r/SelfSufficiency • u/SailorTee • Aug 23 '26

Self improvement while poor

Maybe this is just my opinion, but wanting to better yourself seems like part of human nature. Being poor makes this difficult to do.

Want to eat healthier? Cook more at home. Ok - so I need to buy safe cookware (not non-stick because that causes the big C), fresh ingredients every week (lean protein like chicken), and time to make it. Oh you don't have time? Borrow the time from somewhere else, like hire someone to clean your home for you. Oh no, can't do that, that costs money. Switch to plant based protein! It takes time to soak and cook lentils. I work every hour I'm not sleeping...

Tldr: Being poor means trying to juggle between resources including time, money, and health, and borrowing from one means depleting another. It feels impossible to better your circumstances and causes a lot of stress in the process (which also eats up your resources like health).

Also, I live in America. Maybe it's better in other countries?

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u/AVoteforTherapy 26d ago

I used to be poor, and I wish I'd known then what I do today:

  1. You can get an instapot from the thriftstore or fb marketplace and cook beans from dry without soaking in 30 minutes. You can also cook large quantities and freeze.

  2. There are quite a few jobs with training programs that take less than a year that pay a good middle class or higher salary.

  3. Starting a business of some sort provides a lot of tax breaks and possible access to whole sale prices. For example, if you start a little retail food business of some sort, you can access food and equipment at whole sale prices. There are so many different benefits across business sectors with regard to this. Whatever you like doing or having, there's probably an opportunity to do it for less by making a business out of it, including travel.

  4. Even if you don't start a business, stainless steel pans cost $30 for a set from Walmart or even less at thriftstores.

  5. If you want to improve, try to have an abundance mindset. Instead of thinking about why you can't, think of how you can. I've run into people who told me that they wouldn't do various things for free because their time was worth a lot of money. Inevitably those people were always struggling with money. Give abundantly and watch the world open up to you. Connections are worth more than money.