I grew up poor- AMA

[Frazzels]

Ask me anything

Define poor?

You're not the only one

Yeah, what do you mean by poor? Give is some examples.
Has it affected how you are with money now?

How did you respond as a child when you were told your parents could not afford something you wanted?

How poor...

Sorry that was very vague, we struggled to afford simple things like 3 meals a day, we went through a time of living in b&b's and a caravan at one point. I am very cautious with money now, even when I don't really have to be I always look for the cheapest option

Did you get help from your school like free uniform or school meals and did you notice/care?

We had lean times where we struggled to keep the house, parents skipped meals. Not a penny for spare. My mum cried when I asked her for 20p to give a friend who had bought me some sweets cos she didn’t have it.

My parents sometimes went without food to ensure me and my brother had enough to eat. I remember a time we had to permanently keep all days and windows shut due to the Bailiffs.

Every was poor where we were though, so I never really thought about it, though we were one of the poorer families.

I had a nice childhood overall - lots of freedom to run around and do what we wanted. . Probably better than my own children's in many ways.

@Atalune I had free school meals, uniform I usually got second hand from my older cousins which was then passed down to my younger siblings. I didn't really notice untill I got a bit older and into my teens, kids started teasing me and I started comparing what I had to what they had

Are you good with money now or not? I know it can go either way.

I don't know how old you are but do you think there was less stigma being poor when you were young compared to now?
I grew up poor, same situation as you with clothes, my mum was super frugal and she was great cook, dressmaker and gardener. I did not inherit these traits although I try! I was lucky as the area i grew up in was quite poor so I never felt poor, I don't think any of us really did.

@HollowTalk I would say I'm quite good with money now, when I started earning my own money and having some to spare I was quite careless at first but soon learnt from that. I only really buy things I need and if I'm buying something I want I have to be sure I like it and will use it enough

@Blessthekids I think there was some stigma around it but there's more probably nowadays. As a young child I didn't notice how little we had, similar to you I lived in an area that was quite poor so many of the people around me were in the same situation so it seemed normal. Though my school was a bit further out of the area, so there were slightly wealthier families. a lot of kids had the view that people on benefits are just lazy and can't be bothered to work

Are you wealthy now? Are your parents still poor?

I wouldn't say wealthy but quite comfortable, I can afford the essentials and have some left over for less important things and things we want rather than need. My dad passed away when I was a teenager and my mum quite recently passed away but she'd been in a much better financial situation the last few years, most my siblings had moved out and she managed to start working again, she'd been in and out of work for a long time