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Forums - General Discussion - What's the POOREST you've ever been?

DMeisterJ on 13 November 2008

Not too poor. My account always has a positive balance, but that balance might be like four dollars though. I don't have a job, and I live at home, and my parents pay for my stuff (I'm 20) but I'm a student, so I'm not a total slacker. >_>

We've always had food to eat, and I can never remember any kind of amenities not being on, and always food in the fridge. But my mom has a horrible debt to credit ratio >_>



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Esmoreit on 13 November 2008
Hawkeye said:
What do you think causes people to become dirt poor? Is it mostly bad luck (born poor) or is it because of laziness, lack of planning, lack of self-discipline, or lack of intelligence (whether due to laziness or just bad luck of being born kinda slow)?

 

It's probably a multitude of things. Some people are just unlucky. For instance, when I mentioned I was suddenly in debt for 950 euro I was feeling quite a pinch. Thank god the economy was still riding high, I could count on my parents and got my tax refund. What if we'd been in the current economic times, my parents would be inaccesible for any reason and I would have to wait 12 months for my tax refund? I'd have to loan some money and with interest piling up I'd probably end up bad on the street... especially if my education wasn't all that great to begin with.

Others end up poor due to self-discipline. Drugs for instance can make people poor really fast.

Laziness I've hardly heard ever. I can imagine a guy who just prefers to see it all, travel the world and see where that brings him and that way just look like a hobo. Is he poor? By our standards, yes... by his? I doubt it.

And sometimes, it's a mix of things.



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Kasz216 on 13 November 2008
The Ghost of RubangB said:
When I went to Boston University for a year, there were a few times when I had no food and no money and I just got drunk and ate out of dumpsters. I'd try to stick to pizza, because pizza places seriously stack all the boxes of pizza up in their dumpster. They're neatly stacked, clean, and if you get there at the right time, still warm. Some people forget to pick up their pizzas. You even have a choice of toppings. But sometimes I'd be so drunk I'd start eating weirder stuff, like chicken and bread.

Trader Joe's has the best dumpsters in the world. My sister met a guy who was dumpster-diving up and down the Pacific Coast from Canada to Chile, and he said the best dumpsters were in Pasadena, California, especially the Trader Joe's stores there.

I've never gone without electricity or water though, so I've been doing great.

@vlad, have you ever met one of these poor scumbags and talked to them for a while? I'm visualizing all the poor people being like Pauly Shore and just mooching of of everybody and weezing the juice everywhere and not giving a shit.

Yeah, i once read a book about being a hobo, written by a hobo... or presumibly ex-hobo. He said Pizza Places were the best because they counted how much matieral they used by boxes and such. That and smaller stores that deal mostly in wrapped goods.

madskillz on 13 November 2008

Poorest I was? It was after I got married, had moved to Albuquerque and got hit on hard times. I was down to .10 in my pocket and a negative account balance. I was a ways away from a paycheck and literally cried out to the Lord. Made it to work and a co-worker came up to me and offered to buy me a meal. Said he owed me. Then, another co-worker said they had owed me $20 and gave me a $20 bill. That money held us over until I got paid.

It wasn't too long ago, but really just a distant memory. I can also remember getting unemployment payments of $210 per week but I was near my folks and they cooked for us.

I was talking to my wife a few weeks ago about what I wanted for Christmas ... and truthfully, the items I could get - an LCD TV, a plasma, games - I just want one thing - a nice Nikon Digital SLR. And even then, if it can't shoot video and sound, I don't want it. I am content and really have most of what I want (still want a 64 Impala SS ragtop and a Gwagen, as well as an F-14 Tomcat).