Have you ever been in poverty?

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

A question was raised in another thread about how common it is for someone to bootstrap himself or herself out poverty.  One view held that stories of people getting themselves up onto their feet are rare, isolated, and anecdotal.  The other view was that it is a fairly common for people to need to help themselves up at one time or another in their lives.  I would like to do a little poll to shed some light on that question.

So, have you ever been truly poor?  If so, was it primarily your own actions that raised you out, or was it mainly outside forces that caused you to leave your poverty behind?

If you don't mind, would you share your story?

[roo_ster]

Is $14K/year in the late 1990s poverty?

Maybe in some poverty-pimp's book, but I didn't feel poor, despite my small income.  So I did not vote in the above poll.  IMO, poverty, outside truly catastrophic cases, is a state of mind.  I am reminded of Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick Fil-A.  He said something to the effect that he failed a whole lot, but he only needed to succeed once.

I am not today, as I am married, own three used (180K, 112K, 80K miles) autos, own a house on a 30 year mort., send a child to church pre-school, and support all 4+2 (4=me, wife, kids, +2=dogs) of us on my single income.

[roo_ster]

One other thing:  Uncle Sam determined I am some percentage disabled. 

Fine, I got that way in his service and under the tender ministrations of Army socialized medicine.

I was even labeled "undeployable." 

Yeah, whatever.

Not being able to walk for years without a limp didn't actually keep me from getting deployed (I coulda squawked & won, but I knew the score and how sorely every swinging richard was needed).  I just figured I would "defend in place" if real-world circumstances dictated we high-tail it outta there and I couldn't hitch a ride.

I got out on a medical discharge and tripled my income in a year.  It seems there are jobs out there for motivated folks who are willing to treat problems and roadblocks like a D-8 Cat treats Rachel Corrie.

[BridgeWalker]

never mind.

[grislyatoms]

I have run the gamut from abject poverty to damned successful.

Abject poverty - I remember my Mom feeding me sugar water because we didn't have anything else at times when I was little. All of Grandma's children were taken away from her, she slowly drank herself to death. I vaguely remember her.

Other stuff - When my Mom was giving birth to me, I was breach. The Dr.'s didn't recognize it. My Mom's contractions were breaking my back. I have back problems to this day, and have had surgery once.

Mom and I were raised by my "Grandma" and her husband. It was beyond description, and it's difficult to speak of. When I was 8, Mom left me with them by myself. Things got worse...

22 years old, car accident that nearly killed me.

26, back surgery, and was told my best choice was to go on permanent disability.

28 - earned an Associate's degree in EET. Got a job with AMD in Austin, but also had a job offer from Motorola in Illinois.
29 - got married and left AMD (I hated working in the fab.)
31 - got divorced (and had some really rough times)
34 - Made more money than I ever had made
35 - Layoff talks compelled me to take a different job at a 35% pay cut.
39 - Doing fine, other than some temporary setbacks I take sole responsibility for.

I could make a lot more money, but choose not to. I prefer to spend my time with my kiddo. Also, I have become a bonafide cheap-ass. I would rather minimize expenses in most areas; it allows me to do things that I would otherwise be incapable of doing at my income level.

Considering what I have been through, I consider myself a resounding success, though I do say it myself.

My Grandad (father's step-dad) had a lot of good influence on me. My Grandma once said that he loved me more than he loved his own grand-children. He was very successful, having been born on a farm in North Carolina. When he retired, he was sole owner of a large residential construction firm. I got the majority of my values system from him. Wonderful, great man.

Anyway...  



 

[Iapetus]

Yes...

...at least according to some British think-tank that recently tried to come up with an "improved" definition of poverty.

Which was basically: "If any of the things on this list apply to you, then you are living in poverty." 
One of which was "As a child, did you have to share a bedroom with a sibling beyond the age of x".  (Which I did, until I left to go to university at 18).

Which just convinced that a lot of people define poverty (especially "relative poverty") in very dubious ways, mainly for political/ideological reasons.

[Bogie]

Most of the people who define "poverty" have never known poverty.
 

[Tallpine]

"Poor" is mostly a state of mind, unless of course you are actually naked and starving and drinking water out of a camel dung flavored mudhole.

One could be "poor" by monetary standards yet be rich in things that really matter: family, friends, animals, pretty sunsets ....

Back in the early/mid 1980s, we were living on about $2500/yr.  But we had fresh clean mountain air and water, plenty of beans and potatoes, and all the hard work you could put your hands on.

But one of my disappointments in life is that I didn't get to spend some significant time being a working cowboy or sheepherder - but one can't have everything I guess.

Now, sitting in a traffic jam in your BMW going to a job that you can't quit because you have a $2500/mo mortgage on your McMansion is really poor   

[Jamisjockey]

As a married Marine E3 I officially lived below the poverty line in the early nineties.  It was so brutal not being able to buy two brand new cars, a 3,000 sqft house, and big screen TV's. 

[gunsmith]

( Re: Have you ever been in poverty? )

Yes, I barely survived real poverty. Nothing romantic about it, you can get sick and die young.

[Regolith]

One of which was "As a child, did you have to share a bedroom with a sibling beyond the age of x".  (Which I did, until I left to go to university at 18).

Which just convinced that a lot of people define poverty (especially "relative poverty") in very dubious ways, mainly for political/ideological reasons.

 

They would have labeled me poor, then, as I shared a bedroom with my twin brother until I was 10 or 11, until my father built a room in the basement for my sister so we could each have our own room.

And yet, my parents made $75,000+ a year, in a place where the cost of living is fairly low. 

We sure as hell weren't poor.  The people who came up with that definition were either idiots, or they were pushing an agenda.  I'm guessing the latter.

[doc2rn]

I am still in poverty as a full time college student putting up with tripled college tuition. The fact that I am able to shoot once a month at todays ammo prices is astounding to me. As I near graduation I fear we may be interring a recession that could effect me and throw all I have achieved into the file 13.

[Ezekiel]

I have seen true poverty, but have never lived it.

Right now, I am a post-divorce, depressed, slug of a fat ass who has a rotten attitude and "feels" poor.

I make >$70k, pay $950 a month on a 30-year mortgage that is down to $130k, drive an old car with 50k miles but own a '69 Mustang, and spend a LOT of time doing unhealthy things (fast food, beer, cigars) and laying around with my dogs.

I know I am not in poverty but, alone, sometimes, it still "feels" like it. 

The I recall what I saw in shanty towns.

Hello, reality.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

been poor  through my own poor actions  owed about 80 k in 1982 and was a drunk and a junkie
made a decent living up to then for my age but wasted it and myself. got serious and worked my tail off for 18 months and lived literally in a closet. paid off all my debts driving cab 16 hours a day plus 7 days a week. stayed debt free till 98 when i bought a house. missed a year of work and things got tought. but i'm digging outa that hole. i was poorest at times when i made real money. and many of the richest moments in my life had nothin to do with money. i am blessed to have a wife and 2 kids a don't deserve. and struggle to become the guy my dog already thinks i am

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

no disrespect to those whom are genuinly disabled but iits a term/lable often overused. when i finally reversed my cranial rectal inversion and stopped drinking a quart of booze everyday the nice social worker told me i was 100% disabled and qualified for ssi as well as food stamps etc because i was an alcoholic.two days later i left rehab. i was working 3 days later full time no big deal no problems. i'm sure the nice lady meant well but i was in no way disabled and not working woulda been the death of me.i doubt i woulda stayed sober not working

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Yup - I am right now. College student, thus expected to be poor (or else the folks'd be). Summer jobs pay pretty well. Currently in an overpriced apartment, which doesn't help matters. Lease is up soon, will switch to a cheaper place.

Now, I do have a few plans going. Part-time likely at the college, possible full-time in the works for next semester. Summer job very likely. And if all else fails, I can join the military. I see options open for me, in college or not. The job doesn't have to be sexy - it just has to pay the bills. If it pays best to pack parachutes, I'll do it.

But I grew up in good environs, with good parents. That's always a help.

[Tecumseh]

Can someone please give a definition of poverty?  I myself voted no but I may have been depending on how poverty is defined.  Are we talking below the "poverty" line?  Are we talking at living in a shack?  Homeless? etc.

How is poverty defined for this question?

[Bogie]

Zeke, take a few days off, get the bleep outta town. Come visit someone. Lots of folks out here who'll give you couch space. Hell, I'll put you to work - I need bumper sticker ideas before Knob Creek. For that matter, your sorry ass had BETTER be at Knob Creek. You're going to camp. With other people. And you're going to like it.
 

[French G.]

As a married Marine E3 I officially lived below the poverty line in the early nineties.  It was so brutal not being able to buy two brand new cars, a 3,000 sqft house, and big screen TV's. 

Yeah I did that, married E-4 buying a house. Never felt poor but years later my wife tells me about crying because she didn't know how to pay the bills. It was a year or two where I was the only money and she was in grad school. It wasn't poverty. We had a house, two cars, paid our bills. We were below the official poverty line.

I grew up for 5 years in a one room house with no indoor hot water or toilet. Dad had a good job, it was mainly he had built a house in the hills on what he could do on a cash basis. Living like that was common up there. We always had food, 5 acre garden too. Best years of my life, wasn't poverty.

I've seen some pretty rough circumstances in rural Missisippi and some nearer my home in Appalachia, but I think you have to go overseas to see any real poverty. Worst I've seen is Haiti and I didn't even set foot on shore, not enough shots. When you can see an entire island with not vegetation because it all got used for fuel, that's poverty.

[Brad Johnson]

I am still in poverty as a full time college student putting up with tripled college tuition. The fact that I am able to shoot once a month at todays ammo prices is astounding to me.

Doc, buddy, you are so NOT in poverty it's unreal.

Brad

[Tallpine]

I think the American definition of "poverty" is not being able to buy anything you want right this second 

[mfree]

Yeah, the word "poverty" has been stupidly corrupted.

[Jamisjockey]

Yes...

...at least according to some British think-tank that recently tried to come up with an "improved" definition of poverty.

Which was basically: "If any of the things on this list apply to you, then you are living in poverty." 
One of which was "As a child, did you have to share a bedroom with a sibling beyond the age of x".  (Which I did, until I left to go to university at 18).

Which just convinced that a lot of people define poverty (especially "relative poverty") in very dubious ways, mainly for political/ideological reasons.

That's funny!  We had some mormon friends in Utah who were pulling down over 500k a year.  But they had 7 kids, and some were sharing bedrooms.  The house was custom built, and two of the bedrooms had double walk in closets for the siblings that shared thier bedrooms.  That family certainly never wanted for much....but I guess by socialist standards they're "poor"....

[WeedWhacker]

I was grossing $12,152 a year in the mid '90s, if that's poverty. I was too rich for any socialist programs, and too poor to put money away in savings or pay my way through college.

I made a few tough choices.

Twelve years later, well, let's just say I'm much, much better off now. :)

[MillCreek]

As I near graduation I fear we may be interring a recession that could effect me and throw all I have achieved into the file 13.

That is always a possibility, and when I graduated with a MSc in chemistry in 1982, there were no jobs in my field, at the height of the recession back then.  I had to immediately retrain myself for a field in which I could find work.  A degree is no guarantee, and you should be as flexible as possible in looking for work.