How poor/broke did you ever get?

[Firebot]

My family was always poor, and actually went homeless from time to time. I remember going to a local fountain and filling up gallons of water for drinkable water and to flush the toilet as a kid since we didn't have enough money for running water. The worst though was a year after my mom died in 2001, and I was trying to get through college through tuition. I basically came out of that college term with not one cent, owing money up the wazoo, and no home to go to once I was done the term (my dad and family where I'd be living became homeless). I was screwed for day to day living, let alone getting any money to continue through college.

It was an incredibly rough 2-3 months, made worse when my dad 'moved' me to a cottage 100 miles from any big town that our past landlord allowed us to stay in while we got our stuff together. No way to get a job, and basically rotted there with cans for a month. I 'stole' a phone line to get to use the internet (I did have my computer) which landed me in some trouble. Eventually we went back to Toronto and lived in the worst possible place in Toronto, a dump of a hotel full of crackheads, whores and fugitives. One night that before I stayed in a hostel, only to find I was sleeping on a bed infested with termites. Those buggers fucking hurt...

Imagine hundreds of cockroaches seeping through the walls and the bathroom in the hotel, and dozens of rats scurrying in the room at night (I had a rat jump out of my bag of cookies and on me as I was about to eat one). Cops would come every night and ID the people in the building, while random lost crackheads would try to barge in my door late at night. Also got a really bad rash from one of the covers. Took some time, but I did have a good suit with me for when I was in college, bought some shoes from Goodwill and went for interviews and eventually landed a decent job. I was maxing out my one credit card to pay for food during this time. It still took a good month to get the money to get out of the hole, and move to a small apartment. I took care of my dad that later month and he slept at my new place until he was able to get his act together too.

While I got it really bad, I barely managed to stay above the 'point of no return' where you have no money at all, and truly no place to sleep. It was really tough to get back on my feet though since I had barely any safety net at all. I still see those times as days that could have been avoided if I took the initiative early on, but it's easy to say when you are no longer in a depressed suicidal state.

 

[QTPie]

Originally posted by: funkymatt
I live on a couch in the alley behind an apartment building. one of the tenants was angry that i moved my couch and various things in the alleyway blocking the gate. He moved my stuff the other day when I was visiting some of my other homeless buddies. i showed him though, i moved it all back. i also break into his apartment at night.

And your heatware & sig would indicate otherwise:

Intel e6850 @ 3.0ghz
Thermaltake big typhoon cooler
MSI P35 Neo
Kingston 2GB ddr2-800
XFX 8800GT 512MB Alpha Dog Edition
250GB Western Digital Velociraptor
Antec Case
Samsung 22" LCD
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard
Logitech MX510 mouse

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: Firebot
My family was always poor, and actually went homeless from time to time. I remember going to a local fountain and filling up gallons of water for drinkable water and to flush the toilet as a kid since we didn't have enough money for running water. The worst though was a year after my mom died in 2001, and I was trying to get through college through tuition. I basically came out of that college term with not one cent, owing money up the wazoo, and no home to go to once I was done the term (my dad and family where I'd be living became homeless). I was screwed for day to day living, let alone getting any money to continue through college.

It was an incredibly rough 2-3 months, made worse when my dad 'moved' me to a cottage 100 miles from any big town that our past landlord allowed us to stay in while we got our stuff together. No way to get a job, and basically rotted there with cans for a month. I 'stole' a phone line to get to use the internet (I did have my computer) which landed me in some trouble. Eventually we went back to Toronto and lived in the worst possible place in Toronto, a dump of a hotel full of crackheads, whores and fugitives. One night that before I stayed in a hostel, only to find I was sleeping on a bed infested with termites. Those buggers fucking hurt...

Imagine hundreds of cockroaches seeping through the walls and the bathroom in the hotel, and dozens of rats scurrying in the room at night (I had a rat jump out of my bag of cookies and on me as I was about to eat one). Cops would come every night and ID the people in the building, while random lost crackheads would try to barge in my door late at night. Also got a really bad rash from one of the covers. Took some time, but I did have a good suit with me for when I was in college, bought some shoes from Goodwill and went for interviews and eventually landed a decent job. I was maxing out my one credit card to pay for food during this time. It still took a good month to get the money to get out of the hole, and move to a small apartment. I took care of my dad that later month and he slept at my new place until he was able to get his act together too.

While I got it really bad, I barely managed to stay above the 'point of no return' where you have no money at all, and truly no place to sleep. It was really tough to get back on my feet though since I had barely any safety net at all. I still see those times as days that could have been avoided if I took the initiative early on, but it's easy to say when you are no longer in a depressed suicidal state.

Damn. Respect. :thumbsup: How are you doing now?

 

[JohnCU]

the last couple of months of college, i had about $100 left in my bank account. i sold my laptop to pay the rent for the month, had to eat ramen and the dollar menu from mcdonalds and drank PBR. at the end, i was paying the minimum on my credit cards, and then going to the ATM to get that money back that i had just paid.

okay compared to the above post it's not that bad, but it was still scary although it was my own fault for running up credit cards to the point that i couldn't afford to pay the minimums.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: dNor
I once had to buy $150 jeans

You mean you couldn't afford Diesel jeans :Q
That's horrible!

/sarcasm

To all the others, I'm glad you are getting things together now

 

[oddyager]

I never was "broke" in my life but my parents have hit rock bottom before and those stories drove me into fiscal responsibility. You learn that when the belt needs to be pulled tighter you give up on some luxuries (I got rid of the cell phone in college as it was for the most part useless, walked or rode a bike, etc).

 

[Twista]

Now im in CC debt. No matter how much money i make currently i really owe it to the CC. Whos not getting it in 1 lump amount. F- Them. Yes, i got myself into this problem, but oh well. I need to live and if i might take my debt to my grave. Hopefully, my wife has great credit or else we are fucked.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Most "broke" would be when I was making good money, but paying mortgages on 2 houses. That lasted for 4 months, and fortunately, I sold my old townhouse in March of this year, so now I'm just paying down my CC Debt that I accumulated during that time frame...

 

[SP33Demon]

Kicked out of college dorms at 18.
Roomate and I had to max out our CC's on cash advances to get place.
Had to resort to "activities" to pay rent, every time you hear sirens think they're coming to get you.
Had no electricity or hot water that Fall/Winter.
Lived off rice, pb&j, ramen.
Slept on bare mattress with just blankets (no sheets).
Had holes in the wall that rats would come out of.
Instead of dropping out of classes, spent 85% of time in library and pulled a 2.8GPA somehow. The rest is history (successful). But you never forget the worst time of your life when some nights you cried yourself to sleep.

 

[Firebot]

Originally posted by: nublikescake

Originally posted by: Firebot
My family was always poor, and actually went homeless from time to time. I remember going to a local fountain and filling up gallons of water for drinkable water and to flush the toilet as a kid since we didn't have enough money for running water. The worst though was a year after my mom died in 2001, and I was trying to get through college through tuition. I basically came out of that college term with not one cent, owing money up the wazoo, and no home to go to once I was done the term (my dad and family where I'd be living became homeless). I was screwed for day to day living, let alone getting any money to continue through college.

It was an incredibly rough 2-3 months, made worse when my dad 'moved' me to a cottage 100 miles from any big town that our past landlord allowed us to stay in while we got our stuff together. No way to get a job, and basically rotted there with cans for a month. I 'stole' a phone line to get to use the internet (I did have my computer) which landed me in some trouble. Eventually we went back to Toronto and lived in the worst possible place in Toronto, a dump of a hotel full of crackheads, whores and fugitives. One night that before I stayed in a hostel, only to find I was sleeping on a bed infested with termites. Those buggers fucking hurt...

Imagine hundreds of cockroaches seeping through the walls and the bathroom in the hotel, and dozens of rats scurrying in the room at night (I had a rat jump out of my bag of cookies and on me as I was about to eat one). Cops would come every night and ID the people in the building, while random lost crackheads would try to barge in my door late at night. Also got a really bad rash from one of the covers. Took some time, but I did have a good suit with me for when I was in college, bought some shoes from Goodwill and went for interviews and eventually landed a decent job. I was maxing out my one credit card to pay for food during this time. It still took a good month to get the money to get out of the hole, and move to a small apartment. I took care of my dad that later month and he slept at my new place until he was able to get his act together too.

While I got it really bad, I barely managed to stay above the 'point of no return' where you have no money at all, and truly no place to sleep. It was really tough to get back on my feet though since I had barely any safety net at all. I still see those times as days that could have been avoided if I took the initiative early on, but it's easy to say when you are no longer in a depressed suicidal state.

Damn. Respect. :thumbsup: How are you doing now?

I'm doing as well as I've ever been right now. Moved cities, got a nice job paying about 45K a year and only going to go up from here. Still don't have my degree though, I know I want to get it eventually but that's a huge cash commitment and it would have to be online if I do go ahead. Still paying my past school debt.

 

[yhelothar]

I'm at that point now, and it's only going to get much much worse.
went to a community college, and was able to not get in debt from that by working on the side.
but for the past few months, i stopped school, and didn't get a job. racked up about $5k in debt.

I applied for a shitload of jobs, didn't get any of them. I could've probably gotten a minimum wage job, but I've already worked 3 years making $10-13/hr. I don't really want to backtrack. Plus I figured that I'd have at least $100k, if not much much more of student loans by the time I finish the PhD that I'm aiming for, winging it for another 2 months until i start school in the fall wouldn't make much of a dent on my debt.

Luckily amex was awesome and lowered my interest rate to 6.75% when i called them.

 

[Svnla]

Some of you guys sure got it touch. I was never homeless but I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth either.

Here is my story:

20 years ago, I came to the US as a young buck with nothing but clothes on my back, not even a penny in my name so I know what it mean to be "pennyless". All I had was my shirt, pants, sock and sandals in the winter <no shoes and no jacket>, and a plastic bag with some personal items <too poor to buy luggage>.

I went to school, barely able to speak English with a hand me down thick jacket from church, cheap shoes and pants but great looking expensive polo shirts <LaCross> from my sponsor's sons LOL...didn't have any cars and no bus route so I walked to school in winter/summer/fall and in between for years <I have great muscular legs now>.

Studied hard and got a part time job and graduated HS with a 3+ GPA then went to college on my own dime <parents were too poor>. Got my grants/scholarships/workstudy/part time job/anything to scrap by to pay for school and living expenses. Graduated with 3+ GPA and got a good job even before I finished college. Got my MBA with that employer <part time school with full time job>.

Right now, I am doing ok, BS and MBA degrees, have a good job with my own office and secretary, a new crossover SUV that I paid with cash, zero debt <student loans already paid for>, no credit card debts, money in the bank for a few years of living expense and 20% of downpayment for a brand new house.....life is not bad at all.

 

[Fritzo]

Last year of college I had collections from 5 places calling me everywhere- home, work, parents...ugh. It was awful

Dug out of that mess, will never go back.

 

[Regs]

I was stuck at a gas station because I couldn afford the gas.

 

[polarmystery]

$100K in loans (Student, Car loan) and I had $0 in my bank account last week. I think I "might" have $200/month extra after bills but I guess it's not as bad as some.

 

[Kev]

I can't remember ever being broke or ever wanting for anything. I've always had a job and been good with money. And no my parents do not give me money, I have been on my own since 17.

 

[Ramma2]

Worst I can remember is in college, and having to pawn a small bar of silver I got for xmas as a kid so I could eat. Literally had 0$ in cash, and no credit cards at the time (probably a good thing).

 

[Beev]

Originally posted by: Deeko
There's $1.50 in my checking account and I have $68k in student loans.

That said, I'm not really that broke.

What's your monthly income? Are you paying on those loans yet?

 

[sdifox]

Never been there. I was a spoiled brat.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Out of college, living in a bad place, could not find work anywhere (I was underqualified for skilled labor but overqualified for manual labor). I spent 9 months earning money however I could; painting fences for friends, doing data transcription part-time. I never had more than $100 at any given point, and my bank account had around 3 dollars in it for at least 4 months. It sucked a lot, primarily because I felt guilty for having to live off my girlfriend.

 

[BoomerD]

This is ATOT, where everyone is independently wealthy...and make well into the 6 figures, and have since high school.

Why the poorest I've ever been, is one year back during the Ronnie Raygun administration, when I only made $80,000.
(the horror of it all!)

 

[Martin]

Me personally? Never really broke. I had very little money and lots of debt during university, but that doesn't count since I knew it was just a matter of time before I made good money.

I grew up in early/mid 90s Bulgaria though, which was a pretty bad time for almost everyone. The country was always on the poor side and the small economy it had kinda collapsed from the late 80s to the late 90s. My parents made ~400 USD a month, inflation reached into the hundreds of percent, there was a lot of corruption, almost no one could afford to buy stuff etc. Although, since everyone else was similarly poor, it didn't feel that bad.

 

[funkymatt]

Originally posted by: QTPie

Originally posted by: funkymatt
I live on a couch in the alley behind an apartment building. one of the tenants was angry that i moved my couch and various things in the alleyway blocking the gate. He moved my stuff the other day when I was visiting some of my other homeless buddies. i showed him though, i moved it all back. i also break into his apartment at night.

And your heatware & sig would indicate otherwise:

Intel e6850 @ 3.0ghz
Thermaltake big typhoon cooler
MSI P35 Neo
Kingston 2GB ddr2-800
XFX 8800GT 512MB Alpha Dog Edition
250GB Western Digital Velociraptor
Antec Case
Samsung 22" LCD
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard
Logitech MX510 mouse

haha, this was a parody from when this thread was started. someone here had a bum living on a couch behind his apartment and took pics of him and stuff.

Although I have been super poor before, while in college, with less than $100 for the month allotted for food.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Twista
Now im in CC debt. No matter how much money i make currently i really owe it to the CC. Whos not getting it in 1 lump amount. F- Them. Yes, i got myself into this problem, but oh well. I need to live and if i might take my debt to my grave. Hopefully, my wife has great credit or else we are fucked.

Not really.
You might find that when you can no longer get credit that you are the best off you have ever been. I lost a house to foreclosure and couldn't get credit. I learned that there was a ton of stuff I spent money on, thinking I needed it, when I really didn't ( not something retailers like to hear).

Now I can get credit, but I don't really have anything open. If I can't pay cash for it, I can probably do without it.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

one time in college i had < $1 in my bank account, but no debt, making 400/mo part time
now i have thousands in the bank, but am hundreds of K in debt on a house, making a lot more than 400/mo

dont think i will feel rich until i have no more debts