12 Habits That Reveal a Person Grew Up in a Poor Family (2024)

Constant worries about food and nutrition are one ofthe distinctive markers that show that afamily used tohave problems with money. Asaresult, people who grew upinthese families may have todeal with excess weight, may end upthrowing away food, and may still eat poorly.

• Istill get anxious when guests come over and eat myfood. Ikeep ittomyself though, soI don’t look crazy. ©HateradeK/ Reddit

• Ican’t not eat everythingI have onmyplate. And ifthere are alot ofleftovers, I’ll end upeating the same thing for lunch for the next 4days until iteither goes bad orisgone. Wenever had much food growing upand now, Ifind itimpossible towaste food. ©Followthatmonkey/ Reddit

• Saving delicious parts offood for later. Even ifthey’re onthe same plate, the least delicious ingredients are eaten first, and the tastiest ones are saved toprolong the pleasure. Anempty plate with only beef goulash onit, for example, iscommon. Idon’t even notice how ithappens. ©Kovalevan7/ Pikabu

People who grew upinpoor families often experience alot ofstress when making any purchases that aren’t directly related tosurvival. Often, these are the people who use the “delayed shopping” rule, according towhich you need towait afew days before purchasing any important item.

• The store whereI worked sold aset— aTV and agame console. The price was more than reasonable, Ihad nodebt, and there was enough money inmybank account. Inaddition, mygirlfriend andI were going tomove intogether, but wedid not have aTV. Ingeneral, itwas arelevant purchase. Ialmost vomited when itwas time topay. Afriend had toconvince meitwas agood deal, butI felt physically ill for several hours. ©CryoClone/ Reddit

The irrational fear oflosing one’s job istypical for people who understood from childhood that you simply can’t survive without astable income, nomatter how small itis.

• Max works for alarge company asafreight forwarder. His official annual salary is$12,000 and the rest ofthe money isjust given straight tohim (meaning heismostly paid under the table). Once, hegot sick. Hereceived practically nosick leave. Heended uphaving totake apayday loan, sohegot himself into more debt. Herecovered and continued towork. And now, hesays that what happened isfine, because heworks for alarge company and the $40K heactually makes isn’t being given tosomeone else. And hedoes this with nosafety net orguarantee that hewill have this job inthe future. ©dadudist/ Pikabu

Some habits that indicate apoor childhood can beeasily spotted byrich people and sales professionals. The way you move, talk, gesture, eat, and even hold acup ofcoffee can tell alot about your life.

• Once my3friends andI rented ahouse. Our hostess was afairly well-known actress inthe country, and one evening, aninterview with her was shown onTV. Wemade some cocoa, sat onthe sofa, and started watching. Atsome point, they were talking about the little things that are important for getting settled into arole. Then the actress asked the interviewer for coffee and then said, “You clearly grew upinawealthy family, because you keep the cup with the drink away from you. Those who were poor know that they have nothing else, sothey squeeze the cup with their whole hand.” Myfriends looked atme, grasping amug ofcocoa with both hands, andI looked down and said, “It’s true. Wewere very poor.” ©John Jones/ Quora

People who have never had aproblem with money treat gambling and lotteries asrun ofthe mill entertainment. Ofcourse, they are also delighted with winnings and frustrated with failures. But only those who were inreal need understand the difference between passion and hope for amiracle.

• Iused tobehomeless, and now, Ihave myown home and mysalary ismore than double the average salary. But despite the fact thatI have adegree ineconomics andI know that it’s completely irrational, Istill play the lottery. ©clemtiger2011/ Reddit

You can identify aperson who grew upinpoverty byhow many different things they can doontheir own. Changing locks, fixing leaky taps, laying tile, doing repairs, giving themselves ahaircut infront ofamirror. And even ifthings aren’t bad intheir current life, this habit doesn’t goanywhere.

• Imoved inwith mywife. Once, Iasked her where the needle and thread was. She replied tome:

—Why are you asking?
Me: Ineed tofix mysocks.
Her: Throw them away and don’t embarrass yourself!
She grew upinawealthy family. Idon’t even know how totell her that shoes can also berepaired. ©klalkin/ Pikabu

• When Iwas achild, wewere very poor, somyparents didn’t have the money totake metothe hairdresser toget atrim. This task was performed bymydad. Atschool, Iwas terribly shy aboutit. And now, Iunderstand how stupid Iwas, because not all daughters can boast that their father isgood atusing asewing machine, knows how tosew shoes, cut, dye, build, change the plumbing, cook... Iam proud ofhim. “Overheard”/ ideer

People who know the value ofmoney rarely throw things away and try toprolong their life inevery possible way. Iftheir clothes are nolonger suitable towear out ofthe house, they can beturned into home clothes. And then you can wear them atyour country house. Then you can cut them tomake dust rags. And the dust rags can beused and washed until they turn into threads.

• Ifix things instead ofthrowing them away. Right now, Ican’t swipe tothe left onmyphone, and sometimes, itturns off for noreason, butI can still use ittomake acall, can’t I? ©joannagoanna/ Reddit

• Idilute the rest ofthe shampoo and shower gel with water until nothing but water remains inthe bottle. Ijust can’t bring myself tothrow away the shampoo when there issomething atthe bottom. ©jsand4325/ Reddit

One ofthe most distinctive features ofpoverty istothink that money ismore valuable than time. Asaresult, people freeze atabus stop instead ofcalling ataxi, spend hours looking for cheap products, promotions, and discounts, and spend whole weekends inthe kitchen trying tosave money.

• When Iwas buying furniture for myapartment, Isuffered because ofa$20difference. Itlooked like this, “Ilike this chair more, but it’s awhole $20 more expensive.” Ispent weeks trying tochoose between a$430 chair and a$450chair. ©Maverick1717/ Reddit

The life ofaperson who grew upinpoverty isfull ofanxiety and fear. One ofthe most common causes ofstress ispaying for purchases atthe supermarket. Even ifthere iscomplete confidence that there ismore than enough money intheir bank account, not everyone succeeds ingetting rid ofthe irrational fear that the transaction may bedeclined.

• Even thoughI know for sure thatI have enough money, Istill hold mybreath untilI see onthe terminal that the transaction has been approved. ©unknown_author/ Reddit

Fear ofthe future leads tothe fact that people, even ifthey have the opportunity topay the entire amount atonce, prefer tochoose aninstallment plan oraloan. And even ifthey end upspending more money, the amount divided into several parts looks less frightening tothem than the full price ofthe product orservice.

• Can’t pay infull for something. Let’s say mycar insurance costs $1,200a year andI chose the installment plan option. Itwill end upcosting meanextra $180 inthe end, althoughI could’ve easily afforded topay the $1,200 right away.© -Ahab-/ Reddit

Asisthe case with time, people who live inpoverty feel that their health isaless valuable resource than money. They often have dental problems, because they are psychologically unable tospend “somuch money” onadentist, and the horror ofgoing toafree dentist has haunted them since childhood.

• Last year whenI first started anew job, Igot sick, butI kept working becauseI was never inasituation whereI could skip work and not worry about getting fired orpaying bills. And everyone said, “Why are you here? Gotothe doctor and gohome.” Irealized thatI really could doit, andI started tocry. Ihave never felt richer inmylife. ©gingeralecap/ Reddit

Expecting ahidden agenda inany situation, always staying alert, and not trusting anyone are habits that are formed byapoor past. This also includes the absolute inability toaccept gifts, especially expensive ones.

• Iam afraid ofunexpected knocks atthe door, calls from unknown numbers, and never opening mymailbox infront ofothers. Ithas also been not long sinceI got out ofdebt, and this isnot enough time toget rid ofmyfear. ©whistleduck/ Reddit

• Ihate receiving gifts because, asachild, Ididn’t have the opportunity togive something ofequal value inreturn, andI felt terrible because ofthis. Mysisters andI still haven’t grown out ofit, sowepretend birthdays and the New Year just don’t exist. ©Bamcfp/ Reddit

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