"Rich people of reddit who married someone significantly poorer, what surprised you about their (previous) way of life?"
Planning A Budget
"Making financial decisions based around the three paycheck month."
"If you're paid every two weeks, most months you get two paychecks, and all of your monthly bills and budgeting is based on those two paychecks."
"But twice a year there are three paydays in a month, and that's when you can actually solve problems."
"That's when you can get the car registered, or fix the dryer, or get the cat spayed."
"The other 10 months you're doing maintenance and trying to scrape by."
"Three paycheck months you can actually try to fix problems."- appleciders
Intimidating Food...
"More of a funny incident, but I was the poor one."
"My husband, at the time still boyfriend, took me out to a very nice restaurant."
"Waiter ask if I want pepper on my Caesar salad that was just made table side. I said sure and he goes about it."
"Thing is, I didn’t know you had to say stop."
"My husband slowly realizes this, but decides to see it play out."
"He did eventually say that I need to say stop."
"I just thought a Caesar was had this way as it was my first time even eating a salad that wasn’t just iceberg and ranch dressing."
"It still tasted fine, just a little bit too much pepper haha."- singlewhitewolf
Vegan Vegetables GIF by Dan WoodgerGiphyHow The Other Half Lives
"I was adopted at age 7."
"I lived in extreme poverty and then all of a sudden I lived with a doctor who bought gifts for birthdays and Christmas."
"I didn’t know that was a thing."
"I didn’t know you could go to the store to get food."
"I just thought you went to the church and had to pray before they give you a bag of food."- 0slinedupon24hrclock
Speaking In Code
"When the family had people over for dinner, if they ended the prayer before the meal with 'F. H. B., Amen'."
"It was a signal to let the children know that they don't have enough food for everyone, so take smaller servings and let the guests get a regular serving."
"FHB = 'Family, hold back'."
"They were always generous to their friends and didn't let their lack of funds embarrass themselves when doing so."- Cartoonlad
Classic Conditioning
"Honestly, food insecurity."
"When we were first married she would get visibly uneasy if the food in the house was running low."
"She never overate or anything, she was just always concerned about it."
"A lot of times when she was younger, she went hungry."
"On the humorous side though, she hates camping."
"Her answer is always the same: 'I camped because it was fun, she camped because they couldn't afford hotels'."- r-cubed
It's Always The Little Things
"She and her mother lived with her grandfather to not be homeless because her grandfather owned a house."
"She was putting community college payments on her credit card and building debt with it."
"I paid off her credit cards when we were dating and she cried from me being so nice."
"It was only like 1,300 bucks."
"I bought a condo, then we got married, then we bought a house."
"I never really considered myself rich until i started dating her and learned that a trip to Wendy's was a treat."
"I grew up middle class, and we are currently middle class, heh."- Amazingawesomator
Simple Pleasures
"My wife was born and raised in the Soviet Union."
"She still goes crazy for fresh fruit like it's the most extravagant luxury."- TheDJFC
Coverage
"The prevailing mindset in his community growing up that insurance was something only rich people had."
"Not health insurance, mind you, well, not just health insurance."
"Auto insurance."
"Going without it was a way of life for most everyone he knew."- captainslowww
Old Habits Die Hard
"I am not well off but my stepfather is."
"I was raised by a single mom who spent money on everything and bills were always behind."
"She just couldn't manage her money at all."
"In her 50's she met and married a multi-millionaire."
"We are in middle-America so that goes further than maybe in a lot of areas."
"They have given themselves $10,000 a month budget to live on, living on interest."
"Own their home."
"Anyway once my mom met him and they got all her finance situated and paid off."
"She won't spend a penny."
"He spends like it is going out of style."
"He has actually begged me to take her shopping to get clothes and accessories."
"She won't do it."
"She spent more when she was a single mom with nothing."
"It makes no sense to me."
"At least buy a new outfit."
"She is hell bent to not use a penny of his money. "
"They barely even have any groceries."
"If they have anything it is because he buys it for them."
"She is a retired nurse that gets a retirement and SS but she won't spend anything."
"She lives poorer now than any other time in her life."- danapca
Many people dream of marrying into money, and being able to buy extravagant things and go on extravagant trips.
Others however, are only grateful that after getting married, they won't have to struggle to pay a utility bill, or worry about whether or not there will be food on the table.
Though, of course, when madly in love, money is often the last thing people think about.
Not everyone can afford an upscale night on the town with a swanky menu.
Sometimes the menu is simple and concise.
And it may need to be repeated 3-4 times a week.
The money and food struggles are real.
But that doesn't mean you can't consume foods that are yummy.
Redditor bADDKarmal wanted to discus the foods that signal some life issues but are still yummy.
So they asked:
"What is the best struggle meal?"
Pea soup. My grandma made it with just water, a bag of peas and some spice. So good.
Basics
butter get GIF
Giphy
"Toast with butter and sugar."
nobid_leon
"My dad would always make toast with butter and brown sugar. Toss it in the oven to get a crisp and it was magical."
11646Moe
Special
"Spam and rice. The poor hawaiian kid special."
Xxaxis366
"I agree with the rice part, but Spam is insanely expensive. It's like $5 a can minimum around here. Not Hawaii."
"A bag of beans that costs $2 or less, some tomatoes and spices. Will last longer, be more filling, and not give you a sodium overload. Honestly, most things go good with rice."
DreamPig666
"Had this for lunch today and threw in a couple of eggs too!!"
MeNicolesta
For food reason...
"Noodles."
hyprsensitive
"I know this is a bit gourmet relative to this, but try the Shin Ramyun brand ramen some time. It is so freaking good, especially the Black one. It's surprisingly close to standard restaurant ramen. About 2 bucks, bigger portion than most ramen. I saw some people doing a huge ramen tournament, and Shin Ramyun won. For food reasons."
appleparkfive
"Yes pretty much any Noodle will do. Straight fire."
bADDKarmal
The Best Basics
"Red beans and rice."
Caseated_Omentum
"I was going to say, as long as you have beans and rice, you can live off of that alone for a very long time or potatoes by themselves has more nutrients than any other 1 food and can keep you alive longer than anything else. Potatoes has kept kingdoms and countries from starvation through times on war, droughts, and high inflation."
RonAnFawn
Good easts...
Grilled Cheese Meme GIF
Giphy
"The comfort food I had when poor as hell was grilled cheese that you dip in warm tomato soup. Taste like pizza, I still do it from times to times."
MoleHester
Everyone needs comfort and this food.
The Fav
honduras avocado GIF by JenChibi
Giphy
"Frijoles from a pot with fresh Pico and a tortilla is my fave. Or queso fresco, tomato and onion in a tortilla."
UpstairsSize
Oh Shin...
"Ramen, alternating out the seasoning and sauces you use each time."
Nondenomabomination
"Try Shin Ramyun. It's bigger and costs a little bit more. But it blows the others out of the water. Especially the Shin Ramyun Black one. Has some vegetables and mushrooms in it."
"I saw Good Mythical Morning do a ramen tournament and Shin Ramyun won. Wasn't surprised at all. You can find it at any Asian market, but it's pretty common in other stores these days. International section often has it."
"It's pretty similar to the ramen you would order in a little mom and pop restaurant. Put an egg in it if that's your thing, but it's good as is."
appleparkfive
That’s life...
"Soft fried egg added to a tortilla with cheese and salsa, put back into the pan for a minute to get the tortilla crispy."
souvenireclipse
"Nice. I do this too but with beans instead of salsa."
kale_blazer
"I toast my tortilla first using a skillet. Try that. I sometimes add a slice of ham. That’s life. No salsa for me though."
txpharmer13
Use Jiffy
"A couple of cans of tuna (in oil or water, as you like), drained. Prepare a box of macaroni and cheese (the deluxe if you can swing it). Add a little finely chopped onion, half a bag of cooked frozen peas, salt and pepper. Give it a dash or three of celery salt if you have it, really makes the dish. Heat it through, stirring occasionally, serve."
"Hey presto, stove top tuna casserole. Tuna packed in oil will give a better flavor and be more calorie dense. Deluxe mac & cheese has the cheese goop in a pouch instead of the cheese powder. If things are really tight use a couple of boxes of the powder sort."
"Also, beans and cornbread. A bag of pinto beans is cheap, do them in a slow cooker if you have one. Add a little bacon if you have it. Make the cornbread from scratch or use the Jiffy cornbread mix. Yum."
darrellbear
Grounded
meat beef GIF
Giphy
"Ground beef, egg noodles, and packet gravy mix. Can feed a family of four."
WhichDuck5191
"Ground beef is not cheap these days though.
"Leather-Highway7374
Now I'm hungry. Who else?
Do you have a favorite struggle meal? Let us know in the comments.
