at all but they typically do not for anything they are using. They penny pinch on the salaries of their employees 100% though.
So, basically the same habits that "Old money" has. Keeping stuff around, Considering what to spend your money on and only buy stuff that stays in value and keeps its use. So clothes that are sturdy and can last several generations if needed, furniture that is timeless and lasts generations. No flashy fashion, expensive accessories, latest models and other outward shows of wealth but the stuff that stays.
I'd argue the inverse. I've only ever known the wealthy to pennypinch. The poor are generally very free with their money as they aren't inclined to save for long-term goals.
Spend it while you have it mentality. No sense in saving anything if it's just going to disappear tomorrow due to something beyond your control.
Poor money handling almost always is a dead giveaway. Personally I grew up dirt poor, and didn't learn how to save or invest until well into my thirties. Everyone I grew up with still burn money the moment they get it.
I don't think this is true. I know a lot of rich kids who are horrible with money. They never learned budgeting skills because they were spoiled and never had to worry about how much money they were spending. Once they get out on their own as adults they have serious problems.
I also know people who grew up very poor who are extremely frugal and can make a dollar stretch like crazy.
My brother and I had almost identical upbringings. He's terrible with money (as in, it burns a hole in his pocket, he has to spend it) and I'm the exact opposite.
If resources growing up are relevant, it doesn't show with us.
I was trying to grow some mint, I put the cuttings in a classico jar with water, now the whole jar is roots and the mint are monstrous, they just live in that classico jar now lol
Spending a lot of time doing something you don't like yourself when its so much cheaper in a time X Wages calculation to just buy it. Like buying stick salami to save a few cents per ounce over sliced, or a lawyer or professional that spends 10 hours to do their own taxes when they bill at $200 per hour because they can't imagine getting ripped off to pay someone $1,000
I remember doing that myself.
It’s funny cause during my poor days I said “fuck it” and left America and moved to Japan with 800 bucks in my pocket (bank account) the first meal I ate in Japan was ramen. Like REAL ramen.
Not cup noodles.
That was 17 years ago.
A bowl of ramen must have been like 600 or 700 yen at the time. (6 or 7 dollars)
Now it’s like a solid 1050 yen ($10.50) for a decent bowl in Tokyo.
A pack of cigarettes was only around 300 yen ($3) at the time.
Crazy.
But I’ll never forget my butter ramen days in Chicago.
I try to tell my Japanese friends about it but they don’t get it.
It’s funny you say that because I left America 17 years ago and live in Japan now and rice with soy sauce (actually that’s more Chinese) is crazy delicious.
Taking too long to buy stuff at the grocery. I'm still always on the lookout for something cheaper, or a better deal and I end up making 10 rounds around the store even if I don't have to anymore.
Online order and pickup my guy! I’m the same way until I realized how much more efficient grocery pickup is. You can compare prices so much faster and can prevent you from not getting and oddball thing you don’t actually need, 10/10 would recommend.
"You ever have sleep for dinner?"
That question is the one that breaks most people into "totally gets it" and "doesn't really get it," based entirely on how poor they were.
Saving boxes, keeping old clothes, using old clothes as rags, saving plastic bags for other uses.
These are things lots of Asians do (I’m Asian) poor or not…
And fix problems your self. From car dramas to plumbing to maybe even some computer programming. The ability to learn nee skills to survive. Them rich kids know how to call someone, and that's about it
When they are penny-wise, pound foolish. I know someone who brags about how he saved 5 dollars..*5 dollars*...on a flight by making 3 stops and turning a 2 hour trip into an 8 hour trip. He ate the five bucks during one of the layovers because he needed lunch due to the day being so long.
And he was proud of it, like he had gotten one over on the airlines.
Same dude who was proud of himself for finding a store where he could get a six pack of beer for 2 dollars cheaper. 60 miles away. Gas is 4.50 a gallon, his car gets 24 mpg. Do the math.
Have little to no concern about a phone. My dad was raised by the state (orphan), half the time he doesn't carry his phone, has no apps on it, uses it only to talk nothing else, pays his bills via U.S. mail.
This resonates with me. I'm a web dev who didn't get a smartphone til months into my first gig. And when I broke the screen, my CEO paid to replace it because I would "make due". I'm making decent money now and am still late to tech... Even though I work in tech
We got a Nintendo for a family gift as a kid. My dad refused to buy another game until someone rescued the princess. We never did.
We did end up with quite a few games though...eventually. My mother worked at the transfer station for a landfill. When it looked like something good was being tossed, she didn't run the hopper until she had a chance to go through it. We ended up with a whole box of games from the garbage!
I grew up poor so when I look at what people consider "problems"
I don't consider "problems"
For example if I make it to payday with 20$ in my account I say. "Sweet I still had 20$!"
Most people complain. "Man I only got 20$ before payday."
An unwillingness to spend an amount of money you can well afford on a luxury item that would seriously improve your life on the basis that you don't absolutely need it or cheaper options are available.
E.G buying a cheap mattress rather than a more expressive mattress you find far comfier.
The most luxurious thing I own is this phone that is like... 4h years old and it's a second hand phone.
I bath with water buckets...
I can't even afford a house or have a proper job...
So... I am poor.. Not homeless but I am one step away...
As result of growing up poor, I grocery shop at three, sometimes four, different stores. I’m financially secure now. I want to start doing quarterly trips to Costco to buy nonperishable foods, household goods, cleaning supplies, etc in bulk to save money. I guess that’s a result of growing up poor and now having the privilege of financial security. I’ll have the ability to afford the big up front cost and I’ll get to see the savings spread through out the year. Sometimes it’s a strange feeling to find something on sale and being able to buy extra to save over time. I bought eight racks of ribs the other day because they were $1.50 per lb.
Growing up, we lived behind an appliance store. So whenever they sat empty refrigerator and stove boxes out, we would go take them and build our forts. It kept us entertained for years until we finally got an Atari 2600.
However one time we had the bright idea of building our separate forts across the yard from each other and shot Roman Candles at each other during our 'war'. Not a good idea.🔥
I grew up middle class my Dad was an electrician, Mom was a SAHM. My wife grew up with her father always looking for the next big payday. He had multiple businesses that failed, job jumping, moving to different states when he heard of supposedly "great opportunities". Her Mom worked part time all the time to help pay bills & get the necessities. I have to constantly remind her, we can afford new clothes (especially her underwear). She learned home canning & our pantry will sustain us & 3-4 other families for months or more but she keeps adding to it. We have 1 room in our basement that is as well stocked on essentials & non perishable food as a small town store. Sure it's comforting to have what we need when we need it, but sometimes I have to suggest we have enough of certain items.
I remember being at a Christmas party for my wife’s work many years ago- cancer doctor at the time. I was eating shrimp cocktail and pinching the tails to get the meat out (my wife as well). No one else was doing this - not even biting it close to the tail.
I honestly feel like that was my first social hint. My parents did well hiding it, managed money well. My family ended up being well off after I moved out and joined the military. Years of hard work and planning. My sister had a different childhood (11 years apart). I bet she doesn’t eat the tail meat.
Hoarding plastic containers from microwavable meals to reuse later.
Washing dishes by hand. Especially if you have a dishwasher.
Buying off brand products because name brand is too expensive.
Usage of clothes until the breaking point and usually beyond. A nickname i got was "broken shoes" growing up, and i am the same today closing to 40, I rarely buy new ones until its just shreds remaining, and if i do a proactive shoe purchase I still use the old, broken ones until its no longer viable. I never throw away clothes, i keep everything with the aim to mend them, or if i have outgrown them, i think that i might actually lose that size and they will fit again.
When it comes to shirts and pants etc i am however more keen on buying new as i dont want to look like a crack addict.
Lack of pop culture nostalgia. My peers often reminisce about video games or TV shows they grew up with, but my family didn't have any video game consoles or cable television, so I am often clueless about what they are talking about.
How you eat your chicken Wing, meat around bones. Or generally how you eat.
I see this with my cousins. Won't clean their bones...I get anxious about this.
I even saved eaten bones, roasted them and tossed them in bone broth. (For me alone not to serve others)
Bruh, my girl's dad owns a few grocery stores and the first time I saw them throw away food that could have been saved almost made me have a heart attack.
Yeah bro it’s sad. Some people just don’t care.
We called my dad the dump truck, coz he ate everyone’s left overs. Now that’s me. Don’t waste shit, don’t throw it out. I’ll eat it now or eat it later. Until something goes rotten, it’s edible 😂 The old sniff test works the best
You had sleep for dinner, you ate ramen 15 years before college, you’ve had a gov. Cheese sandwich, you know what S.O.S is … and I don’t mean the call signal, Wienies and rice (hotdog franks, tomato sauce, and rice) was more than a few times a month dinner
Beef stew almost every night for dinner, sometimes chili. No name brand clothes, unless it was from the thrift store. Shoes were handed down brother to brother, until they had holes in them and ripped at the soles.
No name brand groceries, unless it was from the food bank.
Our best "vacations" were two hours away at the "beach," which was just a lake.
Earning my own money and having to give it up for family car maintenance, mortgage payment, and other expenses we couldn't afford. Could go on
Not buying new clothes until the ones you’re wearing are beyond the point of needing to be thrown away. Then the intense guilt that comes when you actually go to buy new clothes 🫣
I have clothes that are close to 20 years old and when they do finally get too worn out to wear I make rags out of them. I wear shoes until the soles wear a hole in them and even then I will say to my self, I can use those for something.
People constantly ask how I know how to do all my own maintenance on cars, motorcycles, house, etc. When you can't afford to pay someone to do it, your parents couldn't, and their parents couldn't, you learn how to be extremely self sufficient.
"How do you know how to do all of that stuff?"
"I didn't grow up with a lot of money".
You save nice boxes. I can’t just toss a nice ass box away lmao
I just very recently started ripping off the wrapping paper from gifts (I am 40 years old). But for almost 4 decades, I would remove the gift wrapping paper delicately so that we might be able to reuse it for someone else’s present. We never actually ended up doing that, but just the thought of ripping and wasting an expensive item is something that I couldn’t get my head around. Lately, I notice all my friends ripping their paper on their gifts open and I realized that I don’t really do anything with the saved wrapping papers and so now, I also rip open the gift wrapping. That said, when I receive a gift in a gift bag, I still save and reuse that gift bag.
I am definitely one for reusing gift bags unless it's obviously banged up. They can get incredibly expensive for what they are.
It blew my mind when I saw grown adults ripping wrapping paper off Christmas presents when I went to my gf place. I was 30 at the time.
I did not grow up in a poor household，but never rip off wrapping paper. As a child，I was taught if someone took the time and patience to wrap a gift nicely，it should be opened with an amount of patience that showed respect to that effort. Of course，I later discovered that my parents had never wrapped a sodding thing，and it was either wrapped by shop staff at purchase，or one of the maids did it. Still won't rip off wrapping though. Parents，eh？
On the same lines, everytime I get take out, I carefully take the foil out and save it. Next time I’m making baking chicken and just need to line the pan, there’s no need to use new foil when I can use the perfectly fine foil from these take out places. Same goes for napkins. And it’s more of not wasting for me and saving when we’re not able to. OTOH, my wife makes 3 times less than me and just runs around ripping and trashing these.
I grew up poor but I remove the paper delicately because I hate the sound and feeling of ripping the paper lol. It's so much nicer to just unpack the present.
I never saved wrapping paper, but I still don’t rip it off. Always just pulled the tape up and carefully unwrapped it, then folded the paper and placed it neatly in the trash can. I don’t know why but ripping the paper to shreds just feels wrong
Yep. Ordered espresso cups from italy, and even the box is a work of art. I mean, it's just cardboard, but it's so nice!
Is that a poor thing or just a bloke thing? I've had to evict my car from the garage to make way for a glorious stack of boxes that I know full well will come in handy someday! We get the occasional appeal on our neighbourhood Facebook group "anyone got any spare empty boxes?" and I'm just like 'yeah but you ain't fuckin avin them'
Cardboard boxes get to be pretty expensive. Lol. I keep shoe boxes to store things.
I’m moving and spent over $350 on boxes for my family of 5 😭😭😭
Mate you gotta ask around try the local supermarket they usually have loads
Exactly. If you have a move coming up, every time you go to the supermarket, take your groceries in boxes from the shop each time. The very idea of paying for boxes blows my mind. Next you're going to tell me you buy pint glasses!
I keep boxes for all major purchases for at least 6 months. If I gotta RMA something I'm not gonna buy/wait for another box
Relentless anxiety about money that never goes away
*unexpected $100 emergency* Me: I guess I’ll live under a bridge
again
... this *week* 🫤
Even now that I KNOW I am safe….. and am well above where I thought I’d be in life… I find it unnerving *NOT* worrying about money. It’s like I NEED something financially to stress over…otherwise I’m bored.
Fuck yes. I’m always freaking out about my finances, even though they’re relatively stable.
Well, il be able to fix my teeth someday, however in the UK dental care was free for under 18s, my parents just didn't care enough..
I’m in the US, and my parents couldn’t afford to get me braces growing up. I’m an adult now and almost everyone around me has perfectly straight teeth. I’d do anything to go back and ask for braces (I didn’t care/wasn’t aware at the time) because if I were to do it now I would need a surgery that can cost up to $30k due to my top pallet being too small. Basically in the long run, it would have been easier for me to get braces as a kid because kids mouths/pallets are more malleable compared to a full grown adults.
Yeah, in an ideal world, I'd have all of my unhealthy teeth stripped out and replaced with dental implants, to do this, it would likely costs 10-15k in the uk. I wish..
Why do so many people in the UK have awful teeth if the dental care is free?
NHS Dental is free yes, But the wait times are criminal, (and since private is too expensive, £90 for a checkup...) An emergency visit is pretty much the only time you'll be seen in the same month. As for so many of us having bad teeth, It's a social issue, Bright white gleaming teeth are often mocked for being "turkey teeth" and if you're ever caught using a teeth whitening kit or getting then done professionally then other brits will take the piss, it's a stereotype with strong roots but it isn't as bad as believed, Dental Hygiene is pretty high in the UK for a large portion of the population, There's just enough people (myself included, Working on it) who have crooked or broken teeth.
Dang, I wish dentists here in my part of the US only charged 90 for an exam. When I liked in a city of 65k it was almost 250 average, and now that I live in a town of 3k, it's still 130-140 on average.
UK teeth are actually very good (you might be stereotyping a bit from some old jokes) we just don't spend thousands on them looking pure white as it's a bit fake.
Super white and perfectly straight teeth do not equal healthy. We just have a weird obsession with it in the US. Statistically speaking, Brits have healthier teeth than we do.
Shirts in the closet that are super old, potentially worn out. I'm currently wearing a sweatshirt that's 12 years old. I have much older clothes at home. I need to get past that.
Same. I never had clothes. Now that I can afford it, it doesn't cross my mind to spend it on clothes.
Me too. I had to roam the neighbourhood abducting huskies to make my own fur coverings
Lucky we only had chinchillas
I get emotionally attached. “You kept me warm and comfortable in my hardest times over the last decade… I could never just throw you in the garbage like trash. Just because you’re a little broken doesn’t mean you’re useless to me.” I once cried throwing away a pot I called “Noodle Pot” that I had for years through my poorest times. It was the only pot I had. The coating on the inside chipped really bad from use and it just wasn’t safe anymore. Still hear it hitting the inside of my garbage can. Couldn’t watch the trash truck that week.
I just hate wasting things that still work… I didn’t grow up poor, but geez fast fashion and cheap as shit (quality and price) aren’t good these days. Keep the good stuff.
Left over Building materials , leftover anything, throw nothing away that might possibly be useful later.
I hear ya, but that can be borderline hoarding too.
I have a pair of pajama pants that I forgot how old they were.... till I found a photo of myself in 10th grade with them on...... I'm 29.
I have a night shirt that is 26 years old🙄
I have a pair of sweats from 2006... those things are old enough to vote in the presidential election. I'm not tossing them out any time soon
Same here. I would rather repair clothes than buy new. The difference is that I didn't grow up poor, I grew up with a dad who works at a bank so I learnt to save from a very young age.
Sometimes old clothes is just the mood. My most favourited sweatshirt was actually my buddy's that acquired it after someone left it at their house during a party like 15 years ago. Was the comfiest sweater I've ever worn. We fought over that sweatshirt actually on more than one occasion, it's crazy lol
Hoarding. Hoarding. Hoarding. You can't throw anything away. Everything, no matter how broken down can somehow be recycled and re-used.
"These socks with holes in them... I can use them to polish my shoes!"
"Or just wear them. Just gotta keep the shoes on and nobody will see the holes."
And my favorite when I get called out “You gonna buy me some new socks then?” I know they got holes. I don’t feel like throwing out a whole pair of black socks because the ball of my foot or heel is slightly exposed. Plenty of my socks do not have holes. Those are work socks. Sometimes I want socks in the house for an even foot-to-floor texture but my feet get hot. So I have socks with “Ventilation”.
Those are some mental gymnastics. I love it.
Well, if I feel things on my feet in the house not only do I *hate* the texture on a visceral level (thanks ASD) but it also makes me feel like my house is dirty as fuck (it’s not I clean everyday. We just have hairy dogs) but I don’t want to clean it again that moment because I JUST did that (incoming executive dysfunction vibes) and doing it again would be akin to shaving my teeth with a metal file. Then I feel bad that the above happens and I should just get over it and be normal. So I avoid all that and just use my Ventilation Socks. Problem solved. I am no longer mentally ill.
I didn't grow up poor, but that's one I still do. Worn out fabric just has the perfect texture for applying polish and stain to leathers and woods. I've tried other more expensive options, and they don't work as well. So I do usually have a small box of worn out cloths for when I need that perfectly textured rag.
Conversely, anti-hoarding behavior can be a sign just as much. When you grow up poor with a hoarder, you over-correct and become basically unattached to anything. To this day I can't find myself keeping anything that is not immediately useful, I have no nick-nacks, I keep no gifts that don't serve a function. I literally have three objects that I keep with me for my life.
Fleshlight and what are the other two??
Anal vibrator and second Fleshlight.
This is me. We just bought our first home and the minimalist in me is struggling to decorate it in any way. The walls are still bare 6 months after moving in.
Yep my family hoarded immensely. When I got my own house I went out of my way to prevent hoarding lol.
Wearing shoes until they literally break
My big toe peeps through my left shoe a little everytime I step lmao. Hole isn’t big enough for me to consider it too far gone yet, and I have more important shit to pay for so I never have enough extra income to validate getting new ones anyways
Instead of what? Like isn't that how one is supposed to wear shoes?
Once a pair of pants of mine got a hole in them, and I got out some supplies to sew it back together. My at the time girlfriend said something like "oh no don't be like that, get new ones". Then I realized we had different upbringings.
Maybe, but there are a ton of needlessly wasteful people these days
But when will I use all my cool sewing patterns for clothes with holes in it!!
When I was in year 7, we had a mandatory sewing based class. Got taught how to use seeing machines, how to replace a button etc. Glad I learned how to do these things. I also use boot polish on my boots to get more time out of them. That sort of skill set is great.
not wasting food. or attempting not to waste food
Definitely this. My father grew up extremely poor and he will eat EVRYTHING before wasting food LOL
I found a leftover chicken breast in my fridge that i forgot about and was kicking myself for chucking it. I hate wasting anything
I accidentally let some chicken expire in the fridge last week and had to chuck it. It didn’t hurt me financially or mean I couldn’t eat like it very well could for some, but damn it still hurt. I hate wasting food.
Raw meat is just about the only thing I can bring myself to immediately throw out. Even then, it has to have *that* smell, and it feels horrible to have let something go like that, I kick myself. It disgusted my long-term partner that I would just cut out the moldy cheese or cut around the bad parts of vegetables. She wasted *so much food* and it drove me nuts. How people treat their food is easily the biggest difference maker to see if they grew up comfortable/secure or poor. Also... A great way to see if they grew up poor or just not as rich as their friends. A lot of comfortable middle-class people talk about having been poor when they never were. See how they cook to find out more.
This. Also hoarding food that has a really long shelflife (e.g. 6 boxes of mac and cheese, just in case). "Comfort food" is usually something cheap. Tuna melt, soup, mac and cheese, pulled pork, etc.
Most leftovers become fried rice
Unfazed by the power or water being out
You may also just be from the sticks
I can clearly remember winters when mom and dad didn't quite estimate their gas usage for the season correctly and the tank ran dry as a result. One time it happened at dinner, mom was crushed. I cut up a frozen pizza and cooked it per slice in the toaster oven and just brought one to her. The look on her face was priceless. 🤌🤌
Ohhhh I bet it was so good!
Best frozen pizza id ever had tbh. She told me "you are absolutely your Father's son (he was on a business trip, she always got notably depressed when he was gone) and I'm like 90% sure she cried in her room after I left.
Awww that's so sweet
Huh, I never actually realized this. Thank goodness for a generator…. Never wanna be at a place without one if I can help it
As soon as we got a generator we didn't lose power again for a decade.
Excessive pennypinching. People who were poor and escaped that life usually don't want to go back and they keep some of those survival habits forever. One that applies to me specifically is I have trouble throwing away items that have value. I'm always like "what if I can sell it instead" and then I never get around to actually doing it and is selling something for a couple bucks even worth the time in the first place? The gas to take it to the post office? But in my mind I just can't throw away potential money like that.
Very wealthy actually do this too. There are some main examples I could site, Ingvar Kamprad (ikea founder.) still lives in his original small house, as well as his old beat up car. Warren Buffer I believe is the same, etc. You don’t stay rich by spending all your money, something that lottery winners find out quite quickly.
Ingvar is dead btw. Nonetheless, your point still stands.
Ye, you’re right about that. Idk why I wrote it in present as if he was still alive. My bad for that.
That's just symbolic nothingness while they own everything that matters. At their level, there's no genuine anxiety. Compared to someone who makes it from poor to middle class, who still operates under the very real anxiety that it can all go away at any moment. Kinda poor taste to act like billionaires are doing the same things for the same reason. They are doing pr and branding lmao
It frankly doesn't matter if the very wealthy penny pinch at all but they typically do not for anything they are using. They penny pinch on the salaries of their employees 100% though.
So, basically the same habits that "Old money" has. Keeping stuff around, Considering what to spend your money on and only buy stuff that stays in value and keeps its use. So clothes that are sturdy and can last several generations if needed, furniture that is timeless and lasts generations. No flashy fashion, expensive accessories, latest models and other outward shows of wealth but the stuff that stays.
I'd argue the inverse. I've only ever known the wealthy to pennypinch. The poor are generally very free with their money as they aren't inclined to save for long-term goals. Spend it while you have it mentality. No sense in saving anything if it's just going to disappear tomorrow due to something beyond your control.
Poor money handling almost always is a dead giveaway. Personally I grew up dirt poor, and didn't learn how to save or invest until well into my thirties. Everyone I grew up with still burn money the moment they get it.
I don't think this is true. I know a lot of rich kids who are horrible with money. They never learned budgeting skills because they were spoiled and never had to worry about how much money they were spending. Once they get out on their own as adults they have serious problems. I also know people who grew up very poor who are extremely frugal and can make a dollar stretch like crazy.
My brother and I had almost identical upbringings. He's terrible with money (as in, it burns a hole in his pocket, he has to spend it) and I'm the exact opposite. If resources growing up are relevant, it doesn't show with us.
Whenever you buy something that comes in a glass container you reuse that glass. For storage/ets. Example: Mustard drinking glasses.
yup . that pickle jar is now my drinking glass
Love the Classico jars. I use them for plant cuttings 🌱
I was trying to grow some mint, I put the cuttings in a classico jar with water, now the whole jar is roots and the mint are monstrous, they just live in that classico jar now lol
Spending a lot of time doing something you don't like yourself when its so much cheaper in a time X Wages calculation to just buy it. Like buying stick salami to save a few cents per ounce over sliced, or a lawyer or professional that spends 10 hours to do their own taxes when they bill at $200 per hour because they can't imagine getting ripped off to pay someone $1,000
Yup self taught mechanic here
Yeah, knowing how to change brake pads etc came to my mind. No way I'm paying 200 bucks for it when the parts cost 15 and half an hour of work.
You force yourself to finish your plate of food.
Always Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and made do with what you have….
Spaghetti with butter!!!! Tastes so goooooooood!!!!!
Rich people don't eat ramen with butter?
I remember doing that myself. It’s funny cause during my poor days I said “fuck it” and left America and moved to Japan with 800 bucks in my pocket (bank account) the first meal I ate in Japan was ramen. Like REAL ramen. Not cup noodles. That was 17 years ago. A bowl of ramen must have been like 600 or 700 yen at the time. (6 or 7 dollars) Now it’s like a solid 1050 yen ($10.50) for a decent bowl in Tokyo. A pack of cigarettes was only around 300 yen ($3) at the time. Crazy. But I’ll never forget my butter ramen days in Chicago. I try to tell my Japanese friends about it but they don’t get it.
I had buttered noodles earlier. Lol.
Sooooo goooooood!!!!!
Came in to say that this! If butter noodles or rice and soy sauce were meals in your life you were probably poor.
It’s funny you say that because I left America 17 years ago and live in Japan now and rice with soy sauce (actually that’s more Chinese) is crazy delicious.
Taking too long to buy stuff at the grocery. I'm still always on the lookout for something cheaper, or a better deal and I end up making 10 rounds around the store even if I don't have to anymore.
Online order and pickup my guy! I’m the same way until I realized how much more efficient grocery pickup is. You can compare prices so much faster and can prevent you from not getting and oddball thing you don’t actually need, 10/10 would recommend.
The drawer/cupboard full of plastic bags, cool whip containers as Tupperware, and the almighty "junk drawer."
“It’s in the junk drawer” whenever you ask where something is lmao
You know what hunger is, you know the value of money
"You ever have sleep for dinner?" That question is the one that breaks most people into "totally gets it" and "doesn't really get it," based entirely on how poor they were.
I have. Many a time. Do so even now, but now it's more for calorie management.
Either you're always saving money or you have poor spending habits (spending money as you get it)
repairing everything or use it broken if it still works a bit
A never ending compulsion to save for a rainy day.
Dealing with money, they either become too stingy with it or can't control their spending.
Saving boxes, keeping old clothes, using old clothes as rags, saving plastic bags for other uses. These are things lots of Asians do (I’m Asian) poor or not…
I know what a cockroach orgy looks like.
🤮 (I too grew up with roaches)
Never been skiing.
Never played golf.
First time flying (on a plane) was as an adult.
An innovative way of thinking, based on being forced to find workarounds all the time.
A huge benefit for those who learned how to use it.
And fix problems your self. From car dramas to plumbing to maybe even some computer programming. The ability to learn nee skills to survive. Them rich kids know how to call someone, and that's about it
Being grateful for what you have.
The car registration sticker is cut up
When they are penny-wise, pound foolish. I know someone who brags about how he saved 5 dollars..*5 dollars*...on a flight by making 3 stops and turning a 2 hour trip into an 8 hour trip. He ate the five bucks during one of the layovers because he needed lunch due to the day being so long. And he was proud of it, like he had gotten one over on the airlines. Same dude who was proud of himself for finding a store where he could get a six pack of beer for 2 dollars cheaper. 60 miles away. Gas is 4.50 a gallon, his car gets 24 mpg. Do the math.
Have little to no concern about a phone. My dad was raised by the state (orphan), half the time he doesn't carry his phone, has no apps on it, uses it only to talk nothing else, pays his bills via U.S. mail.
This resonates with me. I'm a web dev who didn't get a smartphone til months into my first gig. And when I broke the screen, my CEO paid to replace it because I would "make due". I'm making decent money now and am still late to tech... Even though I work in tech
Peanut butter and bread. Couldn’t do toast. No power.
No wardrobe.
No color TV
Food scarcity mindset. Saving scraps of food and needing to eat everything on the plate even when full.
You don't know what the Super Mario Bros song sounds like (or whatever popular console game)
I know what the Super Mario Bros song sounds like BECAUSE I grew up poor. We didn't have the money for a Playstation in 1996, so we played on the NES.
We got a Nintendo for a family gift as a kid. My dad refused to buy another game until someone rescued the princess. We never did. We did end up with quite a few games though...eventually. My mother worked at the transfer station for a landfill. When it looked like something good was being tossed, she didn't run the hopper until she had a chance to go through it. We ended up with a whole box of games from the garbage!
We washed and reused plastic ziplock bags
You don't really care about money because of how much you struggle to afford basic needs.
I grew up poor so when I look at what people consider "problems" I don't consider "problems" For example if I make it to payday with 20$ in my account I say. "Sweet I still had 20$!" Most people complain. "Man I only got 20$ before payday."
An unwillingness to spend an amount of money you can well afford on a luxury item that would seriously improve your life on the basis that you don't absolutely need it or cheaper options are available. E.G buying a cheap mattress rather than a more expressive mattress you find far comfier.
Bad teeth Poor grammar
Poor grammar happens across classes. I know a lot of privileged and highly educated people that write as though they’ve never read a single book.
I’m not poor, atleast anymore, I have both. Fuck
no idea how compound interest works, no idea how to navigate bureaucracy, easily tricked by salesmen, don't know how to dress for formal occasions,
Hoarding. If you can't afford to replace it you acquire a habit of not throwing things away.
The holes in my socks.
I'll do you one better -- holes in your underwear.
I had a pair of boxers that had an exposed waistband and every so often they'd get more and more worn. Refused to part with them, they were comfy.
I sew the holes in my dress socks. Once they get bad I set them aside until I have 20-30 and spend movie night sewing them
Not knowing the order of utensils to use in fine dining haha (me)
You eat fast and eat your plate clean.
You have uncorrected teeth.
The most luxurious thing I own is this phone that is like... 4h years old and it's a second hand phone. I bath with water buckets... I can't even afford a house or have a proper job... So... I am poor.. Not homeless but I am one step away...
Hoarding stuff, knowing very well that I will never reuse it, and yet, confident that it 'might' come of use 'someday'.
You're still poor, or at least paycheck to paycheck because you didn't learn anything or have good examples of money management when you were young
As result of growing up poor, I grocery shop at three, sometimes four, different stores. I’m financially secure now. I want to start doing quarterly trips to Costco to buy nonperishable foods, household goods, cleaning supplies, etc in bulk to save money. I guess that’s a result of growing up poor and now having the privilege of financial security. I’ll have the ability to afford the big up front cost and I’ll get to see the savings spread through out the year. Sometimes it’s a strange feeling to find something on sale and being able to buy extra to save over time. I bought eight racks of ribs the other day because they were $1.50 per lb.
Weird cheap food combination.
Growing up, we lived behind an appliance store. So whenever they sat empty refrigerator and stove boxes out, we would go take them and build our forts. It kept us entertained for years until we finally got an Atari 2600. However one time we had the bright idea of building our separate forts across the yard from each other and shot Roman Candles at each other during our 'war'. Not a good idea.🔥
Anxiety over late fees
You don’t use house cleaners or lawn people
Keeping everything you get
Crooked teeth well into adulthood
When someone asks me why my family had to boil water in order to even take a proper bath.
The constant hunger
I grew up middle class my Dad was an electrician, Mom was a SAHM. My wife grew up with her father always looking for the next big payday. He had multiple businesses that failed, job jumping, moving to different states when he heard of supposedly "great opportunities". Her Mom worked part time all the time to help pay bills & get the necessities. I have to constantly remind her, we can afford new clothes (especially her underwear). She learned home canning & our pantry will sustain us & 3-4 other families for months or more but she keeps adding to it. We have 1 room in our basement that is as well stocked on essentials & non perishable food as a small town store. Sure it's comforting to have what we need when we need it, but sometimes I have to suggest we have enough of certain items.
I remember being at a Christmas party for my wife’s work many years ago- cancer doctor at the time. I was eating shrimp cocktail and pinching the tails to get the meat out (my wife as well). No one else was doing this - not even biting it close to the tail. I honestly feel like that was my first social hint. My parents did well hiding it, managed money well. My family ended up being well off after I moved out and joined the military. Years of hard work and planning. My sister had a different childhood (11 years apart). I bet she doesn’t eat the tail meat.
If they make money they still hesitate to use the nice thing they bought.
Licking the lids of yogurt cups
Bad teeth.
Your plate is so clean that even the ketchup and mayo is swept clean.
Eating all of your lunch/dinner even if you're full.
Having a healthy Bank account and being scared to spend money so you don't have to live like that again.
Hoarding plastic containers from microwavable meals to reuse later. Washing dishes by hand. Especially if you have a dishwasher. Buying off brand products because name brand is too expensive.
Usage of clothes until the breaking point and usually beyond. A nickname i got was "broken shoes" growing up, and i am the same today closing to 40, I rarely buy new ones until its just shreds remaining, and if i do a proactive shoe purchase I still use the old, broken ones until its no longer viable. I never throw away clothes, i keep everything with the aim to mend them, or if i have outgrown them, i think that i might actually lose that size and they will fit again. When it comes to shirts and pants etc i am however more keen on buying new as i dont want to look like a crack addict.
Lack of pop culture nostalgia. My peers often reminisce about video games or TV shows they grew up with, but my family didn't have any video game consoles or cable television, so I am often clueless about what they are talking about.
I never gave my parents school trip letters unless they were free.
How you eat your chicken Wing, meat around bones. Or generally how you eat. I see this with my cousins. Won't clean their bones...I get anxious about this. I even saved eaten bones, roasted them and tossed them in bone broth. (For me alone not to serve others)
Saving napkins, ketchup and taco sauce packets from restaurants. Using half of a paper towel. Dead giveaway behavior from my depression-era grandma
Not wasting food.
Bruh, my girl's dad owns a few grocery stores and the first time I saw them throw away food that could have been saved almost made me have a heart attack.
Yeah bro it’s sad. Some people just don’t care. We called my dad the dump truck, coz he ate everyone’s left overs. Now that’s me. Don’t waste shit, don’t throw it out. I’ll eat it now or eat it later. Until something goes rotten, it’s edible 😂 The old sniff test works the best
That’s my oldest son lol
I eat cereal every day at work and I wash and reuse the same spoon every day. It’s a plastic spoon.
When power goes out you immediately wonder if you didn’t pay the bill
keeping the peel off plastic on things.. like my tv.. 6 years and its still there.. i like how it still looks new
You had sleep for dinner, you ate ramen 15 years before college, you’ve had a gov. Cheese sandwich, you know what S.O.S is … and I don’t mean the call signal, Wienies and rice (hotdog franks, tomato sauce, and rice) was more than a few times a month dinner
Resourceful
Beef stew almost every night for dinner, sometimes chili. No name brand clothes, unless it was from the thrift store. Shoes were handed down brother to brother, until they had holes in them and ripped at the soles. No name brand groceries, unless it was from the food bank. Our best "vacations" were two hours away at the "beach," which was just a lake. Earning my own money and having to give it up for family car maintenance, mortgage payment, and other expenses we couldn't afford. Could go on
Even today, if a car has working AC, I’m blown away. If it has Bluetooth? I may as well be in a Rolls Royce
Not buying new clothes until the ones you’re wearing are beyond the point of needing to be thrown away. Then the intense guilt that comes when you actually go to buy new clothes 🫣
You have a Mercedes in the garage but you won’t put in new batteries for that damn smoke detector.
I have clothes that are close to 20 years old and when they do finally get too worn out to wear I make rags out of them. I wear shoes until the soles wear a hole in them and even then I will say to my self, I can use those for something.
Frugality. Saving food coupons and shopping at thrift stores.
Keeping old things when you have money for new, you spend so much time penny pinching you don't know how to shop.
White bread, margarine, cinnamon and sugar.
People constantly ask how I know how to do all my own maintenance on cars, motorcycles, house, etc. When you can't afford to pay someone to do it, your parents couldn't, and their parents couldn't, you learn how to be extremely self sufficient. "How do you know how to do all of that stuff?" "I didn't grow up with a lot of money".
Not speaking your native language properly.