Childhood memories of growing up poor in Australia

WHAT childhood memory made you realise you were poor? Some of our readers share what it’s like to grow up poor in Australia, and the responses are heartbreaking.

Child actor Freddie Highmore (Charlie) and David Kelly (Grandpa Joe) in a scene from the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - movies

A POST asking people to recall the childhood moment they realised they were poor went viral on Reddit last week and some of the responses were truly heartbreaking.

We decided to ask our readers to describe what growing up poor was like in Australia and it’s difficult not to be touched by the resilience, love and gratitude expressed in the posts.

Here are a few of the best. Read them all here.

Deborah Dix: “Mum buying ‘dog bones’ from the butchers to make stew. Stale bread cubes, hot milk and sugar for breakfast. She was amazing my Mum — I learned so much from her. I actually never felt “poor” ever. Nan used to get jumpers from second hand shops and I’d help wind the recycled wool on kitchen stools legs so she could knit us jumpers for winter ...”

Melany Mclean: “Using newspaper for toilet paper”

Rebecca Howe-Ologhlen: “I remember finding 5 dollars in Kwinana once and I handed it over to my mum to get us some dinner”

Trevor Lawrence: “School books wrapped in Xmas paper and newspaper”

Adam Houghton: “When mum gave me breakfast and I was 6, and I screamed that I wanted sugar on my weetbix. So my dad went through the street gutters to see if there was change in them so he could go buy some. More so now I think about that, as I’m now a dad, have my job, have good savings and realise how unimportant sugar is in the grand scheme — but to my dad it was.”

“We used to be dirt poor but because of our mum who showed us that money isn’t everything and you work for what you want, we are better from it.”

Blake Gilmore: “I remember that mum wanted to go out with friends one night. This was something that never ever happened because she could not afford it. The day before the only time I can remember she went out, she bought me a surfing DVD so I could watch it while she went out. Little did she realise we did not own a DVD player. So she took me into “The Good Guys” and bought a $49 DVD player with the $50 she had put aside to go and see her friends. She didn’t end up going out and we sat on the couch together and watched the surf DVD 3 times in the one night. We also used to eat hot chip sandwiches for dinner which was $2 of hot chips and $1 loaf of bread. I always wondered why she never ate while we were eating but I look back on it and see that it was because she wanted her 2 boys to eat before she ate anything. I have the most amazing mother in the whole world who always put her 2 kids first. Maria Gilmore you’re the greatest.”

Cody-Renee Mackrill: “My dad left when I was 5, leaving my mum with 4 kids, had to sell the house which she got barely next to nothing. We moved into a smaller rental, we never wanted to go on school excursions or out to eat, we knew she couldn’t afford it. Mum always found the excursion letters scrunched up in the bottom of the school bag or rubbish bin. One time, she went out and hired me an awesome peasants dress to go to Old Sydney Town, paid the excursion fee and worked 7 days a week over 13 hours each day to pay for everything. We were always fed before herself, sometimes going without & she made she sure we had everything we needed, Salvation Army really helped us when I was little, especially on Christmas and Easter. She brought us 4 kids up not to be materialistic, now I do the same with my 2 kids. Now she runs a business, my brother is in the army, my sister and I own our own businesses and my other sister works for the government. We used to be dirt poor but because of our mum who showed us that money isn’t everything and you work for what you want, we are better from it. Now I give to the less fortunate, because no one asks or wants to be like that.”

Richard Kelty: “We slept on the floor, grandma and grandpa too. The whole family”

Del Misst: “My family was so poor that in grade 5, I picked the leads of coloured pencils out of the cracks in the wooden classroom floor and used them to colour in a poster for a colouring in competition! My Poster was one of the few chosen to be displayed and awarded a ribbon! My parents were loving parents, just had a sick mum and a factory worker Dad struggling to make ends meet week to week.”

“I picked the leads of coloured pencils out of the cracks in the wooden classroom floor and used them to colour in a poster for a colouring.” Photo: Thinkstock

Moira Coates: “The moment I got my first full time job earning 38 grand a year as a teacher — and realised that I now earned more than my father had ever earned, and he’d supported a wife and 4 kids on that income.”

Petra Harris: “When we first arrived in Oz as immigrants my parents struggled at first, and if we had the money mum would buy a banana and share it with my brother and I. It wasn’t that many years ago when I had no food in the cupboard for my baby because of a husband who didn’t care. I have done it tough at times but learned to make things go a long way now and never waste anything.”

Angie Poulsen: “There were a few years my parents could only afford to give my sister one present each at Christmas time. One year we each got a pillow. The next year we each got a beach towel. It was also some of the most thankful Christmases ever.”

Ritchie McDonald: “I’d ask my parents to stop at McDonald’s on the way home. We arrived at home and they said ‘we’re here!’”

“One year we each got a pillow. The next year we each got a beach towel.”

Leone Fabre: “My first recollection was when I needed a sweater for winter and mum didn’t have the money for such luxuries ... so she asked Legacy to supply me with a sweater.

It was about 1954 and a lady from Legacy knitted me a beige sweater with coloured lines across the top of the pattern. I felt like I owned a million dollars.”

Natalie Arthy: “As kids, we made sure we all got jobs young so we can help with family income. We had a stay at home Dad and a Mum who worked part-time. Second hand clothes, and my first bra was from St Vinnies. We were poor, lived in Logan and couldn’t afford anything extra, no sweets or soft drinks, and Mum made everything home made and we bought in bulk to save $$ at Jack the Slasher. But I have great and fun memories, we did not suffer emotionally and had a loving and caring family.”

Trish Beales Kilburn: “I remember my grandmother telling me she never had a doll as a child as they were too poor, so she had a cob of corn she used to put dresses on and pretended that was her baby. A funny and sad story all in one :’) one Xmas she got a ribbon for her hair and was so excited. Can you even imagine???”

Melany Mclean: “Hiding from the landlord. Having no electricity because mum didn’t have the money to pay the bills.”

“Hiding from the landlord. Having no electricity because mum didn’t have the money to pay the bills”. Picture: Robyne Cuerel

Tegan Milford: “Spending the majority of your childhood living in a caravan, rocking up at people’s houses my bio parents knew around dinner time because they couldn’t afford food.”

Yvette Elliot: “When we finally moved into a house that had a flushing toilet, and I didn’t have to chase cane toads out of the outside shower shed before using it. So, when I was about 12.”

Kate End Bsl Kearney: “Lots of memories of tough times. We would often get food hampers from St Vinnies, my Mum and step Dad wouldn’t eat for days so that us kids could, it was all black and gold brand food. All of our clothes were from op shops. I would always beg to get some designer label clothes but I realise now how much of a financial strain that was for my parents. I remember my parents rebuilding a crappy old ford escort and painting it grey with spray paint and picking me up from school in it. Oh god it was horrible but now I realise it was out only of getting around. When I ever got pocket money I would save it up, only to have to give it back to my Mum for bills or groceries. Mum would get electricity under fake names whenever she couldn’t afford to pay the old bill.”

“We would often get food hampers from St Vinnies.”

Emily Waddie: “When a van pulled up in our housing commission street and put ‘boxes’ on the side of the road on Christmas Eve. All us kids (all the kids who lived in the street) in the street ran down to see what they were doing and they drove off without saying anything. They turned out to be boxes of toys. Every year after we use to sit there an wait, it never happened again but I would love to know who that person was xxx or my mum who would try her best to cook with what she had. She never bought anything for herself. She would make our birthday card out of cardboard and cut things we loved the most from catalogues on the front. makes me sad typing it but all we needed in the end was the values and ethics she instilled. My children are beyond blessed they have their own home, they have toys, books, new shoes every year etc xx”

Jen Fitch: “You know you poor when you got nothing for your birthday. And hand me down clothes. you to share presents.”

Kim O’Connor: “When our Dad brought home this rusty old 26 inch bike from the auction in Geraldton ... we loved it and we loved him so much for trying so hard for Mum and us 4 kids!!!”

Beveanne Thomson: “being one of 8 kids the power has been turned off and not having the latest shoes, I never thought we were poor because we shared every thing, it was only by kids judgment at school that we were consider poor and even today I think my family was better of then some”

“You know you poor when you got nothing for your birthday. And hand me down clothes.”

A common thread in the comments was a sense of gratitude for the efforts that parents took to make ends meet, and a lot of love.

Kelly Ryan: “I don’t think I truly realised how hard it was for my mum and dad until I moved out of home and started my own family. as kids we always had food birthday/Christmas presents warm clothes etc. but I see now how much my parents missed out on things to make sure we had enough.”

Ally Wilson: “I wasn’t financially poor when growing up. Dad worked on a minimum wage. mum used to buy all of our clothes at Kmart we couldn’t afford anything else. dad took bank loans to put us through school. I used to wish my parents could buy me the latest fashion clothes like my friends had but I never asked for them. my parents sacrificed a lot for us kids and too this day I don’t know how mum and dad put 2 kids through private schooling and paid off the mortgage on a minimum wage. we lived very frugally but I had a fantastic childhood mum and dad made sure we didn’t miss out on playing sports, camps and going on picnics over the weekend. I love you mum and dad.”

“I see now how much my parents missed out on things to make sure we had enough.”

Racheal Nagas: “We weren’t well off when I was a kid and there were many times when my parents struggled to feed, clothe us and pay bills. I never remember a time when I didn’t feel loved or safe though. I had an amazing childhood and wonderful parents. It’s also made me appreciate everything I have now.”

And finally ...

Ben McGarity: “We were financially poor ... My childhood rocked though.”