If you were poor as a kid...(lighthearted)

[bakedbeansontoastfortea]

If you were poor as a kid but are less poor now, is there a small thing you do that maybe (in a weird way) makes you feel better?

For context, I was a missionary kid and had a really lovely (but poor) childhood. My siblings and I were born in the UK but raised overseas and had some genuinely great adventures but money was really tight. Food was plentiful but plain, clothes were hand-me-downs, Christmasses were always a bit scary in the run-up as our parents saved their pennies knowing they'd never be able to keep up with the latest-whatever. And oh, we always had to be careful with toilet roll...that stuff could be expensive.

But today, I have this thing...I have baskets in the loos at home, both with stuffed with extra toilet rolls. It's like me saying to my guests and family, 'there's loads...use freely and as much as you like'. I also can't bring myself to buy clothes from charity shops because as much as I want to support the charity, it reminds me of being that kid who never had new clothes.

I've been on MN for a while (NC) but wondering if there's others like this? If you grew up poor, are there things you do today as a response to this? Loads of loo rolls? New bedding? Something else?

Also, hoping this will be lighthearted. I fully understand there's massive issues around COL and extreme poverty in the UK, also that some people had horrible, horrible childhoods and adulthood is sadly no better. I want to do what I can to make this better.

Buying butter and using it liberally. I often went without food as a child and a slice of bread with a tiny tiny scraping of margarine would often be all I'd eat that day.

My siblings are the same about charity shops/second hand and a day out means a meal out whereas I'm the opposite and love a bargain (I'm not adverse to buying a meal out but if we're going somewhere nice in the summer I'd nearly always take a picnic).

I remembered another one ! School uniform - I always make sure my children have a uniform that fits them! (Not fussed if it’s second hand but at least fits them)

I had to wear a relatives blazer - she was a size 16 and tall when she left school ant 16, handed down to me - absolutely swamped me it the age of 11 - I hated wearing that thing!

I grew up poor, my husband grew up rich. We are now very well off but I still have my poor mind mentality. Istill really hard to change mindset!

I have a thing about bedding & underwear in particular.

I had 1 new duvet cover as a child. We had blankets until then & all my friends had duvets. I still have it as it holds sentimental value to me. It's one of the only new things I remember getting. I regularly bought bedding for my DC relating to their interests & now buy sets like teddy bear fleece, which they love!

I over-buy underwear as I remember being so relieved one day at school when I had forgotten my PE kit & had to so it in my vest & pants and I had my 'good' pants on. I also hated taking my shoes off at people's houses as my socks were usually worn or had holes in the toes.

I had a great childhood with kind & loving parents but money was very tight at times.

My parents were very poor. I was the youngest of 4. Until we moved when I was 11, I had to share my parents' bedroom (it was a 2 bedroomed terraced place), we didn't have a bathroom, so the toilet was outside in the yard. No heating, so everywhere was cold. We used to have coats on top of our blankets at night.

Now, I always have at least 30 toilet rolls in the house, the heating is on, and I've got lots of lovely bedding.

So many of these! I find choosing nice things for the house really difficult. Growing up we couldn’t afford nice things so we just had second hand furniture. I remember my bedroom wardrobe was given to my dad as the owner had died. Every time I used it I thought “this used to be an old man’s wardrobe!” Now we can afford new stuff but I can’t decide what to have.
Also driving places. I take ds to
loads of attractions in the car. As a child we only had a cheap car and my parents didn’t risk taking it too far for fear of it breaking down ☹️.
can relate to others regarding food and toilet roll too.

Oh the school uniform!
I had a hand me down blazer from my older sister and I was the ONLY one in the year whose blazer had a black lining, everyone else's had blue. Because my sister was 6 years ahead!
I was unbothered as in my mind all it meant was that mine was easier to find in a pile of blazers, not that mine was an old hand me down

I will not buy anything "second best", if I can't afford exactly what I want then I won't buy it (though I am happy to use Vinted etc) I never got exactly what I wanted as a child, it was always a knock off brand.

I also spend a proportionally alarming amount on food, having only realised as an adult that food could actually be enjoyable.

Lots of the things others have mentioned. I keep the house very warm and hate being the slightest bit cold (I remember feeling utterly miserable getting out of bed in the mornings and seeing my breath -even dressing in my uniform the night before)
I also let my dcs take as many hot showers as they like (there was never any hot water growing up) and we eat out a lot. I make sure we never run out of anything and do a weekly online shop - - I remember loo roll being sparingly meted out and having to use newspaper when it ran out - my dcs have never experienced running out of loo roll! The first tIme I ate in a restaurant I was aged 12 and it was with family friends, it was only a harvester or something but I remember thinking it was really posh! I then didn’t eat out until I left school and was earning my own money. I’m pretty frivolous nowadays but luckily we can afford it - however I consider I had a happy childhood because I didn’t know any better and had loving parents. My dcs are so pampered in comparison! But I think if a child is loved and has the basics they will be happy.

I was brought up in a house that only had a coal fire in the living room and no other form of heating, so we usually had thick sheets of ice inside the windows in the winter and you could see your breath. We often raided the wardrobes to put coats on the beds on top of the blankets. It was absolutely miserable. I now refuse to live in a cold house and keep it comfortably warm 24 hours a day. We also have good quality duvets, brushed cotton sheets, Sherpa throws and electric blankets.

Funnily enough I also am toilet roll obsessed - it’s a bit of a standing joke in my family!