Grow up Broke? What did it teach you?

[NickySantoro]

Like others I didn't grow up poor but very much at the lower end of lower middle class. I learned early on that if I wanted something above necessities I had to work for it because no one was going to give it to me.

[everready73]

Grew up poor, maybe lower middle class until i was about 16. Single mom with 2 kids. We moved about every year switching schools etc until 16 when she started her own beauty salon and bought a little ranch.

It taught me to work hard for what i want. I knew i had to work hard and better myself if i didnt want to repeat the cycle. Mowed lawns and shoveled snow when i was little. I worked for my pap from 12-16 in the summers for $2 an hour doing construction labor. My pap had a small concrete/masonry business. He had infux of money at times, but the company never did that well-enough to get by. I would mix mud and load blocks onto scaffolding, set forms, run concrete for him with the wheelbarrow, clean up etc.. It was hard work and watching his body start to fail him made me realize i didnt want that life. He eventually took a job with a commercial company when i was 16, so I worked at a restaurant nights after school and found other summer jobs. Worked 2 jobs all through college.

It also taught me to value experiences over material things. My mom didn't have the money to get us new toys, clothes, etc most of the time, but we had a lot of fun growing up. Road trips to hiking trails, going to the lake to swim, camping etc.. I still remember all those experiences, but not the toys i had. I try to do the same with my son. He has his share of toys, but we prioritize doing things together as a family. It is nice now that we can spend money on things like vacations at the beach, skiing, weekend trips to a a cabin etc., but he is honestly just as happy if we take a hike to a river and go swimming.

[Lowdown3]

Grew up poor, maybe lower middle class until i was about 16. Single mom with 2 kids. We moved about every year switching schools etc until 16 when she started her own beauty salon and bought a little ranch.

It taught me to work hard for what i want. I knew i had to work hard and better myself if i didnt want to repeat the cycle. Mowed lawns and shoveled snow when i was little. I worked for my pap from 12-16 in the summers for $2 an hour doing construction labor. My pap had a small concrete/masonry business. He had infux of money at times, but the company never did that well-enough to get by. I would mix mud and load blocks onto scaffolding, set forms, run concrete for him with the wheelbarrow, clean up etc.. It was hard work and watching his body start to fail him made me realize i didnt want that life. He eventually took a job with a commercial company when i was 16, so I worked at a restaurant nights after school and found other summer jobs. Worked 2 jobs all through college.

It also taught me to value experiences over material things. My mom didn't have the money to get us new toys, clothes, etc most of the time, but we had a lot of fun growing up. Road trips to hiking trails, going to the lake to swim, camping etc.. I still remember all those experiences, but not the toys i had. I try to do the same with my son. He has his share of toys, but we prioritize doing things together as a family. It is nice now that we can spend money on things like vacations at the beach, skiing, weekend trips to a a cabin etc., but he is honestly just as happy if we take a hike to a river and go swimming.

Your story reminds me of a guy George I knew growing up.

I used to lay sod for new construction. Back in the day it was righteous cash- $12. per pallet, most houses had at least 12 pallets. If I really really hustled I could lay 12 pallets in a day by myself. Meanwhile my buddies were working part time at Walmart for two weeks for that amount.

There was an older guy, early 60's that worked with this stucco crew. I was often running into them prepping the yards for sod and putting out stakes to mark where the sod company would drop the pallets (if you didn't mark some lazy driver would drop them all at the front in one section and you would be wheelbarrowing most of it.

Dude was a tough old guy but literally every time he saw me he cornered me- "Bob! Bob! Come here! (Never told him I hated being called that). Bob! What are you out here doing? Do you want to be doing this crap when your my age? Go to college Bob, get an education Bob!" I was finishing high school at the time but I think this dude thought I was going to drop out or something. Dude was the oldest guy on the stucco crew but was out there every time with them blazing in the Florida heat.

Much respect for the hard work.

[chuckman]

My best friend was upper middle class. We grew up together, went to school together, roomed in college together, was by best man in my wedding. I would have started to death in college if not for him...I had a scholarship and on the meal plan, but otherwise any spending money was on me, so until I got a couple jobs, he would buy me stuff (fast food, etc.). I will always be thankful for him for that.

If I did not work I could not even afford to pay attention.

Another thing I learned was how to make my own fun. While my best friend spent summers growing up at Disney, at his grandparent's place at the beach, or at scout ranch in New Mexico, I was combing the woods and playing on the river that ran behind my house,

[everready73]

I think having hard times can help develop a person greatly. Not in every case, but most. There are some people born rich that still have that drive, work ethic etc and some people that just never make it out of the being poor cycle.

My son is 5 now and one of the things i struggle with is how easy to make it for him growing up. I want him to face struggle, failure, etc to learn to deal with it, but don't want to go to far in either direction of things being to hard or to easy for him. I think i am doing ok and learning as i go so he doesn't end up entitled and has a good work ethic

[militarymoron]

Growing up pretty poor taught me to take really good care of what I had to make things last, even to this day, and to prioritize what I spend my money on, and live within my means. Never try to 'keep up with the Joneses' or you'll never be happy.

[Averageman]

My son is 5 now and one of the things i struggle with is how easy to make it for him growing up. I want him to face struggle, failure, etc to learn to deal with it, but don't want to go to far in either direction of things being to hard or to easy for him. I think i am doing ok and learning as i go so he doesn't end up entitled and has a good work ethic

I started having my Son help me with yard work about that age. Rake and bag leaves, pull weeds in the garden. When I was terracing the back yard I gave $ 2.50 to pick up buckets of rock. It doesn't hurt them at all to work under your supervision even at a young age.
A word of caution, After the third trip in to pee, I showed him he could pee in the back yard, a whole new world opened up for him. He was peeing over the fence, wiping out Fire Ants with pee and generally peeing everywhere and at any time.
Boy's what can you say?

[Adrenaline_6]

It developed a good work ethic and made me develop skillsets and a mindset to try and fix things and understand how things work.

I have found that finding people that are not only mechanically inclined but also technologically inclined is a unicorn hunt. Most are either or.

On top of that, the big thing is that most people don't have the care or drive to know HOW and WHY things work...just what they do is good enough for most. This limits your knowledge on a grand scale that people don't realize. If you learn the HOW and WHY, it can be applied to everything else. Sometimes the two subjects or fields can seem totally unrelated, but it someway does relate and will help you in the end to solve the problem.

[davidjinks]

It is what it is man. Nothing I could do about it.

As an adult and a parent, I’ve had great times and not so great times. I’ve been employed and unemployed. I’ve needed help in the past and have always been able to help when it was needed.

Struggle in life is real. It’s what you do to overcome that struggle. Some people just say **** it and quit. Some people take it and learn, and it makes them stronger and more resilient.

Wow, just wow. Dude, that's F'ing Sad.
I remember those books of stamps. I used to see them all the time at the Grocery Store.
I never dealt with that, my Folks were way to proud to take a handout,
but that didn't stop them from having more kids. Hahaha!

[T2C]

My upbringing in a very low income household and my military experience taught me a great deal.

1) Hard work will get you through most of life's problems.
2) Just because you have very little money, does not mean you cannot afford a bar of soap or a broom.
3) Prioritize your expenditures, food first, rent and utilities second, and so on.
4) Don't piss away money on liquor and cigarettes.
5) Don't take things for granted, such as living indoors, being able to get a clean drink of water out of a faucet, indoor plumbing, a working furnace during the winter.
6) Don't look down on hard working people who don't have much money.