# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/41 "2015-09-03T13:25:56Z")
I was homeless in NYC in my early twenties. I used to go into a cheap restaurant, use their bathroom to wash up, and then take any food that was left at an empty table. More recently, I lived on the government’s dime and found out the cheapest things in life are food (EBT & church give aways), books (the local library has cheap books, and a free shelf) and clothes (the local women’s center has a free closet). ---
**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 3, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/42 "2015-09-03T13:49:17Z")
As usual you guys are cracking me up and now I feel kind of bad for starting the responses off on such a bummer note (it’s only half true anyway:D ). Let’s see, I’ve done the diet of ramen and rice thing, washed my clothes by hand in the bathtub, slept in public places such as airports, parks, my car and one time, for about four days, in a guy’s closet. In more recent years I’ve had to purchase gas in gallon increments, often paying with change. Today, I don’t have a ton but when I look back at some of the places I’ve been I feel positively wealthy (and grateful as hell). ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/43 "2015-09-03T14:57:01Z")
> [@Arrogant\_B\_st\_rd](#): > > -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’m not sure I understand this. Doesn’t it cost actual money to ride Amtrak? ---
**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 3, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/44 "2015-09-03T15:01:38Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I remember standing in the grocery store \*agonizing \*over whether I wanted to get a chicken pot pie or a turkey pot pie. I preferred the turkey version, but it cost twenty cents more than the chicken. I _still_ agonize, though it’s not an issue anymore. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/45 "2015-09-03T15:49:23Z")
I did a lot of survival dumpster diving as a child and developed radar for which adults were willing to actually help out a child in need and which ones were predators looking to exploit poor children. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/46 "2015-09-03T16:07:17Z")
When I was a kid, every winter, we played “Little House on the Prairie”. This meant that we could only eat foods that would have been available to the Ingalls family. Mom made it a game so as not to upset us kids (though my sister figured it out), but the reason was because she couldn’t afford both an ordinary food budget and heating the house. We kept on getting turned down for food stamps because the social services workers couldn’t believe that a woman with a master’s degree could possibly be under the poverty line. That’s Catholic school teaching for you. Eventually, we did get food stamps, and Mom was excited that with so much surplus, she could stock up for when they got canceled again… and that was just when we started hosting a Vietnamese refugee family, and fed nine people on stamps meant for four. Despite all of this, we were never actually in any real hardship, because Mom was very, very good at living within her (extremely limited) means. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/47 "2015-09-03T17:17:32Z")
I used to be so broke, I couldn’t even spend time! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/48 "2015-09-03T17:48:10Z")
> [@Arrogant\_B\_st\_rd](#): > > 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. Dubious. ---
**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 3, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/49 "2015-09-03T19:09:26Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Dubious. But, he had an ice pick on a broomstick! A broken broomstick! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/50 "2015-09-03T20:42:23Z")
There have been times where I had to figure out how I was getting to work the until my next paycheck, because there was no money for gas. Along the same lines I have paid for gas with change scrounged from under the seats, just to get home. Another time we were, among other things, within a week of having our house auctioned on the courthouse steps. Something always happened to get us through. I choose to credit Devine Intervention. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/51 "2015-09-04T06:18:35Z")
[This guy](http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw187784/George-Alexander-Cassady-Devine?LinkID=mp52166&role=sit&rNo=0) showed up and helped you out? Incredible! ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/52 "2015-09-04T06:48:55Z")
I opened this thread because I’ve been really poor in the past. Turns out _my_ definition of poor doesn’t quite make the grade. And I thank my lucky stars that I live in a country that has income support, subsidized housing and other welfare measures for those down on their luck. kam ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/53 "2015-09-04T07:26:11Z")
Spending the night in a cardboard recycling dumpster in the winter while chilling rain came down in buckets. It wasn’t pleasant, but survival was paramount at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/54 "2015-09-04T07:39:14Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I opened this thread because I’ve been really poor in the past. > > Turns out _my_ definition of poor doesn’t quite make the grade. > > And I thank my lucky stars that I live in a country that has income support, subsidized housing and other welfare measures for those down on their luck. > > kam I am not sure of where you live, but lately I give the my opinion to some select folks… “Today - right at this very moment, everything you have is gone. What would you do?” “I would go the the ATM and arrange a motel room until…” “Nope, your car is gone, your job is kaput, no family, you are out on the street with nothing - no cash - no ID - no one to call - no one” I get a lot of blank stares. BTDT. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/55 "2015-09-04T07:58:59Z")
You know what is good? (I know it is a USA thingie) but a peanut butter sandwich and Kraft Marconi and cheese. It kept me alive. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/56 "2015-09-04T08:28:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > When did you find it necessary to use a shank? Obviously you’ve never defended a PhD thesis. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/57 "2015-09-05T02:55:23Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I opened this thread because I’ve been really poor in the past. > > Turns out _my_ definition of poor doesn’t quite make the grade. > > And I thank my lucky stars that I live in a country that has income support, subsidized housing and other welfare measures for those down on their luck. > > kam But here in the United States we have welfare. We have food stamps. We have subsidized housing. We have food banks that give away food. We have shelters where people can stay. We have churches that serve meals to people in need. We have medical care for the broke. We have old age pensions. We have disability pensions. We have unemployment insurance. Lots of people also have friends and family where, if your house burns down, you can go stay with them for a while. But lots of the programs are only available to certain people. Like unemployment insurance is only available to people who lose their job through no fault of their own. Food stamps depends on income. Disability depends on getting a doctor to call you disabled. All these various programs require various hoops to jump through. You have to ask for them, for one. You have to qualify for many of them. You have it together enough to know to ask for them. And so on. Others require you to humble yourself. To get free food from the food bank you have to go stand in line with all the other people getting free food from the food bank, and it makes you feel like a loser, so you’d rather not if you don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/58 "2015-09-05T03:24:11Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > But, he had an ice pick on a broomstick! > > A broken broomstick! You know, if I ever saw someone walking around with a shank tied on to the end of a busted broomstick, “That guy must be poor!” wouldn’t be one of my first thoughts. :eek: ---
**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 5, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/59 "2015-09-05T03:41:25Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I’m not sure I understand this. Doesn’t it cost actual money to ride Amtrak? Sure. But who thinks about that when you’re riding a Scope high? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715/60 "2015-09-05T03:53:06Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > I am not sure of where you live, but lately I give the my opinion to some select folks… > “Today - right at this very moment, everything you have is gone. What would you do?” > “I would go the the ATM and arrange a motel room until…” > “Nope, your car is gone, your job is kaput, no family, you are out on the street with nothing - no cash - no ID - no one to call - no one” > I get a lot of blank stares. BTDT. I’m within walking distance of the local police station. In Australia (where I live) they have discretionary powers to give a small amount of money to those (like) in your scenario above. I would also ask them to call the local Salvation Army who could probably set me up with short-term emergency accommodation and a travel card so that I could make it to the nearest Centrelink Office (a half an hour away) where I would then be assessed for either Unemployment Benefits, a Hardship Payment, or whatever other assistance I qualify for. Without ID it’s going to be a bit more difficult, but signing a Statutory Declaration should overcome any major hurdles. If I were to find myself in the situation described, I could have immediate assistance within a couple of hours, with a Centrelink payment made the following working day. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-that-you-were-like-really-really-poor/729715.md?page=4)