One time I had so little money

One time I had so little money that after paying for my infant son's heart medication I had only $25 left groceries.
One time I had so little money that I had to tell my then 11 year old son we couldn't afford for him to go on a $5 field trip.
One time I had so little money that dh and I both wore shoes with holes in the bottoms for months before being able to replace them.

Today we are still pay check to paycheck but are debt free besides our mortgage, have a 3 month emergency fund in place and have money worked into the budget to help ds with college expenses as well as sinking funds for copayments and car repairs.

When married to my first husband we lived overseas in Wales for a few years. Money was extremely tight, this was 30 years ago. I remember writing a bad check for a $10 nightgown the night before I was to be admitted to a hospital for surgery. I didnt even have a nightgown. We hardly had money for food, and I used to hang around my girlfriend's houses at lunchtime so I could get a free meal. I dumpster dived behind the grocers to get anything they had thrown out, things like carrot and beet tops, bruised fruit, old potatos etc.. I'd use whatever I'd find to make a pot of soup, which we'd eat for nearly a week. I remember finding a bag of flour and making pancakes for a month (with eggs I'd buy for 50 cents a dozen). No syrup. We lived near the ocean, and sometimes if I walked down by the docks the fishermen would give me a bucket of mussels or a fish too small to sell just because they liked my American accent. I hated mussels but at them anyways. We used to have a natural gas meter and we'd have to put coins in to get enough gas to heat our very drafty victorian. 50 pence was the minimum. That was probably $1. Anyways, it was a very cold winter and we didn't have enough to pay for gas. So I pawned my blue sapphire ring that my Mom had given me when I graduated to buy gas. I never went back for it, I regret that to this day. Even though bus fare was cheap, I walked everywhere because I couldn't afford it. I lost 20 pounds during that time. Even though times were tough, I remember them as good times. We had good friends and spent many happy hours talking, playing cards, and just hanging out. We didn't have money for "distractions" like going to movies, etc. When our finances improved, our marriage failed.

Henrysmom, I felt sad reading your post, but you probably would say that it was character building. I'm sorry about your ring and your marriage, though. Hope life has improved.

Thanks, artist and henrysmom. I've felt a real shame in having no money, and you've lessened that shame for me. I remember shilling meters, henrysmom. I remember the field trip that my son couldn't go on, artist. I also sold my mother's jewelry that I inherited for reasons I look back on now and feel bad about.

I remember once, my DH and I trying to one-up each other on how bad off we were, so DH said to me, "Look!" and showed me his underwear with holes in it, so I said "Look" and I showed him that I was wearing some of HIS underwear--with holes in it. I had no underwear of my own. THAT"S poor.

That's why some people frustrate me--it's not their fault, but they don't know what it's like to truly have no money. I know we're all responsible for ourselves, but sometimes good people get caught in bad circumstances. I have been earning $150k annually for several years now, but I am the same person that I was when I was dead broke. Like any other prejudice, prejudice against poor people can be very painful and misleading.

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Originally Posted by catherine

In any case my DH once said, when we were discussing how we never locked our front door, "Why should we lock our door? If a robber came in he'd probably feel sorry for us and leave us a buck."

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That actually happened to me!! Not cash, but I came back one day to find the glove box probed and a stack of Pizza Hut coupons left on the passenger's seat. I guess they felt sorry for me.

As far as my own stories go, it wasn't all that long ago. Setting my thermostat to its lowest at 55 all winter and shivering. My income priced me out of qualifying for food stamps, so I trash-picked for groceries. I split my pills like an old lady in a candidate's stump speech. And of course, I invested in a mace canister and a stun gun whenever I went out my door.

Not happy times at all. In fact, I'm still psychologically detoxing a year later.

Bump. This is such a great thread. Would really love to hear more...

One time I had so little money that I stayed for a few months in a shack behind the Carmelite Monastery where the nuns would hide out undocumented people from Mexico (I left when the shack was needed for more of these). There were big holes in the wall--at first I would set my milk outdoors for it to keep cold overnight, then I realized it was just as cold indoors, and sure enough, it froze on the table.

Once I had so little money for several years that I ate on $5-8 a week. One week would be OJ, bag of bread and peanut butter. The next week bag of carrots, bag of bread and peanut butter. Part of that time I lived in a basement full of theater clothes and shoes and rats that climbed over me and my mattrass on the floor. And the people I was staying with/under ate my food the first day. I got malnutrition. I was working three part-time jobs at a time for the last part of this. I finally got an apartment for $150/month and after 5 days the slum landlord locked me out. I went to court and got back in--and paid the lawyer with my car.

One time I had so little money I called my dad and asked if he could send me a check for $35 so I could buy groceries. At the time I was a full time student, working 2 jobs, and just couldn't get ahead. I promised to send it back ASAP and I think he was shocked that I wouldn't assume it was gift - I know I cried when I got off the phone. I always knew I had my parents as an emotional back up but was too proud to ask for financial help - never hesitate to ask those who love you- I'm sure he had no idea how desperate things were. My dad and mom are no longer here but I feel them with me every day - they gave so much more than financial support.

I remember washing cloth diapers, sometimes the ones that could be washed in the sink, and thinking it was a treat to use the dryer for clothes instead of hanging them in the apartment.

I cooked everything from scratch, a box of cereal was too much. (we had little kids and i did home daycare). Bulk rice, oatmeal and potatoes were the best.

I remember going to consumer credit counseling and he could not find anything to cut except maybe rent, but that was the cheapest rent in town where the heat worked and the ceiling didn't leak.

Now, we spent since last May washing clothes by hand and line drying (in Colorado) or taking some stuff to the laundromat. Got the washer fixed last month, who knows if ever on the dryer. This is for 3-4 of us.

I regularily check my account to see if I can get $25 or $50 of groceries.

This weekend I have about $40 in cash, actually until at least Thursday that is all, but I feel great. I have food, gas in the car and I can get to some savings that I would have loved before. My ex had problems this last week with his mother just passing away and bounced his check to me, that freezes everything in my bank for this extended process of getting the check back, etc. and with a bank holiday day too.

I am fine, I have everything I need.

My story is not as desperate as most on this thread- but I suppose everything is relative to the circumstances around you. When I was in (private) college, I was determined to never ask my folks for living expenses, as I felt that was my responsibility (they did help me some with the tuition, but I paid more than half between loans and jobs). My food budget for the week was $10. For protein, it was chicken legs and liver. I could get 4 pieces of liver for $1, and chicken legs were 39 cents a pound. Only frozen veggies. My big splurge was buying a pound of margarine: I would use it to make shortbread cookies, so I'd have something to offer friends who came for tea. I gave cookies to the people who'd let me use their oven to bake.

Was hard to hear sometimes the other kids who went on vacations during break, whose parents would wire them money, who could buy a dress for a dance, who could afford to go out for pizza or (gasp) even a real meal at a restaurant.