How we live as adults is often influenced by what values we grow up with. The habits formed during childhood remain with us throughout our lives. A user asked on an online forum, “What’s a dead giveaway you grew up poor?”
Here are some of the most interesting responses.
WASTING TIME TO SAVE MONEY
“Disproportionately wasting a ton of time to save up a few dollars. It’s going to cost $2 less if I go to this grocery store, even though it will take 30 minutes longer to walk there. Sign me up.”
BEING AFRAID TO USE NICE THINGS
“You’re always afraid to use your nice things because you might ruin them, and then you never get to really enjoy what you do have.”
BUYER’S REMORSE
“I return pretty much everything I buy. I always get buyer’s remorse. I’m not comfortable having more than I need.”
FOOD HOARDING
“All the people I know who grew up poor have too much food expiring in their pantries, myself included.”
USING ONLY A PART OF A CHEWING GUM STICK
“Only using part of a stick of chewing gum at one time. Mom would make us share. We each got 1/4 stick.”
MIXING POWDERED MILK IN A MILK JUG
“Saving a milk jug to mix powdered milk in. My brother wouldn’t eat syrup unless it were Mrs. Butterworth. So mom would refill a glass Butterworth with generic syrup, fooled him for about 20 years.”
NO CONTROL OVER SPENDING NOW
“Having no control over my spending habits because now that I have money, I want to buy everything I couldn’t as a kid. Also, my staple meals are hot dogs in Mac and cheese.”
SAVING ALL LEFTOVERS
“Never eating out, saving all leftovers, and always having peanut butter and bread and pasta just in case.
Constantly being scared of losing your money/being overly frugal about everything Excessive couponing Being scared to invest because you could lose money.”
STICKING THE PREVIOUS BAR SOAP TO THE NEW ONE
“I never knew the soap thing meant growing up poor. I’m 52 and stick the previous soap bar to the new one. What am I going to do, throw away the old soap? I never knew it was an issue.”
NEVER SHOWING TEETH WHEN SMILING
“I grew up dirt poor and never received dental care until I was well into my twenties. I’m now forty, and only recently (after many dental procedures) have I begun to feel comfortable showing my teeth.”
MIXING WATER IN THE LAST OF THE SHAMPOO
“Another soap-related one I do. If I can’t get the last of the shampoo/dish soap out, I put in a little water and mix it around to get the edge soap.”
STACKING THE OLD BOTTLE ON TOP OF THE NEW TO GET THE LAST BIT OUT
“Stacking the old bottle on top of the new bottle for that little bit of soap to run into the new bottle. Cutting the gold bond diabetic lotion bottle open to get to the 1/2 inch lotion at the bottom because it’s so thick it will not run into the new bottle.”
PACKING FOOD FOR ROAD TRIPS
“Still packing food (bread, deli meat, chips) for road trips. My husband and I can afford to eat out every meal, but when we do a road trip, I still pack “cooler” food for lunches instead of eating out.
By the way, here is a packing hack for homemade cookies. Make them small enough to fit in a cleaned-out Pringles can. They stay fresh and don’t break.”
OFFERING TO HELP OTHERS WITH MOVING
“This is an odd one… I realized the only people who will offer to help you with moving, or even moving furniture around your house, are people who grew up poor. Everyone else seems to think it’s normal to hire movers.”
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Anika Jindal
Anika is a CPA and founder of What Anika Says. She shares simple and actionable frugal living, money management and money-saving tips to live a debt-free financially independent life. She has been featured on popular websites like Bankrate, Forbes, Mint ,and Authority Magazine. Byline: MSN