• PugJesus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    14 minutes ago

    Sometimes when I hear how much money people spend on groceries, I’m in awe. Who the fuck is spending 500$ on groceries per person per month? HOW the fuck are they doing it?

  • odelik@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    2 hours ago

    I grew up on the lower end of middle class. Govnment cheese grilled cheese sammies is definitely something I loved eating as a kid. This forced us to be industrious. My parents gardening, did their own DIY home improvements, woodworking, hunting, and more. They weren’t survivalists because of some doomsday shit, but lived this way because we couldn’t afford not to if we wanted to live in a house in a big city suburb in the late 80s & 90s. Over time, my mother took on work utilizing the skills she gained doing the stuff for ourselves and we slowly climbed out of the near poverty life and I was able to have nice things in my teens.

    I’m now doing well for myself, solidly middle class in this economy and region. But as things are shifting like crazy around us, I just decided to turn my yard into a garden so I can at least feed myself fresh food if shit becomes unavailable or unsafe to eat. If I have to start hunting again, I will.

    I’m not panicking, I’m just going to control what I can, and will do my best to have a good life, and will fight for everybody else to have a chance at a good life too.

  • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    20 hours ago

    Using IASIP for this meme is pretty silly, considering everyone on that show (except for maybe Mac) has a seemingly unlimited amount of money via Frank.

  • Armand1@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    87
    ·
    2 days ago

    The opposite of Nouveau Riche: Nouveau Pauvre. They lack the culture of people who were born into poverty.

    • papertowels@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      edit-2
      23 hours ago

      I legitimately think this is a thing.

      I suspect folks who grew up with door dash see it as a normalized service. I grew up poor before it was a thing, and even though I’m financially better now it’s only used when we’re absolutely pooped.

      There are just… So many more entrenched predatory services now that only serve to extract money more efficiently. All that klarna “buy now pay later” stuff? Absolutely deadly if someone doesn’t know how to budget.

    • flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      40
      ·
      2 days ago

      As someone who went poverty -> comfortable -> not so well off, I can confirm. It was (mentally) easier to get up from the bottom than to deal with the loss and try to do it all over again and risk even further loss.

      As the old curse says - May you have and then not have.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        43
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 days ago

        I married a trust fund kid and then got saddled with his credit card debt after he dumped me.

        Got to go on nice expensive vacations, ate ridiculous food on the top of Harrod’s in London. Now I’m making pillows out of old t-shirts because I don’t have a mattress.

        The big lesson I learned is that it actually does not matter how smart, talented or hard working you are. It’s about having rich family.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        1 day ago

        Tom Wolfe said that if a person goes from middle class to homeless in a shelter their life changes 50%. They still have the same clothes, watch the same TV shows, eat the same kind of food.

        If someone goes from being a billionaire to middle class their life has changed 100%.

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        19 hours ago

        That’s not a cost that kills you.

        For real.

        Some folks have a vice where they can’t start a single day without a fancy grande latte or whatever, but mostly when I see that, it’s middle-managey types that make more in a month than I’d ever see in my account at any given time.

        How many skipped small vanilla cold-brews or boba teas (+a tip for my fellow working class ✊) buys an average healthcare deductible or car repair beyond my DIY abilities? Heck let’s lower the bar…An oil change?

        Just filling the tank costs like 8 enjoyable refreshing coffees. What a lame exchange rate!

        Even if we struggle, it’s still okay to enjoy things once in a while.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      those don’t look like Starbucks cups? Aren’t the only brown parts on a smaller sleeve? This cup looks mostly brown?

      • Match!!@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        1 day ago

        These Nouveau Pauvre can’t tell a gas station French vanilla from a Starbucks caramel macchiato

    • Akasazh@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      1 day ago

      Ironically poor people tend to put more emphasis on buying name brands, certainly for things that other people see, like clothes, vehicles etc.

      Value signaling is a thing.

      My dad grew up poor and he can’t stand going to budget stores like Aldi and Lidl. It’s almost a matter of principe for him, he can afford to go to the more expensive store so he will.

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 hour ago

        I love Aldi. Week of food for 15 quid, easily. Fried rice is a popular cheap meal for me

      • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        4 hours ago

        Man I’m the complete opposite. I grew up in the hood, if you had nice things, you wouldn’t have them for long.

        Driving nice cars and wearing name brand clothes just states “I have more money than you and I’m proud of it” which is a) universally a dick move, especially when you drive that fancy car past a dozen homeless every day, and b) makes you a mark. Oh you’re driving a Benz? You’ve probably got valuables in it, let’s take a look.

        Nowadays I still drive a beat up old car and wear off brand clothes, both because I can’t afford better but I also don’t want to even look like I can afford better for the above reasons. It’s just being an ass and also putting a target on yourself.

      • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        It’s the whole “couponing is only trashy if you’re poor” mentality.

        For the rich, couponing is a game. See how much you can get, for as little as possible. You have the storage space for it, so you’re not worried about excess or waste. All you care about is gaming the system to see what you can get. You had to buy 18 months worth of laundry detergent to get the discount? That’s fine, cuz you have space for it at home. And your basic necessities are already covered, so the coupons don’t need to be for staples that you’ll use quickly or regularly.

        For the poor, couponing is a necessary evil. You’re eating chicken every day this week; Not because you really like chicken, but because it’s what you had a coupon for. And now you need to eat it before it goes bad, because you need the space in the fridge for this week’s coupons and you can’t afford to simply toss it out.

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 hour ago

          This makes me appreciate Aldi so much. No loyalty cards, no coupons, no bullshit. Just cheap food for all. I hate Tesco as they are the opposite. No loyalty card? Pay extra then. Also under 18s can’t get loyalty cards.

        • Akasazh@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          22 hours ago

          Yeah but it’s also: logos on clothes are huge on items marketed to poorer people. You won’t find old money walking around in overtly branded clothes. They do buy better quality stuff, but the branding is less important.

      • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        edit-2
        1 day ago

        This sounds like a Nouveau Riche thing because your dad now has money to spend. If he can go to Whole Foods over Aldi, he ain’t pauvre.