Slightly off-topic, but Lesley's right about fridges. When I was little we had a meat safe - a lockable metal box with a grille over the front - which didn't keep anything fresh. People did come out with the same old claptrap: you can't be poor, you've got a fridge; you can't be poor, you've got a phone; you can't be poor, you've got a car; etc.
The thing is - unless you are talking about absolute poverty - each individual prioritises how to spend any money they do have. The thing you notice most, ime, is the erosion of choice. As it was a nice day today, I wanted to go and have a coffee in the park. My entertainment budget is zero, so my actual choices were sit in the park without coffee or come home and have coffee. It doesn't sound like much but, as that kind of self-denial becomes your routine, it grinds you down and makes you feel limited. The other universal truth is how phenomenally much more expensive everything is for the poor.
When my benefits are reduced, end of next month, I will be living on £65 a week for up to six months. At least it's Spring now. Last year they did it in January - you remember how cold it was last winter. The inside of my fridge was warmer than my kitchen! I couldn't afford to dry any laundry, lived on rice and oats for a whole fortnight at one point and was totally fucking miserable. Even with the warmer weather, I won't manage on £65 and will have to use credit. The only credit I can get is expensive. So, if my claim's approved in four months' time, the back-pay will not cover the credit I've run up. And so it goes on.