Has anyone here gone from poverty to (moderate) riches? I’m talking about poverty along the lines defined by the state (I think it’s under 30k for a household?) to over the average household income (over 50k) for one person. Even better if you went from poor to 6 figures. I ask this because I have met very few that even came close to this. Most of the people I know (from college and the workplace) were rich / well off to begin with, or at least middle class. I can say from personal experience that it was much… MUCH harder to climb out of poverty than anything else I have accomplished in my life.
give me a few years and there’ll def be a rags to riches story. : )
My parents made less than 30k (combined) until I went to college and I make over 50k. Would not say I am in a “riches” category now, but definitely did not grow up in a typical “middle class” or wealthy family.
My family also made less than 30k when I was growing up and I make about 50k now and im not yet 30
my mom made around 19k for most of my life. I didnt know I was poor until I went to college. I thought everyone ate rice and beans every night for dinner. I loved my life growing up and most of my best friends were in the same boat as me. We were poor but had each other. I am talking about 10 boys who met at age 4 and are still friends today. Most still live in the little area we grew up in. We all excelled in sports which was one of the few things we could do since the school provided everything. I got an athletic scholarship and went to college. Studied economics and now make over 50k and in mid 20’s. college for me was pretty tough. I just didnt have the funds others had nor a car. I rode the bus to college until I was a junior. It would of been easy to fall into the norm and make bad choices but making money was never my goal. Leaving the black hole I grew up in was.
I bet none of your parents paid taxes and shouldn’t be allowed to vote. This thread has potential though. For those already posting, how’d you pull yourself out? State schools, scholarships?
I grew up in a household with less than $30K in income and now I make three times that (in my late 20’s). NakedPuts - I went to a state school financed with grants and student loans and worked through college.
I grew up in a very poor area- my parents immigrated here with nothing but a small family loan and their three kids. Although they were high ranking professionals from established families in their country they left it behind to offer their children the opportunity of living the ‘american dream’. This meant sucking it up and working long hours for little pay in menial jobs when we were younger. I think they made ~25k for a family of 5 with no benefits. I too however never noticed how poor i was until I went to a fancy liberal arts school full of prep school kids who complained that their monthly allowance wasn’t enough to get their nails done weekly. Growing up my parents were somehow able to trick us into thinking we were middle class- filling our days with fun free activities, family trips to national parks, membership in free community programs and the such. I walked to school everyday and bused it to work and sports on my own… but so did all my friends so it seemed normal. I think only a couple kids in my high school had cars. My parents never went to the doctor unless we drove down to mexico. Looking back I realize how much they sacrificed and how well the budgeted. They always taught us that clothes and possessions were secondary to education and relationships so we never HAD the cool stuff but we never missed it either. I am now in a very comfortable income level as is my sister. Most of my high school friends, all of whom were also immigrants, are also professionals and earning very good money. From my experience the expectations and values of the parents were the highest correlating factor to whether the kids got out of poverty. My family were refugees - they were well educated and came from a family of professionals important enough to be prosecuted by their government. My friends were also all refugees, although from the other side of the world, whose parents were very focused on ensuring that their kids knew that going to school was their ticket to the good life. The schoolmates that were kids of immigrants of other varieties often did not have this family support- many were pulled out of school to join their parents at work or help watch their siblings. They did not do as well. I may not technically be at the ‘riches’ level but I sure do feel like it. I live comfortably at half my income because that already provides for many times over what I had growing up. My husband is also from another country and giggles at the pleasures we have allowed ourselves- be it travel, eating out, etc. I have many friend who I met in college who come from enormously wealthy families who constantly complain about money and no having enough of it- its all relative I guess. …school funding wise I went to a liberal arts school that have generous student aid and worked my whole way through. Sports may have helped me get in- but I knew that was my ticket and had no shame in working as hard as I could to use it to my benefit… money cannot buy sweat and tears. My academics were in their top 75 percentile SAT/GPA wise so I was no ringer either 
… especially considering no one I knew had any sort of SAT prep class or tutoring. I graduated with very little debt. My sister did community college while working and then transferred to state school. Most friends from high school went straight into UC system (UCLA/UCI/CAL) or did top tier w/ financial aid.
NakedPuts Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I bet none of your parents paid taxes and > shouldn’t be allowed to vote. > > This thread has potential though. For those > already posting, how’d you pull yourself out? > State schools, scholarships? i went to a state school and played baseball
Same with TMurf - grants, student loans + work. Went from under <20k Start pay (around graduation) ~40k 2 years later ~about 80k next year hoping to come close to 6 fig if all goes as planned (age = mid twenties) This is working about 50 hours a week on average. Also would like to add that it’s also due to my own business + the day job. It is uncommon for someone to advance in pay this fast in my field (it’s not like IB where you can go up 100-200% in one year). Like Rydex, I also will always have the poor mentality. I hoard and ration everything including food and even junk mail (I use the back for scratch paper). I am also pretty low maintenance - during college, I used to live in living rooms, closets, open loft area to save on rent. I also am a do-it-yourself type of person as hiring someone was not a feasible option for most of my life. I will always have the survival mentality - knew from an early age that failure is not an option. The only people I have encountered with the “as long as you do your best, it is okay if you fail” were middle / upper class = complete and utter falsity in my opinion. I also mastered the art of learning stuff on the fly due to years of either working full time and taking a full time load of classes and/or taking multiple majors and working part time. Due to this skill, I managed to earn 2 designations within one year while working full time, while pursuing a master’s degree. This will be increased to at least 2 masters degree + working full time + attempt to earn 2 more designations. Why the overkill? I will always think that I am seconds away from poverty, because it was this way for most of my life. My Christmas present was a drive-by on Christmas Eve, along with a whole slew of other problems associated with growing up in the projects. Hence, whenever stuff gets “hard” with managing all these things, all I have to do is reflect on my days at the ghetto. I don’t mind if I live in a bad area, as long as my life is not in constant danger. In fact, right now I live next to illegals that blare up their music 24/7, but this is an upgrade for me because I now have my own room and it’s relatively safe (a few shots here and there, but not nearly as dangerous as before). To put it in perspective, Inglewood is also an upgrade because the neighborhood cleaned up quite a bit, and there is some premise of noise control.
Wow. great stories here. Credit to all of you, and to your parents.
Was homeless for about 3 months when parent lost his job, went to 4 schools in 1 year due to moving lived in a van (down by the river) when I was 16. Had to start community college due to lack of grades, got into Berekeley Economics, put myself through by working 2 jobs when the tuition was still 4k a year, went to grad school working too. Making well over 50k but not quite 100k yet though in striking distance. And yeah Naked, we shouldnt have been able to vote either. I get your sarcasm. I hate our legal system and the way it handles divorce where attorneys prey upon emotion and drain families of their savings.
rags to riches or so they say, you gotta keep pushin’ for the fortune and fame you know it’s all a gamble when it’s just a game, you treat it like a capital crime…everybody’s doin’ their time!
beatthecfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wow. great stories here. Credit to all of you, and > to your parents. In the words of Vanilla Ice: “Word to your mother!”
NakedPuts Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This thread has potential though. For those > already posting, how’d you pull yourself out? > State schools, scholarships? I felt the same as goldenboy09 in regards to feeling poor. I knew my parents did not make much money, but I never really felt poor until I went to college and saw my fellow classmates. Basically paid my way through college (UC system) with a combo of grants/scholorships/loans/side jobs. Had zero parental support ($$$ wise) so the “extras” of college life were relatively tame.
funny story… we all signed up for little league at 4 years old… well our folks signed us up… we all wanted to pitch or play shortstop… as we got to age 8-10 we all moved to different positions so we could all be on the field at the same time… 14-15 we all started HS and we were the team… First JV then V… we played the same places at kids and did quite well… college came around and 5 of us went to the same college and played the same positions as little league… the other 5 were at every home game and some road games… when we all grad from college it truly was the end of a great ride… we all been through a lot and so did our folks… when that last game was played… you could see in our folks eyes they closed a chapter that they didnt want to. that is something money can not buy. most became high school coachs, cops and one is fire fighter… i was only one to go the corp route my wife does not understand how I still call people tank (big and fat), chuy(boy had some gums), TT(kid could not hold it on a road trip, peanut brain( not the brightest cat) , flaps(eyes were huge), grill (his teeth had teeth) and big head(me)
^^ Frank the Tank?
^ahh the college baseball nicknames. we had FnH (fat & hairy), Joe Bags, Big Smooth, Old G, Bone Dog, Gravedigger, Special Ed, Shadow, Tommy Pad and too many others to mention. yea playing college sports is a unique experience that you’ll never again have in life; basically a 25-brother family.
our ace was “feo” what means UGLY in spanish
I was never rags and I am not yet rich but I have my own “Pull yourself up from the bootstraps” story. I come from a blue collar family with a lot of kids so we couldn’t afford my tuition. I joined the military and paid for college with the GI Bill ($40K tax free, plus financial aid).