Poor people of Reddit, What do rich people do not seem to understand?

1. How to minimize when it's time to be poor. I come from nothing, I know what it's like to live with the bare minimum, I know what it's like to hit rock bottom and pinch pennies in my adult life. My husband has always been well off, even during times of slight financial disruption growing up, his parents hid it until things turned around. Things have gotten tight for us and I've started to batten down the hatches, going through what I need to do to minimize. It may be for a month, it may be for three months, I don't know, but it's go time now in my head. My husband just doesn't get it and pushes back with every little change, it really blows my mind that he isn't understanding it, every little penny counts in a situation like this, it really does matter. Who knows, I might be going overboard and we'll be on our feet in a month, I don't know that though and I'm not going to live in a fairy tale land where that is the outcome. I'm bracing for the worst possible scenario and hoping it doesn't get that far. He couldn't wrap his head around the list of subscriptions we needed to cut off, the bills that could be consolidated/downgraded, the modified grocery list and times to run appliances. He kept asking, "But why?" He kept saying, "But that's why we have the emergency savings." Emergency savings aren't for Netflix and steak until things are stable again. It's for bare minimum food in our bellies and to keep the water running, the savings need to last for as long as possible. I love him, he's a good man who will stop at nothing to make sure we make it through but he really does not understand what it means to lose it all and survive.
   — RedditsInBed2


2. Lots of school systems do free lunches for kids under 18 during the summer. When I was a kid I remember my dad taking us to get lunch at the school then go play disc golf, soccer, or do something else free and fun, it was a blast and I had no clue it was because we were poor. Dollar theaters, and sometimes they have a free afternoon/evening show for kids with the purchase of a parent ticket. Many movies were seen by the three of us for $4 with a shared popcorn and coke. My dad was amazing at making us feel rich on basically nothing.
   — Nerdz


3. When your parents are lying to you saying they're full when they're not so you can have the last bite.
   — Nerdz






4. That there is no outside help if you fall down. If you live paycheck to paycheck or are poor in general, one life disaster can completely devastate your life. Many people in these situations do not have family/friend support systems they can fall back on during tough times. Either your family/friends are poor too or don't care to help. It's crazy how many people just assume there is always someone to help you out.
   — LetTheBadTimesRoll


5. A while back I saw one of those Ask Reddit threads that came up over and over. "What would you do if you suddenly got handed $1000" or something. It was interesting to see the varied responses and realize how many of us live in completely different worlds. Someone would answer: "I'm going on vacation to Vegas next month, I'll probably just add it to my vacation budget. Or "Put it in my 401k and then completely forget about it" Someone else wrote: "Weep with joy because it would mean I can pay for heating this winter and buy both my kids winter boots" That sort of got to me... I am definitely in the first group of people. Getting an extra thousand bucks has practically no impact on my life.
   — migrantworker


6. That food is more expensive than they think. It's not always easy to buy groceries when you spend all of your money paying bills
   — SqueegeBeckenheim






7. Saving money is incredibly difficult because you are living paycheck to paycheck and are hungry and out of supplies just before the next paycheck arrives. Then you stockpile enough food, pay the rent and other bills and just like that the money is gone in a few days. Getting a better paying job is also incredibly difficult because you have to set aside the time to gain the skills and look for that other job. That time and energy means less food and bills are not paid on time, so it's a very vicious cycle that is difficult to break without serious help from someone else and usually most other people you know are in a similar boat. To rich people things seems very linear, like do this then this and bam you have a better life.
   — ApolloX-2


8. That you are just one life event away from homelessness at any given point in time.
   — yapian


9. That when a friend picks an expensive restaurant and wants to go Dutch it'll cost the poor person a week's groceries.
   — Burgundy93






10. That there are periodic barriers to moving up in the world. Some people are too poor to afford a college degree. Some people are too poor to afford a good home situation and therefore don't graduate high school. Some people are too poor to afford a home at all. A lot of poor people aren't just lazy; they're in a hole that they can't climb out of without help.
    — banquoinchains


11. That some people genuinely make decisions like "gas or toilet paper?" on a regular basis.
    — Kantina


12. I'm not currently investing in stock/bitcoin/ etc. because I literally have no expendable income to save, let alone invest. People always be saying that the key to financial success later in life is investing early but you have to have money before you can invest it.
    — a_man_hs_no_username