What do INSANELY POOR People buy, that Normal People know nothing about? - Reddit Podcast

🟢 Am I the Genius PODCAST on Spotify -

podcast reddit, reddit storytime reddit top posts r/confession r/entitledparents r/tifu r/prorevenge r/maliciouscompliance r/choosingbeggers r/entitledpeople r/IDOWorkHereLady r/Idontworkherelady r/personalfinance r/AmITheA**hole r/AITA
Voice Actor - Ryan Henning

[trashpanda_]

If you're a kid in a poor family grocery shopping has rules.
Don't ask for anything, don't touch stuff (if you damage it you can't afford it), only buy things that are both on your list and on sale, always check the price-per-unit sign, before you put anything in the cart make sure it's the best deal you can get-usually resulting in walking up and down the isle several times, learn to substitute things

[scooby]

"Pick yourself up by your bootstraps" is a nice way of saying, "Hang yourself with your shoe laces."

[GILLIGFAN]

Ouch that 7 - 11
Story hit home.
Fortunately I’ve got friends at a couple 7-11 locations
but knowing what I know from them ( and heard about other places ) stores pitching stuff and
Doing so with spite pisses me off to no end,

It’s stupid and downright shameful!
I applaud businesses that actually try to avoid waste

[leannsmarie]

Watching this reminds me of raising my 5 kids on little income when married to my ex. We moved constantly, dumpster-dived, thrift shopped for clothes, were on food stamps and AFDC (Aid for Dependent Children), lived in Section 8 housing when we weren't homeless & living in a motel, relied on Salvation Army donations, etc. Dumped the ex after ten years of this when he was hauled to jail for molesting my oldest girl. I then married someone else who put me through school. Now I have a degree & am making 6 figures and the kids are all grown & out of the house. Those struggles helped my kids navigate their own hard times once they were on their own, but they are healthy & happy and so are my grandkids.

[jerryferguson]

Anyone here ever enjoyed gravy bread? I asked my old coworkers about it and they literally kept asking what I was talking about. A few times I said it slowly like I was talking to someone who couldn't speak english. I know I've been good since I was 8 or so, but every now and then I really miss eating that simple gravy bread. It was kinda like a treat I'd want. As I finished typing that last sentence it made me think of my mom. I miss her, it'll be 19 years in October.

[dogofwar]

Man, I had almost forgotten how poor I was growing up with this video. I've lived through at least half of the situations personally that are mentioned in this stories.

And if nothing else, when you're as poor as I was I learned how to repair a _lot_ of broken things. Especially cars, given that it's always cheaper to repair a high ticket item like a car than buying it new.

[MarsJenkar]

Story #7 and similar phenomena has come to have a name among people who have read the Discworld novels: The Samuel Vimes Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness. Basically it's more expensive to be poor than to be well-off because people who have money to spare can afford to splurge for items that aren't cheap but are more economical over the long term, while poor people can only afford the cheap items that don't last and aren't as good.

The example used in the book in question details people buying boots (hence the "boots theory"). A reasonably well-off person can afford a $50 pair of boots that lasts ten years and keeps the person's feet dry from wet conditions throughout their useful life. But a poor person can't afford the $50 pair of boots, and so they have to settle for the $10 pair of boots that lasts only a year and doesn't adequately keep the wearer's feet dry. After ten years, the poor person has spent $100 on boots while the well-off person has only spent $50, and the latter has gotten better use out of them in the meantime.

[turtlnickel]

That part where it said that the system is set up to keep you poor is so real. I am on disability, receive food stamps, and also public housing assistance. Every year, my disability goes up due to living expenses. This year it went up the most it ever has (about $90). However, this caused my food stamps to go down $44 and my rent portion to go up $30. So, out of that $90, I received a whole $16. I just changed my medicare advantage insurance plan to a different company because the new one offers a benefit card with a $150 a month that can be used towards food. The card has to be used specifically for healthy food and won't work on basically anything that tastes good or is convenient. As someone who is in pain everyday, I don't always have the capability to cook my own meals; but, frozen meals, crackers, cereal that doesn't taste like sawdust, most coffees, protein bars, and any snack foods are a no go. It also makes it harder with all the grocery inflation that has been happening in the past two years. That $16 basically goes to my required anti-inflammatory diet staples of brown rice and sugar-free jam. (Having to adhere to an anti-inflammatory diet is also expensive AF. I shouldn't have to be punished for being sick by having to pay $7 for a loaf of high-fiber bread instead of $2 for a normal one.)

[nebula]

I as a child had no idea but we lived off those loans. We drove a car into the ground. Going to the food bank was the best day of the week.

My favorite was a full hello kitty bedding set my mom put on layaway for my birthday. It had the sheets the comforter pillowcases everything! 😊

We always had what we needed❤

[toomanyhungrycats]

Rich people live in a different universe and have no clue what it means to struggle. I grew up in a lower middle class suburban neighborhood (my childhood house is probably worth more than 400k now) after moving out I ended up living 50% below the poverty line and I'm slowly working my way up. I'm lucky to have anything so I don't go around telling people less fortunate they aren't trying hard enough. Instead I say it to the cruel people who think it's too hard to be kind to others. "Getting out of poverty is hard but being kind to others less fortunate is easy"

[IzzyPR]

Often the people who advocate the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality are people who never pulled themselves up by the bootstraps but instead either inherited their money from their parents or got other benefits to get a head start in life.

[mailleweaver]

Although I didn't grow up poor, my dad did, and he raised me with a lot of ways to avoid going hungry. He taught me to grow my own food, dress out animals, fix things, collect and process firewood, buy cheap food (like outdated bread) in bulk to keep in a large chest freezer, buy canned food directly from the cannery, find useful things at yard sales, etc. I've supplemented that with a genuine interest in camping and general survival skills. He also gave me a small allowance when I was a kid, which taught me pretty early the value of money and how to prioritize the things I wanted so I could either save or spend based on those priorities. I've gotten down to my last $5 a couple of times, but I've still never been poor. I live comfortably (though not frivolously) and never worry about going hungry. As long as I'm physically able, I'm confident that I can stretch things as far as I need to to survive if it ever gets bad.

[lucyxchan]

My childhood poverty experiences:
Everything get's repaired and if not, gutted for spare parts
Here in germany we had trash days where people take their big stuff to the curb, we go with a handwagon and take anything electrical, newspapers and what is in good shape to sell to a local secondhand store.
Noodles and 3L offbrand cola was staple food.
A childs bike could be flexed apart and welded with pipe to make it bigger
Bought discounts in bulk to have a hoard.
There should be other things that i didn't notice...

[JacobDreemurr]

My family went to this little store in town, that sold everything outdated, at super low prices. Dog food, human food, it was insanely cheap. When we couldn't afford that, we would eat beans. I rarely went hungry, but that was because my mom or dad ate very little. I took nothing for granted. I still don't. I can afford to be more picky these days, but I'm prepared now, and know how to stretch a dollar down to pennies.

[mocubing]

10:40 Why the manager would tell his employees to do that is just despicable. There should be more awareness for poverty in America and this makes me mad.

[SirSmurfalot]

10:25 There is a special place in hell for that 7/11 manager.

[xerowolf]

Being poor taught me to learn to work on my car myself. I bought a set of wrenches and a small ratchet set when I was 16. I wish youtube was a thing back then because learning from haynes and chilton manuals was not nearly as easy. I knew that buying a car was just a fraction of what a car really costs and I wouldn't be able to afford to own a car if I couldn't fix it because of how much it costs for maintenance and repairs.

[ivannichols]

The dollar store has an amazing selection of hygiene products now. I'll doordash for a few nights and make a couple hundred bucks for groceries and hygiene. There is a very good selection of different snacks, condiments and frozen items at the dollar store so being able to see a hundred different items feel like you are really getting the most for your money. They also have cute little dishes and housewares. No one ever knows my fully stocked bathroom and kitchen is on account of thrift, dollar and close out stores.
I also once had enough change to get an olive garden never ending pasta bowl. When the manager found out id saved for weeks for it he let me take two boxes home. I cried of course as I thanked him. He threw in a piece of cake and some gelato. He was amazing.

[blazekeaveny]

My dad got those cereal brands with those names that slightly resemble a main brand but taste slightly off and have a weirder taste. we also lived with at least two other roommates along with me, my dad and my three brothers or we would go to Goodwill and buy new shirts or pants with the color of the month.

[shadowstrider]

Painkillers... not for addiction, but in my country, whatever laws govern doctors to stay affordable, are apparently optional for dentists. A dentist can refuse to see you, a dentist can refuse a payment plan, a dentist can charge you hundreds of dollars for a simple checkup, a dentist can charge more if you can't pay that very day. So if you're poor with a tooth problem, you take painkillers. I knew someone who lived on painkillers and old bread for years, so he could go to Spain and get his teeth fixed with some back alley dental surgeon for 50$. The whole ordeal still came up cheaper than a dentist visit here. _international travel_ was cheaper than a local dentist.