Isn't it interesting, that some of the most generous givers here at SG wrote in this thread that once they were poor? And now, that their lives have gotten better, they share what they have with other people?
Think about that for a minute.

Not in poverty per say, but when I was kid, my parents split up. My mom worked as a cashier and didn't have any time to raise me. So I lived in the country side with my grandmother. She lived pretty much off of pension which is laughably low to this day. With help of my mom we then lived like that. Didn't have much of any luxuries. I was born in 1995, so that was around beginning of 2000s. Frankly I don't know what was "in" at that time, but I didnt have any gaming consoles, TV, bicycle or anything like that. Enjoyed a calm life in the middle of nowhere playing with sticks.

My mom got in a relationship and then we lived with my step-dad pretty much up to the moment I left for Uni. He liked to drink, was a bit stupid, but was well-meaning guy. Again - far from poverty, but no luxuries like gaming, PC, travel.

In my early 20s after graduating I got a bit of a dry spell with work. Was struggling to find new work for a year or so. Had to move in with my mom again. Went fine overall I'd say, but it was still challenging living off of only casual works now and then.

Happy to say eventually got a well paid work, bought a place with my girlfriend not so long ago and things are looking good now (Shy of world war 3 starting and having a unstable dictatorship just around the border).. but overall feeling optimistic as I am slowly nearing my 30s, can travel, own a car, ride motorcycle, play games :D All I can do is wish others a stroke of luck as well. And continue working towards better future for yourself. All I know that I intend to fully give my children everything I didn't have and be way better dad then my non-existent one or drunk step dad were. I think it is very liberating for one to look back at hardship and use it to be better instead of becoming bitter and lonely.

PS. thanks for the giveaways :)

I mean, it depends. Growing up, my mom was on WIC, I've eaten plenty of government cheese, and we literally lived in the projects - but I didn't think of us as being poor. We had a large extended family (my grandmother, uncles, aunt, etc.) that we lived with most of the time. So I didn't feel poor. My mom made next to nothing on part-time jobs, usually as a janitor. But we had a home, clothes, toys, even video games. So it's hard for me to say I was poor. I certainly was never middle class. I am much better off now. I'm in my mid 40s.

When I was a kid I used to wear socks with several patches on them. I had no idea being poor back then, till on a rainy day I had to dry my socks in front of heater in school, other kids began asking questions. Sad but true.

I would say I've never felt even close to being poor, which is one of these things that I definitely would not which for, but sometimes makes me feel like there are some skills out there that I never learned.

In retrospect I can't really say where that came from as my parents didn't make that much money and when I was younger there were things that were done because they were short on money but there always was enough to make me happy. I guess the fact that I, like my parents, have never been into being cool or impressing anyone meant that the phase where I actually started thinking about how much money I have was late and even then I've never been a big spender as there was no need to think about buying designer cloths or other status symbols etc

And by the time I moved out they both had worked there way up and were off well enough to somewhat support me which combined with the money I made and money I had saved from birthday gifts and odd jobs during school meant that I've never been the poor student living only of instant ramen because there was no money left (though I love ramen so I often eat that anyway).

And after university I immediately snatched the job i have now and nowadays I work as a civil servant, so I have a steady income and quite a bit of savings. Still would not consider myself rich by any standard but enough to be able to do some somewhat frivolous spending on magic cards or hard- and software etc.

still living and even because of that i don`t celebrate much

I've never personally been poor.

My parents were both born poor (my Dad on a farm in Indiana, my Mom as the red-headed gringo kid in the neighborhood in Lima, Peru at the tail end of WWII), but my grandparents on both sides clawed and scraped and worked their way up to the middle class. My grandparents and parents both emphasized education and hard work, and I watched as they did what it took to survive in middle class America.

So I was fortunate enough to start out in what was probably the lower middle class, but the middle-middle class by the time I graduated high school.

My wife and I got married really young and started out with not much, but everything we had we earned on our own. No trust funds or anything like that. Just scrappy kids from midwestern blue collar towns who went off, earned degrees, and moved to the city and into industries where we could make money. Lots of years and tears and beers...but I'd say that, at this point, we'd likely be considered upper middle class based purely upon income and neighborhood. But we're also those people that won't go out and buy a 500-series Mercedes to keep up with the Joneses or any fake bull**** like that. I drive a Chevy. She drives a Nissan. You can take the kid out of the Midwest, but not the Midwest out of the kid. ;)

We've been practical with money, and have always saved for a rainy day (which we literally needed during the Hurricane Harvey flooding in the US 6 years ago, but I digress). I grew up turning wrenches with my Dad, so I'm handy and I do a lot of our repairs on the house and property. I've always built my own PCs. You get the idea. I save a tremendous amount of money that other people would spend in terms of services. I got my first credit card solely in my name when I was 19, with some hilariously low limit on it. But I put just a little bit on it every single month and then paid the bill in its entirety. This helped me establish good credit at an early age. I've never paid interest on a credit card. I've 100% paid it off every single time for my entire life. I don't spend money that I don't already have. The credit card is simply for convenience.

Anyway, the TLDR is that I didn't grow up with any kind of financial privilege, but I feel fortunate to come from a hard-working family that taught me good values and work ethic as well as the value of education. Applying those attributes consistently has helped me become financially stable in a time when it seems like more and more things are getting further out of reach for the majority of the population in a lot of countries. I'm grateful for that, and do what I can to help people in need in the community around me.

Yes, most of my life. At the moment we've been hanging around the beginning margin of middle class/higher end of low class.

Hey there, to be honest, yes, its very hard for us right now, me my Dad and Siblings. We are 7 People here in the House, and my Dad is not that Young and his Health also very hard. He has Problems, hard to get Work. Sometimes he collapsed, at the Moment its ok, but im scared each Day. Cause many bad things happened in the Past and we sadly cant go back either, need much, much Money to be free.

He is a Graphic and Webdesigner for more then 40 Years.

We are German by the Way, me and my Dad are full German, my siblings are half German, half Filipino. Im 33 Years Old

Me, i have no really Work, im searching since so many Years, last Year, October/November a friend asked me to do some things for him from Time to Time, as a Mod on Twitch and some other things and he pays me for it, he cant pay much either, but still a little better i thought.

First Payment i got normally, but since we had no Gas few Months ago, had to use my Money to pay it and since that i wait for my Money, cause i need it actually to fix my PC, wanted to buy 16 GB RAM, that i could have buyed with that Money,

Right now i only have 4 GB RAM and hanging mostly, specially if i have only FireFox or so on, then, well, not nice.

Need to buy many things, to fix PC urgently, but yeah, hard without Money, better need a whole New PC and equipment.

Need a Videocard cause no inside, need new and bigger Harddrive, specially need to Install my Windows and things New, cause not Working well, but i need to save my Files, what i cant.

And my biggest Dream is also to Stream as a VTuber on Twitch, make Lets Plays etc. Need a lot for it, specially much Money. ^^

But for now, we dont even have Food since Days, almost a Week, and some other stuff need to be payed as well, and yeah even the Food gets more and more Expensive, almost each day. What makes it even harder.

For example: 1 Egg costs here 10 Php (Philippines) are 0,18‬‬ $, before it was 0,11‬‬ $

And many other things, dont know where to get the Money, how to pay al the things, need many important things, but then get all more expensive and cant pay it anymore, if cant pay before, how to pay in end the other?

I sit here many times and i admit that im crying cause no clue, how to get out of this Hole.

I wish i could to something about it, to help us here and also many other People on this Planet as well, its hard for me to see how many People are suffering, it breaks my Heart.

I Wish everyone all the Best and hope you have Luck to get out of the Darkness and can go in the Light ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Best Regards

My family were pretty poor when I was growing up, although I didn't really know it at the time. 9 people living in a house meant for 3 - 4 maximum. Lots of the men in my family were coal miners and then we had the strikes in the UK in the 1980's. So we ended up looking for spilled coal from the train tracks to help heat the house and doing paper rounds to help where we could even though we were just kids. Wearing hand me down clothes and school uniforms was the standard practice that sort of thing. Lots of unemployment when the strikes were over and the crappy UK economy took a long while to recover too.

We never resorted to crime or government handouts or soup kitchens or the like so managed to get by somehow.

I wouldn't say I am rich now, I can pay the bills and I don't starve so I am better off than lots of people still I guess.

i dont know how it feels, but i wish everybody on this thread live their longest life without ever having to suffer in poverty and mounting debt

Yes i was poor for a time. I had my mother's place to crash and that's it. Absolutely no money. My girlfriend (my wife now) lived 400 kms away and i went there by train. I knew the conductor schedules so i knew how many trains will it actually take to get home factoring in all the cases they make me leave the train and wait for the next one :) My mother in law fed me good so i was good for a few more days after those weekends without much. I went 1-2 times a month.
But i wasn't suffering really. I always had a bunch of plan Bs. When it was too much i took a job as private teacher (as in 1:1 education) or fixed a few PCs for a few bucks. I always felt i have options i just need to chose one.
Currently my financials are much better. I'm OK.
If i would find myself on the streets i think i would go to a far country where they can use me. I know i would be poor there but it's different to be poor in a poorer country and also as long as i'm poor i might want to get some sunshine and beaches for it. Like Philipines. I would have 0 problem serving a tourist with a drink on the beach. It would mean i'm on a beach with sunshine!

Not sure my family would like the idea now.

Great topic BTW. I added a few more people to my whitelist.

Been poor/broke my entire youth up until the age of 28. I've struggled financially and saving money was difficult due to our countries economy. As I moved to UK, my life changed all for the better. I'm slowly repurchasing, getting through trades or steamgifts (if lucky) the games I once been a bad boy and pirated.

Steamgifts became a blessing to me because now that my finances are more stable, I am able to give back to people games I once could not afford.