【海外の反応】貧乏育ちの恋人がやる「変わった習慣」、育った環境の差がエグすぎてワロタ

My husband had this very bad habit of eating all the food in the house within a few days. Growing up he was living on the streets so all the food that he would find or steal would be eaten right then and there because he never knew when his next meal would be. When he became an adult he would get food for the house and feel the need to eat it all at once, like someone was going to steal it. 

I had to start portioning out food and buying more dried ingredients to make food last. He’s way better at eating at a normal pace and amount after being gently reminded “the food is not running out, it’s okay to save food for later now, we will get more food in the near future”. It’s a trauma response and I’m so proud of him and how hard he’s been working on unpacking his childhood and healing. 

The poverty mindset of not accepting money is the biggest remnant I notice. My partner had the mentality of “I don’t want hand outs, I want to earn my own money and make my own way. My mom does not have the money to spend on me and I don’t want her to do so.” We’re not poor, neither is her mother anymore. They will get into legit fights about who pays for dinner when we go out together and it just baffles me. 

Actually looking at the grocery catalogues for discounts when going to the supermarket. It never crossed my mind, I'm there to buy what I need and that's it.

The inability to leave even a single bite of food on a plate. Even if they’re painfully full, they’ll finish it because "wasting" feels like a sin.

A general unwillingness to get rid of things…

Our kitchen has a dedicated cupboard for used plastic food containers despite just in case.

Our bathroom has various creams or lotions under the sink that weren’t satisfactory just in case.

Our closet is full of clothes that don’t fit anymore just in case.

It makes sense. I’d just rather need to re-purchase unlikely to be reused items when the need arises.

She kept takeout napkins and ketchup packets in a drawer ‘just in case.’ At first I thought it was odd. Now I respect the survival instinct lol

Funny how all the comments are explaining their partners from poor households being extra cautious. My ex was the completely opposite. After a childhood of scarcity he finally had the chance to indulge and so he did. Resulting in extreme extravagant behaviour. Like buying expensive wines and drinking them in one evening. He also did not take much care of his houses or beloningings.   

I grew up in a wealthy family and I relate to some of the examples some people share in this group like taking ketchup/sugar samples from restaurants, not flushing the toilet too often, eating ALL the food in the fridge (nutrtition is nutrition, doesn’t matter if it isn’t as tasty) and and having a hard time getting rid of stuff. I’ve always seen this as me being just grateful about my own abundance and I do not take it for granted. 

My husband grew up poor; I grew up with rich(ish), but frugal parents. Oddly, ive noticed that I’m a lot more into “saving” things/money than he is. I assume this comes from my dad growing up as the second youngest of nine children with two parents who were largely emotionally checked out, and even with money he still had a certain scarcity mindset that he passed on.

I feel like now that my husband has money, he focuses on using it and enjoying it in ways he never could when he was younger.

I was born poor, but my wife came from a rather affluent family. Today, I’m financially secure, but old habits die hard for both of us. She always complains when we go grocery shopping because I’m still comparing prices, checking the discount aisle and looking for specials, while she just grabs whatever she wants.

Need cloths? Thrift store. Need furniture? Habitat for humanity. Need a random appliance like a coffee maker? Check out either of those places.

If I needed anything I'd just order what I needed off Amazon. She'd make a list and go hunting for 2nd hand deals.