[USER]

What constitutes growing up in extreme poverty from an individual perspective? My own childhood was marked by economic hardship, being the seventh of eight children in a low-income family.

We required food assistance to get by, though just barely.

The severity of our financial situation resulted in simplified meals, such as ‘sloppy goulash,’ and eliminated possibilities for non-essential expenditures like birthday or Christmas gifts.

For individuals with similar experiences, how does growing up in poverty drive the pursuit of financial independence?

[Loraine]

If you experience or witness extreme poverty in developing countries, it is nothing like developed nations like the US. Government assistance is null.

You see people living in cardboard boxes and this is not by choice or due to mental illness.

Children are not able to make it to school because they’re hungry and they just have no means of attending school.

People do not get medical treatment because they cannot pay for medicine.

People consider eating some food rummaged from garbage receptacles a good day.

There are no agencies for the poor to uplift them from a life of poverty.

There are even worse situations than what I just described in poorer nations where people just die of hunger.

[Janel]

I remember having miracle whip and pickle sandwiches in my lunch box as a kid because there wasn’t anything else.

About 5 years ago I realized I spend too much on food as a single mom, making sure my fridge is always overly full with healthy options for my kids.

I know this isn’t exactly what you were asking, but I think growing up with tight finances can make some of us over compensate, which does not promote financial independence.

It perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

So, I have tried to take a step back and realize how my past affects my choices/habits and fix them.

Edited to add: my dad worked so very hard. My parents did their best at all times and I’m very grateful I never went hungry.

[张扬]

Most people born in developed countries have never experienced it, and have no clue about how brutal life can be for people born without privilege.

I lived it prior to immigrating to the US, and the trauma it caused shaped who I am, and was instrumental in my motivation to achieve FI.

Its biggest impact was teaching me to be grateful for the simple things in life that most westerners take for granted, which has helped me to avoid many traps that people can fall into in their pursuit of happiness.

I would never wish my childhood hardships onto others, but it has built my character in a way that nothing else has.

Sounds like it might have done the same for you.

[Stacy]

I grew up poor by the standards of my parents upbringing and yet it was shocking how much poorer others are in both the US and other countries.

When we saw the urban poverty of the poor areas of Detroit or Mexico City we got a dose of perspective.

We were rural poor but never without power, heat or food.

My mother was ashamed by using food stamps in our small town but they provided necessities that we didn’t produce in our garden.

This experience influenced all of my siblings to work hard and prosper in our lives.

[Lori]

Great question. I was raised by parents who survived the Great Depression. The way they stocked our pantry with food, influences me still today. So, it lives for generations.

I grew up with enough. We weren’t wealthy, and I recognized wealth because I grew up in an extremely wealthy school district.

But we did have enough.

There will always be disparities. There will also be individual perspectives.

My parents felt like we were golden, because we had food. They were so proud because they were able to afford a very modest home in a very good school district.

I felt like we were a little bit poor, because I saw the way my schoolmates lived.

But I don’t think any of us-even my parents-understood abject poverty experienced by individuals in developing nations.

[Damon]

We are taking in very broad strokes but one of the biggest drawbacks I see from people who grow up “poor” is a higher risk of a having a poor mindset.

IF that is an issue for someone, their first step has to be work on shifting their belief systems.

[Author]

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