
‘What purchase made you realise that you’re finally out of poverty?’ – 23 shopping trips that felt utterly life-changing
If you’ve struggled financially at any point in your life, you’ll be well aware that buying things can come with a myriad of difficult feelings like stress, worry and anxiety.
But, if you’ve managed to escape from money trouble, the act of going to the shops or cracking out the debit card online can feel enormously liberating. They’ve been chatting about this on the AskUK subreddit after Masterofsnacking asked ‘What purchase made you realise that you’re finally out of poverty?’ and followed up with this…
‘I just bought my first American fridge freezer with a 600 litre capacity. This may sound weird, but when the drivers arrived and I saw it coming out of the van, I had tears in my eyes. I told myself, I am really out of poverty and have levelled up to middle class. My son is not going to experience eating rice with soy sauce only for flavour just like I did.’
Which is a very heartwarming tale, and lots of other people chimed in with empowering shopping moments of their own.
1.
‘We didn’t have a lot until I was about 12 when my dad took the risk to jump ship with one of the gaffers from the factory he worked at and go somewhere new. All of a sudden we had two cars because my dad got a company car but the main thing I remember was on the day of his first pay packet being taken to the Liverpool club shop (which was basically a portacabin outside the Kop) and being allowed a shirt with a name and number on the back. Paddy Berger what a legend.’
–Voodoopulse
2.
‘Garden furniture. Actual nice garden furniture with cushions and a matching table, instead of the £3 plastic stacking chairs I’d been sitting on for twelve years. I’m jealous of your fridge though.’
–RattyHandwriting
3.
‘We still have to watch our money but last year we went on holiday in May, and on the last day my husband said ‘Shall we book again for August?’ So we did. That felt pretty good.’
–Medium_Click1145
4.
‘When I got my first job (in Romania) and they offered a monthly salary of ‘850’. I thought they meant Romanian lei and I reluctantly said yes. Later I realised they meant 850 euros which at the time was worth 4x more than the Romanian currency. I bought a Daewoo Tico with my first paycheck.’
–tutike2000
5.
‘It’s a bit of a stupid one, but we get crates of soft drink and it sometimes hits me that I used to have to save up and it would be a treat for me. Now it’s just there, wild!’
–Glowie2k2
6.
‘Had to replace a tyre and the mechanic mentioned that I’d have to come back in 6 to 8 months as the back tyres were almost bald. I said fuck it and told him to replace all four and it was only on the drive home that it hit me that I didn’t have to worry about the expense.’
–Maester_Bates
7.
‘When I was able to put a whole £49 on the electricity meter at once and know that we were OK for a few weeks. But it lasts about 10 days now because the cost has skyrocketed, and still I’m like grateful that it’s manageable. I know what it’s like to not have any money. The stress really fucks with the mind, the hormones, the body.’
–Allasse-fae-Glesga
8.
‘When my dad died and left me a little money I bought a guitar to commemorate all the music times we had shared. First new guitar I’d bought in 40 years.’
–NotSayingAliensBut
9.
‘I grew up poor. I was standing in a supermarket not long after I got my first permanent, well-paid job in my 30s, staring at the new XBox and thinking how much I wanted one. A kid walked up next to me to have a look at them, and we shared a glance at how cool they looked. Then I had this sudden moment of realisation of ‘Oh hang on, I can totally afford this now’ and bought one.
‘I felt a bit sorry for the kid, though. From his perspective, he had gone over to look longingly at the XBoxes, only to have some weird dude look down at him, suddenly grin, grab an XBox, then stride smugly over to the till.’
–J8766557
10.
‘Honestly probably not until I had the keys to my first house on my hand. I never thought I would be able to own my house ever. I thought I’d be in social housing til the end of my days like my parents. After the house it was a few years before I could afford many luxuries – everything went on doing the house up – but then after that it was so gradual. Bit by bit it seemed to get easier.
‘Last year I bought Lego Rivendell. So I guess I can safely say I’m no longer poor.’
–Dapperscavenger
11.
‘When I was able to buy the slightly more expensive version of butter and Heinz Beans without worrying about it taking up my entire shopping budget.’
–19oranges
12.
‘We were at a cafe reading the menu and my wife said, ‘It’s nice to choose the food before looking at the price’. It made me realise I was in a position to order what I want rather than what’s in my budget. I completely didn’t realise that I used to read the menu by price first.’
–Cuntinghell