In a Reddit post shared to r/AskReddit, a site user asked, "What do people do that lets you know they grew up poor?". Here are some of the most-upvoted responses:
1. "Every time I have this one friend over for dinner, he always helps himself last and only grabs the smallest bit of food. I always tell him to grab more, but he always insists that he wants me to have enough, and I always make more than enough for the both of us."
"Interesting — there are two kinds of people in the answers here. Those who pile up their plate when free food is available, and those who instinctively don’t want to impose their hunger on others."
2. "I grew up poor. It has led to a huge fear of spending money, especially on myself. I don't go to salons, I only do free activities with the kids 90% of the time. My wardrobe is basically pajamas and work clothes only and I only own two pairs of shoes."
"I will quadruple-check my budget to make sure I didn't miss anything if I have an excess at the end of the month. I only got 'not poor' about two years ago, so I'm still adjusting. But that fear of spending money still exists."
3. "Hoarding stuff in case you need it again."
"My mum, who lives alone, has an entire bedroom with giant racks filled with food, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. It's very clean and organised but still unnecessary. When I asked her why, she said it was because she could. I was like 'well, yeah, but why do you want to?' She explained it was because, for most of her life, she couldn't afford to purchase everything we needed but now she can and it feels good. I love it because she loads me up with food and essentials every time I visit!"
4. "When you go out to eat, only ordering the cheapest thing on the menu and tap water only. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s the one that first came to mind."
5. "Done cooking something in the oven? Leave the door slightly open (in winter) and warm your hands over it for a bit. Why waste heat?"
6. "Putting water in the shampoo/conditioner bottle to get the last little bit out and used, and saving multiple lotion bottles to eventually cut them open and scrape out what hasn't been pumped out."
7. "Based on the meals they make. Even in adulthood, nothing beats that cinnamon sugar buttered toast."
"Yep, the comfort food, like buttered noodles over baked potatoes or chilli burritos."
8. "When your glasses are mason jars and Coca-Cola cups from restaurants."
9. "Washing Ziploc bags."
10. "Grabbing anything that’s free. Ketchup from McDonald’s, napkins, paper plates from Dominos pizza. Etc."
11. "I went fishing with a guy who never threw anything back (unless it was illegal). I asked him why we were going to kill ourselves cleaning these tiny bass. Apparently we don't waste free food. When he went fishing as a child it was to survive and not for fun, it seems."
12. "I've been called cheap and stuff like that and I've tried to explain it's not a conscious thought, like 'I want to be as cheap as possible.' No. It was just ingrained in me from being poor that you don't spend money unless you absolutely have to."
13. "Saving empty containers to use later as Tupperware."
14. "I grew up in abject poverty. My spouse comes from money. She has actually gotten mad at me because I will never eat the last portion of something unless it is specifically for me. I don't think either of us has really understood where that behaviour comes from my growing up."
15. "I had an anxiety attack while shopping last weekend even though I know I now have the means, and it was for a special occasion."
16. "My Amazon cart is empty but I have 78 items saved for later."
17. "All of my underwear is basically three worn-out elastic things and shreds of material. I struggle to justify buying more to myself."
18. "I tend to be really weird about food. I always need several weeks' supply on hand (staples/canned) and I get really upset when my boyfriend eats something I consider just mine. It's something I had to let him know about very early in the relationship. Me being this way is the result of childhood hunger and I work to mitigate it but I doubt it will ever really go away."
19. "Knowing how to sew. My ex who also grew up poor knew that I did too because I sewed up ripped clothes instead of replacing them. All of my favourite clothes have my own sh*tty stitching in them, because even now that I have money, if I really like an article of clothing, I'll keep that f*cker alive years past its expiration date."
20. "I scan the most important items first even if I know I have plenty of money. I didn’t even grow up poor. I’ve just been poor my entire adult life so far and it really f*cks with you."
21. "I once had a roommate who wouldn't let me throw away an empty, expired peanut butter jar in case an apocalypse scenario happened and he had to scrape out the last moldy bits to survive. So... that, I guess."
Shout out to the Redditors of r/AskReddit for having this discussion.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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