What's the poorest you've ever been (as an adult)?

[stepford]

It's no surprise that most of the folks on this forum are financially comfortable. Some of us come from humble and some from wealthier families, but what I'm curious about is how poor we were at some point after we were grown up and on our own.

Personally I've been down to absolute zero a few times in my 20s, once when I ran out of both food and money and ended up not being able to eat for a few days and once when I was homeless for about a month. Both of these cases, though, were what I call "dilettante poverty" in that I had relatives I could have called on for help - I was just too dumb/lazy/proud to do so. Interestingly my wife also had periods of being so poor she went hungry during her 20s (and also had parents she could have begged from if push came to shove). I'm sure just knowing there was a backstop out there somewhere made this a lot less traumatic for both of us. I know that's a very different experience from being poor and not seeing a way out.

I apologize if this is too personal a question, but it definitely informs the frugal behavior that enabled our ER, so I thought it might be interesting to ask:
How poor have you been, and how did the experience affect your financial behavior later in life?

PS. I'm not really talking about poverty in terms of net worth, but more immediate cash on hand. I was upside down in my house for several years in the early-mid '90s and nominally had a negative net worth, but I had a job, home and car, ate regularly and didn't feel nearly as poor as during those earlier 'down to zero' no money and no place to live episodes.

 

[TheWizard]

After I finished college, I had a job continuously for several decades.
And my wife at the time did also.
So I'm not sure what my answer should be; there were never any times of zero cash on hand or homelessness...

 

[Pointby2]

Just after DW and I were married, I decided to go back and finish my last year of college. We sold my car (bright red Mazda RX-7) and drove her Civic back to Wisconsin to live in this nice little single wide trailer. She worked as a night proofing clerk while I went to college. Every month we would go down and pick up a free five pound block of cheese and a pound of butter. That was it for our Wisconsin welfare. We remained that poor for that year and even for a year or two after I graduated from college. We did have family we could fall back on, but we never did. This was 1980-1981.

 

[timbervest]

End of my first term of graduate school. Last of the previous years school loan money gone and couldnt get another one, zero in the bank, literally $20 in my wallet, and tuition/rent payments due in a month. Borrowed money from friends for food. Luckily found a job that gave me a paycheck before the above was due. Vowed at that moment never to be broke again.

 

[erkevin]

My first two years of college. Absolutely broke. Did not have parents and had no idea what financial aid was. Left school (no money and I was in debt to the university), got a job, figured out adulthood, got my act together, and returned to finish my Bachelor's.
10-15 years later; lifestyle creep. Owned a modest home, both wife and I employed, but by about 2006 our credit card balance was over $30k. Fortunately, it was locked in at 1.9% (a very fortuitous balance transfer offer!). Got that paid off and never carried a cc balance again.

 

[imjustawarrior]

At 18 I left home with a few bucks in my pocket and a gym bag in my hand. That is all I had. I went off to the Army. There were many times in the Army that my bank account went to zero, but I knew I would still be fed and housed.

In college I usually had a few thousand around in my emergency fund. I don't think my NW ever technically went below zero. I do remember selling personal belongings once in college to make ends meet.

Once I graduated college (graduated Saturday started work Monday), money was never an issue. My NW just continued to climb.

 

[Gumby]

At 18 I left home with a few bucks in my pocket and a gym bag in my hand. That is all I had. I went off to the Army. There were many times in the Army that my bank account went to zero, but I knew I would still be fed and housed. ....

Replace "Navy" for "Army" and my story is exactly the same.

 

[street]

Never broke but didn't spend on anything I absolutely didn't need.
I worked ranch and farms from 12 years old and I saved ever penny I got. I paid my own way through college and worked two and sometimes three jobs year around while going to school. I have really never been unemployed my entire life till I ER 9 years ago.

 

[MichaelB]

Twice. My first year in college I was working in the kitchen and my job was cut. I thought I would have to leave school, but some fellow student workers each offered up an hour of their shift for me. An act of kindness and sharing I’ve never forgotten.

Our first year married, I was in graduate school, the US was in recession and I could not find steady work. Those were hungry times. DW didn’t have a work visa. I scrounged up enough cash for us to fly to Venezuela to get her visa in order and found a robust job market, so I stayed.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Never have been poor as an adult. My parents paid for my university education and got a job as an analyst programmer even before I formally graduated. I was paid from a job every day of my life from that point until I retired at 53.

 

[aja8888]

"How poor have you been, and how did the experience affect your financial behavior later in life?"

At 17, I graduated high school and had no one show up at the graduation ceremony,

I was out on my own and moved in with a friend and his family in a run down house. My alcoholic parents were in the process of splitting up and I had nowhere to live. Mom and my two younger sisters moved to Pittston, PA to live with my grandmother in the coal company house I spent my early years in. I did get a job and had a 1952 Chevrolet that I bought a year earlier with paper route savings ($35.00 - not running at the time). But I had pretty much nothing living small paycheck to paycheck. At that point, I had no recollection of ever being to a doctor or dentist.

I lived with them for a good while and LUCKILY, I got my draft notice. Putting four years in the military at the time of war made a man out of me and I saw that the people around me had more education and real families. My time in the military opened my eyes and gave me the initiative to go to school after I got out. And I used the G.I. Bill to do that.

All was OK after that.

 

[aaronc879]

I have always lived cheap. I never had much so didn't miss having stuff that other people had. I dropped out of college at 19 after 3 semesters and moved back home for a few months. When I saved up enough for first, last, and security I moved out. I was making $8.50/hr in 1999 which wasn't much and didn't have friends so had an apartment of my own and things were tight. By late 2000 I had gotten a better job and a cheaper but nice apartment. That short time from mid-1999 to mid-2000 was the only time I really had to choose, do I get groceries or pay the electric bill. I never paid a bill late in my life but I did go without some meals. A jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread was a weeks worth of food some weeks for that year.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

17k negative net worth out of college

 

[COcheesehead]

In a drive thru line at my bank as a college student. Before ATMs. I asked for $10 cash. The teller told me I had $7 in the account. I took $5. I never forget that moment.
To my credit, I never went negative in my NW. Paid my way through school combo of jobs and two scholarships.
I bought my first house at 25.

 

[Mark1]

DW and I had ~60k negative net worth when I started at Mega-corp. I actually used a CC to pay my last summer tuition. My equate date at w*rk was 7/16, so I guess I graduated early.

 

[5Miler]

I was born and largely raised on a farm in rural West Virginia so the bar wasn't real high. My lowest point, although not my poorest, was in 1975. I was married, an airman in the Air Force and we just had our first child. He was allergic to milk and also could not take Similac formula so the only alternative was Enfamil formula which was hard to find at the time. Twice a month, just before payday, I would go to the AAFES store on base and kite a check for $2 or $3 three days before payday and hope it didn't clear early just to feed my son. I was too low in rank to get base housing so had to live off base at higher cost. I finally took a part time job to end the madness.

 

[equakesfan]

Just before I graduated college, I had less than $100 in my checking account, 1/4 of a car, and some books and clothes. I didn't have a job lined up but I was able to move into my father's house. I got a check from my grandmother and father as a graduation presents which allowed me to float until I got a job. Once I got a job my net worth started going up and I haven't looked back

 

[REWahoo]

DW and I got married just prior to the start of my Sr year of college. My parents weren't financially able to offer much help with college expenses so I had worked part time at a large grocery chain to pay for the first three years of school and living expenses. I had the offer of a full-time summer job where I could live at home and build up some savings prior to going back to school (and getting married!) in September. The store manager where I worked said there would be no problem with me taking the summer off then returning to work when the fall semester began in mid-Sept.. - and he was true to his word.

The plan went perfectly, until it didn't. I worked the full-time summer job while living at home, saved every penny and ended up with a small but what I thought was adequate little nest egg. (Hey, this was the late 60's and campus apartments for married students were a whopping $75/mo, all bills paid!). We were married on Sept 1, and DW had an emergency appendectomy three days later. No medical insurance, no job, nest egg blown and honeymooning in the hospital - an interesting way to start out married life.

It was a very tough couple of weeks before I was called back to work at the grocery store and got my first paycheck. Took a while to dig out of that hole.

 

[frayne]

At 18 I left home with a few bucks in my pocket and a gym bag in my hand. That is all I had. I went off to the Army. There were many times in the Army that my bank account went to zero, but I knew I would still be fed and housed.

Ditto and in 1969 the Army paid you in cash.

 

[pb4uski]

The first few years after graduating from college. Was working and earning hood money but also living well, partying, women, etc. Also owned a boat. I recall having to schedule my bills and prioritize who would get paid.

Just before our wedding we looked at a 2/2 condo. Cost $40k and we needed $2k for a 5% down payment so we passed on it. These days the monthly credit card bill exceeds that $2k but a long-run.

 

[Ian S]

I was never really poor as in not having food to eat. I was pretty much on my own in graduate school and survived easily enough on a research assistantship that also paid my tuition. It helped that housing was pretty cheap in Troy, NY and you could get a nice pizza at a little Italian sit-down place for a buck. Also six packs of a cheap beer could be had on sale for 79 cents IIRC!

 

[harley]

I completely ran out of money halfway through my senior year of college ('78). I put my last semester of tuition on my freshly obtained Mastercard. I ate apples and peanut butter sandwiches smuggled out of the school cafeteria by the future DW. I did eventually get a part time job allowing me to pay my back rent and eat slightly better.

I was still below water after graduating. But I worked 3 jobs (full time/part time/weekends) until I made it back into the black enough to get married. It's been all up from there.

 

[COcheesehead]

I was never really poor as in not having food to eat. I was pretty much on my own in graduate school and survived easily enough on a research assistantship that also paid my tuition. It helped that housing was pretty cheap in Troy, NY and you could get a nice pizza at a little Italian sit-down place for a buck. Also six packs of a cheap beer could be had on sale for 79 cents IIRC!

Where I went to college, there was a German restaurant nearby with $3 pitchers of beer and free, all you can eat appetizers. My roommate and I called that dinner.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I was on my own since 18. 1970 - 1976 was tough times. After five years of college, I moved to Columbus in 1976 with $8000 in college loans, and $800 total cash and a company car. It was up from there. Further, the loan was paid in full by 1981. Hell, in 1977 my first house cost me $1.00 plus a year of rehab- sweat labor and materials. Needless to say, the area was quite urban.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

In a drive thru line at my bank as a college student. Before ATMs. I asked for $10 cash. The teller told me I had $7 in the account. I took $5. I never forget that moment.
To my credit, I never went negative in my NW. Paid my way through school combo of jobs and two scholarships.
I bought my first house at 25.

My first house was at 25 as well. ( Urban Homestead, paid $1.00 for it).