Poll: How poor are you?

Um, not poor anymore. Sorry kids. Sometimes being a grown up doesn't suck...

But I still eat mac & cheese. mmmmm!

Not happy with the poll questions or options? Then let's see you do better, really! Suggest a poll!

:)

Yeah, I'm not poor anymore either, though I certainly have been. I have to say that $100,000 of student loan debt alone is fairly humbling at any income, though. Why did I have to choose the fancy school?
...and don't take this post as a complaint about the poll. Any chance I get to grouse about my student loan debt is very much appreciated. :)

I'm not an actor.
I'm not a musician.
Where's the "I think I'm a writer" option?


That aside, Mac&Cheese poor was my life as a kid. And it seems to fit again.

Yeah, I agree!

But I guess Mac& Cheese best fits me. What's really good is taking a pot of mac&cheese and mixing in a can of peas. It's good food!


hmm... artist is missing too.

Where's "sofa-sized oil painting and low, low, prices. These paintings must go! --poor?"

erm...
I shouldn't be posting this early ;-)

can of tuna works well too.

talcott: don't mock me! ;-)

Where's the "I'm one of the evil rich?"

I think it should be "I'm not poor you sensitive clod!"

'Cause...the post was pretty sensitive....

I'm another of the evil rich, you insensitive clod! :D

At least if you define "rich" as "not poor".

That said, I still have a huge debt load. It's just all mortgaged so it's financially efficient. Whatever that means.

Yeah I'm...not poor. I'm not rich either, but I never would presume to complain that I'm poor. At least not seriously. I do have many money stresses and I am not where I want to be financially (like, buying a house) but I'm none of those varieties of poor in the poll and I wouldn't want to kinda...cheapen the lives of my friends who are actually poor by even pretending I am. Wow that sounded kinda preachy, but I don't mean it that way. Heee. :)

I feel downright rich even when I'm having money troubles. I mean, darn I can't afford to by the home theatre system I wanted to this month...shucks. Really, I have health and family and I get to travel and live in my own apartment sans roommates. Nothing to complain about man.

Although when I was poor I preferred Ramen Noodles to Mac and Cheese 'cause they were cheaper.� Kraft dinner was for them special occasions.

I thought i was poor before? yeah, i wasnt. i am now though� :D i chose mac & cheese poor. although i haven't eaten it lately, i have been eating things like stove top and drumsticks.

i miss atkins. that's what really sucks about being poor.

..that, and not being able to fix your dog, and now you think she's pregnant poor.

bleh!

I have enough money to pay my bills each month and have a little left over. In my book that's not poor.

I don't yet have enough money to live the life that I want, which is in a boring average house and driving a different car.

The $30K in student loans is paid off, however. :) Now if I only had the degree to go with it....

> which is in a boring average house and driving a different car

That's why I'm "rich".�� I have the boring average house and the 1 reliable used car to go with the 2 clunkers we're driving into the ground.�

And we've put our student loans behind us and now are contemplating how to minimize our kid's.� That's not poor by any stretch of the imagination.��

Although it still stretches my imagination to consider what kind of income it might take to be comfortable buying new cars, or�a newer house, or paying for university without incurring debt.�

Poor or not poor, Mac n' Cheese is some damn fine eats. I don't know what they put in that powder sauce packet, but it's the essence of culinary happiness.

And don't even get me started on Lipton Teriyaki Noodles. Seriously.

When I'm itching for some lowbrow comfort food I fry up some ground beef and add it to mac and cheese and add corn niblets. A nice little one bowl meal. :)

and I'm not going to see if I can do better because I've tried and I can't, but I can still hate it so there!

yeah. I'm life threatening poor. before christmass I was eating my friends left overs that she would sometimes bring to work... and I was in the ER every weekend (sometimes twice a weekend) ... and my nose started bleeding all the time because of malnutrition... but did this atleast make me loose weight (yes I'm obsesed)? no, because my motabolism doesn't exsist. I stole jam packets from a restaurant because I couldn't afford to eat but I needed to have something so I wouldn't have a sugar low... so I'd eat thoes. blah. *mope*

*hugs*

I'm sorry things are so rough for you right now.

things are drasticly better now. I still occasionaly have an issue, but I've moved back in with my parents (save me?) and I'm doing okay... relatively speaking.

*hugs*

is it just me, or does the tone of this poll seem to imply a sort of pride in being poor, and an assumption that everyone is poor, or that everyone who is poor is proud to be?

I think that's reaching a bit much. :)� It just seemed to me a thing Frulie did as a lark.

gah. proud to be poor? dude. I'm more than a little ashamed.

I think this poll was meant to be humorous.......

yeah I know, I'm just showing that perhaps its not as humorous for everyone.

Sorry, that was meant as a comment for Lawrence.

*hugs*

I don't think there's any humor in real poverty.� There might be some in myopic middle-class grousing -- like what Kristy was talking about, "oh poor�me I�can't afford an upgrade, or a flat-screen TV"�-- but not when people really are struggling to put food on a non-existent table, or having to choose between�eating and rent.

actually,

those times when my family has been in dire circumstances is when I've found our sense of humour to be most helpful.

we wouldn't have made it at all if we hadn't been able to laugh.

edit: zil--this is not to suggest anything about your situation, and it is not here in reference to anything you have posted. It pains me to hear your story.

this response is to those who seem to be suggesting that this poll is inappropriate because it doesn't apply to everyone on fhdc, or because it makes light of a potentially desperate situation.

It was not written with the intent to hurt anyone, or cause anyone pain.

there are gradations of "poor" and just because there will always be someone poorer, does not mean that someone cannot make reference to the fact that they are poor.
That's like saying, "hey Renita, you are not allowed to say you need to start getting some exercise, because there are people here who are less fit than you"

anyway. that's all I have to say... for now anyway more *hugs* to zilpha.

I know there was no hurtful intention ... and yeah, of course a sense of humour gets people through dire situations.� The comic perspective is much more resourceful than the tragic.�� And I'm not saying it's an inappropriate poll -- although I do think the phrasing was biased because not all of us,� even�if we fit (or once fit) into some of the "poor" categories listed,�think of/have thought of�ourselves as poor.

I dunno.� I'm�not trying to�censor anyone, or apply any sort of �"but you can't say you're poor when�you have�(a car, a bed, food, health care)" rule.���Or to be humourless about this.����But assessing feeling poor, when most of us live in the richest countries on earth, requires a little perspective.� Without it -- without�acknowledging that�there really are people, even educated people with jobs and internet access, who�have to live�on jelly packets or sleep in their cars, and yes there are�billions of�people who are even poorer than that -- it sounds pretty callous.��

So I just hope that �when we joke about being poor it's with empathy, and�not a finger-pointing, "well at least I'm not�that poor" attitude.�� (Likewise, I hope the filthy rich among us have the grace�not to bemoan the severe deprivation caused by rising caviar prices and yacht insurance premiums ...����) �

And yes, by all means *hugs* and positive thoughts to zilpha.

*hugs nita*

I know what you ment, nita mine, and I was in no way offended or hurt (by anyones comments really). um... I may not think much of myself but if there is one thing I know how to do its laugh and make jokes about my own situation. its prolly the only thing I like about myself, that I am pretty dern funny. I may not seem so here (internet is such a harsh translator) or when many of you have met me (frff I was a mess of tears and snot bubbles) but talcott could vouch I think. its hard enough to not b completely consumed by hopless depression so I think this is my bodies natural defense. that I take my problems seriously, but that I can also see the humor in it.

wow, I said something positive about myself, am I running a fever? ;-)�

*vouch* ;-)

How about me? Am I allowed to vouch too?

sure!!

I am not poor. Were my parents not helping me out, I still wouldn't be poor. But I also wouldn't be living in Manhattan.

Not Poor: Yes. Financially Rich: Nope. Able to be remain self-sufficient and financially independent without having to live with my parents while maintaining some semblance of a life outside of work and sleep: Perhaps. That is to be determined (hopefully soon).

I'm rich, bay-bee.� Once I finish school however, I will be poor.� ;)

Poor, poor, poor. My parents are helping me out and I can still hardly afford my bills.

1 a : lacking material possessions b : of, relating to, or characterized by poverty
2 a : less than adequate : MEAGER b : small in worth

i have been living beneath the poverty line for several years. but I've made things work, for the most part, and managed to make a few trips.

this year is probably the tightest, as I have extra expenses (the CDN dollar to Euro exchange rate is attrocious) and I haven't been working... I'll have to start soon.

however, I'm pretty lucky overall. I've had enough to eat, and a little money left over to enjoy myself.

Of course, I have a debt of about $18,000 that's only growing and that's a thought that frightens me more than a little.

well, i dont live below the poverty line (i belive it's like 7k a year here, or 8k, cant remember) as far as income is concerned, however, my debt-to-income ratio is very high, meaning, i owe monthly significantly close to what i make.

sad times. someone pay my rent. please? :)