A lot of good discussion here about this ill-titled but worthwhile article, including the idea that being poor is expensive, and also this quote:

My sister lives like she doesn't ever want to be poor again.

I live like I don't want anyone to think I'm poor ever again.

Comments

[RBM]

The 'shitty food' thing was in my past. For general diet reasons I started cooking for myself. Which was a laugh considering my cooking skills limitations.

In the course of some other interests I started reading about how much sugar is in the food supply chain. And that it was a psychoactive drug. So I've been changing my diet even more. I'm already noticing my taste buds changing.

I had a co-worker ask recently if I smoked cause he wanted to take lunch but not without a cigarette. Purging sugar from a diet is like that.

[Billy Jones]

From Cracked: "They can't shake the idea that the money is perishable."

Talk about hitting home....

[cheripickr]

1983-livin large: Grocery Store: Food Fair (not food lion)
staples: Banquet frozen fried chicken parts-usually topped with Sauer's brand brown gravy from a jar.
Banquet 3/$1.00 boil in bag creamed chip beef or chicken a la king on white bread toast
Comet brand rice--good with jar gravy or as substitute for toast with Chicken a la king, and magically bottomless, like Barbasol shaving cream or No-ad suntan oil (yes, oil)
Iceberg lettuce and salad with onion and Good-seasons italian dressing--stole my mom's cruet, fortunately, so didn't have to buy that.

Best bachelor recipe for impressing the ladies: Girlfriend Chicken-TM: Take chicken breast. Dump can of cream of mushroom on it. Bake at 375
for 1 hour. If she's really special, sprinkle Kraft's shredded sharp cheddar on top and broil till bubbly -brown. You'll thank me.

[Bill B.]

After a few years of teaching, I began to "see" poverty. I was oblivious earlier, coming from a Depression-influenced family that always paid cash, regarded a nickle as plenty of spending money twice a month, and threw away very little. We ate fresh from the garden or home-frozen or canned. I got hand-me-downs as a matter of course. It was the norm for us. We had everything that was necessary, plus dental visits, like them or not!

When you realize a kid has no coat, you feel stupid for not noticing it a month ago, when it got cold. When a student does not plan to apply for college because somebody told him Reagan had eliminated scholarships, you realize the information gap that is part of poverty.

A student whose parents completed 2nd and 3rd grade respectively has a high mountain to climb. Families who have no car, no alarm clock, no clock radio, no bathroom are disadvantged, for whatever reason is behind the lacking.

Poverty is a culture, we heard in a workshop, and I think it is probably true.

[Bill Yaner]

"I've been poor, and I've been rich. And I'll take rich."
-- Eartha Kitt