Originally Posted by
tropit
That was so nice of you. My family was poor when I was little. My parents divorced when I was very young and my mom was left with a huge mountain of bills that my dad had run up. Those days, the divorce laws were not in a woman's favor. She worked two jobs just to make ends meet. I would greet my mom at the grocery store on pay day, which was once, every two weeks. I'd help her shop, so she could get home and start on her second job, but also because I wanted some "goodies." I could pick out a package of cookies, but only if there was enough to buy the basics first. My sister used to joke that Mom was the only person she knew that could make Tuna Noodle Casserole without the tuna. I learned a lot about money from my mom and I'm grateful for it today.
I too grew up in a poor family. There were 9 kids, and as was common in those days, one income. We lived down the alley from a local grocery store, that generously allowed us to purchase on credit. Every payday, dad's first payment was to the grocer. I remember some lean times, and hard lessons about wants vs needs. We went to Catholic School, with our tuition paid by dad doing work for the church/school. (In addition to his full time job.) He did printing, janitorial duties, painting, what ever needed to be done. Mom was very thrifty with her purchases, and cooking. Often times, my dad would just eat baked potatoes for dinner. I didn't realize until much later, that he did that so there would be more meat or side dishes for the rest of us. He was very thrifty through out his lifetime, always saving for the next rainy day. When he died, we found over $2000 tucked away in the pockets of shirts and pants in his closet.