Poverty as a middle-class Westerner

The year before last I didn't have quite enough money to live on - so each fortnight I'd have to pay for something 'essential' on my credit card, and just hope some money would come from somewhere to pay it off before it got too out of control. I could've asked for help, but I'm not always good at that, and I had this strong conviction that if other people paid their own way through their studies then why shouldn't I. And when I'm unconvinced about something I find it near impossible to take action for practical reasons alone . . . At the time I wrote down the things I'd come to know through being (relatively) poor, but it wasn't appropriate to blog about it then, as I was still in the midst of bitterness. So here it is - all the unpleasant things you experience, without any of the answers - these are provided them in a series elsewhere. [Here's the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth posts of that series.] I hope that knowing this stuff will help us to empathise with and provide assistance to people in need, in Australia and overseas.

When you're poor you:

• are sick with stress and fear about surviving. Your trouble seems insurmountable. You have difficulty trusting God and not worrying.
• consider how much things will cost before you consider anything else.
• change your lifestyle and do without all sorts of things - in the process realising that many of the things you consider normal are actually middle-class luxuries.
• can't participate in things, or you have to choose the cheaper option, or you have to pretend you can afford it when you can't. You can't be hospitable.
• have to rely on other peoples' generosity and hospitality, knowing you're unable to return any favours.
• are envious of people who live lives full of riches, ease and sophistication.
• are aware that even as a poor Westerner, you're still very rich, and are horrified at true poverty.