When You're Poor...

…You pick up every penny off the street, because it might make the difference between paying a bill or buying grocercies. (It's also why you demand your reusable bag discounts from Target / Whole Foods, turn in all your rebates, and count your change while still standing in the checkout lane.)

…You hold off on preventative health care because the copays and deductibles mean not paying a bill or not getting groceries, assuming you even have health insurance. If you don't, you always have the emergency room, which legally can't turn you away.

…You get aggrevated when people around you complain about  being broke, but they always seem to have the latest brand-name sneakers, tech gadget, or collector's item. Or they're always going on trips and eating out.

…You hate feeling shamed by the constant charity requests at work, grocery stores, movie theatres, and even the street corner firemen collection. You give on the rare occasions when you can, but enough is enough already! You need the money too.

…You know to the day how long you can "not pay" a bill before you lose your electriciity / utilities / car, and use that knowledge to play musical chairs with the bills. After all, you're never going to be able to pay all of them in any given month.

…You look forward to getting hand-me-downs from the relatives so the kids have "new" clothes for the coming school year.

…You don't tend to keep a phone line for longer than a few years, or the same phone number / email address for any length of time. Phones, computers, and internet access are luxuries you can't afford for more than a few months at best.

…You consider eating out at a cheap fast food place, or going to the movies, once a year a wildly extravagant expense.

…You pray for a drought so the roof leaks don't get worse. Because you can't afford the house insurance deductible in order to get the darn thing replaced.

Any more you can think of?