# Times that you were like really really poor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 2, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715 "2015-09-02T16:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arrogant\_B\_st\_rd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cdc98d/32.png) [@Arrogant\_B\_st\_rd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogant_B_st_rd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/1 "2015-09-02T16:08:59Z")
Lately, I have been looking back on times when I was very poor. I’ve come a long way, but I try not to forget about my hard times in the past. I was so poor that… -I drank Scope to get drunk. That’s what you call the real peppermint schnapps. -I used a gym as an apartment, sort of. I hung around all day watching TV, sitting on stationary bikes. Slept on a yoga mat in the pilates studio at night. Showered in the morning in the locker room. -I took a double dose of Adderall to kill my appetite so I wouldn’t eat as much. Great way to save food and money. -I would go around any device that took change to find dropped coins. -Walked around banks hopefully to catch money flying in the wind. On occasion, people would lose grip counting money while exiting the bank, on windy days. -I would go to bible studies, even though I wasn’t religious any more. Snacks were usually served. On lucky days, they ordered pizza or Chinese. -I would make rounds at grocery stores eating samples of food. -Hung around high limit areas at casinos. Sometimes generous people would win a lot of money and give away a couple of dollars to anyone near by. -I would use the Amtrak train as a hotel. I took the earliest train slept on the way to my destination. Showered at a public pool or used a guest pass at community centers, once I got in town. And, on the way home I again would take the earliest train and sleep on the way home. -I couldn’t afford to buy weapons to defend myself. So, I created homemade weapons. I made a shank. I tied a ice pick to a broken piece of a broomstick handle. Were you really poor? Are you currently really poor? Share your stories and tips. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/2 "2015-09-02T16:13:49Z")
Does exchanging sexual favors for drugs count? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/3 "2015-09-02T16:33:53Z")
I’m skeptical of the following: > [@Arrogant\_B\_st\_rd](#): > > -I drank Scope to get drunk. That’s what you call the real peppermint schnapps. > > -Walked around banks hopefully to catch money flying in the wind. On occasion, people would lose grip counting money while exiting the bank, on windy days. > > -Hung around high limit areas at casinos. Sometimes generous people would win a lot of money and give away a couple of dollars to anyone near by. I have spent a lot of time in casinos, and a fair amount of time near banks on windy days. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/4 "2015-09-02T17:02:54Z")
See, this is why you’re poor. Crappy economic sense. Scope, at 15% alcohol, costs $3.49 for 16.9 ounces, or $1.40 per ounce of pure ethanol. If you can buy a 750 ml bottle of 80 proof vodka for less than $13.77 you’ll get much more ethanol for the money. I hope this helps. I’ve never been so poor I couldn’t afford math. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/5 "2015-09-02T17:19:08Z")
And if you can afford Adderall, you can afford food. Heck, if you’re that broke, go to the local high school or college and sell it. No, not really. That’s massively illegal. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/6 "2015-09-02T17:25:10Z")
I was once so poor I couldn’t afford to pay attention. In reality - I do remember the days of a .76cent paycheck due to child support and donating plasma to afford food. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/7 "2015-09-02T17:35:11Z")
The best place I know to hunt spare change is under a drive-thru window. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/8 "2015-09-02T17:35:16Z")
I was so poor, I lived in a rolled up piece of newspaper in a ditch. And I was thankful! Kids these days… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/9 "2015-09-02T17:36:13Z")
I used to get paid $125 (take home) every two weeks. My rent at the time was $120 a month. So one paycheck went for that and I had the other paycheck to cover all my other expenses; mainly food, gas, car payments, and car insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/10 "2015-09-02T18:03:11Z")
The USA really is a third world country, just one with a LOT of wealthy and rich people in it. None of this would happen in the Netherlands. A friend of mine was homeless for a year before she worked up the courage to ask social services for help. In that year, she lived with her kids with her mom in a one bedroom appartment. She had food, stuff, kids had school, she just slept on a matress on the ground. After she went to social services, they got her a small three bedroom house and enough money to live on, and in return she had to get a three day a week volunteer job during school hours. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/11 "2015-09-02T18:08:28Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I was so poor, I lived in a rolled up piece of newspaper in a ditch. And I was thankful! > > Kids these days… A newspaper? Luxury! Our entire family lived in a crack in the pavement. And we were glad to have that. But you tell this to kids today they just don’t believe you. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/12 "2015-09-02T18:13:22Z")
Generic boxed macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles. I fed myself on about 30 cents a day. I remember standing outside a Hardee’s that was advertising 49 cent hamburgers and thinking how much I wished I had 49 cents. When I met the people who would become my mother and father in law, I was wearing Converse Chuck Taylors with holes worn through the soles, thankfully they saw past my appearance! ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/13 "2015-09-02T18:28:33Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > The best place I know to hunt spare change is under a drive-thru window. Bar parking lots in the early morning can sometimes get you a good haul, too. 😃 And they don’t send an employee to sweep up after closing. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/14 "2015-09-02T18:29:08Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The USA really is a third world country, just one with a LOT of wealthy and rich people in it. None of this would happen in the Netherlands. A friend of mine was homeless for a year before she worked up the courage to ask social services for help. In that year, she lived with her kids with her mom in a one bedroom appartment. She had food, stuff, kids had school, she just slept on a matress on the ground. > > After she went to social services, they got her a small three bedroom house and enough money to live on, and in return she had to get a three day a week volunteer job during school hours. Apples to oranges, but it seems your answer is that you don’t have a time when you were really poor, but you had a friend that slept on mattress in a one bedroom apartment, when she was really poor, because in the Netherlands, that is as poor as it gets, whereas in the highly comparable United States, you can actually need to sleep on a train. Or something like that. In my poorest state, I ate 500 calories a day, usually tuna out of a can, and was more concerned about asking anyone for help than anything else. Being poor was a social condition in which I withdrew from just about everyone, because people suck when it comes time to do anything other than say, “Oh, it’ll be alright. Everything happens for a reason.” Also, having no friends and no social life was very cost efficient. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/15 "2015-09-02T18:42:41Z")
Back in the day I sold my blood and serum. I used a fake name/ID at one location so that I could sell more often than they allowed. After finishing, I’d chat up the staff so that I could drink more juice and eat a few more pastries. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/16 "2015-09-02T18:42:44Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > A newspaper? Luxury! Our entire family lived in a crack in the pavement. And we were glad to have that. > > But you tell this to kids today they just don’t believe you. A crack in the pavement? We _dreamed_ of having a crack in the pavement! My family shared space with two other families on the leeward side of a porta-potty and considered ourselves lucky to have it! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/17 "2015-09-02T18:53:36Z")
Hah! I lived under a rich man’s toilet for a year studying “trickle down” economics! I changed majors and never looked back, or up, again. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/18 "2015-09-02T19:46:54Z")
As a rich man threads like these remind me of how awesome I am for letting the poor live in my toilets. I love helping people. I make sure to eat lots of corn and peanuts so they can eat healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/19 "2015-09-02T19:49:23Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Bar parking lots in the early morning can sometimes get you a good haul, too. 😃 And they don’t send an employee to sweep up after closing. Yeah, drunks sometimes will pull wadded up bills out of their pockets with their car keys. Get there at first light for the best chance. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/20 "2015-09-02T21:15:51Z")
For a summer my diet primarily consisted of Spagehtti-O’s and leftovers from running the grill at a college club’s weekly cookout. Made for a great weight loss plan. After five cans of Spagehtti-O’s in a week they are just disgusting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715.md?page=2)