"What do insanely poor people buy that ordinary people know nothing about?"

[Liberal_in_LA]

Interesting threads. thousands of contributions.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2sbi17/what_do_insanely_poor_people_buy_that_ordinary/?utm_content=buffercd273&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I was so poor once that I would go to Long John Silvers and order a water and crunchies (which used to be free) then sit there and watch the people that would dine in.
It was amazing how little they ate. And then they would leave without dumping their tray off in the trash.
Fries, hushpuppies, chicken, fish... all untouched. No I didn't eat a piece that was bitten off of.
I once saw a woman order a 2 piece fish and more for her kid, that ate 1 hushpuppy and a few fries, and then left the rest of it there. It was the best I had eaten in weeks.
Glad that's behind me now.

I got a pay day loan once... I had super shitty credit at this point, was desperate for money so I could pay rent and buy food. Somehow I got approved for a loan for $4,200, which I took, stupidly, that would have cost me almost $8,000 to pay off if I paid the minimum. I didn't have a choice since I needed to make rent, buy new tires for my car, registration and smog for my car, and pay back somebody I owed $1,000 to.. It was a bad time. Luckily I was able to get somebody in the family to help me with a co-sign for a debt consolidation loan for me at a very nice low interest rate. Otherwise to this day I would still be living with and paying through the nose for a very bad mistake, but it's hard to use the word "mistake" when talking about something I didn't really have a choice on.

The point is, NEVER get a pay day loan. Find another way if you can.

Hauling food out of the dumpster at 7-11, because they threw away piles of chip bags that were a day over their expiration. (Manager caught us one day, they apparently told the employees to stab a hole in each chip bag after that. NBD, we just had to sniff each bag to make sure nothing was contaminated). Checking neighbors' trash bins - rescuing half a damn pizza some idiots had ordered the night before, then threw away after a handful of slices. Hauling in furniture from alleyways - my littlest sibling, my sister, received a twin bed mattress that had a grotesque brown stain on it, looked like someone had shit a gallon of wet feces onto it. No fucks given, we scrubbed that fucker with bleach over and over, and she slept on it for years.

And then there were times when the welfare checks or food stamps didn't arrive, and the trash bins were not producing food. I grew up in a fairly rural area. When that happened?

I know that in winter, Grey Squirrel tastes fucking gross. Sure, people from the South can claim that their brown and red squirrels are delicious, but I would rather eat shit out of a pig's ass than eat another bite of goddamn squirrel meat. Or jackrabbit. Or goddamned dandelion greens.

I guess I'm just saying that it's not what "insanely poor" people BUY, since they're insanely poor - they can't fucking afford to buy ANYTHING. You can keep the electricity and rent paid, or you can.... nope, there is not other choice. Food? Medicine? Clothing? Furnishings? Blankets? All of this is shit you can pull out of the garbage.

[Scootaloo]

1. We lived off what i managed to fish up, for a while in the mid 90's

shitty little bream and bluegills, the occasional largemouth, all coming out of a drainage canal in mobile, AL. fortunately the span where I was fishing was pretty far down from the roads, so the sand and plants at least filtered some of the crap out. But I was still stashing gross-ass fish in the freezer for MONTHS because there was nothing else.

Prepped me for living off subsistence in Alaska.

[2naSalit]

2. When I was in my teens and ten cents shy of homeless

I worked in a shoe factory for a while and a cardboard box factory and on a spray can assembly line... paid the rent but nothing else. My former school friends lived near the hovel I rented and they gave me some food every week because all I could afford was oatmeal. I cooked in old food cans and learned to like oatmeal without milk - like I had growing up. I sometimes found enough ingredients to manage a kind of poor-folk spaghetti - only because it was a red sauce with actual pasta. Back then, early 70s, many foodstuffs were pretty cheap. I lied about my age to get my SS card and jobs but I was a couple years below the legal working age.

My best friend became a waitress and brought me leftovers from the diner that she managed to hide until she closed at night too. Had I been discovered for being under age for being on my own I would have been sent to what was then called "reform school" or what we kids called "up the river".

Never ate from a dumpster or garbage can but I probably would have if there was actual food in them that was not covered in rancid grease or other nasty things I can't even imagine.

in later years of poverty I was at least in good friendships with people who had gardens who would share with me even if I didn't have time to help them work the garden as often as I wanted. I have survived for months on potatoes with nothing else.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. good to hear that people helped u when u were in need

[2naSalit]

17. There were and are...

I am thankful for that help every day. I'm still poor but I have a warm place to live and sporadic work. Seems that even when I have had to sleep in my vehicle there was someone who would help me with food or something that is helpful... including day labor of various types. When you live in a semi-depressed area most people take care of each other, at least that's what I've found over the decades.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. Back in the 80's

I went about six months having only a dollar a day for food. What started out as involuntary simplicity due to part-time employment became voluntary simplicity when I was once again gainfully employed. I wouldn't want to do that again, but if I did have to, at least I know I could handle it.

And as a bonus, now that I'm retired, I know how to be comfortable on less.

[Boxerfan]

4. I was broke and all I had was a box of bran cereal....

Not the flakes the less processed version. I ate the whole box without milk.

I had to appear in court the next day.

No

Friggin

Way

I had little razor blades coming out my backside for a while...

At least when I called the court to explain I could not make it-the lady started laughing & did not question the need for my absence.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. lol. cant help but laugh at that story

Hope things are better for u

[inanna]

7. I have just spent the past several HOURS

at the link you posted above.

I've had good times. And bad times.

I can certainly relate to some of what's been posted in that thread.

Thanks for the OP. Recommended.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. interesting stories at the link. i have bookmarked it for reading later

[woo me with science]

8. UNCONSCIONABLE in the United States of America.

We are held hostage by sociopaths pretending to be our representatives.

There is no excuse for it. None.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

28. Agree completely

[daredtowork]

37. There is another post on DU

About "what is politics"? - and I think that question has the potential to exonerate politics and politicians from the problems of poverty. I've notices that a lot of posts on poverty around here - such as SSI/SSDI-related ones - will sink without comment or rec when they are not actually under attack.

I just started reading the Trilateral Commission's "Crisis in Democracy" which someone else posted on DU. I didn't realize that the US part was largely a response to Rawls' Theory of Justice and that's when the word "inequality" re-entering US political culture. I've been wondering how people started talking about "income inequality" again without the instant stigma of "socialism/communism". Anyway, that book is written from a standpoint very much above issues of social justice and seems to regard the whole issue of government providing social safety nets as a failed experiment or a brief aberration in a larger historical pattern.

Anyway, I think there are a lot of people, even in the Democratic party, who would like to see a politics without people in it.

[ErikJ]

9. A story about the Great Depression I heard once,

and never forgotten. The police came in to evict a woman who was so poor and hungry she had her dog in the oven. Lots of people died from starvation and freezing, especially the seniors which was before social security.

[catnhatnh]

11. My dream?

I'd like to strap Mitt Romney to a gurney and clamp his eyelids open (ala Clockwork Orange) and force his entitled ass to read EVERY post at the link and then have him reconsider his campaign trail "Tales of Poverty"...

[project_bluebook]

13. Oh, rummy and his ilk know lots of Americans live in poverty

but they believe that Americas poor are better off than other poor countries so that makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

[Tsiyu]

41. I hate to say this but

there are people on DU who believe the same thing.

Recently, I was told by two DU posters that if I had a toilet and was not reduced to eating human flesh, I was not poor.

What can you say to that? If that's what America is reduced to, I give up.

And you're correct, because nothing you can say will move these people. Save the typing for people who have eyes to see.


Read that reddit thread in op when it was fresh, and it was very telling. There are so many poor out there, but many are too ashamed to admit how bad it really is unless they can do so anonymously.

But as long as they have a porcelain throne, and aren't having bbq'd next-door-neighbor kebabs for supper, they'd only be told they aren't really poor, even by some here.

[WinkyDink]

20. Force him to READ?! You've got Romney where you want him, and all he has to do is READ?! I'D make

him LIVE THOSE STORIES, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.

[progressoid]

23. As a sociopath, Romney would probably enjoy it.

[forest444]

12. You are a BRAVE soul, Liberal in LA

Others have contributed their tales of woe, so here's mine:

Some three decades ago, my father was a T.A. working toward his PhD. His Doctorate Program Adviser (euphemism for academic feudal lord, as anyone who's gone through graduate school can attest) "liked" my father because his talent as a mathematician -and his habit of making him ghost-write papers for him- had yielded the fat bastard a million-dollar-a-year federal grant.

One day my father had enough, and submitted a paper under his own name. Well, we certainly paid for it: when he received his next monthly pay stub, it said simply: WAGES THIS PAY PERIOD.......0.00.

Keep in mind he earned $13,000 a year (1986 dollars, but still), and that his Graduate School tuition was coming out of that paycheck. Since our family was not helping us, we had, as you might expect, no savings to speak of.

Fortunately, it was just four of us: parents and two small kids. My sister and I were receiving free lunches at school (during which I developed my enduring taste for hush puppies), and my mom could - and still can - make practically anything from scratch; I can still taste the fritters and turnovers.

We were lucky. We lived in low-rent, but decent graduate student housing (since demolished), so that just left my father's tuition - which, thank goodness, was paid for by a professor from a different department that barely knew my father, but had heard of our plight.

They do say angels walk among us. May we always have at least one.

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. that storyis both sad and hopeful

Hopeful because someone helped your father in time of great need

[forest444]

22. Couldn't have said it better

I should mention that my father paid him back after he graduated, and they became good friends. His friend passed away in 1994.

Above all, I'm happy those days are behind you. Here's to turning lemons into lemonade, my friend.

[inanna]

14. Kick

[inanna]

15. I was seventeen when I left home

and very poor. Not really mature enough at that point to be on my own, but circumstances being what they were... I had no other option. It was sink or swim and so I grew up a LOT in a very short period of time.

I really learned how to stretch a dollar, and that knowledge has served me well - even once things improved.

Those cheap frozen meat pies? They were a gourmet feast for me. My Grandma used to buy me scores of them when they were on sale. I still love 'em. Learned to stock up on tuna when it was on sale. Same with peanut butter and eggs. Learned there were a lot of things I didn't need - even though I may have wanted them. Example: fabric softener is nice, but certainly not a priority when broke.

I had a little calico cat at the time: I quickly learned to put the cat before myself - a major switch from what I'd been like before (me selfish me). So kitty always had food - even if the rest of the cupboards were in a very sorry state.

I have never forgotten those lean days. Don't suppose I ever will.

[daredtowork]

16. Even those who KNOW you are poor, "suggest" you buy stuff

I've stopped bothering with the correcting and explaining.

I get fairly overwhelmed by appointments so 2 different helpful advice-givers this week suggested I buy an organizer. One described the expensive stationary store where she got hers. I think both will be watching me closely to see if I'm improving my life and getting more organized by following their advice.

You know what would have helped? A lovely present of an organizer! I'm sure it would have be nothing to either one of them.

[ladyVet]

34. You don't need to buy an organizer, you can make one!

There are all kinds of links to show you how to set one up, and many places with free printable pages. Heck, I've made one with just plain paper that I draw lines on for different things. My printer hasn't worked in a long time, so I had to improvise.

Sure, I look longingly at all those sites with the colored pens and pencils, the washi tape and stickers, but you don't need that. It makes it look pretty, but just to have stuff written down so you can remember it is what counts. Even some paper taped or pinned to the wall will work as a calendar!

[daredtowork]

35. haha, yes - I'm into the idea of making books, too!

I'm just giving an example of people who should know you have no spending money thoughtlessly advising you to buy stuff.

I was at the doctor's office yesterday, and I asked why doctors would prescribe Tramadol for me but not Ultracet (Tramadol/Acetaminophen) when that was lower impact, and I had been asking for prescribed Tylenol instead of Tramadol. She told me the exact same thing she told me the last visit - Tylenol only "costs a few dollars". She misses the whole point of why I'm asking her to prescribe it - I'm trying to save that few dollars.

[central scrutinizer]

18. "stab a hole in each chip bag"

Our local grocery chain sprinkles bleach inside their dumpsters to deter dumpster divers.

[progressoid]

24. Dumpsters around here are either locked or

those kind that attach to the building so it can only be accessed from the inside.

[FLPanhandle]

19. A couple of things to add from my rough days

Cafeteria coffee lines were a good bet. You could fill a cup of coffee at one spot, drink as much as possible before getting to the cream so there was more room for the nutritious cream.

A almost full cup of cream for .25 was a live saver.

I worked in college as a bartender and could eat one meal at work. Two days off might mean two days without food. Neighbors and friends were a huge lifeline.

I almost quit school a few times thinking I couldn't get keep living like that up, but made it.

I still remember the coffee trick though.

[ChosenUnWisely]

25. Yeah the bad times suck paying weekly rent at shithole hotels, eating ramin and pasta 3 times

a day, payday loans, hocking the wife's engagement ring just to make it 2 weeks(yes I got it back), losing utilities all the time because no money for the bill, a repo once and a bankruptcy just to name a few of the sucky times in my life. Even when things sucked I was thankful for what I did have because others have to worse.

It sucks but you learn from it or should.

[JaneyVee]

26. I don't even wanna relive some of what I've been through poverty wise..

Super glad that is all behind me now.

[Initech]

27. If you haven't seen it, John Oliver totally dismantled the payday loan industry:

I've been there though, but don't want to take out a payday loan after watching that. I am seriously though looking at debt consolidation and have found some pretty good options.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

29. I knew a payday loan guy who bragged he was opening shops next to military installations

and when I called him on it, taking advantage of our troops and their families, he was shocked, he didnt understand why anyone would be against him profiting off our troops and their families.

I suspect he is a teapartier now

[ChosenUnWisely]

40. Tattoo Joints, Gun shops, Rent to Own stores, payday loan places and fast food joints

are pretty much all that is around bases there days and a WalMart is also usually close by too.

[Thinkingabout]

30. To have to struggle some in life builds a strong foundation. Always have been able

To produce food, takes work and effort but rewarding in the end. Helps to know it takes sweat to accomplish but doable. Makes it easier to stash away some dollars for the next hard time coming.

[Paulie]

31. K/R

[Jamastiene]

32. It is amazing how much "garbage" is not really garbage at all.

You are so right about that. You scrounge and survive the best way you can. Most people don't get so fussy at you if it is the garbage you are picking through. Most cannot even look you in the eye if they see you dumpster diving. They are afraid they will see the truth, that they could be there too, so easily.

[Recursion]

33. "Their own paychecks". Bank of America now charges people to cash a B of A check

if they don't hold an account. In fact, they charge more than a lot of the sketchy check-cashing places.

[daredtowork]

36. Wells Fargo does, too.

$7 - a pretty hefty chunk if the check is small.

[Recursion]

38. Holy crap AYFKM?

Even B of A was a flat $5 fee. That's appalling.

[ChosenUnWisely]

39. I had an insurance check drawn on BofA so I go to cash it and they wanted $10 to cash it

Hello it is a check drawn from YOUR bank not mine, I just want my money, after going round and round with them to the bemusement of some other customers too. Another manager came up and said that the insurance company has a deal or something with BofA that there is no fee to cash a check from them.

So I got my cash and the next day went back to the same BofA with my partner who just so happened to have a BofA CC, we then went up to the manager and dumped on the desk, cut up in lots of little pieces CC and said I am closing my CC account. The manager actually asked, why!

My partner actually said 'You have got to be fucking kidding me!" so she said 'spite'. 5 minutes later we were out of there and will never set foot in or will do business with BofA ever again