27 Pics for Anyone Who Knows the Struggle of Growing up Poor

1.

Have you ever had a sugar sandwich? Because I have.

2.

One Christmas, all three of us kids each only got a letter from my mom.

3.

Didn’t have enough food because mother spent our money on church. Paid tuition to parochial school. Put cash in 2 collection plates & an envelope for The Bishops Fund special collection on Sundays. Paid coins to light candles. Her piety kept her kids hungry & cold I hate religion

4.

We had a school uniform, so that was fine. But the occasional 'non-uniform day' would be horrifically embarrassing. I often pretended to forget and turn up in uniform anyway. Now I earn a reasonable amount, I still can't believe I can buy stuff whenever, like a book or a coffee or a new shirt. Part of my 32 year old head of department brain is still a poor 8 year old waiting patiently for Christmas.

5.

McDonald's play place was for special occasions only.

6.

I am not attached to the concept of "liking" everything I eat. My son hates it, because I'm like "It's what we're having, and if you don't like it, better luck tomorrow." He's never had to learn from actual experience to be grateful he was getting anything at all.

7.

For fun, I would go to the city dump with my grandpa to peel proof of purchase labels off cereal boxes to be redeemed for refunds or prizes. I still have some of the dolls my grandpa got for me.

8.

Chili on day one. Chili with beans on day two. Day three add macaroni. Day four add tomato juice with paprika and it becomes goulash. Day five spoon the remaining goulash over a baked potato.

9.

Going to bed hungry. Or purposefully leaving food so your parents could eat the leftovers since that would be their only meal... That hurts to think about, even now.

10.

You can skip a meal by just going to sleep.

11.

The only cheese we could get was the government commodities cheese ( which made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches BTW ) and the peanut butter that came with the commodities made yummy cookies

12.

I used to pray for clothing that my mom didn’t sew.

13.

Going to other kid's houses and getting invited to stay for dinner. I would always sneak something to eat back home for my mom. She never asked me to do that, but I knew she was hungry.

14.

Our Christmas toy was from the S&H Green Stamp store. New PJs & underwear completed the gifts. Fridays was soup Mom made from little bits left over during the week. It was pretty random. It emptied the frig, Sat was grocery day. She knew the price of everything in the store.

15.

Good hygiene isn't always an easy thing to have.

16.

My mother washed aluminum foil.

17.

How to invent foods based on the limited amount of what you already have

18.

My parents dumpster diving at the mall for birthday presents for us.

19.

Boiled wieners for lunch and wiener water soup for dinner.

20.

Never answer the phone. It was always the debt collectors looking for money.

21.

Butter and cinnamon on bread. Cinnamon toast!

22.

We reused aluminum foil.

23.

Buying school supplies from Dollar Tree.

24.

Packages of socks, underwear, and other necessities wrapped up under the Christmas tree.

25.

Every piece of produce I ate at home was grown in our backyard.

26.

Drinking a lot of water before or during a meal makes you feel more full.

27.

Feeling guilty about getting expensive presents as a child.

28.

Picking up soda bottles from along the roadside to turn in for the deposit money.

29.

This is going to wipe away the competition.

30.

Nothing was name brand. Instead of Fruit Loops we had Fruity O's.

31.

Did you have lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches?

32.

Got a cold? Grab a roll of toilet paper. I still feel like Kleenex is a luxury item.

33.

Everything around you can be a toy. My action figure collection included a stick, a mason jar, and an off brand Barbie given to me by an older cousin.

34.

Wearing your coat inside to save on the heating bill.

35.

Using plain bread for hotdog and hamburger buns.

36.

We cut open the toothpaste to get every last drop out of the tube.

37.

The generic aisle at the grocery store.