Talking about finances, especially my finances, is a tough subject for me. I am a pretty open person...probably too open, but when it comes to finances, I start to get a little uncomfortable. But I can't get this blog out of my head! So as a continuation from last blog, read on...
10 things low-income people want you to know:
1. We aren't unhappy. Just because we have little money doesn't mean we are miserable. Actually, many of us are happy in our lives, and enjoy many aspects of our frugal lifestyle.
2. Sometimes we have to say no, and hate it. When our friends invite us out, we want to always be able to say yes. But sometimes financially, it just isn't wise to do so, whether it be out for dinner or even the gas money to get there. but we secretly fear if we say no you will eventually grow tired of it and stop inviting us out. So sometimes we still say yes, even though we shouldn't.
3. We agonize over EVERY small purchase. People with more money i imagine tend to wonder if they should or shouldn't have bought bigger purchases...such as a new outfit, a weekend away, a new electronic. Low income people tend to feel guilty every time they get a Tim Horton's coffee, going through a drive thru to feed the family while rushing on the go, or a new thrift store t-shirt. We question ourselves all the time on whether it really was a wise choice.
4. Something that is celebrated as "cheap" is not necessarily that way for us. You know those commercials that advertise stores like Winners being super cheap? Maybe it is for many people, but when I walk in that store I have to walk right out knowing it is out of my price range. Even higher end thrift stores, such as Value Village, have to be shopped at very carefully because some of the stuff is priced a little higher than we really feel we should pay because of our budgets.
5. We worry people will pity us. We want to share about our struggles...we want to be able to share on days that it is financially hard because we know there is comfort in friends and prayer. But we worry if we share about finances you'll feel sorry for us, or start hiding 20 dollar bills in our house. If we share, often it's because we just want a safe place to be able to talk about it, just like anyone with struggles.
6. We like low-key. Please, if you invite us over for dinner, keep it simple. If we go to your house and you serve us a three course meal, an appetizer, and 5 desserts, it makes us a bit uncomfortable. Not because we don't appreciate it (trust me, we LOVE food) but because we know we can rarely reciprocate something so extravagant. I get that for some people, that is their love language, and that is something I need to come to terms with, but please know that inviting us over for hot dogs,or spaghetti is speaking our language. :)
7. We struggle with pride. Sometimes when someone sees a need in our life and does something to ease burden, we are so grateful but have a hard time expressing ourselves because we are feeling overwhelmingly blessed, but also struggling with pride because we wish we could meet all those needs ourselves. Recently I had someone anonymously pay for a program for my kids to take part in at our church. I cried because I was so grateful.
8. Stuff doesn't equal money. I have heard stories of people judging financially struggling people because they have a big screen tv, or a cell phone, go on a trip, or have something else fancy and "expensive" looking. Just by looking in someone's home or life you don't know if what you are looking at was bought, a gift, or an insanely amazing deal. We have more furniture and stuff in our home than we need, and only ONE piece of furniture was bought brand new at Ikea years ago. EVERY other piece of furniture was either passed down to us or bought at a yardsale. Just because we have stuff doesn't mean we must be spending our money irresponsibly.
9. We know we have SO much. Just like anyone, we have our days when we wish we had more, but overall, we know the fact that we were born in CANADA alone is an overall blessing. We know that compared to so many other countries and children and families around the world we are actually very rich. We get mad at ourselves when we have a "poor me" attitude because the fact that we know where our next meal is coming from means we actually fall in the "rich" bracket.
10. Every decision we make that involves money isn't always based on the cost. Christmas is a great example of this one. Yes, we want to keep our expenses down, but more importantly, we don't want to teach our children that Christmas is about a mountain of presents under the tree. So we scale back Christmas in an effort to keep our whole family's eyes on the real meaning of the season.
If you have anything to add to this list, please share. But these are some of the things that come to my mind when I think of what I would want others to know about us in the low-income bracket.
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
What Living on Less is Really Like...
There has been a lot of talk circulating the internet recently about people who are poor vs. people who are rich, their habits, and whether they have chosen that life or not. Much of this talk has been because of articles such as this one: 20 Things the Rich Do Every Day which has recently been posted on Dave Ramsey's blog.
I have used Dave Ramsey's envelope system in my own life before. His tips and advice have helped me in my budgeting. But I find articles such as this one troubling as I feel it makes many assumptions of people who are not financially well-off. I feel that these types of articles give a blanket statement of a group of people when every situation is unique.
I grew up in a home that lived off social assistance. Most, if not all my childhood was spent that way. I can recall days where I washed my hair with powdered laundry soap because we were out of shampoo and couldn't afford more. I remember stuffing my pockets with toilet paper at school so I could bring it home. I have had more meals than i can count that were bologna and butter sandwiches and Kraft Dinner that I drowned in ketchup to try and mask the taste of the missing butter and milk when we couldn't afford it. I remember one winter my coat zipper broke. I am sure we couldn't afford to get it fixed, and that was before you could google everything to learn how to do it. So I would wear my mom's leather coat OVER my winter coat so I could button it closed and keep the cold out. And then there was that winter we reapplied shoe glue to my winter boot countless times to make it last through the winter.
So, yeah, we were poor. Not as poor as some people have been. Definitely not poor by third world country standards. I am pretty sure my sponsor child who lives in Nicaragua would laugh at me for even trying to say I have been poor...but we technically fell below Canada's "poverty" line.
My mom was a teen mom. 16 and she had a baby. When she turned 19 she had me. Two kids and she wasn't even 20. She had to drop out of highschool to care for us. Eventually at one point she had to flee to a women's shelter. I imagine life wasn't so easy for her.
As I grew up in this environment, i was surrounded by turmoil. My mom and my stepdad struggled at life. Many of it was choices, but they struggled to know how to choose differently. Eventually my mom did get her highschool diploma and went to college, and even accepted Jesus into her heart later in life, but that didn't all of a sudden make life a breeze, and it definitely did not give her financial freedom.
Fast forward to my "choices". As I already explained in my last post, i spent my last year of highschool living with another family. At that time there was still grade 13. I desperately wanted to stay for that, get another year of school under my belt, but as I was already living in someone else's home for free, I felt it was time I moved on. They would have welcomed me with open arms for another year, but i already felt i had asked for too much.
I decided to go to Bible College. But there's a funny thing about our past. We like to think we can just leave it all behind and not deal with it. Turns out it follows us. As I spent my year at college I struggled with a lot of personal baggage. I wasn't talking to my mom for much of the year. At Christmas I spent half the college break alone on campus as I had nowhere to go. My older brother was showing some concerning behaviours and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. I struggled to keep up in my classes. I had always had marks in the high 90s but now I couldn't seem to grasp all these Biblical dates and rules and history. To say I was focusing on my future would be a joke. I couldn't see past all the turmoil with my family members. Phone calls were a nightmare. I was just trying to stay afloat of all the drama and somehow leave it behind.
Less than two years after that I got married. I started to wise up, and realized I needed to get a "career" to secure my future. I applied for a program in social work. I didn't get in, but I did get a letter from the college that contained a list of programs that were still open. In a moment of panic of ending up in the same cycle as my parents, I thought I better pick something off the list or I'd screw up my whole life. I picked Office Administration -forget the fact that I hate desk work and am not organized- at least i was building a career.
So I took out student loans. Again. It never dawned on me that there was another option. That I could save for school. No one had taught me that. I just assumed student loans was what you did.
Thankfully, by the time my husband went to school we got smarter...realized we would be better off with less student loans, and worked our butts off to pay for his schooling. But, because my husband is an accomplished piano teacher, who had worked hard his whole life to get there, he just assumed he had to take a program that involved music. Truth is, he was already accomplished in that area and had the education he needed. He enjoyed what he learned, but if he could go back he often talks about how he would have picked a trade. He loves working with his hands, or the outdoors, etc...but rarely gets the opportunity to do so or learn more in that area.
So there we were, a two income married couple, not doing too bad but definitely not living the high life financially, when of course, babies came along. Three of them. Each one a blessing. Each one adding more expenses. They got older and I felt God telling me to homeschool them. I felt God telling me to stay home with them. And so I have. I stay at home because I know with so much baggage in my family line, I have to work extra hard with my children to break those family cycles. To start a new legacy for our family name. And I see them grow, and love, and flourish. But every week there is a battle within me that says I need to do "the right thing" and go out and get a full-time job outside the home. That if I did that, then I'd be a good mother. If I have what the world tells me I need to be a successful parent, THEN I am worth something.
It doesn't matter that I am often up hours after the kids go to bed to do some work so I can make a little bit on the side with my small home business. It doesn't matter that I am the first one up, in the kitchen making breakfast every morning for my children. It doesn't matter that I learn to make things at home like yogurt or bread or soap to try and save some money. It doesn't matter that we paid off our almost $20,000 of student loans last year on our small income. None of those accomplishments seems to matter when you see how many people view people like me. People like me should just go to school and get a better job. My children never go hungry, always have a roof over their head, and more clothes and toys than necessary. But still, it's not enough for the world we live in.
Why, when we stand at the dentist explaining we can't get a certain type of procedure done because it isn't covered by the financial aid program we fall under do we feel like we are two feet tall? Why when we apply for extra curriculars under programs that gives money so the families who struggle can take part do we feel like we might just start crying right there in that office? Doesn't it mean something that no matter the humiliation or embarrassment we feel we do those things so our kids can have a better life? But the truth is, I don't feel embarrassed by the way I live. I love my life. I feel embarrassed at the way people think of the way I live. That I don't measure up to what THEY think my life should look like.
But there are many in the world who say it is "my choices" that keep me here. I guess in a sense they are right. It is "my choices". But our choices aren't always black and white, cut and dry. Every day we are trying to make the best choices for our own personal families. And for me, money is just ONE factor in the choices I make.
The truth is, my life is anything but destitute. I am blessed. I know I have more than most of the world. I get to spend every day with my children. I actually ENJOY making things from scratch, and the bonus is that it saves me money. I ENJOY the challenge of figuring out how to be creative with a meal to make it stretch. I don't dream of being rich and having a bigger home....I dream of having a small cottage in the country so I can learn to do MORE to save money and to be more self-sufficient. Although it would be nice, I don't dream of having a nice, comfortable retirement....I dream of being 90 years old sitting in a rocking chair, being surrounded by my children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, and they ALL have chosen to follow the Lord. If my children, and my children's children, and so on come to Jesus, this life has NOT been wasted. No money in the world could make up for that.
I pray that in the years to come, I stop listening to the people online or the radio, or anywhere else who tell me I am not enough because of my bank statement, and I live by words such as Helen Keller's in this statement:
"So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder on that which has been denied."
I have used Dave Ramsey's envelope system in my own life before. His tips and advice have helped me in my budgeting. But I find articles such as this one troubling as I feel it makes many assumptions of people who are not financially well-off. I feel that these types of articles give a blanket statement of a group of people when every situation is unique.
I grew up in a home that lived off social assistance. Most, if not all my childhood was spent that way. I can recall days where I washed my hair with powdered laundry soap because we were out of shampoo and couldn't afford more. I remember stuffing my pockets with toilet paper at school so I could bring it home. I have had more meals than i can count that were bologna and butter sandwiches and Kraft Dinner that I drowned in ketchup to try and mask the taste of the missing butter and milk when we couldn't afford it. I remember one winter my coat zipper broke. I am sure we couldn't afford to get it fixed, and that was before you could google everything to learn how to do it. So I would wear my mom's leather coat OVER my winter coat so I could button it closed and keep the cold out. And then there was that winter we reapplied shoe glue to my winter boot countless times to make it last through the winter.
So, yeah, we were poor. Not as poor as some people have been. Definitely not poor by third world country standards. I am pretty sure my sponsor child who lives in Nicaragua would laugh at me for even trying to say I have been poor...but we technically fell below Canada's "poverty" line.
My mom was a teen mom. 16 and she had a baby. When she turned 19 she had me. Two kids and she wasn't even 20. She had to drop out of highschool to care for us. Eventually at one point she had to flee to a women's shelter. I imagine life wasn't so easy for her.
As I grew up in this environment, i was surrounded by turmoil. My mom and my stepdad struggled at life. Many of it was choices, but they struggled to know how to choose differently. Eventually my mom did get her highschool diploma and went to college, and even accepted Jesus into her heart later in life, but that didn't all of a sudden make life a breeze, and it definitely did not give her financial freedom.
Fast forward to my "choices". As I already explained in my last post, i spent my last year of highschool living with another family. At that time there was still grade 13. I desperately wanted to stay for that, get another year of school under my belt, but as I was already living in someone else's home for free, I felt it was time I moved on. They would have welcomed me with open arms for another year, but i already felt i had asked for too much.
I decided to go to Bible College. But there's a funny thing about our past. We like to think we can just leave it all behind and not deal with it. Turns out it follows us. As I spent my year at college I struggled with a lot of personal baggage. I wasn't talking to my mom for much of the year. At Christmas I spent half the college break alone on campus as I had nowhere to go. My older brother was showing some concerning behaviours and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. I struggled to keep up in my classes. I had always had marks in the high 90s but now I couldn't seem to grasp all these Biblical dates and rules and history. To say I was focusing on my future would be a joke. I couldn't see past all the turmoil with my family members. Phone calls were a nightmare. I was just trying to stay afloat of all the drama and somehow leave it behind.
Less than two years after that I got married. I started to wise up, and realized I needed to get a "career" to secure my future. I applied for a program in social work. I didn't get in, but I did get a letter from the college that contained a list of programs that were still open. In a moment of panic of ending up in the same cycle as my parents, I thought I better pick something off the list or I'd screw up my whole life. I picked Office Administration -forget the fact that I hate desk work and am not organized- at least i was building a career.
So I took out student loans. Again. It never dawned on me that there was another option. That I could save for school. No one had taught me that. I just assumed student loans was what you did.
Thankfully, by the time my husband went to school we got smarter...realized we would be better off with less student loans, and worked our butts off to pay for his schooling. But, because my husband is an accomplished piano teacher, who had worked hard his whole life to get there, he just assumed he had to take a program that involved music. Truth is, he was already accomplished in that area and had the education he needed. He enjoyed what he learned, but if he could go back he often talks about how he would have picked a trade. He loves working with his hands, or the outdoors, etc...but rarely gets the opportunity to do so or learn more in that area.
So there we were, a two income married couple, not doing too bad but definitely not living the high life financially, when of course, babies came along. Three of them. Each one a blessing. Each one adding more expenses. They got older and I felt God telling me to homeschool them. I felt God telling me to stay home with them. And so I have. I stay at home because I know with so much baggage in my family line, I have to work extra hard with my children to break those family cycles. To start a new legacy for our family name. And I see them grow, and love, and flourish. But every week there is a battle within me that says I need to do "the right thing" and go out and get a full-time job outside the home. That if I did that, then I'd be a good mother. If I have what the world tells me I need to be a successful parent, THEN I am worth something.
It doesn't matter that I am often up hours after the kids go to bed to do some work so I can make a little bit on the side with my small home business. It doesn't matter that I am the first one up, in the kitchen making breakfast every morning for my children. It doesn't matter that I learn to make things at home like yogurt or bread or soap to try and save some money. It doesn't matter that we paid off our almost $20,000 of student loans last year on our small income. None of those accomplishments seems to matter when you see how many people view people like me. People like me should just go to school and get a better job. My children never go hungry, always have a roof over their head, and more clothes and toys than necessary. But still, it's not enough for the world we live in.
Why, when we stand at the dentist explaining we can't get a certain type of procedure done because it isn't covered by the financial aid program we fall under do we feel like we are two feet tall? Why when we apply for extra curriculars under programs that gives money so the families who struggle can take part do we feel like we might just start crying right there in that office? Doesn't it mean something that no matter the humiliation or embarrassment we feel we do those things so our kids can have a better life? But the truth is, I don't feel embarrassed by the way I live. I love my life. I feel embarrassed at the way people think of the way I live. That I don't measure up to what THEY think my life should look like.
But there are many in the world who say it is "my choices" that keep me here. I guess in a sense they are right. It is "my choices". But our choices aren't always black and white, cut and dry. Every day we are trying to make the best choices for our own personal families. And for me, money is just ONE factor in the choices I make.
The truth is, my life is anything but destitute. I am blessed. I know I have more than most of the world. I get to spend every day with my children. I actually ENJOY making things from scratch, and the bonus is that it saves me money. I ENJOY the challenge of figuring out how to be creative with a meal to make it stretch. I don't dream of being rich and having a bigger home....I dream of having a small cottage in the country so I can learn to do MORE to save money and to be more self-sufficient. Although it would be nice, I don't dream of having a nice, comfortable retirement....I dream of being 90 years old sitting in a rocking chair, being surrounded by my children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, and they ALL have chosen to follow the Lord. If my children, and my children's children, and so on come to Jesus, this life has NOT been wasted. No money in the world could make up for that.
I pray that in the years to come, I stop listening to the people online or the radio, or anywhere else who tell me I am not enough because of my bank statement, and I live by words such as Helen Keller's in this statement:
"So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder on that which has been denied."
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