Category: poverty

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People Admit Their Go-To “Poverty Meals” They Enjoy No Matter How Much Money They Have

Whether you have $5 in your pocket or $5,000, there are some meals that stick with you and that you still enjoy from when times were lean and you had to do everything in your life on the cheap.

I think my go-to cheap meal is just a plain cheese quesadilla. Cheese and flour tortillas, that’s all you need.

And they still taste great and I still make them to this day!

Let’s dig into some cheap meals with folks on AskReddit and see what they had to say.

1. Lessons from Mom.

“Grew up poor, but my mom sure knew how to stretch a dollar.

She would make steak fingers out of the cheapest cuts she could find. Tenderize, fry them up make gravy out of the drippings and serve with mashed potatoes.

The whole meal probably cost less than 5 bucks in ’70s dollars, and I’m telling you nothing tasted better. I made it for my kids when they were growing up and they still ask me for it sometimes.

She would be 94 today. Love you miss you mom.”

2. Potato time!

“Put some red skin potatoes, fresh green beans, chicken stock, and seasonings in a pot (or slow cooker) and simmer it for an hour or more.

Use a slotted spoon to put some in a bowl, then add a bit of stock and plenty of butter.

It’s heaven.”

3. Pretty simple.

“We used to eat squash and eggs growing up.

Grew the squash and eggs are cheap enough, or trade with the neighbors. You just cut the squash into thin round and cook in a pan with a little oil until they’re just soft. Scramble the eggs with the squash, add a bunch of pepper, some salt.

Sometimes we ate it over noodles or rice.”

4. Yummy.

“Oven-baked potatoes with salt and margarine. Cheap ingredients found in almost every home and easy to make.

Also, the starch in potatoes makes you feel full for pretty long.”

5. Here’s the deal.

“Steamed white rice, crack a raw egg in it while it’s scorching hot, stir aggressively and dash with soy sauce. I

f I have some, put roasted seaweed in. Super cheap breakfast but oh man is it filling/delicious.”

6. The best!

“Grilled cheese is great pretending to be bougie food too.

My brother and I used to go to the store together and splurge on fancy-ish cheese (i.e. still the precut stuff in plastic in the dairy section, not the high end stuff in the deli section or the fancy cheese cooler) and see who could come up with the best combination of cheeses and bread from the bakery section.

I think we settled on sourdough, smoked gouda, havarti, and cream cheese.”

7. So good!

“I had a PB&J recently and felt like a fool!

Why did I stop eating these when I became an adult? Society lead me to believe this was the way.

It is not! Been having PB&J a couple nights a week since. I refuse to let societies unenlightened views dictate my dinner choices!

PB&J is a top tier dish for any occasion.”

8. Mix it up.

“Make some pasta and add in whatever you can find in the fridge or cabinets.

Cheese, lunch meat, Spam, spices, etc.

No two meals were ever the same.”

9. Sounds good.

“Peanut butter and sliced banana on toast.

Now that I’m better off financially, I’ll add real honey and ground cinnamon because I’m fancy now.”

10. Struggle nachos.

“I still regularly eat my struggle nachos, tortilla chips with slices of American cheese on top and microwaved.

Now that I can afford it I’ll throw taco meat on top every now and again but still very much enjoy just the chips and cheese.”

11. Keep it simple.

“Quesadillas (with hot sauce if there is any)

I think a lot of people have different ideas of what a quesadilla is. My version is strictly a single tortilla with whatever cheese I have lying around (usually dollar packs of singles).

That means no meat, beans, lettuce, tomato, etc. And I definitely don’t use a Foreman to make mine”

12. Every day.

“Toast with a fried egg for breakfast.

Been eating that for probably 6 years now and still look forward to it every morning.”

13. There you go.

“Mexi-Mac:

Cook a pound of ground beef with a packet of taco seasoning. Make a box of Kraft Mac n’ Cheese. Mix together.

Also, that’s your salt quota for the week.”

Do you have some go-to cheap meals that you enjoy no matter where you’re at financially?

Tell us all about them in the comments!

We’d love to hear from you!

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Former Poor People Shared Things They Have Now That Were Considered Luxury Items Growing up

A writer named Victoria Barrett recently posed a very interesting question to people on Twitter and it started a thread that was very revealing about how people view money and possessions.

Here’s what Barrett asked the Twitter-verse.

Let’s see what people had to say.

1. Barrett offered a few of her own.

Missing the essentials.

2. A lot of the basics.

Sounds like it was tough.

3. Real veggies.

Not the canned stuff.

4. The comfort of certainty.

That must be a relief.

5. The little things.

They’re pretty important once you have them.

6. Actual tissue paper.

Using old napkins.

7. Taking care of pets.

Makes her want to cry.

8. Enough food…

Going hungry is no good.

9. Mismatched stuff.

But not anymore…

10. The stuff you need.

And that every female should have.

11. For rich folks?

Not exactly…

12. For the kids.

That’s a nice story.

Money sure is strange, huh?

Now we want to hear from you!

In the comments, tell us what you used to think of as luxury items before you had any money.

We can’t wait to hear your stories!

The post Former Poor People Shared Things They Have Now That Were Considered Luxury Items Growing up appeared first on UberFacts.

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People Who Used to Be Poor Talk About What They Considered Luxuries When They Had No Money

It’s interesting what you consider to be luxuries at different points in your life depending on how much money you have in the bank.

And a recent Twitter thread that was started by a woman named Victoria Barrett showed just how much a lot of people out there have had to overcome in their lives when it came to poverty and having simple material possessions.

This is the question that Barrett posed to people on Twitter.

Let’s take a look at some of the very interesting responses.

1. The real stuff.

It does taste better.

2. Never run out.

Always have a back-up.

3. Take care of those teeth.

You’ll be thankful later in life.

4. You know you can get it now.

No more worries.

5. My own space.

It makes a big difference.

6. Sounds pretty bad.

Roaches are awful.

7. This is huge.

Still have a long way to go on this one.

8. Constant noise.

Silence is golden.

9. That’s what wealth means to them.

No more stress.

10. Fancy pants.

Living the good life.

11. The essentials.

You need those basic things.

12. Peace and quiet.

And safety.

How about you?

What did you think used to be something that was really fancy before you had any money?

Talk to us in the comments!

The post People Who Used to Be Poor Talk About What They Considered Luxuries When They Had No Money appeared first on UberFacts.

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Former Homeless People Explain What Their First Night on the Streets Was Like

Over half a million people in the United States sleep without a home on any given night. They’re forced to rest in cars, parks, streets, abandoned buildings, or on friends’ couches. Any kind of person can wind up in this situation, but homelessness is especially common for  those who are living paycheck-to-paycheck without savings – the financial reality for millions of Americans this year. Making it back out of homelessness can be incredibly difficult.

People on Reddit who have experienced homelessness opened up about their stories, describing their first night without a home, and how they were able to adapt to their new circumstances.

1. My mom said we were going camping.

“I was about 9 years old, and my mom said we were going on a camping trip. I didn’t really suspect anything, as it was summertime and we went camping a lot when I was younger. Although I did wonder why we were packing so much stuff. After a few weeks of “camping,” I started to complain, but my mom kept insisting that it was good for us to get in touch with nature, etc. Then school started, and we were still camping. And we kept camping for another 6 months. When we finally got a house, my mom cried with joy. And we don’t camp anymore.”

2. “I remember being really hungry”

“I remember being really hungry and acting weird because of the low blood sugar, almost delirious. This was when I made a futile attempt to run away from an abusive home with no money. I ended up going back because of that.”

3. The police escorted me to the shelter.

“Sleeping in my car wasn’t that bad. It was summer, so it was pretty warm which was my biggest issue.

Showered in the gym, and spent most of my day at the library before going to work.

For the first few nights it wasn’t bad. However one night police found me sleeping in my car and escorted me to the local homeless shelter, which was one of the most terrifying nights of my life. Since I’m lying there in a top bunk, when a huge argument breaks out because one guy breaks out some meth, wouldn’t share it with a second, then a third got pissed and started screaming at them to be quite because he needed to sleep.”

4. The crippling loneliness.

“I was kicked out by my mother at 16 and spent 2 months homeless before the local authority placed me in foster care.

I think what hit me first was how my own mother could make one of her own children homeless. I felt like the least favourite of her children – it all came out of nowhere, I racked my brain for years after, trying to think of what I might have done in particular.

Also the crippling loneliness you feel when you are trying to get hold of people to ask for a place to sleep for the night. I could not feel more alone in the world when someone would either not answer my message or tell me they were busy.

I’m pretty sure I camped out in the park that night. Didn’t sleep at all.”

5. Didn’t sleep a wink.

“It was terrifying and cold and hungry. I didn’t sleep a wink. I adapted over time. Extremely steep learning curve to surviving homelessness. Nothing really prepares you for it.”

“It wasn’t awful until it sunk in that it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. At first it’s just shocking. Like, blank mind shocking. How did I get to this point? Then it’s scary and surreal. AND I had my kid with me…so I was busy keeping him safe and fed. Awful came about a month into it.”

6. Walking “home.”

“I kept waking up in the middle of the night and would start walking “home”. I’d get a few steps then stop and realize I had nowhere to go and turn and walk back over and lay on the ground. The ground is very cold and I felt a lot of shame.”

7. How cold concrete can be.

“I slept at a Catholic Church across from my high school so I could still make it to school and graduate early. I remember feeling really sad because I slept where they put peoples ashes, and I remember being so sad that those people could comfort me in death more than anybody alive. I used to talk to them, if there’s camera footage I look insane. I never realized how alone I was in the world until I was homeless. And I never realized how cold concrete can be, it chills you right to your bones and is painful.”

8. Starting to spiral.

“I started being homeless at 19, a previous foster parent put me out for coming home from college one night, and I had called up a friend last minute. When I started to realize I wouldn’t be able to crash or stay anywhere, I am fairly certain I started to dread, and spiral into a constant, underlying depressive state. All I could think about was “am I going to die like this? Do I matter? Will no one help me? I’m sad, I’m scared. I don’t want to feel like I have to beg. What if I’m stuck like this? Is this really my life right now?” 19-26 was a very challenging time…”

9. Hours upon hours of nothing to do.

“I was getting high, so it really didn’t truly sink in until I was broke and dope sick. Then the desperation started. Going to gas stations jumping car to car asking for money. Stealing what I had to. It was a miserable existence. There are so many things you don’t think about when your not homeless…taking a shower, washing your clothes, and the boredom. Hours upon hours of nothing to do. And the constant noise. There was nowhere to go where it was truly quiet.”

10. Mom was just crying.

“I didn’t really realize what was going on, I was about 6-7 at the time. Dad said we were going to go for a drive and to pack my backpack with all the clothes I could fit and one toy. Mom was just crying. Me and my brother sat in the backseat, he was a little older and was holding our Sega Genesis and looking scared.

We drove for a little while (it was already getting dark) and we parked in front of a Walmart and dad said he had to rest for a while. Was the first of many….many nights we slept in the car.

I remember one of my parents was always awake, with their hand in their coat pocket. Looking back it was obvious they had a gun for protection, sleeping in shifts.”

11. No one wants to let you use the bathroom.

“Its terrifying at first. You feel so unsafe. I was a teenager, and wasn’t willing to close my eyes and sleep on a park bench alone. So, I went to a local shelter and lied about my age. The forced me to shower and do a pee test. It turns out the women in that shelter were scarier than the street so the next night I didnt go back. I slept in a park but ultimately made squatter friends and stayed with them. It was very much a community and I felt safe and loved there.The biggest problem with being homeless in the city is no one wants to let you use the bathroom. Even park bathrooms are locked. Squat peeing in between cars can be done quickly and undercover, but when you get your period its a nightmare.”

12. The first night was miserable.

“I was homeless for a couple of months a year or two ago. I had a car and a low paying job so I lived in the woods in a tent for a bit. The first night was miserable. I ended up sleeping really uncomfortably in the passenger seat of my car and it was a really cold night. After that I got a tent and slept on an old climbing pad i had. The first night was hell but the next several weeks were actually not so bad. I had a spot in the woods where I was well hidden and would cook over a fire. I really didnt have it that bad but it gave me quite a bit of sympathy for people who really do end up on the streets in a much more desperate situation. Shit is not easy.”

13. We climbed up the slopes of a mountain.

“First night my wife and I landed up sleeping outside we slept in a local park that I knew. We had come down from the countryside with a few Rands (enough for 1 meal maybe) and had hoped to stay with a friend. He was unable to give us a place to stay, so we had to sleep outside.

After the insecurity of that 1st night I told my wife that we have to find a safer place to sleep, so we climbed up the slopes of Table Mountain (about a 1 hour walk) and found quite a obscured spot amongst some bushes and trees. We cleared it out of sticks and rocks, made it a bit habitable and then went make to the city looking for work. We’d spend the day going from one place to the next looking for work until it started growing dark. Then we’d head up the mountain to our little spot for the night.”

14. It really messes with your self-esteem.

“My mom used to lock me out of the house regularly for no reason and I never had a place to sleep either so I would walk two hours to the beach and just wait until sunrise when my mom went to work and would sneak in thru my window. Sometimes I would spend a few nights on the beach at a time. It’s terrible, lonely, and really messes with your self esteem especially when you’re young and have nobody to take you in (I didn’t really have friends she prevented that). I’ve been solicited for sex tons of times by grown men when I was 14/15 and was terrified the first few times but quickly leaned that being meek gets you in bad situations so I would bring a knife with me and tell at them. I’ve learned a lot from those times and I hate remembering the loneliness and the hopelessness. I felt like I could’ve died and nobody would’ve cared or even known who I was. It’s a sad feeling knowing that if you disappeared nobody would come looking for you or even care.”

15. Food or blankets.

“I don’t think it all really hit me until I had to choose one night between food and blankets because the temperature was expected to drop down to the mid 30s and I had only had one somewhat thin blanket at that point.”

The post Former Homeless People Explain What Their First Night on the Streets Was Like appeared first on UberFacts.

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Manny Pacquiao Used $1.5 Million to Build 1,000 Homes for the Poor

If you’ve watched Manny Pacquiao in the ring, then you know he has fists of fury and is one of the best boxers we’ve seen in the last several years. In other words, he’s a total badass.

Posted by Manny Pacquiao on Sunday, July 28, 2019

But Pacquiao’s bad-assery extends beyond the ring, as well. He’s never forgotten where he came from, having grown up in poverty in the Sarangani Province of the Philippines. Pacquiao grew up in a cardboard shack with his family, and they sometimes didn’t have any food to eat. The future boxing great left home at the age of 15 and survived on the mean streets of Manila.

Now, Pacquiao is generally regarded as one of the sport’s greats, and he also serves as a senator in his native country. He also works to give back to those who are less fortunate. Pacquiao said, “I feel what they’re feeling because I’ve been there. I’ve slept in the street. That was my life before. So hard. That’s why I feel what they’re feeling right now.”

Eye of the Tiger

Posted by Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday, November 20, 2019

So Pacquiao did something about it: he built 1,000 houses for needy Filipinos. He bought the lots, built the homes, and then gave them away. The cost for the folks who received them: FREE.

He said, “I’m so happy giving these houses free to my constituents in Sarangani Province from my own pocket more than a thousand families are the beneficiaries.”

Altogether, the beloved boxing champ has given away about $200 million to fund projects to help the needy. Pacquiao said, “Every income I receive in boxing, almost half of it goes to the less fortunate. After each fight, half of my income goes to the poor. But I don’t like to announce it.”

A great man, and a great example.

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This Organization Turns Empty Parking Lots into Safe Places Where the Homeless Can Sleep at Night

Homelessness is a problem across the entire world. Walk or drive through any city across the globe, and you’ll see down-on-their-luck men and women sleeping in doorways, on park benches, or anywhere else they can try to find some momentary peace.

An Australian charity organization called Beddown is looking to give that country’s homeless population safe places to sleep by providing pop-up accommodations in parking lots that are vacant overnight.

Posted by Beddown on Monday, September 30, 2019

Beddown partnered with Secure Parking, one of Australia’s largest parking lot operators, to do a two-week trial run for the program in the city of Brisbane.

Norman McGillivray founded Beddown after he got the idea while walking through an empty parking lot one night. He thought that the space could be better used as a makeshift homeless shelter than by just sitting empty night after night.

On their Instagram page, the founders of Beddown said,

“We will look to get as close as we can to a proper comfortable bed to provide the homeless with a great night’s sleep is our ultimate goal. Sleep deprivation is a massive issue for our homeless, so being in a place that offers shelter and is safe, secure and comfortable we believe will have a big impact on those who use Beddown.”

Posted by Beddown on Monday, September 30, 2019

Beddown also provides other services in the overnight parking lots, including access to doctors, dentists, and hairdressers. Because the two-week trial in Brisbane was a success, Beddown is now looking to expand to other cities in Australia.

View this post on Instagram

Here are some initial Statistics and Outcomes from the Pilot: 41 guests used Beddown over the duration of the Pilot. 77% male 23% female guests Sleep rated on average – 4.5 out of 5 Beds rated on average – 4.5 out of 5 100% of guests said they felt safe during their stay. Multiple services accessed by guests – Dr & Nurse, Dentist, Hairdresser, New clothing and Social Services. The most guests turned away in one night due to capacity was 9. The youngest person who tried to access Beddown was just 15 years old. Positive outcomes: “After spending the week here, having a good sleep at night and a routine, it reminded me of life and I booked myself into Rehab for 6 months”. “Being able to sleep all night and away from drugs I’m clearer in the day and have not used drugs for 8 days”. “It’s the first time I have had a dream in years” “I don’t have to watch my back here” A Female guest found employment due to being able to sleep safely at night and able to work during the day. More data being accessed and will be shared soon. This is just the beginning! We now need support from Corporate, Government and the Public to make Beddown a sustainable operation and allow us to roll out across Australia to really help change and save lives. #homelessness #homeless #streetlife #storyofthestreet #beds #globalshift #queensland #brisbane #nsw #sydney #victoria #melbourne #southaustralia #adelaide #westernaustralia #perth #northernterritory #darwin #tasmania #australia #nonprofit #selfesteem #community #usa #uk #quality #endhomelessness #lifechanger

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Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this program succeeds in Australia and then spreads to other parts of the globe. It’s a great idea that could definitely help out a lot of people who are struggling.

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A Study Says You Can Tell If Someone Is Rich or Poor Just by Looking at Them

It’s said that people can tell a lot about you from looking you in the face, but until recently, no one suspected your gross average income could be one of those things.

A new study was published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and it claims that you can tell whether someone is rich or poor simply by studying their face.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Co-author of the study, grad student Thora Bjornsdottir, explains.

“The relationship between well-being and social class has been demonstrated by previous research. In general, people with money tend to live happier, less anxious lives compared to those struggling to make ends meet, and these well-being differences are actually reflected in people’s faces.”

For the study, Bjornsdottir and a psychology professor, Nicholas O. Rule, had their subjects look at black-and-white photographs of 80 males and 80 females without any identifying markers like tattoos or piercings. Half of the photos were of people who made over $150k a year and the other half made less than $35k.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The subjects, who were from various ethnic backgrounds, then guessed the class of the people in the photos – and they were correct around 68% of the time.

That is, in case you’re wondering, significantly higher than random chance.

Dr. Rule told The Cut they were surprised themselves.

“I didn’t think the effects would be quite as strong, especially given how subtle the differences are in the faces. That’s the most surprising part of the study to me.”

Image Credit: Pixabay

“People are not really aware of what cues they are using when they make these judgments,” adds Bjornsdottir. “If you ask them why, they don’t know. They are not aware of how they are doing this.”

Interestingly, the subjects were also able to guess correctly when they were able to look just at the eyes, or just at the mouth, though not quite as often.

Bjornsdottir believes the effect is “due to emotion patterns becoming etched into their faces over time,” because the chronic contraction of certain muscles can lead to changes in the actual structure of your face.

When the subjects were shown pictures of people smiling, they were unable to discern the socioeconomic status of the people in the images with any reliability.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The researchers believe their results are important because first impressions come into play in the real world – a fact they proved when they asked the subjects to choose who they would hire as an accountant based on the images alone.

They chose the people who appeared to be high-earners, which means employers could be doing the same thing.

“Face-based perceptions of social class may have important downstream consequences. People talk about the cycle of poverty, and this is potentially one contributor to that,” they conclude.

So, even though “don’t judge a book by its cover” is one of the world’s more famous sayings, it turns out we’re all doing exactly that every day without even realizing it.

Kind of makes me rethink my decision to not wear makeup most days.

How about you?

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12 Examples of “Hostile Architecture” That Cities Use to Keep Homeless People from Sleeping in Public Places

Sadly, homelessness is a major problem, both in the United States and around the globe. In every major city – and even in a lot of medium-sized and smaller towns – you’re bound to see the unfortunate sight of homeless people sleeping on the streets.

Some cities have chosen to help fight against homelessness, while others have chose to fight against homeless people. The weapon of choice: “hostile architecture.” If you’re not familiar with the term, it basically means using architecture to make public spaces inhospitable to sleeping or sitting, or really just existing.

Here are some examples of how cities are dealing with their homeless people.

What do you think about these methods?

11. Anti-homeless spikes.

2. That guy had a good solution.

To prevent the homeless from sleeping here from therewasanattempt

3. He has a point.

Photo Credit: Reddit

4. Seems like a bit of a contradiction.

5. Yes, it does.

Anyone else find this ironic? from HostileArchitecture

6. Wow. That is harsh.

7. Locked up at night.

Bench in Volgodonsk, Russia from HostileArchitecture

8. Artistic, but serves a purpose.

"Les pieux de pierre sont impressionnants. Taillés en forme d’obélisque, ils sont installés sur un site privé du…

Posted by Dégustation de Bon Sens Liège on Thursday, October 4, 2018

9. That just looks painful.

The worst example of anti-homeless architecture I’ve ever seen from COMPLETEANARCHY

10. Uncomfortable shelter from the storm.

Photo Credit: Imgur

11. Seems a little cruel.

You’ve got to be the worst kind of heartless twat if you can go around slashing homeless people’s tents

12. No sleeping on this ledge.

Photo Credit: Imgur

It’s always difficult to see a person struggling in this way. Be kind to each other!

None of us truly know what someone else is going through and what circumstances led them to their current situation, so treat everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of how much money they have in their pocket or if they have a roof over their head.

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People Share Things You’d Only Know If You Grew up Poor

Poverty in the U.S. is rampant, even if you don’t see it all the time. And there are some things that you only know about and understand if you grew up poor.

AskReddit users weighed in on this topic.

1. Pre-cut

“Pre-cut Christmas trees are free on Christmas Eve. I remember the Christmas tree hunt on Christmas Eve was like our little family tradition. We would drive around in the evening looking for stores that still had trees sitting out front. Nine times out of 10, when we would ask about the tree we were interested in, they would say “just take it,” glad to get rid of them by that point.

Every year we had a perfectly beautiful tree and it was exciting to find perfect trees for free and then stay up late decorating it with home-made glitter pine cones and candy canes.”

2. Hot checks

“If you send a bad check to the utilities company on a Friday you have power for the weekend.”

3. No one will stop them

“Most gas station attendants will not stop a small child from stealing toilet paper from their bathrooms. Who knew?”

4. Libraries are lifesavers

“Libraries can save your life.

The first part of my childhood I would get home from school, usually to a vacant house. I really wouldn’t know if I was even going to see either of my parents each night. No cell phones of course. But I was always afraid… nervous at least, of what would happen if they did decide to make an appearance.

I started walking to the library everyday after school and staying till they closed every night just to avoid the feeling of anxiety for a little longer. Eventually one of the librarians noticed and took a liking to me. I think she might have been through similar things in her life that she saw in me. Gradually we got to know each other. First I started noticing there were more books being added in the genres that I liked. Then one day after the library closed, I walked over to McDonald’s.

I was a quarter or so short to buy a hamburger and she saw me asking people if they had any change. I saw her and was embarrassed and kinda hid from her. From that point on I think she decided that she was going to take me under her wing. For over a year she would come by my desk at the library and just drop off chips, granola bars, pop, whatever you know? Of course, I would tell her I didn’t need it, when in reality I only knew where one meal would come from each day.

When I would ask her where it came from, she would just say it was extras from the break room, even though I could hear her in there putting coin after coin into the vending machine. Eventually she would just bring dinner every night to the library and we would sit down in the break room with each other and eat. I finally opened up to her about my family/living issues and had her to talk to. Even though I was still pretty guarded, this was a huge relief. THEN, after I had been there almost 2 years, it was the week before school started, and I headed into the library.

Before I left she told me to meet her outside after close. I did, we walked to her car, and she pulled out a brand new school backpack, and inside was a new outfit, binder, and shoes (my first Nikes). That’s when I broke down, and my walls crumbled. She was a single lady working off a librarians income, but she still made room for me.

For 3 years she supported me as much as she could, and she was more of a friend than I had ever experienced up until that point in my life. She is the number 1 reason I got out of that house and life. She was with me at all my adoption hearings, and made sure I was put with a nice family. She was at my graduation, and my wedding. She saw me grow up and succeed in life after coming from the bottom. She saw her work and love pay off. I went to her funeral this summer and it felt like I had lost my mother, but I couldn’t stop reflecting on how much she changed my life through her sacrifice.

Truly an amazing person, and I still donate to the library every year.”

5. You gotta eat

“How good a buttered tortilla is.”

6. Wintertime

“IDK about in other states but in Minnesota they can’t shut your power off during the winter because of the danger of someone freezing to death in their house. So that was a good time to try to catch up on some other bills you are way behind on too.”

7. All kinds of things

“Government cheese, doing your laundry in a bathtub using only cold water bc the gas was shut off, trying to spend the night at your friends house bc they had food and a warm room, (thanks Nikki) loving going to school because you could at least eat there, trips to Goodwill for “new” clothes, showers at school because at least three water was warm.

Being made fun of because you smelled like kerosene, having lice and no one doing anything about it, going to school with bruises bc your parents took their shitty decisions out in you. I’m so grateful to a handful of people that saw potential in me, I went to college, got a great job, and broke the cycle . Thanks Tom and Toni.”

8. Eat up

“Pizza nights are the best birthday present you could ever fucking get.

A whole pizza, ordered exactly how you like it, and you get to have more than one slice.”

9. Change

“Food stamp paper change.

When I was a kid , if you used food stamps they would give back the change in food stamp form. My Mom was too “proud” to publicly use them so she would make up a reason to leave & I would have to pay using them – I was 11 or so. She did it every time…I had to learn to keep my head up.”

10. Sacrifice

“That sometimes your parents sacrifice everything they have, including their sanity just to see you happy. And you only learn later in life the soul crushing existence of poverty. Then you wonder how they managed to do so much with so little.”

11. F*cked

“When you get home and see a yellow notice hanging off your door you’re fucked. It’s always on a Friday to so you’re out of luck until Monday.”

12. Going hungry

“What hunger really is. I remember waiting for my dad’s payday for the grocery shopping trip and being absolutely ravenous when the food got there.”

13. A good lesson

“Witness to the adage “how much you really do have”. Major fire wiped out several hundred million-dollar homes. Heat generated left rubble of two-story homes only feet high. Families devastated. I still see the face of one man so completely shattered, I wondered if he would live to be able to rebuild.

I later was in the Command Post area when I was approached by a young girl and her Father. The Dad couldn’t speak English, so the girl would translate. “My family wants to know if this is where we can bring donations for the people whose houses burned down?” To my working knowledge, none had been established at that point. Her Father talks, she translates: “can we leave it here? Many roads are being closed, and we’re not familiar with this part of town.”

I walk with them to their car, a much older beater, the Mom and a couple of siblings in it. Dad opens the trunk, and together, we all bring out couple cases of water, canned and dry food, adult and child clothing, some used toys, and prepared food. Almost list it when each kid handed me their toys. Little girl: “we have so much stuff and we want to share with those families.”

14. Work with what you have

“Outdated technology.

When I started college, one of my professors asked if anyone in our class remembered how you changed a channel on the TV before remote controls. I was the only person in the room who remembered turning dials and adjusting rabbit ears despite being one of the youngest students in the class, because my family had a TV from the 70s until 1995.

Same sort of thing with computers, phones, etc. If we had it at all, we got something much later than anyone else (after it got cheaper) and bought used. I got my first computer in 1999. It had Windows 3.1 and that was what I used until I was able to use my financial aid to get a new PC tower for college.”

15. Cheap items

“Knowing the cheapest thing on the menu at every restaurant, for when your friends’ family invites you out to dinner. Even though you’re not paying, you’re programmed to only select the cheapest thing. My friend’s mom said “you sure like hot dogs. That’s all you order no matter where we go to eat.”

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10 Sobering Photos from the Great Depression Era

When the stock market crashed in October 1929, the entire country was plunged into a disastrous economic downturn lasting until the 1940s. In those years, families suffered destitution, starvation and breakdowns. It was the worst economic depression the industrialized world had ever seen.

Here are 10 photos that illustrate the devastation of the era.

1. Titled “Migrant mother.”

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

This is perhaps the most famous of all Great Depression photos. It shows Florence Thompson, a California pea picker, with three of her seven children. She was 32 years old.

2. Memphis 1939, the sign of the Hotel Clark says it’s the best service for “colored only.”

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Laws against segregation would not be enacted until the Civil Rights Act, 25 years in the future.

3. A crowd gathered outside the New York Stock Exchange after the crash.

Photo Credit: US Gov, public domain

Wall Street panicked and investors were wiped out. The event abruptly started the Great Depression.

4. Unemployed men sleeping in the park in Minneapolis, 1939.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Rampant unemployment led to rampant homelessness.

5. Meal time at the Sioux City, Iowa, homeless men’s bureau for unattached men, 1936.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Boarding houses, rented rooms and shelters were common.

6. Sharecropper’s children in 1935.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Landlords collected government farm subsidies and used the money to mechanize farms, heavily reducing their need for labor.

7. Sharecropper’s wife and baby, Arkansas, 1935.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Sharecroppers were often the poorest of the poor. In response to the mechanization of farms, bad living conditions and unfair terms of their leases, sharecroppers unionized during this time.

8. Children in the tenement district, Brockton, Massachusets, 1936.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

Tenements in the major eastern cities, like New York City and Boston, were homes to the waves of immigrants that become the working class.

9. Men sleeping in railroad station, Radford, Virginia.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

From out of town and working in the powder plant, they slept in the train station because they had no where else to go.

10. Family from Georgia in tent with neighbor’s child, eight or ten men, two women and two children.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

The tent was their permanent home. Men slept in shifts as construction workers in Alexandria, Louisiana, 1940.

The economy didn’t fully recover until the end of World War II with sharp reductions in spending and taxes, and the end of war-time economy. It wasn’t until the 1950s that America began enjoying broadly renewed prosperity. Although poverty and food scarcity is still a problem for many, the levels of unemployment and despair felt by depression era Americans have not been seen since.

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