People Explain How They Climbed Out Of Poverty
Reddit user fromTheYear3969 asked: 'How did you come out of poverty/being broke?'
No one chooses to live in poverty.
It's one of the great injustices of the world that people find themselves in, often through no fault of their own.
Sadly, for the majority of people, poverty is permanent.
There are those, however, who have managed to defy the odds and climb up out of poverty.
If these people don't necessarily become millionaires, they still manage to have food in their refrigerators, and a roof over their heads.
A luxury they at one point never dreamed of having.
Redditor fromTheYear3969 was curious to hear the stories of people who achieved this remarkable accomplishment, leading them to ask:
"How did you come out of poverty/being broke?"
Hard Work And Dedication
"I was homeless, bouncing from shelter to shelter."
"One day my cousin took me with him to a place called Labor-Ready."
"It's just a place where construction companies etc. pick up a day laborer, and at the end of the day you go back to the office and they cut you a cheque for the day's work."
"Well when I got to that jobsite, the other punks I was working with from the agency were lazy and slow and complaining all day, barely doing anything."
"It pissed me off."
"We were hired to work."
"So I worked my absolute guts out."
"We were digging mud out of the basement of an abandoned farm house that was being restored."
'The boss came during the day and saw me carrying 2 steel 5 gallon pails filled to the top with mud up the stairs and out the back door constantly."
"While the other two were barely filling one 2 gallon drywall mud pail."
"He took me aside and said 'You're not going back to the agency tomorrow, you're hired'."
"From there I continued to work my guts out for him and eventually was promoted from laborer to a carpenters apprentice."
"I learned a few trades there since they were a general contractor."
"From there I moved on to other companies and continued learning new trades."
"Today I'm a jack of all trades, making good pay."
"I do everything. Windows and doors, flooring, brick and concrete repair, drywall, mud and tape, tile, siding and aluminum, you name it."
"I've got my own brand new van, fully kitted out with all the best tools I could possibly need to do any job."
"And my work is appreciated because I am meticulous and hard working."
"And that's how I went from pinching out of weed bags and sleeping at a mission to owning a house and vehicles with a good job."- Response-Cheap
Act Like Nothing Changed
"Finished grad school, got a decent paying job, but continued to largely live as if I was broke."- AgingLemon
"live like I'm still paycheck to paycheck."- Enshu
For Love AND Money
"Married my way out of it."
"I had no idea her family were doing well because they live so frugally, but when I moved in with them to 'save money' after marrying her as they put it, I was put in charge of managing everyone's bills and credit cards."
'When I saw my father and mother in laws bank accounts, I at first thought it was a mistake, but when I raised it with my wife she was like like no that sounds normal."
"I nearly fainted."
"I know for bloody sure that their grandkids are going to want for nothing."- An_Draoidh_Uaine
Wasn't Afraid To Ask For Help
"Sacrificed comfort and focused on getting the bare minimum of what I need and how to get more money."
"I at ramen and bread, slept outside, and took a shower when I could."
"I got a job at Wal-Mart, then Ross, the clothing store."
"Found a cheap motel to stay at with the girlfriend and we scrimped and saved."
"But $33 a night on a $50 a day salary eats at you and it was impossible to save."
"Like it would have been years before I could have afforded just a car to make sure I got to work on time."
"So I moved into my fathers place and could save up for a car."
'They paid for my TESOL and I used a lifetime of miles from flying between my mother and father to get a ticket to Poland, sold the car and found myself eating potatoes in Polska till i got a job teaching English."
"Then the gold(PLN) was steady."
"Moral of this story is that poverty is a scary f*cking thing and its really hard to get out of it without friends and family."
"There's no easy way out and the longer you're there the deeper the holes get especially if you start borrowing money."
"I still like to travel on nothing sometimes though."
"Hitch-hike, couchsurf, and eat nothing but bread for months."- Mixedstereotype
Never Underestimate The Importance Of Social Skills
"Being at the right place, at the right time, talking to the right people."
"You can be the most talented person in the world, but if you don't know how to play the social game, and have a lot of luck it sadly isn't going to happen."- ClearRefrigerator519
Strived For Something Better
"I grew up with drug addicted/alcoholic parents."
"I've worked every day since I was 16 and stay far away from my family."
"My wife and kids are my rock and keep me working hard and pushing to be better."
"Pro tip: leave your small town and never look back."
"Take control and grab life by the horns."- ForlornCouple
Never Took One Day For Granted
"Read, learned, exercised, went to night school, got a GED went to university (got a loan for that) learned to live on beans and rice for 6 years got a contract job in my industry worked, studied, learned took every minute of work that came my way."
"Gained the trust of the middle class people around me, made them believe I wasn't some white trash loser, read learned exercised, saved up $10,000 started my own buisness, struggled for years, failed many times and finally got here."
"I am 52 and still working 6 days a week 12 hours a day."
"Sad but true."
"No easy options for me, unfortunately."- lostinKansai
Work, Work Work...
"I went back to school at 24 to get a degree in cs, got an internship at a big tech company and converted it to a full time offer at the end of the internship."
"Now I make insane money."
"I worked full time with a lot of mandatory over time during the entire period I was in college.'
"It was brutal, but ended up being worth it."- Pwnskies
Took Advantage Of Opporuntiy
"Grew up poor."
"I am good at learning and my country has affordable education."
"Getting into university is a matter of getting a diploma from the right level high school, which I did."
'I then went to university and got a good job."
"I now pay more in taxes than my education cost the government."
"It should be that simple anywhere."- Xaphhire
Figured Out Who Their Real Friends Were.
"Might sound harsh, but I dropped the group of people I was hanging with."
"They all had no aspirations or drive to do anything or get out of the small town we grew up in."
"I knew that if I stayed in that circle of people, I wouldn’t go or do anything with my life."
"That was 8 years ago now."
"I got a college degree, have my own house, and make $120k a year."
"Everyone back at home that I left still isn’t doing anything."- HackJarlow23
One sobering thought after reading all these inspiring stories.
If all the world's billionaires each donated a small percentage of their massive fortunes, they could actually end world hunger.
And yet...
It is estimated that nearly 37.9 million people in the United States currently live in poverty.
A shameful statistic, to say the least.
Challenging as it is, however, growing up poor is nothing to necessarily be ashamed of, as many influential people in this world came from humble beginnings.
Even so, many people who grew up poor and found success and financial stability in adulthood still try to hide their childhood from others. But those in the know, or who had the same experience, tend to notice the subtle, tell-tale signs of those whose childhood was anything but luxurious.
Redditor Puzzled-Painter3301 was curious to learn how people could tell if someone grew up poor, leading them to ask:
"What's a sign that someone grew up poor?"
Their Relationship With Food
"When you can’t finish a meal, pulling it apart to at least eat the meat because 'that’s the expensive part'."
"Or just force feeding yourself any meal you buy because you have to feel like you didn’t waste."
"Being hypersensitive to any light left on, door left open, opening the fridge too much, running water too long, etc, because you’re trained to minimize utilities."
"Never pouring more than 1/2 a glass of any drink when at someone else’s house (except water) because you don’t want to be seen as wasteful/gluttonous."
"Making weird snacks out of food that isn’t supposed to be a snack - ex."
"Eating dry ramen noodles like chips, Kool Aid with sugar and your finger to make your own fun dip, eating Kraft cheese slices/cold hotdogs/other things that are normally just a part of a meal."- kountryt
"Scanning the menu for the cheapest options possible when at a restaurant."
“'It’s ok the soup is really enough for me.'”- Call_the_Green_Man
"I grew up poor and my husband grew up middle class."
'Whenever we have guests, I am constantly asking people if they got ENOUGH food."
"'Is anyone still hungry? I can make something else!'"
"My husband will inquire about the quality of the food and if it is to everyone's liking."
"I think when you grow up poor, food is very much quantity over quality."- NoMaineKoonsAllowed
Resistance To Let Go
"Never replacing anything unless there’s absolutely no way to use the old thing anymore, and going to absurd lengths to keep something 'still useable'.”- boymanpal
"Odd hoarding behaviours of things you probably should have gotten rid of out of fear you won’t be able to replace them easily."
"I keep a stack of boxes broken down because there’s still this fear in the back of my mind that I’ll have to move again at a moment’s notice."
"I make a decent salary now and have lived where I am for nearly 7 years, but I still can’t part with those boxes despite the space they take up."
"Under the bed, behind the chest of drawers."
"Yeah. I still have ‘em."- Mr_Lumbergh
"Difficulty throwing things away."- OldSamVimes
"Sentimentality."
"Not that wealthier people can't be sentimental.'
"But my dad, whose parents grew up in the rural South during the great depression, wants to keep every little thing of my mom's."
"Everything."
"He would prefer to keep her bedroom as is."
"I always wondered why he wanted to keep it like that."
"But then I realized, the only thing we have left is my mom's ashes in an urn."
"There was no funeral, no memorial, (she didn't want any and there was no one to come anyways) no tombstone."
"Nothing that feels tangible, personal, etc."
"We don't have the luxury of beautiful personal mausoleums, or headstones, or anything else in the Western death culture."
"My mom's bedroom, and all her stuff is the closest we will ever have to a memorial for my mom.'
"It's a tomb, without a body in it."- InsomWriter
Always Looking For A Sale
"Never buying clothing at full price."
"It just feels illegal."- Totally-trapped
Justifying A Purchase
"For me, I have what I call 'poverty mentality.'"
"While I can afford new shoes and clothes, they have to be falling apart for me to replace."- ciarrabobeara
Appreciation For Nice Things
"Still being marveled by an ice maker and side by side doors."- Difficult_Let_1953
"Realizing I wanted to have the house that all my kids friends came over to hang out at because that wasn't really an option for big chunks of my childhood."- sykojaz
Strictly Sticking To A Budget
"Immense financial anxiety."- natandsneks
Hiding Their Smile
"In the US I’d say poor dental history or teeth."
"Dental work is a luxury."
"Overall, I’d say many hoarders grew up poor because they are so afraid of not having something if they’ll need it so they keep everything."- Leadsingerofthebandd
Should we notice people doing these things, it is of the utmost importance not to judge.
In fact, one can only admire people with an undying appreciation for beautiful things and who never underestimate the value of one dollar.
it is astonishing when we look back at the evolution of the signs of money.
From fashion to food to decor darling, the poor have created and fashioned the style of the rich.
Sadly the rich keep all the coin and steal the style.
If some stogy old dead rich people could see what their generational wealth is buying today... they'd die again.
Redditor Wezard_the_MemeLordwanted to discuss how the representation of money has shifted over time. They asked:
"What used to be a symbol of poor person 50-100 years ago but now literally says 'this guy is really rich?'"
Money has evolved so much over the years. I'm intrigued to see where I fit now.
On Top
will ferrell elf GIFGiphy"Before elevators were common, the higher up you lived in a building the poorer you were."
User Deleted
"When I lived in apartments, I would always try to get something on the top floor. Sure, moving is easier on the bottom, but bugs and robberies and upstairs neighbors are less of a problem on the top."
JADW27
"Too far"
"Handmade clothes made of natural fabrics. 50 years ago, people with money had paisley polyester shirts and bell bottoms."
zoqfotpik
"Yo. That was me. Early 70's. I had leisure suits. More than one. Navy blue with flared bottoms. Mostly synthetic. My favorite shirt was polyester with a giant collar, opened to the third button. The colors were mostly gold and blue, featuring images of swans. Mostly. Tony Manero would have taken a look and said, 'Too far.'"
SuboptimalButHopeful
Chaos
"Here in Brazil the floor of most houses is made of ceramic, but not so long ago it was really expensive to have your entire house with ceramic floors, which are usually square, so poor people went to the stores and asked for remains, shards, pieces etc."
"Theoretically they wouldn't be as beautiful as the whole floor but this 'chaotic' and 'rustic' style ended up falling in the taste of the rich, today it is more expensive to pay for a floor made of shards than a floor made in whole and large pieces."
ReiDosNSFW
Size Always Mattered
"100 years ago being tan and muscular was a sign that you were poor and had to work all the time. Now being tan and muscular is a sign that you can afford to eat healthy and have the free time for an exercise routine."
jerrythecactus
"Well, back in olden times, a large, fat person like this was a person of power. A person who had money, who could buy food. A person of respect, like the regional manager of the day. Whereas someone athletic and trim like myself was somebody who worked in the fields, and I was a peasant."
KypDurron
The Burroughs...
Giphy"Living in Brooklyn."
Vast-Bend6076
"I coulda bought a place in Dumbo before it was Dumbo. For like 2 million. That same building today is worth 25 million. Guess how I'm feelin'? Dumbo."
beardedkingface
Ahh Brooklyn. I feel like this thought can define MANY parts of NYC. But yeah, Brooklyn is now unaffordable.
fried or steamed?
Cancel White Rice GIF by John Crist ComedyGiphy"Brown rice. Used to be poor/prison food in China. Now it's expensive (and healthier) option over white rice."
Deliximus
"natural"
"Currently very en vogue in Germany are 'natural' construction materials like clay, hemp wool and wood. I had workers on my house from Rumania, and they were all laughing, because they are happy that they don't have to use this dirt and crap back at home anymore, and now they come to Germany just to work with it again for big money."'
Barackenpapst
The Menu
"Eating brisket. Brisket was consider poor person food. It is the toughest piece of the steer and difficult to cook properly. Now brisket and smoking meats are considered almost gourmet."
Dogstarman1974
"Eating lobster and crab was the same way. They were bottom feeders fit for peasant tastes before it became fashionable to eat."
Blacksun388
Fashion...
"Ripped jeans."
Silvan_Foxy
"I was in college in the 1980's. I wore a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee home for a visit and my Grandma gave me $5 to buy a new pair. (NOTE: Jeans did not cost $5 in the '80's, but there were a few outlet stores around which sold Levis for $10. I wish that were still true today!)"'
whatyouwant22
Shades and Color
Wig Hair Style GIF by Reba McEntireGiphy"Having a tan and hair highlights. People pay good money for those things today but 100 years ago it meant you likely had to work outdoors in rough conditions."
Anticrepuscular_Ray
Well now I feel super rich! I'm glad times have changed.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
I didn't understand pain–the real, agonizing kind–until I had some health problems some years ago that landed me in the hospital. It was a horrible experience and I remember thinking that I would never experience relief from it.
I'm one of the lucky ones and have since recovered. But the experience was a humbling one, and I can tell you that it changed how I view other people's struggles.
Pain is debilitating! Be kind to the people around you who are dealing with.
That bit about being kind? That's the general theme of the stories here, which people were keen to share after Redditor PhilosoFeed asked the online community,
"What did you not understand until you experienced it?"
"Crippling back pain. Have had to crawl on all fours to the bathroom and couldn't stand up to even pee."
monkeydluffy22
Having experienced it myself, I can confirm that it is HORRIBLE.
"I had always had sinus headaches..."
"Migraines. I had always had sinus headaches and I thought I knew what headaches were like. A migraine is like death."
diegojones4
I know people who experience them with some regularity and the pain is clearly debilitating in every sense of the word.
"You never know what other people..."
"Anxiety/panic attacks and how absolutely debilitating they can be. You never know what other people may be going through. Be gentle with each other people."
rumpusbutnotwilds
Absolutely! They can be terrifying for the people experiencing them. They are no joke.
"It wasn't until my youngest brother..."
"Severe grief. I have had people close to me die before but I never understood it as everybody dies and while it’s sad you can still function."
"It wasn’t until my youngest brother took his own life that I understood. It was like my heart was ripped out of my chest and I was a zombie going through life not feeling anything other than overwhelming sadness."
Farkenoathm8-E
We extend our condolences.
Grief is horrible.
"I had always wanted to..."
"Living in a foreign country. I had always wanted to escape my home country and live abroad. Now I'm living in a foreign country and I feel lonely and isolated. I don't regret my decision but I miss my friends."
pousiquette
People Break Down The Nicest Celebrities They've Ever Met | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
They always say, "don't meet your heroes." But here's the thing, sometimes your celebrities are actually just chill, normal people who are overjoyed to meet ...Add in some xenophobia and it's easy to feel like an outsider when you're far from home.
"The way modern day America..."
"Poverty. The way modern day America views poverty is so immoral it makes me sick on a daily basis. I see cops spend more time harassing the homeless man on the corner then I see them actually keeping me safe."
fashionablystoned
But why don't you just "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," huh?
See that? That's a toxic mindset.
"I never understood..."
"I never understood why some people don't leave their abusive partners until I found myself in one of those relationships. It's been two years already since I left and I still have trust issues."
dana561
We're glad to hear you're out! Best wishes on your continued recovery.
"I've never watched a full game..."
"Going to sports games in general. I recently went to an NHL game. I’ve never watched a full game of hockey in my life and I was slapping the glass with an animal instinct I didn’t know I had."
Cornchucker2
Sounds like it was thrilling! Hockey games are the best examples of this, in my experience.
"There was a really bad crash on the road..."
"Horror."
"There was a really bad crash on the road while I was driving to work in the early hours of the morning. I stopped and went to help the person that had gotten hit. She had several kids in the car, and she asked me to get them out."
"One of the kids had passed in the crash. I can't even begin to describe how I felt because it was so alien to me, when I went to take him out his car seat."
November1738
That poor woman and those poor children. We're sorry to hear about this experience but we're glad that you were able to be there.
"I naively thought..."
"Ageism in hiring. I naively thought if you are smart and someone who works hard you’d never have to worry about finding a job. And then I started looking for a new job in my 40s."
jayworden
61% of respondents over the age of 45 reported having seen or experienced age discrimination in their careers, according to a study by AARP.
We're sorry if some of these were depressing to think about but hopefully they serve as a good reminder to be kind and to be gentle with the people around you.
Experiences like these can humble you immensely. And the more understanding you try to be before they happen to you, the better prepared you should be to navigate the waters yourself.
Have some experiences of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
At one point in our lives, we have struggled to make ends meet and ate whatever we could to survive.
Curious to hear about the palates from strangers online, Redditor knightfall0 asked:
"What is a poverty food you'll always eat no matter how you're doing in life?"
These typical cultural cuisine are popular favorites.
Simple Tacos
"Cheap can of corn, cheap can of black beans, 3 cups of cheap rice."
"Tortillas for flair."
"Boom! Poverty tacos."
Magic Of Ramen
"Same. I've eaten expensive restaurant meals that still don't compare to a 25 cent ramen package."
"25 cent ramen package with a boiled egg marinated in soy sauce packets and sugar and some spinach if you have any for some veggie chef kiss cheapest dinner but makes it feel fancy."
Presto, Dinner Is Served!
"Random stuff in my fridge fried rice. Take the veggies that are about to go off, throw in some cheap white rice and an egg with some soy sauce and garlic- boom, dinner."
Bread-based meals seem to be an easy go-to choice.
For The Posh Palate
"Beans on toast and if I'm feeling posh maybe i will put an egg on top."
Good 'Ole Cornbread
"Cornbread and buttermilk. Seem to recall that my maternal great grandmother's house in the the early 1960s had a manual pump in the kitchen, an outhouse and oil lamps, no electricity! There was a big stump for splitting wood for the heat and killing chickens. Relatives had tractors but at least one still worked with draft horses...big horses. NE TN. And my Mother would eat salt sandwiches."
"I do like cornbread, various peas and beans and greens...a lot!"
Who said traditional side dishes can't be the main attraction? These folks, that's who.
Cheese-Drenched Pasta
"Mac and cheese with hotdogs or sloppy joes were top tier. I remember having to be careful to not take too much meat/noodles since we only had one can/box to share."
Getting Krafty
"If I had a million dollars, we wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner (but we would eat Kraft Dinner)"
Instant ramen has come a long way. I go to one of several local Japanese markets here in Manhattan and there are literally aisles of a variety of ramen and yakisoba, my personal favorite, stocked on shelves to choose from.
Yakisoba is basically "fried" noodles. It is "instant" because you basically soften the noodles with boiling water and drain it after three minutes.
The sauce packets that come with some of these are an absolute delight, and I usually add scallions or even a hard-boiled egg.
It is cheap, simple to prepare, and absolutely delicious.