What do insanely poor people buy that ordinary people know nothing about?

Growing up, my family had its moments of struggle.

Our public transport system at the time had tickets which were simply whole-punched with the date and month, not the year.

So we'd save them and store them neatly in envelopes marked by month and concession or full fare.

After a few years of saving tickets, we pretty

much had free train and bus travel for the next 10 years, until they changed the ticketing system

to electronically stamp tickets with barcodes. My office only has a unisex bathroom, so it has

the facilities for men and women. Naturally, there's a tampon machine, and tampons are only

five cents. Once a month, I'll work late, get a roll of nickels, and fill up a grocery

sack with tampons for my wife. Extended stay housing or motels slash hotels. When you can't qualify

to get an apartment because you don't have proof of income, you end up

wasting more money to stay for a week at an extended day housing or a cheap motel.

It sucks having no home and being a transient.

I promise myself never to be in the same situation again.

I was so poor once that I would go to Long John Silvers and order a water in crunchies,

which used to be free,

then sit there and watch the people that would dine in. It was amazing how little they ate,

and then they would leave without dumping their tray off in the trash. Fries, hush puppies, chicken,

fish, all untouched. No, I didn't eat a piece that was bitten off of. I once saw a woman order a two-piece fish and more for her kid that ate one hush puppy and a few fries, and then left the rest of it

there. It was the best I had eaten in weeks. Glad that's behind me now. Lots of school systems do

free lunches for kids under 18 during the summer. When I was a kid, I remember

my dad taking us to get lunch at the school, then go play disc golf, soccer, or do something else

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