10 Things About Growing Up Poor (That Rich Kids Will Never Understand)

1. No Christmas.

“That Santa doesn’t visit some kids.”

1. Adding water to an empty shampoo bottle to get more shampoo.

1. Ketchup sandwich. Adding water to milk.

“Ketchup sandwich. Adding water to milk. Only getting new toys on your birthday or Xmas, usually from another family member such as uncle or grand parent. .49 cent hamburger day (which turns to days) at McDonald’s.”

1. Sharing one McDonald’s milkshake with your five brothers and dad.

“What it’s like to be hungry and yet so poor that the only thing your mom could make you for dinner is a ketchup sandwich using free ketchup packets taken from McDonald’s from that one time that she scraped enough loose change to buy 1 milkshake for you and your 5 brothers for doing good in school. Remember how she made you guys take turns sipping from it so that everyone could get some but you guys weren’t allowed to finish it because you had to save some for when Dad came home? You don’t remember, do you? I do. That was my life growing up.”

1. The risk of failure.

“The risk of failure.

If i get a new job and it doesn’t work out, chances are I’ll not be able to get a job like my old job and could end up in a worse position than I’m in, potentially losing my home and being unable to support my family.

The people I grew up with from wealthy families always had a clear and obvious safety net, the ability to take risks, knowing that if everything goes wrong, it won’t harm them too much.

I’ve a friend who’s parents built him a house on their land, who’s income isn’t needed for living expenses, he’s got the freedom to quit his job and move to soemthing new without any fear of being unable to home his family.

I’ve another friend who, while living in his parents “spare” house (while the rest of us were paying most of our income out in rent) saved £20,000 to start a business and is now a multimillionaire.

Another friend with wealthy parents, again lives on his parents land, while basically doing nothing but waiting for his inheritance.

Basically the running theme, the thing rich kids don’t often get, is being responsible, 100% responsible, for your own basic needs and being unable to “gamble” your lifestyle due to the very real risk of failure.”

1. Not everyone graduates from high school or goes to college.

“That graduating from high school/going to university is a really big deal for some people.”

1. Saving up lunch money to buy something.

1. Some girls won’t date you because you’re poor.

“People always seem shocked that I never had a girlfriend or even a date until I was in my early twenties. They assume I was too shy or not interested in women. But really, it was because I didn’t have money. Some girls won’t date you because you’re poor. Others think you’re gross because you wear the same oversized, outdated hand-me-downs every day. And even the least judgmental girls on the planet would never date you because you couldn’t afford to even go out on a date and you sure as hell aren’t going to bring her back to the broken down trailer you call home even if you could find the time between school and the 2 jobs you work to help your parents buy food and pay the bills.”

1. Getting a serious injury but not being able to afford a doctor.

“Ok so I guess this is only in America only, but:

Getting a serious injury and trying to make it look like no big deal so you avoid people asking stuff like ‘how long did your doctor say it would take to heal?’ Because you don’t have insurance and the smallest medical expense would put your family in debt, so you never got it checked out.

Seriously, I’ve broken my foot and not even gotten crutches. Could barely walk but I had to tough it out and look like nothing was wrong.”