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Angel Nowak

I can’t speak for others, only for myself. I’m a 55 year old, disabled woman, living on SSI and food stamps. After I pay my bills on the first, I’m lucky if I have $20 or $30 left, which usually goes for necessities like toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo and other such things.

I haven’t really bought any new clothes is 30 years. Occasionally, I will get something at Goodwill or a yard sale. I buy the cheapest bra I can find, and wear it until it falls apart. The cheapest $3-5 shoes at Walmart. I can never find shoes or bras at Goodwill or yard sales. (I need size 11 womens shoes, and a 48D bra, not easy to find.) My current shoes have lasted me 4 years now. They have holes in the bottom and toes, but I still wear them, because I can’t afford new ones right now.

我不能代替别人说话，只能为自己说话。我是一名55岁的残疾妇女，靠SSI和食品券生活。在我付完所有必须的账单后，如果我还能剩下20或30美元，我就很幸运了，这些钱通常用来买卫生纸、洗碗皂、洗发水等必需品。

我已经30年没有买过新衣服了。偶尔，我会在Goodwill或旧货拍卖会上得到一些东西。我买了我能找到的最便宜的胸罩，然后一直穿到它散架。沃尔玛最便宜的3-5美元的鞋子。我在Goodwill或旧货拍卖会上找不到鞋子或胸罩。（我需要11号的女鞋和48D的文胸，不容易找到。）我现在的鞋已经穿了4年了。它们的底部和脚趾都有洞，但我仍然穿着它们，因为我现在买不起新的。

New stuff is a luxury. Last time I bough a piece of furniture, it was a used loveseat I got for $25, nearly 20 years ago. No new pots or pans. No new dishes. No new electronics. I still have a PS2, one of the big ones, not the small ones you can sometimes find. My cell phone makes calls, and sends texts. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll get a smart phone before I die!

I’m reluctant to toss things out if I think I can use it for something else. A ripped sheet? If I can’t sew it, I’ll cut it up and use as cleaning rags, or a patch for something else, or I’ll make a pillow case with it. Empty jars can store other things in it. Soap slivers can be turned into liquid soap or mushed into a larger bar.

新东西是一种奢侈。我最后一次买到的一件家具，是我花了25美元买的二手情侣座椅，差不多是在20年前。没有新的锅碗瓢盆。没有新的餐具。没有新的电子设备。我仍然有一个PS2，一个大的，而不是你们看到的那种小的。我的手机只能打电话、发短信。也许如果我幸运的话，我能在死前得到一部智能手机！

我认为它还能用，所以我不愿意扔掉它。破床单？如果我缝不好，我会把它剪成碎布，或者做其他东西的补丁，或者用它做枕套。空罐子里可以存放其他东西。肥皂条可以变成液体肥皂，也可以做成糊状，做成更大的肥皂条。

I’m careful when I shop. I always buy marked down stuff. I buy dented cans and damaged boxes. We have a salvage grocery that sells the stuff pretty cheap. When I buy meat, I always repackage it into smaller portions. Then I use meat as more of a side dish or accent, not the focus of the meal. Instead of pork chops with a side of rice, I cut a chop into small pieces and mix it into the rice with some veggies and spices.

Pretty much, if there is a way to reuse something, it gets reused. If I can stretch a meal, I will. It’s a careful balancing act.

我购物时很小心。我总是买打折的东西。我买凹陷的罐头和破损的盒子。我们这有一家废品杂货店，卖的东西很便宜。当我买肉时，我总是把它重新包装成小份。然后我把肉更多地用作配菜或调味，而不是正餐的重点。我将排骨切成小块，并将其与一些蔬菜和香料混合在米饭中，而不是吃排骨配米饭。

基本上，如果某个东西可以被重复使用，它就会被重复使用。如果我能饱餐一顿，我会的。这是一个谨慎的平衡行为。

Anonymous

I will add that non-homeless poor Americans have slowly increasing debt and no savings. They don’t have retirement savings, they don’t have a college fund for their kids, they have multiple credit cards that they are carrying balances and they buy cars and vacations using payment plans. Sometimes, they have a mortgage and they are making the payments on time. If they paid off their home (which is often old and in not so great shape), they may be easily tempted to tap into that equity with a new loan.

我想要补充一点，在美国，有家可归的穷人的债务正在缓慢增加，他们没有储蓄。他们没有退休储蓄，他们的孩子没有大学基金，他们有多张信用卡，他们以卡养卡，用来购买汽车和支付度假资金。有些人有抵押贷款，他们会按时还款。如果他们还清了自己房子的贷款（房子通常是旧的，而且样子不太好），他们很容易被诱惑，抵押房子去做新的贷款。

Often, being a non-homeless poor person is a balancing act: borrowing from Peter to make just enough of a payment to Paul to get Paul off their back for the next month, searching high and low for new ways to get a few hundred dollars in credit and depositing payments in the mail on the exact day so the creditor will post it just before a late payment is due but late enough so a deposit has as much time as possible to clear.

They work all the time to break even, never getting ahead. Or they don’t work and just scrape by on whatever charity or government assistance comes in.

通常，成为一个有家可归的穷人就是在玩弄平衡：向彼得借钱，然后支付保罗一笔足够的钱，下个月向保罗借钱来摆脱困境，到处寻找新的可以借贷几百美元的信贷，然后在当天将其存入还款账户，债权人就可以在还款到期日之前扣款，只要时间足够，所有的借款都能在足够多的时间内结清。

他们总是为了收支平衡而努力，但从未取得成功。或者他们不努力，只靠慈善机构或政府援助勉强度日。

John Garner

I know some that live a quite comfortable life. They own their own home. They get social security retirement benefits plus their work retirement payment each month. If married, both get two retirement checks per month. They may not drive around a Bentley, but they do quite well.

我知道有些人生活得很舒适。他们有自己的家。他们每月领取社会保障退休福利和工作退休金。如果已婚，两人每月都会收到两张退休支票。他们可能不会开宾利，但他们过得很好。

Allison Dang

I have a whole bunch of techniques I acquired from my parents, who grew up during the Great Depression—saving most everything for re-use, shopping at thrift stores or wholesale outlets, wearing “hand-me-down” garments, learning to do and make things rather than paying people to do them or buying ready made, etc.

My mom used to say it was a good thing I was a “Starving Student” for so long because it prepared me for being a “Starving Musician”.

我从父母那里学到了一整套技巧，他们在大萧条时期长大，把大部分东西都保存起来，以备再次使用，在旧货店或批发店购物，穿着旧衣服，学习做东西，而不是花钱买现成的东西，等等。

我妈妈过去常说，我当了这么长时间的“饥饿的学生”是件好事，因为这让我做好了成为“饥饿的音乐家”的准备。

But now I’ve discovered that because I try to help other people, other people help me. Lots of people have given me clothes, food, furniture, plants, masks; offered advice or help with tasks, repairs, problems; recommended me for jobs, told me about opportunities so if I didn’t need them myself, I could pass the word along to others. I like to think we take care of each other. So if someone needs something they don’t have, I try to give it or refer them to someone else who can help. We barter and trade and give.

但现在我发现，因为我试图帮助别人，别人也会帮助我。很多人给了我衣服、食物、家具、植物、口罩；提供建议、帮助完成任务、维修、解决问题；向我推荐工作，告诉我机会，所以如果我自己不需要这些机会，我可以把这个信息传递给其他人。我喜欢人们互相照顾。所以，如果有人需要一些他们没有的东西，我会尽量给他们，或者把他们介绍给其他可以帮助他们的人。我们以物易物，交换和给予。