Poverty realities that even middle class people cannot seem to grasp:
- If something breaks in your house, it's basically just broken now. Indefinitely. E.g. there was an entire period of 6 months where half of our house had no power (no lights, no working outlets) because electricians cost money.
- You don't own enough clothing to get through the week so you have to re-wear dirty clothes and run laundry all the time (which runs up your utility bill and wears out all of your clothing really fast, so now all of your clothes are in rags btw).
- Nice clothes for a job interview? Bahahaha. Right.
- Your hair looks like whatever the best you can do at home because you can't afford a haircut.
- Choose between necessities and other necessities. Decide what necessity is most necessary.
- You feel like shit for buying a sandwich or a fucking bag of chips because it's "irresponsible" to buy "convenience" food.
- Shit, you're rationing groceries and losing weight this month.
- Shit, can't afford the utility bills this month.
- Shit, can't afford the car payment this month.
- It doesn't matter if you're disabled or injured or feel like you're collapsing from fatigue. You go to work unless it is physically impossible to do so. The shit most people call out for will piss you off.
- (If you have a working vehicle) you will share that single vehicle for all of your household's needs.
- If your car breaks down you are so fucked. Something as simple as having to replace a tire is now a significant problem. You can plug it yourself and buy a few months of time, if you can avoid needing to drive anywhere on the highway.
- Need gas to go to work, work doesn't pay enough to fill the tank. Going to work is costing you money.
- Paying taxes on your shit wages bleeds you dry.
- Necessities and emergencies go on credit, if you're fortunate enough to have a credit card. Future you is still on the hook for that problem.
- If/when you manage to save anything, it quickly evaporates.
- If you need healthcare that isn't in-network or your insurance lapses or drops you, you aren't going to see that dentist or doctor. Your health declines.
- You have to force any meds your insurance won't cover into your already dying budget, somehow.
- You live in perpetual background fear of losing your health insurance / medicaid.
- Chronic burnout/exhaustion from never being able to go out, do anything, or enjoy things that cost money (which is almost every single thing). This will also kill your social life.
- Can't afford to celebrate/participate in holidays like most people do. You become isolated.
- Guilt and anxiety about people spending money on you because you can't reciprocate.
- You sell your body by donating plasma because you have no other way to even come close to covering your expenses.
- You turn to things like sex work regardless of whether it's a healthy or safe decision for you, because it's survival.
- You have to eat your ego and beg and be indebted, and/or rely on people even if they're abusive, because it's survival.
- A single home-cooked meal with ingredients you typically wouldn't dare spend on, or even moreso, a real dinner from a restaurant means everything. Seeing a movie in a theater means everything. Doing literally anything that isn't working yourself to death and scraping by means everything, because it's a few hours of genuine happiness.
- You constantly dream about your "someday" or your alternate life where you manage to escape and can finally be stable and be happy.
- Nobody who hasn't been there will get it.
- Your mental and physical health is tanking, and you don't know how long you can keep doing this. You struggle with suicidal ideation at the thought of potentially spending the rest of your life like this.
- People look down on you and blame you for all of this, treat you like you're a lazy POS, and will actively choose to turn away and/or make things harder.
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