It takes real sweat to make it out of poverty.
We should disclose that some people are stuck in a cycle, sometimes through no fault of their own.
But for those of you hitting a snag, there are a few key steps you can take to lift yourself up.
After Redditor 3j2m23 asked the online community, "People who went from, 'rags to riches,' how did you do it?" many weighed in with their stories and advice.
"I started bagging groceries..."
I started bagging groceries, worked may way up to assistant store manager. When I was a child I used to cry myself to sleep hungry and sweating. Now I make enough money for my family to live comfortably. I also just got my savings account up to 6 months of living expenses. I just moved up by working with others and respecting those that are respectful. I get it, it isn't the best job, but when I look at my kids and know they have a head start in life, it makes me feel amazing inside.
"I had maybe a few hundred bucks..."
Background: early 40s man. I was shown the door at 18; I had maybe a few hundred bucks and a crap job when I left home (I remember taking a shower when I found a room to rent... and realizing I didn't own a towel :/).
- I focused on education in a STEM field (for me, computer science), getting a degree at a state university so I didn't graduate with significant debt, and smartly financing any debt I did have. That English degree is tempting, but the salary just isn't there.
- I focused on doing really well with that degree. Buckle down at your job, make yourself invaluable, get raises, change jobs to get a salary bump where you can.
- I learned finance well. I understand the importance of an emergency fund. I understand how finance and mortgages work. I understand basic investing and retirement fund options.
- Being frugal. This doesn't mean living like a monk, but it does mean: don't be dumb with your money.
- Avoid: expensive degrees, cars, silly expensive living situations, etc. I find most people's (major) debt is often in one of these categories.
- Never willingly run a credit card balance.
Lastly, I play the long game. I don't buy individual stocks. If it isn't an ETF or a mutual fund, I want nothing to do with it.
"I finished high school..."
Was on my own at age 16 after leaving an abusive household (emancipated).
I finished high school by going to class during the day and working a minimum wage job at night. Barely made enough to pay rent, and often ate at the homeless shelter. I'd get maybe 3-4 hours of sleep between work and school. After graduating I enlisted in the Air Force. The Air Force gave me the tools and means of escaping poverty, and provided me with the family I always longed for. Best choice I ever made. Now all my paychecks just pile up in my savings account because I have no idea what to spend them on, but I know that I have more money saved away than most will ever be able to save in a lifetime. The key was never spending beyond my means, and never borrowing money.
"Family came from a communist country..."
Family came from a communist country with absolutely nothing - to this country with absolutely nothing. When you have nothing, you'll work night and day for everything at 100% capacity, since there's literally no other choice. Working any job that'll hire you, saving every penny you earn like its your last, and having no time to enjoy anything. Biggest thing though was education.. bust your butt in the right places and you will go a long way.
"24 years later..."
GiphyI grew up poor.
Food banks, social housing, 5 people in a 2 bedroom house, alcoholic and abusive mother, absentee father... The regular dirt poor white trash.
I was kicked out at 14 and ended up on an emancipation social welfare allowance and was flatting. To get myself through school, I used to steal fruit from neighbourhood trees and eat 1kg of bacon, 1 kg of cheese, and 2 loaves of bread a week. It cost me $15.
24 years later, I own my own home, earn $100k a year and support 3 kids and a SAHM.
How? Education and hard work. I'm also of above average intelligence and am a tall, fit, reasonably attractive white male. It is an advantage.
From my childhood, I also have pretty well developed survival instincts and I feel like I can read people really well. I use that to play chess with positions at work. It is manipulation, but I don't hurt anyone, I just advance myself.
So, a combination of innate ability and privilege combined with hard work and education.
"And before you call me..."
Married well.
And before you call me a gold digger, I mean I married someone the polar opposite of my own family. Good work ethic, secure job, and actually has goals. TOGETHER we have managed to create a decent enough life that we are considered upper middle class.
So maybe not rags to riches, but certainly rags to resources.
"Taking advantage..."
Taking advantage of my lucky breaks and California real estate.
Put myself through college, got an engineering job, met an amazing woman who a) was also an engineer and b) knows money like a mad woman. Were always careful with our money.
Bought a house that was a bank repossession at the bottom of the market. The company we worked for gave stock options before the dot com thing. Exercised the options at an advantageous point and paid off the house. Got a job in Silicon Valley just after the housing crisis and their relocation package included paying closing costs on a house. My wife insisted on renting out the first house and buying a second house using this package and down payment she had saved from a contracting job she'd had. Sold first house, did a 1031 exchange, and bought rental properties.
"I read a lot..."
I worked two full time jobs for 6 years with no vacation. This started at 28. I put the earnings from the second job into stocks and mutual funds. I remained consistent in my savings for 25 years. I took a vacation every year but kept things on the modest side. I read a lot about investing. While i made some mistakes, they were small. When the portfolio got too big to handle, i hired a professional. In really good times, it's easy to make money in the markets. This advisor kept me from making mistakes when things looked dicey. So invest early, put a little away every month and graph your progress.
"Meanwhile..."
FAR from riches, but I'm doing pretty well. Went to college, got a degree, and landed a job. Now I had been living near campus, with roommates, and now made more money. Why increase my expenses? I stayed there 2 more year, got a promotion, and then moved to a nicer house, but with roommates. Everyone was mid to upper 20's, no party, real jobs, house stayed clean, etc. Meanwhile I'm making 80K, so 60K after taxes, my monthly expenses are about 2K on the average month, throw in a random trip, new tires, etc and I spend about 30K a year, while saving 30K a year. Now I'm in the pay cash for a house if I wanted to.
"Started working in a shop..."
I came from a home where we had nothing, just some money from the government to pay our rent. Started working in a shop at 16, got a full time contract at 18. Got my first mortgage at my 19th birthday, bought my first boat at 22. Now I'm 27 and about to buy another apartment, renting out the first one for passive income. I'm born in Amsterdam and house prices sky rocketed in the last 5 years, I just got lucky I guess. I did go bankrupt at 22, mother passed away and I made some bad decisions with my money, I also lost the boat, which I planned to live on and travel around with at 25. But managed to keep the house.
These days I make around 2000 Euro per week and after taxes and expenses I keep around 6000 a month. I have my own small transport company and things are just going really well, I travel around a lot and don't have too many worries, just enjoying life I guess, I have 1 good friend but I don't see him that often, he's living his own life. I just have my dad left and a half brother, I only see them once every 2 to 3 years.
Not going out too much and making your own meals helps a lot, I always calculate how much I can save by making my own meals. Min/maxing your income and expenses gives joy as well.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.