And we were so freakin' poor!

[HannahP 119]

Husband and I are going on five years of marriage, over eight of having actually lived together.

I'm 26. When I was 18, I graduated high school and immediately moved to North Dakota to shack up with my now-husband who was at university on a student visa at the time.

Just the other night, we were reminiscing about the good ol' days --- and damn, we were so freakin' poor back then. Not third world, eating dirt poor but poor enough that a bag of potato chips could send us into the red with our bank account. I vividly remember selling back a bunch of old textbooks - we made about $300 on two years worth of combined textbooks - and we were so excited. Seriously, that was the most amount of money that we'd ever had at one time. I think we went out to eat at the local Chinese buffet with that. And maybe got the car fixed.

Eight years later --) we have a mortgage, two car payments, two fairly stable jobs. Make a little over six figures after taxes in combined income. (Which, where we happen to live, makes us positively middle class.) We're not rich-rich but I was able to drop about $400 today on some clothes for me, a video game, and then some much needed new bedding and not even think about it.

We've come a long way from a simple bag of potato chips.

/rambling

//can anyone relate?

[X Factor 1,112]

After high school I had nothing - no money. I was the eldest child of 7 and had to help support them. I also wanted to go to college but couldn't afford it. So I joined the army for 4 years, graduated from college. Got out of the army and worked in a government job. I recently sat for and passed the CPA exams. Now I am like you considered middle class. So yes I can relate.

[Dana-Mića 51]

I was dirt poor growing up in immigration camps, but it seems harder now than it did back than. My husband came 6 months ago and 3 months ago I got pregnant within the next 2-3 months we have to move out and NYC isn't cheap but god willingly we will survive and hopefully be able to talk about it like you are today.

[HannahP 119]

After high school I had nothing - no money. I was the eldest child of 7 and had to help support them. I also wanted to go to college but couldn't afford it. So I joined the army for 4 years, graduated from college. Got out of the army and worked in a government job. I recently sat for and passed the CPA exams. Now I am like you considered middle class. So yes I can relate.

Yuck, I got lucky in a lot of ways with my history as a child. (Youngest of eleven, but my dad is a doctor.) My young adult years were mostly a self-imposed poverty.

It is weird, isn't it? to compare the two lifestyles. Not immediately having to buy the cheapest of a product. Or having to save over a few months to buy a needed coat or new pair of shoes.

[Sandra G. 5,050]

Congrats HannahP

"Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable". (Michel Eyquem de Montaigne).

Edited April 11, 2012 by sandranj

[HannahP 119]

I was dirt poor growing up in immigration camps, but it seems harder now than it did back than. My husband came 6 months ago and 3 months ago I got pregnant within the next 2-3 months we have to move out and NYC isn't cheap but god willingly we will survive and hopefully be able to talk about it like you are today.

Good luck! It can be a hard couple of years, I agree, but hopefully you guys will be able to overcome those challenges and thrive and grow. And in eight years, you can also come back and repeat my story.

Congrats HannahP

"Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable". (Michel Eyquem de Montaigne).

...are you calling me retarded?

[N M 96]

We were very comfortable on two incomes..... before we had a baby.

Not so comfortable these days!

We don't struggle - but we don't have the same cushion that we used to.

[X Factor 1,112]

Yuck, I got lucky in a lot of ways with my history as a child. (Youngest of eleven, but my dad is a doctor.) My young adult years were mostly a self-imposed poverty.

It is weird, isn't it? to compare the two lifestyles. Not immediately having to buy the cheapest of a product. Or having to save over a few months to buy a needed coat or new pair of shoes.

Yes it is a different lifestyle in a big family if you were the eldest or the youngest. It shapes your personality and perspective. But hard work does pay off no matter what kind of a start in life you get.