Reply to s/o - feeling "poor" at these ludicrously high incomes. what are they actually missing?

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "s/o - feeling "poor" at these ludicrously high incomes. what are they actually missing?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]The way you grew up can seriously effect the way you view money.  I grew up in the exurbs of Fairfax County, and we were "house poor" for much of my childhood.  My parents bought a $250k 4 bed/3 bath SFH when my dad was making $150k without a college degree and my mom had been a SAHM for five years.  My dad lost his job when telecom went bust, and spent several years without being able to find a job.  My mom went back to work as a teacher, but we still relied on assistance from my grandparents to cover some of the mortgage, and $ from our church's "Pastor's discretionary fund" for utilities.  We had always volunteered at the local food bank as a family, and we ended up getting food from there a lot.

I knew not to ask my parents for anything that cost money, I started babysitting at age 12 so I could buy myself shoes that fit and winter coats, afford field trip fees, and buy cup o' noodles at school for lunch. I worked a ton---usually two weekday nights,  Friday and Saturday night, and usually one weekend day time shift, so I was often the family member with the most disposable income.  I remember saving for months to buy my mom a mini fridge for her classroom for Christmas, so she didn't have to spend half her 20-minute lunch break walking to/from the teacher's lounge across the school from her classroom.  My dad picked up shifts as a courier, and for his birthday that year I paid to fix the broken stereo in his car.

I remember waking up with a growling stomach, and eating leftover sprinkles because that's all there was in the kitchen.

I feel so lucky that DH and I make 'good money'---our combined HHI is 70k---and that I never have to worry if I'm going to be able to afford to eat.  I don't do the math in my head to see if we can afford a doctor or ER visit if I'm sick.  I spent three days in agonizing pain as a teenager trying to pass a kidney stone on my own because I couldn't afford the ER bill.

The poster who said 'people who work harder than average feel like they deserve more $ than average'---you know who works hard? Day laborers. House cleaners. Retail employees. But they don't deserve a living wage, according to DCUM.  People who sit in a heated and air conditioned office think they are more deserving of a 'nice life' than people who work two or more physically demanding, soul crushing jobs just to keep a roof over their head.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics