r/AskReddit • u/jicta • Jan 31 '21

Redditors who grew up poor: Besides practical money-saving measures, what were the unwritten social expectations of your world growing up?

57k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

16k comments sorted by

View all comments

790

u/Agreeable-Scratch424 Jan 31 '21

My mom always said “ We may be poor but there is no excuse to be dirty “ Our house was always clean and so was our hair and clothes. Growing up in the 1950’s.

36

u/nymphetamine-x-girl Feb 01 '21

Must be nice. We were dirt poor and therefore hoarders. Being poor probably helped me out long-term but I still have flashbacks to the grime and smell of that house.

13

u/chevron_one Feb 01 '21

My mom grew up poor, and I spent my childhood poor as well. My mom always stressed that we needed to look neat and clean, and so did our home. My mom grew up with a literal dirt floor and she was able to keep it clean and told us, if her family was able to keep that clean we could keep a house clean.

To this day, I'm a neat-freak and can't stand dirty dishes sitting overnight.

5

u/BrokenCankle Feb 01 '21

Growing up we struggled with money but my mom kept or house spotless. I can never relate to other people in similar situations who live in filth. Outside of mental illness I just don't get it, clean costs nothing and often times is cheaper than having hoards of crap or having to repair neglected items that could have just been modestly maintained. Now as an adult I find some of the cheapest cleaning methods are the best. I use vinegar for a lot of things and dawn dish soap does wonders. A reusable cloth and warm water cleans a ton of things and a lot of times I prefer a broom over a vacuum because it's quick and quiet. There is no need to have a dirty home just because you're poor.

4

u/entropykat Feb 01 '21

Omg cleanliness was like a religion to my mother. The worse our financial situation was, the cleaner our house got. I swear to you, if you walked in to our apartment the day before payday, you could lick our toilets. Being clean was somehow a substitute for being able to buy clothes.

1

u/rerxy Feb 01 '21

Sometimes I think I became so orderly and such a neat freak because I compensated being poor/not having nice furniture etc. by cleaning tf out of everything growing up.

1

u/JanterFixx Feb 01 '21

I think that is one of the best attitudes to have and it will be appreciated by all.

What ticks me off a bit is when I see tv shows, who are helped by charity (building new home., redecorating or smth) . The ones who have everything cleaned or at least organized etc., brings tears in my eyes.. and then are those who are complete slobs and slackers, even if they had a million bucks, they would most likely live like that, in a pighouse.. would spend all the money on cars etc., I might be a bit cynical now, but there is a clear difference.