Quirks from a poorer childhood that have followed you through life.

[Motorwayview]

Inspired by the tight people thread.
No matter how much underwear I have I am always slightly panicked that I'll run out of clean underwear so have been known to handwash and leave overnight to dry. Ive got draws and draws of the stuff now - BUT growing up for a while I had just enough to get by on but only if DM washed them every night. ( 3 pairs knickers) Sometimes we didn't have the 50p for the meter to use the emersion heater or boil a kettle (this was the '70's).
The one that drives DH mad is that I have to use every last drop out of a bottle even if Ive got 3 more of the same in the cupboard ( shampoo ect) .
Anyone else ?

Is that a poor thing or just a boomer thing though.

We were poor but my parents were early proponents of gentle parenting (they didn't call it that then... they just called it we don't smack) and they would never have done that.

Even though leftovers were probably scraped into a different pan and used to make a stew or a pie another time (yuk)

Buying way too many clothes and too much food. We were well fed and clothed but we were in no way well off. When I started working at 18 (alongside studying) I couldn't believe that I could go out and have as many clothes as my salary would buy.

Now I'm older, I'm the same with food and toiletries. Stressing that we always had enough, just not extras. As a pp said, I tend to panic I'm going to run out of stuff.

We always wore clothes that were too big "so you can grow into them", and by the time they actually fitted they were looking very worn, so we never looked nicely turned out in our clothes. To compensate, I always bought my kids things that fitted perfectly, so frequently had to replace stuff within weeks when they had a growth spurt.

Same. My kids will not need to wear the same party dress from age 6 to 12, taken in from waist. No rationing of treats and no need to wait for birthday to get anything they actually need instead of a birthday present.

this. The "for best" thing really hit me when I cleared out after my mother died and I have more or less stopped doing it, but the "just in case" thing, especially with food, is ingrained.

'Family hold back' is a phrase from my friend's childhood. Ie. Always make sure there's enough for guests even if it means you starve.

I’m in my mid 60’s and still only have 1 biscuit ever, we had broken biscuits from the market and were always told - only one!
I Always save clothes for best and any meat on my plate I eat last and savour each mouthful, my husband thinks I’m mad!
I shower my children and grandchildren with gift for birthdays and Christmas as we rarely had anything.
its funny what we carry with us.

Ooh I remember broken biscuits

I've always put toiletries bottles upside down to get every last useable drop.
Liquid soap and fabric conditioner bottles get a little water added and mixed when nearly empty.

Until a few years ago there was a stash of condiments sachets in the kitchen cupboard.

We never had much but always had 1 hot meal a day. Our mum would get a huge sack of spuds delivered from local fruit and veg shop. They would last about a month. She would somehow make our meals stretch between 5 of us with just a bit of meat. So I always have plenty potatoes pasta and rice in. To get at least a couple of nights meals out our evening meals.

In secondary school I made friends with a girl who never had a very good home life. Dad leaving mum with little money her and her sisters often came to my house to eat.

But I do remember us sat at the kitchen table and our mum asking us what we wanted for dinner. Some on here call it lunch to save confusion. So always have a selection of food I can cook quickly. I grew up in a house with no central heating. Only heating was 2 gas fires in the downstairs before I put the heading on I always put an extra layer on. Always have a blanket for the sofa if watching tv.

Not sure it’s a quirk but looking after things. Properly. Mending things as soon as you can, no lost buttons. Polishing shoes. Trying to avoid any sort of waste.

Saving things for later or best (trying hard to overcome this one).

Scraping out the very end of everything. Carefully cutting the end of loaf of bread to get extra “slices”.

When I put butter or marmalade on anything I still do it frugally. The amount of either my DH puts on still shocks me! We once had a jar of marmalade left and DH was annoyed because he’d forgotten to buy more and I said there’s enough for another 5 days in there…he’d have used it in one day!

I too binge eat when we have nice food in the house…because I’m so used to it not being there.

My mum would use a splash of milk in the can to get the last bit of soup out.

I hate waste, I find food fights disgraceful. I also like nice hard scratchy old towels.

For me it's not a poverty specific quirk, although we were pretty poor, but more an anxiety/behaviour one. My DF was an unpredictable and often violent alcoholic. After my DM had kicked him out he would fairly regularly turn up at our house, banging on the door, ringing the bell, demanding to be let in etc. He would also be screaming and shouting threats about killing us.

I think I had not really realised the affect this had had on me until I moved into my first flat with DH. It was above a shop and the door opened straight onto the street. The first thing I did was to disable the doorbell because I couldn't bear the thought of random people ringing it, just thinking about it now makes me feel on edge. It had never occurred to me that other people might not think like this, until DH pointed it out. I also really worry about hearing noise from neighbours and the street, and I'm sure its all related.

Me too! We were always excited when we found a biscuit almost whole!

Yes! I have never forgotten the joy of finding a whole shortbread finger.

I think our mums' were sisters... when she went to Australia to see my elder brother, we bought her a new suitcase, which my sister covered in scraps of old present paper (covered in sellotape, so she could not reuse it)... and yes she did try to peel the tape away! And yes, we also had the sides to middle sheets where they had worn through or someone had kicked through the worn patch... might explain my numerous duvet covers and sheets.

I am definitely someone who squeezes the last drop out of a tube or bottle, in fact when the cat next door comes in for treats, I do it with the yogurt thing he likes... He waits to lick the inside of the pack every day.

I know I have too many clothes because of the hand me downs I grew up with, although that has done a 360 as Vinted and e-Bay are now my go to. And, yes I recognise the food date thing, although for 40 yrs a tin of pilchards laguished in my larder, no idea were they came from, I did not buy them but they followed me from home to home...

My partner grew up in a very poor household and practically lived on jam sandwiches when he lived with his mother. The times he was in care, he ate pretty well.

Now we both earn pretty well, but he still goes to the supermarket every day and needs to have the fridge filled with food. The amount we throw away each week is frustrating, but I appreciate that for him it's a deep rooted need to have food security.

My parents always acted like and told me that we had no money. They were war babies so waste simply didn't happen. It turns out we weren't actually poor, but they accounted for all their money with school fees and a foreign holiday house rather than meals out in the UK, for example.
My husband is from another country that, whilst poorer over all, didn't develop a guilt/waste complex. It causes frustration on both sides!

On the airport front - the only reason we buy wine there is because liquids aren't allowed through! Home made sandwiches are a no-brainer.

I have loads of food in the house.

I hate eating the last of anything.

Dread spending money. Always worried that there will be something more important.

I'll always be a poor person with money. Spent so long scraping by, making do and going without that can't get head round having enough. I don't feel like I deserve to spend on myself.

I buy and hord stuff, from canned food to cosmetics. Way too much really. I used to have only 1 bra. I used to, when I started getting my period, 'recycle' old used sanitary pads because I didn't have enough and add a wad of toilet paper on top. I know that's really gross but I had no choice and didnt know better. I always buy the cheapest supermarket products, but a lot so I never run out. I make sure to have drawerfulls of stuff as though there's an impending shortage.
I also spoil my kids and I know I should be stricter about money with them but I just let them have whatever they like. Like super expensive concert tickets for my oldest. I know this is bad parenting but I never want them to feel poor, I do save up for college etc I'm not completely irresponsible, but I definitely overspend.

I still see Ribena as a treat.

I can very much afford Ribena nowadays.

I knew we didn't have a lot of money as a child, my mother did make us aware. I do remember her being quite stingy with wrapping paper and especially Sellotape and that's something I've not carried forward, I'm quite decadent with the sticking tape

I am mindful of wasting water though.. I have bottles where I collect until the water runs hot or cold depending upon what I need. The kitchen tap is usually set to run hot and the utility to run cold for drinking so that we don't waste too much. Collected water is used for watering plants, flushing the loo when it's blocked.

I used to have a bucket in the shower but thought maybe that was a tad too much - it made the shower untidy,

I always used to add water to the shampoo bottle but I've swapped to bars but I still do it with washing up liquid

Being endlessly careful with money
Paying my credit card every month
Cutting shampoo bottles open to use the last traces.
Having a logburner in case I can't pay the leccy bill
Distrust of men generally

At 60 you'd think I'd have got over these by now but childhood casts long shadows.

I’m a big spender. I feel compelled to spend my money on “things” before some unknown entity can take the money from me. It’s almost like spare cash makes me anxious!

I also refuse to skimp on heating. I don’t remember any food poverty but I definitely remember being fucking cold.