7 ms·

> It makes you penny wise and pound foolish while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Could you explain what you mean? I grew up pret

by doix 4y ago

> It makes you penny wise and pound foolish while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Could you explain what you mean? I grew up pretty poor, single income PhD student/post-doc salary family with two kids. Eventually my father got a proper position at a university, but until then we were pretty poor. My parents used to sleep on the floor, we had almost no furniture(I remember playing football in our living room with my dad since it was entirely empty) with most of our stuff coming from charities. I wonder if I exhibit the behavior you talk about or not.

junofan 4y ago
You grew up in the modern day priest class, not poor.
- doix 4y ago
  That's fair. My parents left the collapsing USSR with nothing and ended up in Australia. Materially poor with no support network or generational wealth, but well educated and with a clear path to the middle class. I still think I/we were very fortunate and didn't mean to offend anyone by saying we were poor. I am well aware there are/were many people less fortunate than us.
  - ponow 4y ago
    It's not fair.
- ponow 4y ago
  No, poor is poor. Please don't move or re-label goal posts.
- Mezzie 4y ago
  This is one problem with socio-economic class: When somebody's 'socio' doesn't match their 'economic', things get weird. I'm a first generation college student who has 3 great-grandparents with college degrees. It makes it easier to dig yourself out, but depending on the circumstances it can also cause its own issues. For example, my mother ran away from an abusive but well-off home, so I was regaled with tales of upper-middle and well-off hypocrisy and all their problems, which makes it really hard to want to fit in/keep my mouth shut in spaces that I share with those people.
- corrral 4y ago
  There's a reason Fussell puts college professors as a kind of appendix on the side of his "Upper-Middle", and not down in classes that tend to be closer to their income level (Middle, or even Prole). Still, I'm not sure how much difference that upper-middle-adjacent socialization makes when it comes to poverty thinking.
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>Could you explain what you mean? Sure. I realize I waste a lot of time in supermarkets, shops or online stores, browsing/walking around and comparing prices just to penny pinch on low value things, when the savings I would make would have no meaningful impact on my yearly net worth, but the time and mental energy wasted browsing/walking around comparing prices could have better return on investment if used on other things like learning a new skill, reading a book, etc. I avoid any kind of subscription services (Netflix, Spotify, cloud-storage, phone contract, etc.) to the disbelief of my friends ("But it's only 10 Euros a month!, Why don't you have it?"), preffering instead to spend my time building my own self-hosted solutions for cheap, which probably explains how I got into tech in the first place. I own a cheap old car and prefer to fix it myself if I can, rather than paying someone to do it, even though the time I spend learning how to fix it, buying the parts, then actually fixing it, is probably worth more than a professional would have cost. I'm afraid to make investments fearing that the market could crash the second I enter it, and erase my money, leaving me vulnerable to being homeless or dependent on doing shitty jobs I hate just to stay afloat, so I just hoard cash like an idiot as that makes me feels safe and lets me sleep well at night. I think I might not be good enough for some bold career steps, like giving up my tech job and risking everything to start my own business of a coffee cart in the city center or pivoting to something other than tech that's less well paid, like being a teacher. I spent too much of my youth studying hard at useless subjects on the pressure from my parents that "education will get you far in life, so beat those books and get good grades", only to realize far too late in life that I could have gotten in the same spot with 20% of the effort, leaving me time to actually enjoy my youth. Sure, I'm working my way out of these habits slowly, but the Pavlovian impulses are still in my brain. Complex things these minds of ours.
- doix 4y ago
  > I realize I waste a lot of time in the supermarket comparing prices, Interesting, I've always hated shopping for food, but I happily waste money on takeaways/restaurants. I think for me it is more about food waste and the mental energy wasted planning all my ingredients to make sure nothing goes to waste rather than saving money. I spend money now to not have to worry about it as much. > I'm afraid to make investments fearing that the market crash or something like that would erase them leaving me vulnerable to being homeless or dependent on doing jobs I hate. Yeah, I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to investments, which is screwing me right now with inflation as high as it is :(.
lordnacho 4y ago
I remember feeling like I'd bought cheap shirts at my first job. I didn't want to spend £25-£100 on nice shirts when there were cheapass shirts you could buy for £10. Made me look cheap at a place where the bosses were driving Ferraris. Also, not buying a holiday until well into my 20s. I still feel like it's mostly not worth it, even though I can pay for it and it's probably sensible to take a break from time to time.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Yeah I don't like travel either. Not because I can't afford it, I just find it more tiring than anything and don't really get a lot of pleasure or relaxation just being somewhere different. I'd rather be sitting on my back porch given the choice.
teddyh 4y ago
I often link to these articles. Especially the second one is exactly what you are asking about: • 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Being Poor, May 27, 2011: https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about... • The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor, January 19, 2012: https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve... • 4 Things Politicians Will Never Understand About Poor People, February 21, 2013: https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...
- flybrand 4y ago
  There were many brilliant Cracked articles in their day.
  - ev1 4y ago
    Was this formerly a good site? I remember running into cracked periodically in the last few years and it always looked like the absolute worst of clickbait spam, but these articles are rather decent
    - fknorangesite 4y ago
      Once upon a time, yes. I mean, it was always a bit fluffy and lighthearted - that's the point, right? - but they often had quality articles. But then they were acquired in 2016 and it was downhill from there.
      - teddyh 4y ago
        I sometimes still see people referencing this article: 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-y...

by doix 4y ago

junofan 4y ago

You grew up in the modern day priest class, not poor.

doix 4y ago
That's fair. My parents left the collapsing USSR with nothing and ended up in Australia. Materially poor with no support network or generational wealth, but well educated and with a clear path to the middle class. I still think I/we were very fortunate and didn't mean to offend anyone by saying we were poor. I am well aware there are/were many people less fortunate than us.
- ponow 4y ago
  It's not fair.
ponow 4y ago
No, poor is poor. Please don't move or re-label goal posts.
Mezzie 4y ago
This is one problem with socio-economic class: When somebody's 'socio' doesn't match their 'economic', things get weird. I'm a first generation college student who has 3 great-grandparents with college degrees. It makes it easier to dig yourself out, but depending on the circumstances it can also cause its own issues. For example, my mother ran away from an abusive but well-off home, so I was regaled with tales of upper-middle and well-off hypocrisy and all their problems, which makes it really hard to want to fit in/keep my mouth shut in spaces that I share with those people.
corrral 4y ago
There's a reason Fussell puts college professors as a kind of appendix on the side of his "Upper-Middle", and not down in classes that tend to be closer to their income level (Middle, or even Prole). Still, I'm not sure how much difference that upper-middle-adjacent socialization makes when it comes to poverty thinking.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

>Could you explain what you mean? Sure. I realize I waste a lot of time in supermarkets, shops or online stores, browsing/walking around and comparing prices just to penny pinch on low value things, when the savings I would make would have no meaningful impact on my yearly net worth, but the time and mental energy wasted browsing/walking around comparing prices could have better return on investment if used on other things like learning a new skill, reading a book, etc. I avoid any kind of subscription services (Netflix, Spotify, cloud-storage, phone contract, etc.) to the disbelief of my friends ("But it's only 10 Euros a month!, Why don't you have it?"), preffering instead to spend my time building my own self-hosted solutions for cheap, which probably explains how I got into tech in the first place. I own a cheap old car and prefer to fix it myself if I can, rather than paying someone to do it, even though the time I spend learning how to fix it, buying the parts, then actually fixing it, is probably worth more than a professional would have cost. I'm afraid to make investments fearing that the market could crash the second I enter it, and erase my money, leaving me vulnerable to being homeless or dependent on doing shitty jobs I hate just to stay afloat, so I just hoard cash like an idiot as that makes me feels safe and lets me sleep well at night. I think I might not be good enough for some bold career steps, like giving up my tech job and risking everything to start my own business of a coffee cart in the city center or pivoting to something other than tech that's less well paid, like being a teacher. I spent too much of my youth studying hard at useless subjects on the pressure from my parents that "education will get you far in life, so beat those books and get good grades", only to realize far too late in life that I could have gotten in the same spot with 20% of the effort, leaving me time to actually enjoy my youth. Sure, I'm working my way out of these habits slowly, but the Pavlovian impulses are still in my brain. Complex things these minds of ours.

doix 4y ago
> I realize I waste a lot of time in the supermarket comparing prices, Interesting, I've always hated shopping for food, but I happily waste money on takeaways/restaurants. I think for me it is more about food waste and the mental energy wasted planning all my ingredients to make sure nothing goes to waste rather than saving money. I spend money now to not have to worry about it as much. > I'm afraid to make investments fearing that the market crash or something like that would erase them leaving me vulnerable to being homeless or dependent on doing jobs I hate. Yeah, I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to investments, which is screwing me right now with inflation as high as it is :(.

lordnacho 4y ago

I remember feeling like I'd bought cheap shirts at my first job. I didn't want to spend £25-£100 on nice shirts when there were cheapass shirts you could buy for £10. Made me look cheap at a place where the bosses were driving Ferraris. Also, not buying a holiday until well into my 20s. I still feel like it's mostly not worth it, even though I can pay for it and it's probably sensible to take a break from time to time.

SoftTalker 4y ago
Yeah I don't like travel either. Not because I can't afford it, I just find it more tiring than anything and don't really get a lot of pleasure or relaxation just being somewhere different. I'd rather be sitting on my back porch given the choice.

teddyh 4y ago

I often link to these articles. Especially the second one is exactly what you are asking about: • 5 Things Nobody Tells You About Being Poor, May 27, 2011: https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about... • The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor, January 19, 2012: https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-deve... • 4 Things Politicians Will Never Understand About Poor People, February 21, 2013: https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never-understand-about-poor-people/ https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-politicians-will-never...

flybrand 4y ago
There were many brilliant Cracked articles in their day.
- ev1 4y ago
  Was this formerly a good site? I remember running into cracked periodically in the last few years and it always looked like the absolute worst of clickbait spam, but these articles are rather decent
  - fknorangesite 4y ago
    Once upon a time, yes. I mean, it was always a bit fluffy and lighthearted - that's the point, right? - but they often had quality articles. But then they were acquired in 2016 and it was downhill from there.
    - teddyh 4y ago
      I sometimes still see people referencing this article: 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-y...