Who here grew up poor but made it?

[Farmer]

So "making it" is just how much money you make? Congrats I fucking guess?

I haven't made it then. Since this is an obvious brag thread, I'll do just that: I grew up poor, my dad passed when he just found a stable job, when I was 11. I went to a top college and double majored. I'm arguably in a top Ph. D. program right now, but that means I also make $25K a year, I don't know really know where the poverty line is. With the help of generous financial aid, my education up to this point has almost been free. And yet, when I do get my degree, I'll probably find a job that pays $100K, what you're already making with only a bachelor's degree.

Luckily for me, however, I don't think I'll ever consider myself as having "made it." Not till I'm 50, at least.

 

[brianmanahan]

So success is just how much money you make?

for most people on atot, yes

 

[SagaLore]

Seriously not trolling - I thought I was doing great until Obama took office, then I hit a wall on salary raises or even a title change.

I think that has more to do with your fucked up personality.

 

[vi edit]

Poor is a relative term I guess. There's legitimate poor, as in literally living in a something barely more than a shack, barely being able to afford food, new clothes, ect.

And then there's the working poor where you have a roof over your head, three meals on the table, clothing and really very little room for anything else. That's where my wife an I grew up. Our parents had very limited income, were on food assistance programs, rarely had anything name brand, new, or extravagent, and just simply put almost any spare dollar they had into providing for their family.

My wife alone probably makes more than 3.5x(adjusting inflation) what her parents made combined. I'm more than double what mine did. Added together and have significantly upgraded (purposely did not use the word improve) the lifestyles we had as children.

We still retain a lot of the frugal roots of our parents, but also have had some decisions money wise simply because we were never used to having that much extra money available.

Now that we are parents it's a continuing battle to balance those same frugal roots with wanting to provide some level of luxury to our own kids that our parents were not able to provide to us.

 

[SandEagle]

i grew up poor and am now still poor. i guess i "made it" since i'm still alive and in relatively good health.

 

[IronWing]

i grew up poor and am now still poor. i guess i "made it" since i'm still alive and in relatively good health.

You gots a big ass TV, how poor can you be?

 

[Vdubchaos]

You gots a big ass TV, how poor can you be?

He is American poor

American poor is better than Middle class by world standards.

 

[SandEagle]

You gots a big ass TV, how poor can you be?

its, 720p/1080i. i couldn't afford 1080p. :'(

 

[IronWing]

its, 720p/1080i. i couldn't afford 1080p. :'(

Sell plasma.

Plasma4plasma! D::biggrin::awe:


Get it? I slay me.

 

[IGBT]

I grew up paying rent. Now I collect rent. Lots of it. Keeps me and mine in the latest model cars / trucks / flat panels / vacations. Life is goot.

 

[halik]

Grew up in Poland during communism. We weren't poor by Poland's standards but certainly poor by American standards.

Not I'm middle class and consider myself rich (by my standards).

I never forget where I came from and what the world is around me.

Most POOR American's live by better standards than most of middle class around the world.

Same, except for Czech instead of Poland.

 

[TallBill]

Grew up at the bottom of middle class. Now Im comfortable middle class

 

[amdhunter]

I think that has more to do with your fucked up personality.

Yet, as fucked up a personality you believe me to have, you'd be hard pressed to find me posting a personal attack on a member of this forum.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Your whole family op is combining to buy a house? You make 65k but will wait a year to make 100k? This is a great brag thread. Or thread backfire.

 

[TallBill]

Yet, as fucked up a personality you believe me to have, you'd be hard pressed to find me posting a personal attack on a member of this forum.

You are an asshole, but the good kind!

 

[OverVolt]

That is not the OP's real story. Lots of details missing. Where did you get internships? What was your GPA? Did GPA even matter? Most importantly... who took you under their wing and who did you know?

Generic story is generic.

The connections at the university are important. "Making it" was simply getting into the good university, which may have just been a "my family is poor" application essay. The way the world works is sad.

 

[DrPizza]

Poor is a relative term I guess. There's legitimate poor, as in literally living in a something barely more than a shack, barely being able to afford food, new clothes, ect.

If that's legitimate poor, what's not more than a shack, and never having new clothes, unless you mean "new to the person" because they got them at a garage sale or salvation army? I know people who bathe in cold water, because they can't afford the luxury of hot water. There are people who, while not "homeless" - it's only because they're living in an old camper or something similar. Their kids are lucky to make it through high school. The odds of one of them making it to college - they'd think of it as similar to little girls dreaming of marrying a prince and living in a castle - nothing more than a dream.

 

[KeithTalent]

Grew up raised by a single Mom on welfare starting at age 5. Started working on my own at around age 13 just to help out and to be able to actually do stuff with my friends, plus save a little.

Finally cracked a 100K salary on my own a couple of years back, which was always a goal of mine. Hit goal #2 this year (owning an actual house, which is a pretty big accomplishment in itself in Vancouver ). A little late to the party on all of this since I'm now 37, but I'm happy with how I've done considering we were pretty close to destitute when I was a wee one.

KT

 

[vi edit]

If that's legitimate poor, what's not more than a shack, and never having new clothes, unless you mean "new to the person" because they got them at a garage sale or salvation army? I know people who bathe in cold water, because they can't afford the luxury of hot water. There are people who, while not "homeless" - it's only because they're living in an old camper or something similar. Their kids are lucky to make it through high school. The odds of one of them making it to college - they'd think of it as similar to little girls dreaming of marrying a prince and living in a castle - nothing more than a dream.

Like I said, it's a relative term. Here's an interesting article going into the topic:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty

No doubt there are still thousands of "households" in the US that lack fresh water access and even basic ammenities. But by large, our "poor" still live pretty good compared to many other nations. 99% of our population still has a refriderator in their house. Almost 80% of our houses have AC.

You almost have to draw a line at "poor" and then create another category of "less than poor" below that.

 

[jupiter57]

i have to say, having $290k saved up and never taken a vacation is fucking retarded.

I'd have to say that posting in one thread you have $30K saved but posting in another, you say you have $290K saved is worse than retarded!

"Gotta stick witcha lie": Wanda Sykes, 1993

I got 20k in student debt left. I have 30k in the bank. No car debt or mortgage.

Should I pay off the entire 20k immediately or should I pay month to month for the next 3 years?

Parents didn't have money for my college so I had to borrow. I grew up extremely poor. Think having to live in a single room with my parents, brother, and sister for most of my life poor. I've never even went on a vacation before. Being so poor in my early years have really taught me to save. Somehow I have 30k in my bank, 10k more than my debt 4 months after college.

I am lucky though. I worked at various internships throughout my college career and instead of partying, I built websites in my spare time. Got offered a job 3 months before I graduated and started working full-time before my classes were even over.

I'm now 4 months removed from graduation and I'm already getting interview requests for manager level jobs with 100k salaries. Right now I make 65k/year. I plan on staying here for 1 year then move on to a 100k job.

I realize that I'm in a much much better position than most college graduates though. 20k isn't much at all in my opinion. It's just like having a car payment.

If I had 100k debt without a job, I'd be sweating bricks.

At this rate, this time next week, he will be a Millionaire!:biggrin:

 

[DrPizza]

Like I said, it's a relative term. Here's an interesting article going into the topic:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty

No doubt there are still thousands of "households" in the US that lack fresh water access and even basic ammenities. But by large, our "poor" still live pretty good compared to many other nations. 99% of our population still has a refriderator in their house. Almost 80% of our houses have AC.

You almost have to draw a line at "poor" and then create another category of "less than poor" below that.

My mind is blown. I just went to verify, and ran into 72% of homes in 2009 had central air conditioning. Here in NY, I can't think of anyone who has central AC - certainly no one in my area, though a few houses have window units.

 

[Corporate Thug]

So "making it" is just how much money you make? Congrats I fucking guess?

I haven't made it then. Since this is an obvious brag thread, I'll do just that: I grew up poor, my dad passed when he just found a stable job, when I was 11. I went to a top college and double majored. I'm arguably in a top Ph. D. program right now, but that means I also make $25K a year, I don't know really know where the poverty line is. With the help of generous financial aid, my education up to this point has almost been free. And yet, when I do get my degree, I'll probably find a job that pays $100K, what you're already making with only a bachelor's degree.

Luckily for me, however, I don't think I'll ever consider myself as having "made it." Not till I'm 50, at least.

"making it" is a very subjective term. perhaps for the OP, his measure is financial gain...what's wrong with that? It doesn't sound like that's your measure...also nothing wrong with that.

EDIT: also, this is self pwnage for OP.

 

[highland145]

We weren't poor but, damn, I hate powdered milk.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

lol @ OP.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

My parents were poor, but they waited (both 24 years old when I was born) until they rose to middle classness to have children. Now they're upper-middle. I expect to bring the family name backwards.