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I live poor and make a salary of upper middle class.
By what some people are saying, I am poor living wise, but I don't feel it.
I rent, I have an old crappy flip cell phone and don't use it much. I do have a computer and internet. I drive a $2,000 car right now, but recently purchased a second car (dream car for me) for $15K.
I do have a nice softball bat, and a big screen TV.
If I lived like a poor person did paycheck to paycheck and blew all my money. I would look rich. Probably drive a porsche GT2, own a 500K house, and so forth.
The poor today lives better lives than the rich did a few hundred yrs ago. Family upbringing has a lot to do with how you will live your life today.
My parents are savers, I am a saver, but have larger risk tolerance. My wife came from a poor family. She almost died from starvation in Cambodia at age 4. Her family makes way less money and spend every dime they make when they get it. The motto of most is (you don't live forever). I saved a lot and make tens of thousands a year now on passive income, it will approach 100's in a few years a year. And they look at me like I was crazy that whole time and I won't be working for much longer.
A while back my wife got funny and had me booted out of the family home... My brother who is wealthy said I could stay at his house..THEN ..he reneged and I ended up on top of this hill in a shack that my other brother was going to tear down a build a house..The place was a dump...but it was by a horse ranch and over looking a lake...I got so poor that I had to resort to a pager to get work..Had to cross a field in the middle of the night to get to a pay phone by a general store..crossing the field in total darkness I had to work my way through a herd of horses...it was unnerving.
Things got worse - I ran out of money and had to take a canoe out and catch these tiny little sun fish and would make a chowder out of them...To bath I would have to fill up this huge old wash tub and light up the wood stove ...I would put the tub in front of the stove and open the door so I could see the flames...Oddly - I absolutely loved the experience..Eventually the wife started dropping by...Making love out side in the pasture in the middle of the day was very erotic.
Eventually I went home...Thinking back I really enjoyed the primitive living..The well water was crystal clear and cool...When a storm came up the place would creak...sitting out back in the morning having coffee and watching the horses were sweet moments...Poor is fine..providing you have control over the situation...like the ability and opportunity NOT to be poor.
Sometimes I wonder if I made myself poor intentionally for the adventure.
I myself would have a "F" everybody emergency plan set aside. The wife kicked you to the curb= I don't care what happens to you. The brother took away shelter= I don't care what happens to you. Other brother let you live basically in the woods= I somewhat care but leave me alone.
"God bless the child that has his own"...I have no clue what you did to get in that situation but the point is you were ass out and broke. Hopefully if the same thing happened tomorrow you would be better prepared. As for myself I had a eye opening experience close to yours so I speak from experience.
After all this time I am still in poverty..My sister who is a great money maker and who has traveled the world tells me I live like a millionaire. I have everything that money can buy except for money. Somehow..things work out...I have about 60 dollars to my name and my only concern is cleaning the house and doing the laundry...You can be poor- but you have to be clean...appearance and presentation are everything...My only anxious moments are when it comes to keeping myself supplied with nicotine...other than that - no big deal...POOR means poor of the spirit...or stupid...It has little to do with money.
Best post on the thread. I agree. It is a little different when you are a single parent trying to raise children but, for myself, I am rich in spirit !
This thread is uplifting and heart tugging....<s> I admire all who posted their stories.
I grew up very poor yet my mother and father tried to give me advantages that were not really in line with our income or housing. We lived on the other side of the tracks. My parents came from honest, hardworking stock and they fell on hard times during the depression. My oldest brothers told the story many times of going to school in N. Fla, stopping and building a small fire to warm my 3rd brothers feet because he didn't have any shoes. By the time I came along, we all had shoes. Times were very hard yet, I have many good memories of my childhood and some really horrible ones. It all worked out and made me strong and who I am today. At age 70, I have been a survivor. I own my home and have a small nest egg, though the times and some choices have left me just short of poverty again. I will survive....lol.
Some people here are nostalgic and wish for a simpler life. Sometimes, I do too. Here is one man's solution to being laid off and poor. He used recycled materials. http://http://www.home-designing.com...-by-joel-allen
I loved reading this thread. There are so many uplifting stories.
I didn't grow up poor. My husband did.
My family was upper class, borderline wealthy. My father grew up dirt poor during the Depression and never forgot. He wasn't extravagant with his money so we didn't have the latest and greatest of everything, but we wanted for nothing really. He did well preparing us for the real world. I rebelled from wealth and spent a good deal of young adult years counting pennies to buy food, going without to feed the pets, having utilities shut off. I never once asked my parents for money. I wanted to do it myself.
But there's a difference between being poor and pretending to be poor. There was reassurance that my parents were there, and I had a home to return to if necessary, even though I didn't ever act upon it. My parents were great. It wasn't like I was avoiding them. It's not like I hid my struggles. They respected that I walked to the beat of a different drummer. Then my parents died within a year, and my world came crashing down. The mental safety net was gone. I didn't even realize it was in the back of my mind until they died and I wondered what would happen to me. I'm sure this terror was amplified by their dying while I was pregnant and shortly after the birth of my first child.
My husband grew up rural poor. His father was a construction worker. He came from a large family with seven siblings. The picked their own food at the farms. All of the children helped fill the back of a pickup truck with the latest harvest, even the toddlers. Then they'd spend days helping can it all. For Christmas, they'd get one gift for the group---like a board game. That's it. His father died on the job when hubby was a teen. His mother died shortly after when hubby was 19. What amazes me most is he and his siblings put the younger brothers and sisters through college. They also collectively supported a sibling who has epilepsy and still do to this day decades later. None of them are poor, but they live with a poor mentality of doing without and finding the most frugal solutions to every problem. If someone needs something, everyone makes it happen. If a roof needs to be installed, everyone shows up to install it together.
Meanwhile, my siblings and I all believe we need to do everything for ourselves. I think there's something to be said for functioning as a group and depending upon one another. My inlaws won't ask anyone for anything, but they'll ask each other. I admire my husband's family for that.
My husband is the greatest guy in the world. I appreciate the life that made him what he is today.
These stories have renewed my faith in Americans and their can do attitude. Not everyone has that attitude, I know, and too many people are on drugs of various kinds. Making the drugs legal is not the answer, in my opinion, but I really don't have any answers.
I have a cousin by marriage. He and my blood cousin married right out of HS. His mother had died and he and my cousin raised his younger siblings. They are now in their over 30 year marriage and the sibs turned out fine. I don't know that I could have done that.
My hat is off to all who have overcome adversity, poverty, ridicule, lack of parental caring and made a go of it.
You are the greatest.
I myself would have a "F" everybody emergency plan set aside. The wife kicked you to the curb= I don't care what happens to you. The brother took away shelter= I don't care what happens to you. Other brother let you live basically in the woods= I somewhat care but leave me alone.
"God bless the child that has his own"...I have no clue what you did to get in that situation but the point is you were ass out and broke. Hopefully if the same thing happened tomorrow you would be better prepared. As for myself I had a eye opening experience close to yours so I speak from experience.
This was a long time ago- My 'situations' vary. Sometimes when you stick up for what is right and you attempt to protect your domain as a man you get swarmed by the organized weaklings. As for God bless the child who has his own...I never liked that tune. It states that one should never show charity to anyone....People during that period became envious of me...I had a great job that made me happy and was interesting...I wore 2000 dollar suits...drove an upscale vehicle...I assumed everyone was happy and fulfilled,..I had no idea that others were miserable and would hate you for being free,,
If you want to know how I got into that situation---well I had a wife who was easily influenced by my enemies...She was like a dog who was loyal to anyone who tossed her a bone or patted her on the head in flattery.
My point about inflicted poverty..
If you have a spouse that is slightly stupid and resents you for having ability and brains...They will undermine you...No matter how intelligent - If you marry or have children with the wrong person...You will take two steps forward and be dragged three steps back by a disloyal spouse....You will always be poor if your wife or husband is your competition...also- Keep you business to yourself....Once others see where you are vulnerable..Some will attack that weak spot,,, Live and learn....Poverty is not something that is caused by the poor person.
In my observation sometimes poverty is inflicted on you by others/
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