People Are Sharing Telltale Signs That Someone Grew Up Poor, And They’re Spot On

Experiencing poverty can have long-lasting effects, ranging from financial trauma to small, everyday habits that are hard to let go of. Recently, u/tiredofw8ing asked Reddit to share the dead giveaway signs that somebody grew up poor, and the replies were spot on. Here are some of the top comments:
1. “I didn’t realize I made ‘poor people sandwiches’ until I met my wife. The amount of meat she piles onto the bread — it’s just nuts to me. I was doing two slices folded in half and she’s using a 1/4 pound of turkey.”
—u/zilorzilhaust
2. “You’re always afraid to use your nice things because you might ruin them, and then you never get to really enjoy what you do have.”
—u/velociravenous
3. “Disproportionately wasting a ton of time to save up a few dollars. It’s going to cost $2 less if I go to this grocery store, even though it will take 30 minutes longer to walk there? Sign me up.”
—u/sariahannibal
4. “Never showing teeth when smiling. I grew up dirt poor and never received dental care until I was well into my twenties. I’m now forty, only recently (after many dental procedures) have I begun to feel comfortable showing my teeth.”
—u/king_of_lunch223
5. “Only using part of a stick of chewing gum at one time. Mom would make us share. We each got 1/4 stick.”
—u/fungrandma9
6. “You look for off-brand everything.”
—u/real_railz
7. “Saving the extra things from eating out. Condiment packets, napkins, and unused plastic silverware all go into the drawer.”
—u/technical_contact836
8. “Having no control over my spending habits because now that I have money I want to buy everything I couldn’t as a kid. Also, apparently, hot dogs in mac and cheese being one of my staple meals.”
—u/carlwheezerspants
9. “Food hoarding. All the people I know who grew up poor have too much food expiring in their pantries, myself included.”
—u/saltychica
10. “You view paper plates and paper towels as a luxury. It is literally throwing money away. I still don’t buy them often even though I am upper middle class.”
—u/topazwarrior
11. “Never, ever, ever, ever turn down free food.”
—u/urmomskryptonite
12. “Still packing food (bread, deli meat, chips) for road trips. My husband and I can afford to eat out every meal, but when we do a road trip, I still pack a cooler with food for lunches instead of eating out. By the way, packing hack for homemade cookies: Make them small enough to fit in a cleaned-out Pringles can. They stay fresh and don’t break.”
—u/goodlife1988
13. “I thought everyone ate breakfast cereal with a fork, so they could pass the bowl of milk to the next person. I was wrong.”
—u/one_oh_1
14. “Anyone else eat rice with soy sauce as a full meal by itself?”
—u/veotrade
15. “Collecting pop/soda cans from random places, even pulling them out of the trash because they’re worth 10 cents. My biggest score ever was cleaning out a rich dude’s garage on an island near my house. He would have epic parties and just stick the cans in the garage. It was filled floor to ceiling and he gave them to me and my sister. Just over $600 worth in 1984 money, so we lived pretty good that summer.”
—u/paypermon
16. “This is an odd one… I realized the only people who will offer to help you with moving, or even moving furniture around your house, are people who grew up poor. Everyone else seems to think it’s normal to hire movers.”
—u/princezz_zelda
17. “Always ordering the cheapest thing on the menu, even if you could now literally afford to buy the whole restaurant.”
—u/thumbsup2323
18. “I’ve noticed I try to hang on to every little thing in case I can reuse or repurpose it. Gift bags, empty containers, old makeup. My family went through some really hard times, and I guess my brain tries to prepare in case it happens again. I have to go through my things and force myself to throw the junk away sometimes so I don’t become a hoarder.”
—u/taters_are_great
19. “I bulk my meals with carrots. Meat was too expensive when I was a kid. My mum’s stew was known by my older siblings as carrot stew. Making soup, curries, lasagne? Add carrots! I never saw it as strange until my husband asked why I was doing that.”
—u/haybai81
20. “My grandfather grew up during the Depression. If something was moldy, you would just take out the moldy parts and eat the rest.”
—u/naw2665
21. “Poor people have trouble letting go of things that are broken. That old car might have parts which you can use to maintain your next used car. That broken bike might be something you can find parts for someday. Rich people toss it and buy a new one.”
—u/jacksoninhouse
22. “You know exactly how much is in your bank account. You don’t have about $100. You have $103.72. I didn’t realize this until an ex of mine pointed it out.”
—u/yellowforest4
23. “Washing plastic bags and aluminum foil to use again.”
—u/abilitysalt
24. “If someone knows the pain of boiling your water on a stove to take a shower for months on end.”
—u/phixiq
25. “Using regular bread for everything, like hamburger rolls, hot dogs, etc.”
—u/tiffm2022
26. “Lack of vacations, even if you have the time and money to afford them.”
—u/sabre_one
27. “You save your money instead of investing your money because you’re terrified of losing it.”
—u/noquit9132
28. “Breakfast for dinner. Seemed cool as a kid but as an adult, I realized that all we had was a box of instant pancake mix. Now breakfast for dinner with my kids is a truly fun and non-emotionally damaging treat.”
—u/comfortablesort3304
29. “I made six figures last year but still think cheap disposable razors should last at least a few months, and sometimes out of habit I drink a bunch of water before eating to feel more full.”
—u/wonderifatall
30. “Parents going without eating so we could. I do that now with my kids even though we don’t need to! If I am out of town working, my wife always tries to give me food or money to bring to work and I say, ‘No. I don’t need anything. Leave it for the boys so they can eat it or save it so you can get y’all anything y’all need!’”
—u/thenotor1ous
Can you relate? Share your experiences in the comments!
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