Noone had phones, cars, refrigerators or showers in my childhood neighbourhood, so I'm reading and going - whoah did people really have all that stuff? My dad worked one full-time job and two part-time jobs at the same time - and organised community events around music, playacting, crafts and stuff. No tv or internet to waste time.
Mum and me grew all our food and eggs - just meat one day a week and a box of sugar, flour essentials. Only heating in the dining room, and clothes hung all winter over the stove in the kitchen.

They lacked ease. I don't think ease was even a remote place in their imagination. Just drive on, keep the roof on, take care of the old people.

I didn't think that was poverty. But once I got a scholarship to a fancy school, teachers started nagging me about my socks being the wrong colour, my homework book not being immaculate AND especially about my long hair being untidy. I didn't feel ashamed of my family, I just thought that the teachers were scary and crazy.

The poverty was noone confronting my dad about his extreme violence because he had also grown up with a dad and a boss (when he left school at 13) who were violent men... "because he was such a good provider".

Then more recently poverty for me was about not having any food at all but still having to pay local tax or have my stuff repossessed. The stress of being hungry, having a pot of pennies on the mantle piece, of having to walk everywhere or never being able to accept a social invitation, of never being able to make one single budget mistake or the whole month would be in ruins.

It's the constant anxiety of poverty, and not being able to get on help programs because I don't have kids so I don't qualify for needing food.

Now for the time being I'm ok, and I'm very grateful!