How to Survive Living under the Poverty Line

One of the most questions I am asked when I tell people how I have been surviving since losing my job and home, that’s after they finally began to believe me, is how can you live on less than $450.00 per month?  The first thing that I tell them is I am aided by the fact that I grew up in a household of ten (10) children with a single mother.  What this did for me is show me just how important having money wasn’t.  I would see other kids with brand new toys on Christmas and wish that I was them and only after being around my siblings and laugher louder, having more fun and enjoying the time of being little did I ever come to realize that this was what life was all about for me right now.  While they had nice toys, you should have heard the tongue lashing that they got if that toy got broken or even dirty.  Those kids were so worried about keeping those toys fresh and clean that they would even risk their own lives to do.  I had learned that my life was well worth more than a Dime Store truck or tractor.

My biggest lesson came when I was older and in the market for a bicycle to get around between my after-school job and home.  Kids my age around where I lived all got brand new bikes and for the first few weeks were parading them around like it was a national holiday.  The old bikes that they did own were discarded and out of those were born my first bike.  What made their bike special was that it was new and had all of the latest gadgets on them.  What made my bike special was that it had been created by my own hands.  Their bikes were never faster than mine because it was newer nor was it seen as often as mine because only on clear sunny days wee they able to ride them.  They had to walk many times while I could ride.  Their new bikes were great but it was like they were partially owned by the parents while mine was all mines.

What these lessons taught me was the lessons that I still use today.  I do not worry about the look of things only if they work or not.  I do not worry about what I can not buy but concentrate on spending wisely for the things that I do.  I do not worry about the label on the clothes that I wear but I do worry if they are clean and wearable.  I think carefully about what I do before I do it and ask for only the things that I need.  If what I seek will only be temporary or is strictly for show, I care not to ask.  I seek that which will be long lasting and functional.  To me, arriving at a place is not about what got you there but how you got there and why you came.

I survive on less than $450.00 a month because right now this is where I am.  I pay what I can when I can and no more.  I promise nothing and therefore deliver more than expected.  When I am broke, I can look back and actually see where the money went and when the next check arrives, the results of the money spent from the last one can still be seen.  Because I am not consumed by the quest for money, I spend that energy cherishing other more important things.  I take walk with my kids and watch them play in the park.  I listen to them read to me or dance around the house.  I work hard but I also will stop everything just to hear them sing. 

Some day soon, I will have that big house surrounded by a large yard for them to safely play in.  I will have that vehicle that does not worry me every time I turn the key.  I will be able to fill their closets with clothes and the kitchen cubbards again but until that time comes, I will never sweat the small stuff.