I'm curious: is anyone on this forum actually poor?

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by poor?

I've been poor. Like food stamps, daycare assistance, wondering if I have enough to keep the electricity on each month poor. I was working full-time, it just didn't pay enough. I was short $300-$500 each month, thank GOD my parents were willing and able to help out.

I make below the median income here but double what I did last year. I'm broke, but I'm no longer poor. I can pay my bills. I'm not borrowing money every month and sinking deeper into debt.

I don't have cable, don't shop organic, buy only on sale, cook at home, no smartphone, no car and I rarely go out. But I'm not poor. My child has what he needs and then some, we're happy and there is a ton to do that's free. It just takes changing your prorities a little.

[Anonymous]

We're dirt poor for the area. DH and I are both PhD students living on stipends. I spend a lot of time on the internet because I need it for school. Our kid goes to Arlington Science Focus (it's a wonderful public school... I highly recommend it!). We live in a tiny, tiny apartment and cook every night. We never go out to eat.

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're dirt poor for the area. DH and I are both PhD students living on stipends. I spend a lot of time on the internet because I need it for school. Our kid goes to Arlington Science Focus (it's a wonderful public school... I highly recommend it!). We live in a tiny, tiny apartment and cook every night. We never go out to eat.

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

12:30 here - ok, you're poor, I guess - but people that I think of as poor aren't PhD students. They're lucky if they graduated from high school. Does anyone else see what I mean here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're dirt poor for the area. DH and I are both PhD students living on stipends. I spend a lot of time on the internet because I need it for school. Our kid goes to Arlington Science Focus (it's a wonderful public school... I highly recommend it!). We live in a tiny, tiny apartment and cook every night. We never go out to eat.

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

12:30 here - ok, you're poor, I guess - but people that I think of as poor aren't PhD students. They're lucky if they graduated from high school. Does anyone else see what I mean here?

But that's stereotyping. Poverty is $11,600 for a single person, $21,000 for family. That being said, in DC I would argue the poverty level is much higher than that probably (median income is $58,000 in DC compared to national $40,000). Poverty in rural Kansas is different than poverty in NYC or DC. Not everyone in poverty is uneducated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're dirt poor for the area. DH and I are both PhD students living on stipends. I spend a lot of time on the internet because I need it for school. Our kid goes to Arlington Science Focus (it's a wonderful public school... I highly recommend it!). We live in a tiny, tiny apartment and cook every night. We never go out to eat.

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

12:30 here - ok, you're poor, I guess - but people that I think of as poor aren't PhD students. They're lucky if they graduated from high school. Does anyone else see what I mean here?

But that's stereotyping. Poverty is $11,600 for a single person, $21,000 for family. That being said, in DC I would argue the poverty level is much higher than that probably (median income is $58,000 in DC compared to national $40,000). Poverty in rural Kansas is different than poverty in NYC or DC. Not everyone in poverty is uneducated.

Of course not everyone in poverty is uneducated. That's not what I meant. But when I think of true poverty, I think of people working three jobs to keep food on the table and keep their family warm, etc, not studying for a PhD. Not that I think the PhD poster isn't struggling with money. Not sure why no one is seeing what I mean by that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

12:30 here - ok, you're poor, I guess - but people that I think of as poor aren't PhD students. They're lucky if they graduated from high school. Does anyone else see what I mean here?

But that's stereotyping. Poverty is $11,600 for a single person, $21,000 for family. That being said, in DC I would argue the poverty level is much higher than that probably (median income is $58,000 in DC compared to national $40,000). Poverty in rural Kansas is different than poverty in NYC or DC. Not everyone in poverty is uneducated.

Of course not everyone in poverty is uneducated. That's not what I meant. But when I think of true poverty, I think of people working three jobs to keep food on the table and keep their family warm, etc, not studying for a PhD. Not that I think the PhD poster isn't struggling with money. Not sure why no one is seeing what I mean by that.

Read OP last paragraph. She is thinking about going to grad school.

[Anonymous]

I was on a forum where most of the posters were poor (receiving WIC) and it was tough. You'd get to know one another and it was emotionally hard to listen to people make bad choices - ie unprotected sex with an ex in jail resulting in pregnancy or deciding to try for irish twins and having complications. Other times it was hard arguing against beliefs about doctors being out to get people for money or vaccines being made from fetal cells and thus not 'christian' to give to a child. I personally just couldn't handle it anymore, it was too hard to listen to people making really bad choices and sometimes feeling like the only adult in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would hope that poor people wouldnt be wasting time on an anoymous forum or even waste their money on paying for internet

Why do some people (mostly conservatives) view the Internet as some sort of complete luxury? It may not be up there with "clean water" and "electricity," but it's certainly more important than "weekly manicures" (*) and (at this point) "expanded, non-basic cable TV."

(*) To be fair, some jobs where you're paid to be attractive, a weekly manicure would be a necessity.

I also wonder why there is this lingering feeling of resentment among some upper-middle class conservatives that the poors are somehow ripping all of us off, yet ignoring the wealthy (**) who rip us off to the tune of many more zeros.

(**) Yeah, they say they're mad about both. But it seems they're mad about the tiniest of efforts to rein in the Masters of the Universe, because they might stop creating jobs. But it's not as if they've actually created any jobs in the past decade.

How are the poor suppose to prepare a resume or look for a job w.out the internet?

[Anonymous]

Right, not to mention go to school... If you're poor, I'd hope you'd be trying to improve your skills in some way. Most schoolwork these days require a computer + internet.

[Anonymous]

Those of us who are below DCUM or on the low end, never answer questions about income, tax brackets, and all that stuff where everyone tries to outdo each other. Not everyone who reads DCUM is rich. We just avoid those posters because it seems they are just bragging and it is tiresome.

[Anonymous]

According to DCUM I'm poor. I still need a computer to make half, or a quarter, of the salary that most people here make.

[Anonymous]

I think that a lot of the posters claiming to have a lot money are actually poor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who are below DCUM or on the low end, never answer questions about income, tax brackets, and all that stuff where everyone tries to outdo each other. Not everyone who reads DCUM is rich. We just avoid those posters because it seems they are just bragging and it is tiresome.

This

[Anonymous]

I'm poor, I make less than 30k a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're dirt poor for the area. DH and I are both PhD students living on stipends. I spend a lot of time on the internet because I need it for school. Our kid goes to Arlington Science Focus (it's a wonderful public school... I highly recommend it!). We live in a tiny, tiny apartment and cook every night. We never go out to eat.

We schedule our school stuff around her class schedule so that we don't have to pay for after-school care.

12:30 here - ok, you're poor, I guess - but people that I think of as poor aren't PhD students. They're lucky if they graduated from high school. Does anyone else see what I mean here?

But that's stereotyping. Poverty is $11,600 for a single person, $21,000 for family. That being said, in DC I would argue the poverty level is much higher than that probably (median income is $58,000 in DC compared to national $40,000). Poverty in rural Kansas is different than poverty in NYC or DC. Not everyone in poverty is uneducated.

Of course not everyone in poverty is uneducated. That's not what I meant. But when I think of true poverty, I think of people working three jobs to keep food on the table and keep their family warm, etc, not studying for a PhD. Not that I think the PhD poster isn't struggling with money. Not sure why no one is seeing what I mean by that.

Maybe because you out and out said *Poor People are lucky to have graduated from HS*. I found your meaning to be pretty clear.