What's the Poorest You've Ever Been?

Question

Were you too poor to buy food? Have housing? Do you think it made you appreciate what you have today? I know I sure do! Everyday, I am thankful that we no longer live in a ghetto neighborhood! Do you guys have an insights on what it's like to be poor? Do you think it's made you a better person to live through it? What are you doing to get yourself out of poverty? Do you think there is more that the government could do, if so what?

And I know inevitably there will be some moron on here that says "get a job" or "stop mooching off welfare". If you don't answer the question, I report you. It's that simple. I don't appreciate close-minded fools giving dumba** answers that have no idea what it's like to be broke as f*ck.

Answer 1

when i first got married to my husband three years ago, he was negative $1000 in the bank, on top of tons of credit card bills, etc.
luckily he is in the army, and we got housing(which is free, with free electric, water, trash, etc.) on post. all we had to worry about was food, gas, and our other bills. we didn't have a telephone, computer, or cable. we only had one car, and i got pregnant one month later. it really sucked, but i got on WIC, which i believe is an excellent program, and it helped out a lot. medical is free for army and their immediate family, so we didn't have to worry about that either.
our friends helped us a lot and we sloooowly got out of the hole. my hubby deployed from jan. 05-jan. 06 and we paid off all debts and was even able to have a little extra left over. it was really great to finally be able to go to the grocery store and not have to count change to buy food.
i hate being broke, but now i am very thrifty and try hard to keep us financially in line. i never want to go back to where we were before...that was a very bad time for us. right now, just having the internet is a luxury to me! even if i had loads of money to blow, i don't think i ever could. i like having the comfort of knowing i have something to fall back on later when i need it. i treasure everthing i buy. ;-)

Answer 2

At one time I was living in my car and parking in a hospital parking lot for sleep. I used the hospital bathroom to try to clean myself daily. I would eat 1 .59 hamburger a day and that was all. I had been falsely accused of embezelment at my prior job. Couldnt find another until the whole mess was cleared up some 11 months later when someone else finally confessed. Yes it does make me appreciate everyday now not just for the material things that I have but for being strong enough to get through that situation. And just knowing that I do have a strong fighting spirit that I can make it through anything. Any problems that might come along now are nothing compared to those months. I had too much pride to ask the government for help but there a multitude of resources out there. One just needs to be patient when asking for government help. Oh, by the way, my job after all of this was working for the Welfare Dept as an eligibility worker. Now whenever a homeless person comes up to me and tells me they havent eaten in 2 days I will offer to buy them a combo meal at a fast food joint. If they tell me they would rather have cash, they lose out. One thing for sure it really did f**k with my mind during that time. I can understand how the homeless can get a little weird especially those who have been out there for years.

Answer 3

When I moved to Vegas, the company I worked for went out of business about 6 months after I started, and I was having a hard time finding work because of the fact that THAT job was all I had for work history at that time. I had a roommate who was nice enough to cover rent, but sometimes our power would get cut off, or one time we were so broke that we didn't have food for a few days, so we went down the the 7-11 and asked if people would give us a quarter to use the phone until we got enough to buy food. That was bad, I remember sitting in a job interview and my stomach started growling, the guy interveiwing me was like "are you OK?"

Today I have a very good paying stable job, and it was until I saw this question that I realized how much I take everything I have for granted...

seconds and inches... thats the only thing that kept me from being like that again

Answer 4

When I was seventeen I went on independent living. I was in a severe depression and would not keep a job. I was so broke and had no family I felt I could turn to that I went to the food bank and was on food stamps. I could barely afford to do my own laundry. I had no credit cards so I had no access to borrowing. Being broke was not just needing money for me, I was emotionally spent as well. I was down in a pit and felt I could not crawl out of it. I eventually grew up and learned not to let my upbringing and bad things control how I live my life. I have never been "well to do" but I certainly appreciate what I have now and I have learned to work for what I got and be thankful that I can work. I was thankful then that I could get foodstamps, but I think it should be more scrutinized in who they give it too and I think they should make sure it's being used to buy food, not pop or candy. It should be more accessible to those with disibilities who really need it to survive.

Answer 5

My family immigrated from the Former Soviet Union as Jewish refugees. However, we were swindled by our own family that helped to bring us here and they took the money that was meant for us, a substantial amount that was supposed to get us on our feet. They used that money to start a large company that eventually failed after a few years (talk about karma!). My parents were terrified. They were in a new country. They were just starting to speak the language (my sister could speak a little English, but I knew none). My grandmother was also with us. My mother practically carried our family on her back. She was the one who helped us through it all. Often times, we did not even have enough food for everyone so my parents would give the food to my sister and I.

Even though both my parents were college educated (my mother has a masters in Computer science and my father has a bachelors in engineering), they had to do manual labor for a long time before they could get jobs that actually paid well and used their skills. That was probably the hardest time in our lives. We got all of our clothing donated and our furniture was donated as well. In the Ukraine, I was used to getting dolls and toys for the New Year. The first year that we came, I got 99 cent markers. That was all my parents could afford to give me.

Now I am happy to say that we are truly living the American dream, all due to my mother's strength *knocks on wood like the superstitious Ukrainian that I am*. This is really the greatest country in the world.

Answer 6

Thank you for your question.
When I first got sick and had to go on disability all the money I had was going to the co-pays for all the doctors. I had to get food stamps as it took 2 years before the Social Security started. I never got truly scared until this month when my bank account was frozen because a *^$*(#@## gave me two bad checks and then disapeared. I couldn't get any money until the 3rd of next month. Fortunately the police put out a warrant and I am not liable so they unfroze it now. But during that time I had to get emergency food boxes from churches and a convent.
It is very scary to not be able to get food ! The more hungry you get the less clearly you can think and figure out what to do.
People REALLY do need to HELP EACH OTHER.

Answer 7

The poorest Iv'e ever been is when the last Hurricane hit my town. Hurricane Wilma. I was out of work for 2 weeks, and I have a 2 year old son. I found myself digging through dirty jeans in my hamper, and under couch cushions in order to buy my kid some milk. I managed to come up with about $6, and I was surprised of that much. I begged my family for $, but they were in the same boat as me. Sometimes it feels that I can never gat ahead. I don't live in a "ghetto" neighborhood, but guess what? Broke is broke, it does not discriminate.My only drive to move forward is my beautiful son. He doesn't care about what car I drive, clothes I wear, he only knows that he loves me.

Answer 8

From ages 5-7, I lived in a camper with my parents. Not a trailer, a *camper*. The kind of thing meant for a weekend, not a life. On a campground. I had to lie about living at my aunt's house to go to school--she let us use her address--otherwise, I would have been classed as a transient and also not allowed to go. I could never have friends over. We never really starved, but we did eat noodles and generic canned food most of the time, and I thought of name-brand soda as a huge luxury. I really appreciate how hard my mother worked to get us out of that.

Answer 9

Welfare is there to give a hand when needed. I have been there and just now coming out of the hole I was in. I spent almost a year without a job after I moved back to my home town. Lost both my cars and almost my house.
I am now working again. The main thing that helped us was family and prayer.

Answer 10

As a child I remember no running water in the house and an out house that was cold in the winter. The govt provided some food though. I still remeber grandma's potato soup