a guide to writing lower class (american) living/habits
-saving things. some people save containers (sour cream, jars, juice bottles, etc), some people save twist ties, but things that should be disposable aren’t usually disposed of. more examples would be: reusing ziplock bags, disposable coffee cups, scrap paper, cardboard shipping boxes, etc.
-giving away items you could throw away. shampoo doesn’t work well on your hair? you ask your sister if she wants to try it, even though you’ve used a third of it. you already spent the money, so you aren’t going to waste it. gifted food at a housewarming you won’t eat/allergic to? give it away, even if it’s only a serving or two.
-furniture doesn’t usually match. sure, over the span of a couple years living in the same place, you might replace a chair with something that matches what you already have, but necessity trumps aesthetic. if you find a nice arm chair at a thrift store for twenty bucks, and you’re having family over in a week, a mismatched chair is better than no chair.
-large freezers. a lot of lower class families will have giant chest freezers, because they won’t waste food, and if the thanksgiving turkies are 75% off in december, they’re going to buy six of them. investing in a chest freezer is usually better than not.
-kids share rooms, even if they’re opposite gender. i’ve known a lot of large families who had six kids and three bedrooms. parents took one, the youngest three in one, the older three in the other, regardless of gender. sometimes there isn’t enough space to split them up, and in conservative places this can be seen as taboo, but it’s necessity so it’s overlooked.
-an eight person family might have one car, and it’s probably a mini van. if only one parent works, they might commute with public transport, or work walking distance/carpool. if it’s a smaller family with one car, the working parent (if there’s only one) might take the car, and the stay at home parent and kid(s) will commute via public transport.
-a lot of families have two working parents, and the kids will often stay home alone at a younger age than is expected. sometimes this is for an hour or two after school, sometimes it’s a working day at a time. if they’re younger, families will often come together to have “playdates” with other kids while the parents work, and sometimes schedule around each working parents’ schedule to trade off where they can.
-a lot of young families will live with their parents/siblings/family if they have the space, while the kids are young. this allows the parents to work, while grandparents/other family can watch the child(ren) often for free. sometimes this goes on longer, but i’ve known a lot of families who raised their kids for the first 1-5 years in their parents’ basements.
-a lot of private schools have family plans, meaning the more kids from the same family you send there, the lower the cost. this means some very poor/low class families can send four kids to private school. a lot of their classmates come from middle/upper class families, though, and there is an obvious disconnect between them.
-this is more well known, but hand-me-downs and thrifts. younger siblings will have gotten their older siblings’ clothes their entire life. a new piece of dress clothing once in a while, maybe, but almost exclusively hand-me-downs. older siblings will get a lot of thrifted clothing, some new clothing, and as a teen will probably get clothes passed down from a parent if they’re similarly sized.
-church/school/community events give out free food. your family will be going, because it’s one less meal to pay for.
-a teen’s first car will almost guaranteed be an old family car, like a mini van or your dad’s work truck. this won’t necessarily be when you get your license, but well after. you’ll be coordinating with your parents for when you can take their car for a couple months/years first. if you get a car of your own, it will probably be 3k$ and have a permenantly on check engine or tire light, and you’ll probably pay for it yourself, with some help from your parents.
-events like prom or homecoming for a teen will often be dependent on if they can pay for it themselves. $50 is a lot for a ticket to prom, and parents can’t afford to pay for that, the dress/suit, etc. your attire will probably be used, thrifted, or hand-me-down. still, parents will often try to help and get you to those events, even if it’s hard.
-in some situations, a teen may help pay for the cost of living for the family. it’s not super common, but it definitely happens, especially in close-knit families.
-you might expect a lower class family to have a small, empty house, as they can’t afford to pay for extras, but a lot of these houses will be crowded. if an item is free or cheap, it’s taken. things are saved.
-parents may or may not help pay for a child’s college. it’s very case-to-case basis. sometimes they’ll have a college fund started from a young age, sometimes not, sometimes they did and had to dip into it throughout the years. more than likely, especially if there’s more than one child in the family, they will not pay for the entirety of their child’s college, and the child will have to go through FAFSA, scholarships, etc.
im sure there will be more eventually, but for now, this is all i’ve got. thanks, and happy writing! <3
