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[ SECRET POST #2394 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2394 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 038 secrets from Secret Submission Post #342.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
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1. Contrary to childhood belief, bread with butter and sprinkled with sugar is not, in fact, a common, awesome dessert.

2. You feel weird when people talk about buying movies they've never seen as soon as they drop.

3. As an adult, even when your checking account hasn't dropped below $1,000 for something like a year, you still can't stomach the thought of signing up for automatic bill-pay for ANYTHING, because what if you need to be late on that bill for some reason some day?

I had more when I was thinking about this thread, but that was yesterday and I didn't write them down. What are yours?

- all the other kids go somewhere during summer break, but you stay home
- you learn all about buying things on discount
- you only get new clothes and shoes when you absolutely outgrow your current ones or if they're damaged beyond repair
- eating out is a rare, rare treat
- your friends allowance is at least ten times bigger than yours, the times you have one at all

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 01:14 (UTC) - Expand

lol

1. You can no longer stomach eating ramen noodles

2. It's still weird having food around all month

3. Generic Kool-Aid brand knockoff isn't juice

4. Getting more than one or two presents on Christmas feels weird

I didn't grow up poor, but I am now so I have some of the same psychological issues related to money.

You never throw away food. If the bread is a bit moldy, you just cut that part off. If it's dry and hard as a rock, you soak it in milk.

Who needs latest electronics? Even if you can easily afford it, you won't buy a new TV to replace the 20-year old you currently have. It works just fine.

When you are walking, you keep looking for empty bottles.

you feel mad at people for saying shit like "it's ONLY $25" no matter how much you have in the bank

Re: Signs you grew up poor

anonymouslyyours - 2013-07-24 00:47 (UTC) - Expand

moms, dads, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, any combination of those sleeping together in the same room is nbd and not weird at all

--Still thinking Denny's is an "expensive restaurant"
--Being blissed out whenever you eat fast food because it used to be "too expensive" ("WOW I'M EATING A WHOLE EXTRA VALUE MEAL WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE" "I HAVE THIS PERSONAL PAN PIZZA AND I DON'T EVEN NEED TO SHARE IT!!!")
--Spending surprise money ASAP on Fun Things in the fear it will somehow summon surprise Normal Expenses and vanish into nothingness
--Being extremely impressed whenever you get a present no matter how cheap
--Telling people who give you presents "It's too much!" and trying to pay them back for them

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 01:39 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

elialshadowpine - 2013-07-24 07:58 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 10:43 (UTC) - Expand

- frantic paranoia about my bank

- the constant idea that at any moment your income will be gone and you'll be on the street. So frugal now, storing money just in case.

- realising as an adult that we didn't have desert/treats often 'cause couldn't afford it

- apparently hot water bottles are the poor person's heating. I thought everyone had one

- hoarding canned foods in bulk when there's sales. just in case

- frugal/thrifty buying even though (i am now) financially stable and could afford better

- ridiculous levels of bargain hunting

- get very stressed or upset when making larger purchases for entertainment because I feel I can't afford it

you don't think in terms of money. you think in terms of 'what am I potentially giving up to pay for this? is it worth it?' even if you're not giving up anything. it's usually not worth it.

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 00:53 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

thene - 2013-07-24 01:41 (UTC) - Expand

room partitioned three times by bed sheets and an old mattress is not what other people mean when they say they have their own room

Buying stuff on sale/with coupons feels like a natural instinct

When the power goes out, your first thought is that you forgot to pay the electricity bill - not that lightning hit a tower or a car ran into a hydro pole or something

the only vacations you had were either camping, or a 3-10 hour drive to see relatives. Or, you actually won a trip somewhere (I won a trip to Hollywood when I was like 12).

You have only two pairs of jeans there the only you've had for ten years, and you consider this perfectly normal because there are no holes in them, and they still fit great. Nearly everyone around you who finds out about this is all o_O.... Does that count?

It still shocks you that people think of going to the theater a relatively frequent outing.

You own more furniture from hand me downs and yard sales than you've ever bought new in your life, and you are very proud of this. (20 dollar entertainment center last year, new ten dollar computer chair this year! 8D)

My Mom, much worse off than I ever was as a kid told me about going shopping with Dad once right after they married. She needed new underwear, but after seeing all the stuff Dad was buying was going to put them back. It took Dad like fifteen minutes to convince her it was ok, and not to put the underwear back. Then Grandma took her clothes shopping about a week later and she just about died from sticker shock at the store Grandma took her to.

Edited 2013-07-24 01:32 (UTC)

- You realize that it was not that your family were health nuts, but the processed/packaged food was too expensive, so they cooked all the time (and you still do)
- The day-olds shelf at the grocery is like stumbling upon Christmas in Jul
- You have never ever ever lived in a house that did not require at least one massive piece of repairwork (i.e., roof, plumbing, electrical) that never got done
- You have ever lived, for any amount of time, in a campground or trailer park
- When people discuss the comfort foods of their childhood you get odd looks for saying Kraft Dinner and Vienna Sausages (see 1. above) because that was a special treat
- Instead of playing with expensive storebought toys, your playground was the great (or not so great if you were living in the city) outdoors

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 00:56 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

kaileighblue - 2013-07-24 21:07 (UTC) - Expand

1. Being excited about new clothes, even though they're not new, just hand-me-downs from your cousins or mom's friends.
2. Sharing beds during the winter

-As an immigrant your parents would always compare your current currency to the currency back home. Parents freaking out that your new video game can buy 5 bags of rice, a lot of vegetables or even a donkey.
-Washing zip loc bags and reusing them
-Walk back to grocery store because they accidentally scanned a two dollar item twice
-$15 jeans are you kidding me
-Never turning on the heater in the winter unless you really have to and everyone is walking around with a comforter
-Always thinking that you'll probably get that item cheaper on ebay/amazon

Edited 2013-07-24 01:10 (UTC)

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 01:18 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

thene - 2013-07-24 01:43 (UTC) - Expand

threads like these make you go impulse buy something because it reminds you that you can actually do that now and nobody is going to stop you.

-refusing to pay full price for anything/bargain hunting to the point you come home empty-handed
-still owning and wearing clothes from years and years ago
-your natural instinct is to stay home when friends want to do something that costs money even when you're financially able to participate now
-cutting out/hanging up pictures of pretty clothes in magazines because you know you'll never buy them

Playing dress-up in nice stores on your birthday but not buying anything.
Knowing the cheapest place to get anything in your area, down to the penny. Doing your grocery shopping at 4+ different stores/markets.
Not knowing any 90s movies or cable shows. Finding nostalgia fandoms v confusing.
Never having been to a hair salon.
Refilling the same plastic water bottle every day for months because who buys flasks.

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 01:59 (UTC) - Expand

Half of your food still comes from growing it yourself.
The other half comes from trapping or hunting it.

Having to live in the family/dining room because you didn't have a room where you lived.
th
Having to share a fold out couch with different family members because you didn't have room/couldn't afford another bed.

"It's just..." irritates you because what if you need it to pay bills later?

You *still* own a TV older than you are - with no plans on "upgrading" to a new one.

Even though I get a steady paycheck every 1st and 15th, I still can't let the utility companies do automatic billpay. I just...I can't.

- Have panic attacks every time you check your bank balance in the small space of time between hitting enter after your password and when the numbers load on the screen because you KNOW you JUST KNOW you fucked up and all your money's gone, no matter how good you've been doing

- Realize the reason you didn't get the toys you wanted when you were younger wasn't because you weren't the "right gender" for them, but because your parents were going hungry so you could eat. Immediately feel guilty for stupidly shunning the toys they DID manage to get you.

- Throw random things into your shopping cart while grocery shopping because buying whatever you want makes you feel better, but then spend 15 minutes putting things back because you just KNOW you're going to spend too much because really who spends more than $50 on groceries for two people for two weeks (protip: almost everyone that has steady, well-paying jobs like you)

- Have panic attacks whenever a "for fun" purchase is over $50 because can you really afford that and do you really need that I mean really think of how many dinners that buys!

- But have no trouble spending whatever on your family/friends because you know they aren't doing well and you want to make them happy with nice things

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 02:39 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 12:30 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 23:07 (UTC) - Expand

Feeling guilty and crying over the cost of medicine even though you know you need it to get better.

Having to wait months for the video release of movies instead of taking the whole family to the theatres now because you compared the cost of tickets + concession to how much people you can feed instead with that money.

1. A completely full fridge still looks really strange to you.

2. Not only movies, you refuse to buy anything on release day, or release month, or even release year, because seriously, it will still be just as great after waiting awhile, along with being way cheaper. Correlation: All of your electronics are at least year out of date.

3. You buy clothes according to how many years they'll last you and how many varied uses you can get out of them, and almost never just for one occasion. (Wedding dress? Pah! If I buy a regular classy dress in a flattering shade of cream, I can wear it after the wedding, too!)

4. The concept of a vacation eludes you. Sleeping in is a vacation. Having all the bills paid at once is a vacation.

5. As an adult, you are still intimate with the workings of your local library system, because you never know when you can't pay your internet bill anymore for movie and music streaming, and ebooks.

6. Your home is full of empty boxes and plastic bags because you always reuse them.

7. You always, always, always, get buyer's remorse for anything that isn't a critical necessity.

Just wanted to note that quite a few of the signs noted by various people in this thread may also be indications that you've been poor for some time, even if you grew up relatively well-off.

Just Sayin'

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 05:14 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Signs you grew up poor

(Anonymous) - 2013-07-24 07:07 (UTC) - Expand

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