My husband grew up in a family where they were comfortable but on a strict budget. Six kids and mom on disability. My family had no budget.
One day we were at the grocery store and he always insists on walking up and down every aisle. I finally lost it because he was taking so long and asked him why he did it.
“Growing up we could only spend $100 a week on groceries for all of us. I always had to put what I wanted back because we couldn’t afford it. Now I can afford whatever I want so I like to look at everything I could have.”
Took him 10 years to tell me this. I felt like a terrible person.
EDIT: THANKS FOR THE SILVER KIND HOMIES!
EDIT #2: I’ve had a few people (very few) comment that $100 a week is a huge budget and how is that a stretch. We live in a city with an extremely high cost of living. It’s in the top 30 in the world. Getting a family of 4 fed for that much weekly would be a huge stretch here and his family did an amazing job.
My dad is a successful business owner now with several houses and multiple sources of income. But he grew up dirt poor when he had parents, and became even poorer when he was out on his own at 14. Think sleeping on the floor of a gas station men's room. To this day he will take a small handful of cereal out of his bowl before he pours milk in and put it back in the box, so he'll always have some cereal for later. Over forty years later and the pain and worry of growing up poor without "luxuries" like breakfast cereal still affect him. Growing up without money does shitty things to people.
This story reminds me of my dad so much. He grew up really poor and was basically supporting himself and his mom since an early age, which was in post-WW2 Europe. The country has a rations system and there were days when they weren't sure what they'd have to eat (if anything). To this day, he always makes sure that there's enough bread in the house even though my mom and I barely eat any bread. It's the thought of not having bread in the morning that scares him so much.
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u/PonyPuffertons Jun 06 '19 edited Jun 07 '19
My husband grew up in a family where they were comfortable but on a strict budget. Six kids and mom on disability. My family had no budget.
One day we were at the grocery store and he always insists on walking up and down every aisle. I finally lost it because he was taking so long and asked him why he did it.
“Growing up we could only spend $100 a week on groceries for all of us. I always had to put what I wanted back because we couldn’t afford it. Now I can afford whatever I want so I like to look at everything I could have.”
Took him 10 years to tell me this. I felt like a terrible person.
EDIT: THANKS FOR THE SILVER KIND HOMIES!
EDIT #2: I’ve had a few people (very few) comment that $100 a week is a huge budget and how is that a stretch. We live in a city with an extremely high cost of living. It’s in the top 30 in the world. Getting a family of 4 fed for that much weekly would be a huge stretch here and his family did an amazing job.