Tell me your stories about living in "proverty"?

Question

Tell all, don't be ashmed. This is a free country, voice your opinion as you like no matter what. Tell me the on going struggles and the none stopped battles just to make ends meet. Tell me like it is.

Answer 1

The poorest my family and I have ever been, I was age 12-14, a while ago.  I remember a lot of it though.  It was awful, my mother would cry and yell at us after having a stressful day.  She couldn't find work and every time she had a job interview that went well, we were so glad, but then they wouldn't call her back.  She'd cry because she didn't know why she couldn't get a job, she'd come out from an interview only to tell me and my brother what BS it was because the job was practically filled by another worker and they weren't serious.

We didn't have a car most of the time, so we'd walk to the nearest shelter/program to get food.  That stuff is awful, especially their juice, the stuff that comes in "government cans".  I remember us not having any money for things I felt I needed, like not having money for bras even though I'd outgrown mine.  We'd borrow my grandmother's car for weeks at a time, or we'd have to stay with her in her one bedroom apartment.  Mom had to buy us one of those blow up mattress things that you use at the pool or the beach, because the floor was cement with just a little carpet.  

My mom used to say she'd kill herself, she had depression but couldn't afford meds sometimes so things would get worse.  I used to be afraid to get in the car because I was afraid she'd start crying or get so upset she'd drive off the road.

My mom had gotten robbed, had been laid off because some coworker spread rumors about her and they'd get into arguments.  The weird thing is, my mom used to work for CAP, she worked in legal office after legal office, but they got rid of her over that.  Her boss later called her to apologies, she said she was sorry and that my mother hadn't deserved it.  My mom's old boss was slightly off, people would make fun of her and my mom would defend her.  I went to school with the daughter of the woman who would insult my mom.  I can't think of someone whose lead a more unfair life than my mom, she basically got screwed over again and again for 2 years of her life, and then some more.

When our water broke, we couldn't pay to get it fixed so we had to go a week without water while we waited to go to grandma's house.  When her brother got the water running, it still wasn't hot so my mom would have to take cold showers while I heated water on the oven for her to wash her hair.  When Christmas came, we got gifts from the church and police station, some of the kids that delivered the gifts were from my grade.  It was mortifying because we were so desperate, we had to be seen like that while I was ready to cry because I thought I wouldn't get anything for Christmas.  I don't even remember a tree.

People don't care about how poor you are.  The programs meant to help people, those who ran them couldn't be bothered to call my mother back, and that was before we lost our phone.  

My aunts bought me clothes for school, and they were nicer than my moms so sometimes she's have to borrow them for a job interview, but I didn't mind, I understood.

Later I tried to kill myself, 7 times, though I only got close enough that I had to go the hospital once.

It is the worst nightmare ever, everybody else who complained just sounded so ungrateful to me back then.  It was like h**l, people tell you to be glad you're still alive, but it was the worse time of my life- I'm surprised we managed to survive.

Oh, and my mom was attending college on a scholarship and was set to graduate in a year, but she still didn't get hired.  My mom wasn't stupid, she didn't do drugs, she wasn't psychotic, bad stuff just seemed to happen to her.

-Alika

Answer 2

its really sad and motivating at the same time to hear such real life incidents. Although i never had so much struggle, but life has been a bumpy ride for me too. When we come out of such situations, we just know that if such a senario ever comes again we are better equiped to handle them and in a far better manner. Atleast i have realized it after every sad incident that happened to me.

All the best you all !!

God Bless

Answer 3

wow  what the lovely life struggle are above

Answer 4

OK, well, when i got outta highschool in '03 i started at Bradley University. Well, i got in some trouble and my mom kicked me out. So i left school to live with my BF, but he was going into the military. i didnt want to live with his parents, so i randomly decided to move to FL. I was only 18. First time on my own. I moved down there, lived with my grandmother for about a month, but she was moving, so i had to find a place to live. I got a truck, and moved in with an old friend of the family. she charged out the butt for a room that she liked to use as her storage unit and she added an extra bed for when she had guests. so i had to pay $600 a month and i didnt even have privacy. So i spent most of my time on the beach. eventually, she moved all my stuff to one corner of the room and i basically took the important stuff and put it in my truck. i got in debt with a credit card and i lost my job, so i had no more money. i parked in an abandoned warehouse at night to sleep, or i stayed at random friends houses. sometimes i just slept at the beach, it was open 24 hours. lucky for me i was an 18 year old girl in pretty decent shape, so i had the support of all the beach bums, for what thats worth. Every morning i ate fried chicken and drank beer with the beach bums, they are the people that have nothing and live on the beach, i basically became one of them. all this time i had my pet snake, Addy, to keep me company. and believe me, while snakes arent considered the best guard dogs, if i had him out, nobody messed with me. i had to learn how to rough it. i relied on the hospitality of my friends parents for food and sometimes a place to stay. I lived this way for about 6 months, before finally my friends parents gave me enough money to drive back home. I did, and me and my mother made up, and i got a job and a place to live.

I also lived in a hotel for about 2 months when i was 20 because i had nowhere else to live when i moved to georgia. The owner of that hotel was extremely generous, he let me live there, and when it was time to go, he never charged me.