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http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/

I am not sure how to take this article. It's basically a point-by-point description of my life. It's amazingly accurate.

Yeah it is I laughed about the mac and cheese though. Since we got commodities we always had noodles and cheese so homemade mac was what we ate.

I am still fighting the spending money RIGHT now problem. I have 3500 dollars in my account because i got my school money. But it needs to last for months. My impulse to spend it all RIGHT NOW is almost unbearable.

John Cheese is awesome, his lists are always filled with horrible life experiences, but yet he makes it both eye opening and funny.

Ayup, that's about right.

We just dropped food stamps and we're in that limbo point where I'm making too much money to get food stamps, but not enough to make up for the lack of them. We were actually getting over $1,000 per month for food stamps, and even with our family of 8 we could afford much better food than we can now. So now we're back to cheap foods, although we're making a concerted effort to stick with fresh foods where it makes sense, and even increase our intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

And yeah, we splurged for Christmas, and spent the big december check almost immediately (actually a lot of it went towards paying off debt accrued over the last several months due to lack of client payments).

So... yeah, it rings true in many ways.

<- Guilty.

stienman said:

Ayup, that's about right.

We just dropped food stamps and we're in that limbo point where I'm making too much money to get food stamps, but not enough to make up for the lack of them. We were actually getting over $1,000 per month for food stamps, and even with our family of 8 we could afford much better food than we can now. So now we're back to cheap foods, although we're making a concerted effort to stick with fresh foods where it makes sense, and even increase our intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

And yeah, we splurged for Christmas, and spent the big december check almost immediately (actually a lot of it went towards paying off debt accrued over the last several months due to lack of client payments).

So... yeah, it rings true in many ways.

Click to expand...

And depending on where you live it's illegal to grow a garden for your own fresh foods...

Dave said:

And depending on where you live it's illegal to grow a garden for your own fresh foods...

Click to expand...

Really? Interesting! We have gardens in our backyard, roughly following the square foot method (smaller garden, more efficient use, greater output, less weeding and weed control needed, etc). I can't tell you the night and day difference between a fresh tomato from our garden and a "fresh" tomato from the store in the middle of summer. Our garden this year didn't provide very much. in 2010 we ignored the garden for a month (vacation/road trip!) and didn't get much then either. The previous year, however, we had a lot of food. Very, very good food, compared to the mass grown stuff from the stores.

I hope 2012 holds a good crop in store for us as well...

I gotta admit, I STILL have that "feel guilty for spending money EVER" thing ingrained in me from growing up dirt poor in the 90's. I also do the excessive bean-counting thing.

Holy shit. That list... I grew up poor.

NO ONE TOLD ME!

All but "bean counting" is my wife.

My dad grew up poor, but I guess he shook these habits before having kids, because he didn't let us get it in our heads that any of that shit was the right way to go.

My pants are a size two small in the waist and I still wear them.

See this? This. This is what I was talking about all those times I said poverty was a mental disorder. These things right here.

CrimsonSoul said:

My pants are a size two small in the waist and I still wear them.

Click to expand...

How do you fit into a size two?

Item #1: I love potted meat/vienna sausages. Yep I love shitty food.
Item #2: With my well off paying job and no responsibilities? I never have 4 digits in my bank account, cause it's GOT TO GO!
Item #3: Fail. I don't give anyone shit.
Item #4: I've gotten my bank account down to exactly $.02 with pure debit card usage.... on purpose.
Item #5: See item #2

GasBandit said:

See this? This. This is what I was talking about all those times I said poverty was a mental disorder. These things right here.

Click to expand...

It's more indicative of how easy it is to perpetuate poverty.

So, is there a reason why are we putting up Cracked threads regularly?

Anyways, I read that article yesterday... honestly? I changed my eating habits. I LOVE eating fresh food and the occasional "going back" to pre-packaged shit made our stomachs curl and feeling unsatisfied and guilty as shit. Is it more expensive to eat healthier? Slightly but not by a whole lot. If you can't afford a $20 increase every few weeks, you have far more important issues in your life.

Using the proper preservative methods will greatly increase fresh produce longevity.

Eating fresh is healthier since there are almost no preservative shit, the also gain joy of cooking meals yourself (especially new ones that turn out great), get appreciation by your loved ones, the activity also builds learning habits and focus required makes the whole process easier and easier as the time goes on.

People want to eat shit foods? Fine. It's your life.

But explain to me with almost no changes in my life beyond the way I cooked since I can back from my cruise in Greece I went from 250 pounds to 225 pounds in about 6 months time? This without changing my portion control nor avoiding specific foods types. Nor changes in my activities/exercise. Waist pant size 42 to a loose 36. (Kindly note, I'm 6'4)

I refuse to believe this is normal behavior. Society changed and marketing has pulling in the masses to buy prepared shit, to order fatty fast foods for an easy fix. For the lazy. For the damned.

I'll tell you frankly, if you're eating fast food more than once a week, regardless of social standing, you're taking the easy way out. Plain and simple.


So to answer to the 5 items.

Item #1: I eat fast food occassionally, mostly when we want a night off. Like Saturday nights. We do this no more than once a week and even then, we limit our choices. (aka no KFC, Sloppy Fat Shit)
Item #2: I have over 45k sitting in the bank. My fiancee has over 65k. We are thinking long term, where we want to possibly drop down about 100k on the house in 3 years time. (But keep 20k each in the bank respectively for emergencies)
Item #3: The only person I buy gifts is my woman and even then it's many many small useful gifts. Overall, I spent less than 100$ at X-Mas on gifts.
Item #4: Eh, not really.
Item #5: See item #2

You realize you're not the target audience that the article was meant for, right?

Well, I grew up poor. My dad worked 3 jobs and broke his back to put me in private school. He literally broke his back, 3 operations, when he couldn't work anymore, I went to public school. We barely covered our rent (mom was a stay at home wife with my dad was on injury leave till his "retirement"). We barely made by with whatever she could cook for us. I fucken ate boloney sandwiches for lunch woman. And I liked it.

Then I found out the TRUTH of BOLONEY sandwiches.

This shocks me greatly today.

Does it apply to me now? No... I'm part of the rare upper middle class but we worked our asses off.

So yeah, I'll look down and snub Mac & Cheese. And you'll take it.

I see it as more of a pattern of behavior that can be changed but like changing any pattern of behavior it takes 1. realization that it exists 2. the will to change it and 3 the actual doing of changing it.

Most people don't even realize what they do. General lack of self awareness.

I've already corrected many of these behaviors, particularly the "Extra money needs to be spent now." That shit is going in the bank. I have to think about getting through grad school.

I also don't see what's wrong with extreme bean counting. In fact, I'd argue that most rich people(who earned it, not born into it) are even more bean countery than most people. That's generally how they became rich in the first place.

As for the food issue, I really have to say that I can't afford to buy stuff that's not pre-packaged and will keep for indefinate periods of time. I love fresh fruits and vegetables, but until I'm done with school and out in the career pool proper, I simply can't afford them.

Hey, Dave.

That list was us, about 9 years ago. Seems like we're only about a decade ahead of you on the recovery curve (even though we make a bit less, we have fewer kids). Unfortunately, in order to avoid the paycheck-to-paycheck trap, we would probably have had to start making the adjustments about 12 years ago, so while we are steadily making progress right now, we are still at the short end of the hockey stick.

We still experience plenty o' temptation, and I have to admit we aren't always successful at resisting it (got paid today and bought about half a pound of chocolate...but Kati assures me it's ok because it was "medically necessary"). We track all the bills and keep the bank balance current to the nearest .00 because we have to make sure we'll be able to pay them again next time (I don't get how they all grow just enough to keep pace with my raises, either). If we don't gain any new expenses and don't lose any income, Debtinator says that we'll be debt-free in about 18 years, or 25 if we want to fund Cary's education. This is absolutely wonderful news seeing as how that's coincidentally when we'll hit retirement age.

Needless to say, this is not what we're looking forward to, and you can bet we'll be trying to throw off that yoke as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Unfortunately, this means that the point where our graph makes the elbow turn to success is probably going to be the same point where somebody dies. Y'see, the only way we're going to turn that corner in anything less than two decades is if we get some sort of inheritance, life insurance payment, or somebody gets totally and permanently disabled, and while that would allow us to take the express towards recovery, such a windfall would require that someone we know (and possibly love) sacrifice themself on the altar in order to wash away our previous financial sins. It is inevitable, but understandably we are not exactly praying for something like that to happen.

Instead, we pinch pennies. We still "splurge" for high-quality food, because the same logic that says buying 2/$5 is better than $3ea also says that seeing the doctor less means more money saved over the long term. Likewise every utility purchase is scruitinized. We're going beyond the usual "turn down the thermostat" and are following this guy's advice. Trips are minimized or avoided if possible. Every appliance or other durable good in the house is held onto for as long as humanly possible until every last bit of utility has been wrung from it, at which point it gets donated so we can deduct what's left of it from our taxes. And we do without. Oh boy, do we.

I have a really good friend who lives in a completely paid-off house in New England, works in Dilbert-land for a company which gets lucrative Government contracts, and who takes home north of 6 figures every year. He's done. He's set. He could probably retire now and live a fulfilling life...but his house is empty. He has nobody to share his life with outside of work, and he worries that his odds of changing that grow slimmer with every year. On the other hand, Kati and I have one of those kinds of relationships you probably only hear about in movies (yes, really), we really are convinced we won the genetics lottery as well (Seriously, Cary is a sweet little dream of a kid, and we keep hearing from other parents just how lucky we have it), but the car's about to die, the house is currently only worth about 25% of what we paid for it (and we still owe about 90% of what we paid for it), and there's the aforementioned uphill slog to contend with.

I've heard the grass is greener, and all that, but I'm honestly at a loss to be able to definitively say which of us is better off.

--Patrick

Bowielee said:

I've already corrected many of these behaviors, particularly the "Extra money needs to be spent now." That shit is going in the bank. I have to think about getting through grad school.

I also don't see what's wrong with extreme bean counting. In fact, I'd argue that most rich people(who earned it, not born into it) are even more bean countery than most people. That's generally how they became rich in the first place.

As for the food issue, I really have to say that I can't afford to buy stuff that's not pre-packaged and will keep for indefinate periods of time. I love fresh fruits and vegetables, but until I'm done with school and out in the career pool proper, I simply can't afford them.

Click to expand...

Thats about right for me too. I've been so hungry for shrimp. So tonight it was either like 18 dollars for frozen shrimp or 6 for premade scrampi. Kind of a no brainer really.

I did buy a snack I usually by at 4 for 8 oz at 6 for 16 oz. Which I believe is a savings and actually I did that because of that article. So there's some self awareness I developed. thanks cracked.

I think my biggest guilty expenditure is when I buy a but then makes me feel .

GasBandit said:

See this? This. This is what I was talking about all those times I said poverty was a mental disorder. These things right here.

Click to expand...

Yes, being poor makes you mentally sick, and being mentally sick make you poor... that's perfectly circular logic... good game, good game.

@Li3n said:

Yes, being poor makes you mentally sick, and being mentally sick make you poor... that's perfectly circular logic... good game, good game.

Click to expand...

You should instead consider it cyclical - one often does beget the other. A vicious cycle, you might say.

Huh? I grew up as a lower middle class kid on the border of poverty; the only one I can relate to is the shitty food one. My parents always taught us to save money, and not blow it. That means save and later invest. Period. I remember growing up without a microwave until I was like 10 because my dad refused to dip into his savings for something that was a convinence. We didn't have a computer until I was 15. We had the same Zenith 1981 floor TV until like 1995. We ALWAYS bought food and household stuff in bulk. My parents were long term thinkers, and taught me the value of saving for things I want and need. Wait. Guess that's why we're not poor anymore. The only reason we were to begin with was because my 'rents had just moved to America and starting out.

The problem with the "poor mentality" is well described though. Blow your money and pretend you're rich for a week. I can't eat or pay my bills, but this 50 inch LED is sure awesome!

stienman said:

You should instead consider it cyclical - one often does beget the other. A vicious cycle, you might say.

Click to expand...

DON'T EXPLAIN THE JOKE!!!!
Added at: 14:54

Mathias said:

Huh? I grew up as a lower middle class kid on the border of poverty; the only one I can relate to is the shitty food one. My parents always taught us to save money, and not blow it. That means save and later invest. Period. I remember growing up without a microwave until I was like 10 because my dad refused to dip into his savings for something that was a convinence. We didn't have a computer until I was 15. We had the same Zenith 1981 floor TV until like 1995. We ALWAYS bought food and household stuff in bulk.

Click to expand...

Or as we call it over here, life in the 90's for anyone not rich... oh Eastern Europe...

@Li3n said:

DON'T EXPLAIN THE JOKE!!!!
Added at: 14:54


Or as we call it over here, life in the 90's for anyone not rich... oh Eastern Europe...

Click to expand...

Well considering my clan hails from the Eastern Bloc... I guess that makes sense. It works though. I have like 30k in my savings that I hold onto for investments and in case my job goes to shit. My mortgage always comes first before anything.

Mathias said:

Well considering my clan hails from the Eastern Bloc... I guess that makes sense. It works though. I have like 30k in my savings that I hold onto for investments and in case my job goes to shit. My mortgage always comes first before anything.

Click to expand...

So moving won't help, it's in my blood... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...You are most definitely

Dave said:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/

I am not sure how to take this article. It's basically a point-by-point description of my life. It's amazingly accurate.

Click to expand...

You are most definitely my father, and Cracked is most definitely my favorite website.

Uh oh.

Busted!

Run Sammi! RUN!

I gotta watch that episode again.





.

I'm more weirded out by the fact that we all grew up poor. There's some kind of correlation there. We were a classic backwoods family in a lot of ways. I grew up in rural nowhere, one of six barefoot kids running around. The thing that bugged me the most as a kid was the lack of new clothes. I wore hand-me-downs from one of my dad's coworker's kids who grew up in the 70s, and I had to wear tape on my glasses because we couldn't afford new ones. Right in the heart of the Revenge of the Nerds era.

fade said:

I'm more weirded out by the fact that we all grew up poor. There's some kind of correlation there. We were a classic backwoods family in a lot of ways. I grew up in rural nowhere, one of six barefoot kids running around. The thing that bugged me the most as a kid was the lack of new clothes. I wore hand-me-downs from one of my dad's coworker's kids who grew up in the 70s, and I had to wear tape on my glasses because we couldn't afford new ones. Right in the heart of the Revenge of the Nerds era.

Click to expand...

I'm not. Fucking 1%...

*shrug* I didn't grow up poor, but my mother did so she watched every cent and counted every dime and taught her kids to do the same. And now I drive my wife crazy with how cheap I am.

Didn't grow up poor because my dad busted his ass at multiple jobs and didn't spend money on stupid shit, and then when my parents got divorced my mom busted her ass at multiple jobs too.

Both my parents, and my step-parents for that matter, were Majors in the army. Mom was a prosecutor in the JAG corps, Dad was an army doc (and continues to be a doc now that he's out). The army put them through school then had them work it off. I didn't grow up poor, but my parents also did not just go buying stuff for me. I got an allowance of One dollar a week, and had to earn money for things I wanted on my own. I never went hungry or unclothed but I also learned I had to work and save for what I wanted.

Oh hey, Dave , I thought you might want to also read this relevant Cracked article, if you haven't already. Also, I suppose I wanted to necro something. Feels...odd.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things-rich-people-need-to-stop-saying/

--Patrick

Where the fuck is ThreadNecromancer at?

GasBandit said:

Both my parents, and my step-parents for that matter, were Majors in the army. Mom was a prosecutor in the JAG corps, Dad was an army doc (and continues to be a doc now that he's out). The army put them through school then had them work it off. I didn't grow up poor, but my parents also did not just go buying stuff for me. I got an allowance of One dollar a week, and had to earn money for things I wanted on my own. I never went hungry or unclothed but I also learned I had to work and save for what I wanted.

Click to expand...

Let it be known that GB just admitted to accepting welfare.

We didn't have allowances when I was a kid, or even compensation for any work we did for the family.

My mom grew up poor, but in different ways and doesn't have this mindset.

Her family couldn't take care of her, so she lived with another family and was sort of a made there.

Honestly, she is so far from the "bad canned food" thing that is almost ridiculous. I sometimes have the impression she would like to hunt down and kill the cow herself, just to get really fresh beef.

I usually got good gifts when I asked, but she would often make references for me not to needing them and wanting me to play with my old toys for forever, she like... wanted me to keep playing on the Nitendo 64 despite it being 10 years old and we lost a connector-piece thingamagib

She does like accumulate and re-use old stuff though...

In her defense, the N-64 is awesome and the games for it still hold up incredibly well.

As soon as I find a controller where the stick hasn't been ground away to a nub, I'm taking you all on in Smash Bros.

If there is one by you, I'd check out a flea market. I got two controllers in great shape for $15 total at one.

CrimsonSoul said:

Where the fuck is ThreadNecromancer at?

Click to expand...

My hands are tied. As long as the auto lock is not in place any more your threads will be over run with the long dead and gone, brought forth by any random poster at will.
I have no power to protect you from the risen threads anymore.

... and obviously it's not as much fun to necro things when anyone can do it. And I've been busy.

Green_Lantern said:

she like... wanted me to keep playing on the Nitendo 64 despite it being 10 years old and we lost a connector-piece thingamagib

Click to expand...

I can understand the connector thing, but 10 years? My siblings and I were playing Conker's Bad Fur Day and the Zelda games in 2007. Hell, I was just playing Nintendo 64 last night. Pokemon Snap, bitches.

Ravenpoe said:

As soon as I find a controller where the stick hasn't been ground away to a nub, I'm taking you all on in Smash Bros.

Click to expand...

I was one of the few people who mastered Samus in the original Smash Bros. Everyone else thought she sucked. I showed them what she could really do.

... that sounds dirty now that I write it out.

I love fighting characters that are hard to learn but are super powerful when you figure them out. Actually, I like RTS factions and FPS characters that are the same way.

bhamv3 said:

I was one of the few people who mastered Samus in the original Smash Bros. Everyone else thought she sucked. I showed them what she could really do.

... that sounds dirty now that I write it out.

Click to expand...

Really? When I was young, all my friends played as Samus.

Not me though. I was a die hard kirby user, though now I prefer Pikachu.

blotsfan said:

Really? When I was young, all my friends played as Samus.

Not me though. I was a die hard kirby user, though now I prefer Pikachu.

Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware, Samus is considered a low-tier character in the first Super Smash Bros. She's good at racking up damage, but lacks options for actually delivering the knock-out blow. Her edge guarding is also lackluster, compared to characters like Link.

So you need to play to her strengths. Position yourself and the enemy where you can maximize what knock-out moves you have, etc. Also, in 4-player battles, stay away from the action and snipe people from afar. It was hilarious to see three other guys beating each other up, and then suddenly one of them flies away because I shot him from the other side of the stage.

Kirby. All Day. Erryday.

Bowielee said:

I love fighting characters that are hard to learn but are super powerful when you figure them out. Actually, I like RTS factions and FPS characters that are the same way.

Click to expand...

Oh man. I always felt like I accomplished so much more by beating SSF with anyone but Ryu.
It was for this reason that I loved to play as Dhalsim. I knew that if I could train enough with him, mastering the teleport would make me unstoppable. Never did, though. Only managed better'n average*.

--Patrick
*Because I could never master that dang teleport.

Bowielee said:

I love fighting characters that are hard to learn but are super powerful when you figure them out. Actually, I like RTS factions and FPS characters that are the same way.

Click to expand...

I uh, played oddjob once. It made me feel like a cheater.

The_Khan said:

I uh, played oddjob once. It made me feel like a cheater.

Click to expand...

I dont know why people always complained about oddjob. If you played with the autoaim off (which we always did), all you had to do was aim a little lower and get easy headshots.

Terrik said:

I dont know why people always complained about oddjob. If you played with the autoaim off (which we always did), all you had to do was aim a little lower and get easy headshots.

Click to expand...

It's because oddjob moved faster.

On topic, I dropped a ton of cash on gifts this year. Never had it before. I feel really guilty actually. I went from growing up poor to low middle class when working as a professor, to---well, let's just say that this year I have an actual opinion about some of the financial legislature being currently discussed. I'm spending most of it on getting out the hole I got in with no summer pay for the last 5 years. (Seriously, how do other profs make it through the assistant prof years with no other income? )

fade said:

(Seriously, how do other profs make it through the assistant prof years with no other income? )

Click to expand...

Parents? Spouse?

--Patrick

Stripping?

Escorting?

The "Faculty of the Year" swimsuit calendar? This year's January features Professor Robert Hootenmeyer, who even at age 66 still keeps himself at peak physical condition, apart from the odd wrinkle or two.

Cooking illicit substances in the basement and selling it to their students?

apparently fade doesn't like the jokes we are throwing out there. maybe a little too close to home.

Who's joking?

Hey, I had to resort to selling my body.

By which I mean I entered the oil and gas business.