Growing up poor

[DailyDi]

I was in charge of tracking the grocery bill at the store when we had a hard limit on what we could buy.

[spoonchicken]

After the divorce my mom lost her Commissary privileges, so my two sisters and I had to do the family grocery shopping. So at 12, 10 & 7 years old, there we were doing the work. The oldest sister would select the items off the shelf and place them in the baby carrier section of the grocery cart, while the other sister and I would cross the items off the list and keep a running total of the costs using pencil & paper ( this was beginning in 1970 when hand-held calculators weren’t a thing yet. After they were accounted for we’d move the items into the main body of the shopping cart. Checkout sucked. It was normal and typical to wait for one hour minimum to get through the checkout line. That’s called learning patience at a young age.  Go Army ! Lol

[Dubious]

I can't say we were poor, but dad was never home. 

[PassiveRenegade]

Dad worked as a cleaner and mum was ill alot when I grew up so money was always tight. I remember us living on a food box while I was at school and mum was dealing with cancer. 

[Alyeskabird]

you know your poor when a staple of your childhood is a dish called garbage, basicly made of what ever left overs where left, and whatever caned shit was still in the cabinet. with mostly pasta. Never mind thoes really really nasty green beans that everyone gives to foodbanks by the ton. When you know what the 10 pound block of government american cheese looks like, feels like, and worse tastes like. when finding some change in the gutter was a reason to run to white castle and buy a single burger, cause it was only a  like 15 cents, and was a real taste treat.

[astrodiaper]

On 9/29/2025 at 12:24 PM, Alyeskabird said:

you know your poor when a staple of your childhood is a dish called garbage, basicly made of what ever left overs where left, and whatever caned shit was still in the cabinet. with mostly pasta. Never mind thoes really really nasty green beans that everyone gives to foodbanks by the ton. When you know what the 10 pound block of government american cheese looks like, feels like, and worse tastes like. when finding some change in the gutter was a reason to run to white castle and buy a single burger, cause it was only a  like 15 cents, and was a real taste treat.

I've heard garbage be referred to as "Gazenta" Whatever's left "gazenta" the pot. 

[drynot]

We called our version of garbage 'concoction'.  All the leftovers into the pot or out on the table.  Lets say it made for some interesting 'meals'....

[Three Rivers]

Yes, I remember times when we had to use a hand held calculator to keep a running total of items. And on occasion when you get to the check stand and your over your limit, which item you have them take back. Not fun, but we made it work.

[oliver d]

Dont know what that is,we always had growing up but that did not mean we got what ever we wanted or did not eat left overs.

[DailyDi]

On 10/5/2025 at 10:22 AM, Three Rivers said:

Yes, I remember times when we had to use a hand held calculator to keep a running total of items. And on occasion when you get to the check stand and your over your limit, which item you have them take back. Not fun, but we made it work.

Oh we never had to put items back, I was a dilligent grocery price adder. If the price was wrong, it was the store's fault lol

[Guest]

On 9/29/2025 at 5:28 PM, spoonchicken said:

It was normal and typical to wait for one hour minimum to get through the checkout line. That’s called learning patience at a young age.  Go Army ! Lol

How is it even possible for it to take an hour? That doesn't compute for me. 

Was the store just insanely busy or something? Understaffed? 

[ValentinesStuff]

4 minutes ago, Paddington said:

How is it even possible for it to take an hour? That doesn't compute for me. 

Was the store just insanely busy or something? Maybe understaffed? 

Every item had to be into the cash register manually, things like fruits and vegetables had to be weighed and then the price multiplied manually. Bottle deposits had to be added. Any taxes added. All manually. Cash registers were just calculators or adding machines if even earlier. Everything took time. One odd thing without a price tag could really delay things as someone would have to go look up the price.

 

My mom was a grocery store cashier for years in the 70s and 80s, she had to recognize every fresh fruit and vegetable by sight and know it's cost per pound. She had to, if not memorize, at least be very familiar with each weeks sales flyer, because there weren't scanners and computer databases with all the prices and products. 

[zzyzx]

5 hours ago, Paddington said:

How is it even possible for it to take an hour? That doesn't compute for me. 

Was the store just insanely busy or something? Understaffed? 

(Military) Base Commissaries, especially in well populated areas with folks that had the privilege were slow to check out,  As a kid, I remember, the commissary itself was cash only.  Mom would write a check and cash it at the bank window outside the commissary.  Then deal with picking everything needed, and then get into the checkout line.  I'm sure time of day / week impacted how long the lines were.  And at Camron, after getting through checkout, then waiting in the car to pick up the purchased items as they were sent out a conveyor belt system for pickup.

[zzzz50]

I always thought we were poor growing up. Leftovers never thrown away, yelled at if we left a light on and not in the room, a number of patches on bicycle tubes and of course iron on patches on the holes in our jeans. I remember that we were going camping once and Mom made a big deal that we would still go despite having an expensive car repair. It always felt like we were on our last dollar. Turned out parents grew up during the depression and were big savers. Put 3 kids through college with no loans. Found out my Dad’s salary when I was an adult and was impressed. They finally loosened up in retirement and spent some money. While we not wealthy we were at least middle class and not poor like I always thought through school. Definitely learned how to be thrifty! 

[rubbersheetmike]

52 minutes ago, zzzz50 said:

I always thought we were poor growing up. Leftovers never thrown away, yelled at if we left a light on and not in the room, a number of patches on bicycle tubes and of course iron on patches on the holes in our jeans. I remember that we were going camping once and Mom made a big deal that we would still go despite having an expensive car repair. It always felt like we were on our last dollar. Turned out parents grew up during the depression and were big savers. Put 3 kids through college with no loans. Found out my Dad’s salary when I was an adult and was impressed. They finally loosened up in retirement and spent some money. While we not wealthy we were at least middle class and not poor like I always thought through school. Definitely learned how to be thrifty! 

My parents grew up during the 1930s depression and it affected them a lot. My father in particular who suffered from malnutrition as a child and had psychological problems through the rest of his life. My mother was farmed out to be raised by relatives because her father was unemployed and her parents could only support one child so chose to keep her younger brother. Even though we werent 'poor' compared to some of our friends things weren't great either. We wore hand-me-downs and we were scolded for leaving lights on and for breaking anything around the house or losing anything at school. And my father refused to pay for college or other training. He thought it spoiled people who had everything given to them. We were constantly told what a burden we were. So it wasnt a picnic. 

[zzyzx]

1 hour ago, zzzz50 said:

I always thought we were poor growing up. Leftovers never thrown away, yelled at if we left a light on and not in the room, a number of patches on bicycle tubes and of course iron on patches on the holes in our jeans. I remember that we were going camping once and Mom made a big deal that we would still go despite having an expensive car repair. It always felt like we were on our last dollar. Turned out parents grew up during the depression and were big savers. Put 3 kids through college with no loans. Found out my Dad’s salary when I was an adult and was impressed. They finally loosened up in retirement and spent some money. While we not wealthy we were at least middle class and not poor like I always thought through school. Definitely learned how to be thrifty! 

We weren't "poor", but I blew out the left knee on my (long) pants a fair amount, so, it wasn't unusual for my left knee to have a iron on patch applied. In my youth, it wasn't unusual for me to be cleaning off the table, and not having (some) left overs make it to the refrigerator (because I ate it up).  While parents paid for college, they insisted we had a job during the summer - no matter what it was.

And yes, any of us that had parents that lived through the depression would get reminded of simple things such as turning off the lights, etc. to conserve costs....

[rusty pins]

18 hours ago, zzzz50 said:

I always thought we were poor growing up. Leftovers never thrown away, yelled at if we left a light on and not in the room, a number of patches on bicycle tubes and of course iron on patches on the holes in our jeans. I remember that we were going camping once and Mom made a big deal that we would still go despite having an expensive car repair. It always felt like we were on our last dollar. Turned out parents grew up during the depression and were big savers. Put 3 kids through college with no loans. Found out my Dad’s salary when I was an adult and was impressed. They finally loosened up in retirement and spent some money. While we not wealthy we were at least middle class and not poor like I always thought through school. Definitely learned how to be thrifty! 

 

17 hours ago, rubbersheetmike said:

My parents grew up during the 1930s depression and it affected them a lot. My father in particular who suffered from malnutrition as a child and had psychological problems through the rest of his life. My mother was farmed out to be raised by relatives because her father was unemployed and her parents could only support one child so chose to keep her younger brother. Even though we werent 'poor' compared to some of our friends things weren't great either. We wore hand-me-downs and we were scolded for leaving lights on and for breaking anything around the house or losing anything at school. And my father refused to pay for college or other training. He thought it spoiled people who had everything given to them. We were constantly told what a burden we were. So it wasnt a picnic. 

Not only did my parents grow up in the depression, my grandfather on my dad's side died when he was 9 years old in November 1929, one month after the stock market crash.  My mom's dad passed away in 1935 when she was 5 years old and her mom died two years later when she was 7.  They had 8 kids and were fairly well off, but lost it when her mom died.  The younger 3 kids were taken and raised by the oldest siblings when their mom died.

I well remember my dad always telling us to make sure the lights were off when we left the room, the freezer door was shut tight, him adding water to the ketchup bottle to get every last drop.  Having waffles for dinner when money was tight.  My grandmother used to tale old nylon stockings and make throw rugs from them.  My dad and his brother went into the CCC in the 1930's to make enough money to eat and send some home to their mother.  To this day I will be cleaning up some long forgotten corner of the basement and find an old toaster, sink faucet, rancid box of 10 year old candy or torn piece of clothing that my dad snuck out of the trash and saved.  When raised in the depression, nothing was thrown away.