When You are Poor, Little Things Mean a Lot

It can lead to a greater appreciation of life in general.

Spending splurgePhoto byCartoon by Lambert-King

There is an art to being poor. My wife and I have been poor for most of our married life before becoming slightly less poor in the last few years. The difference between being poor and slightly less poor is noticeable in subtle ways. But in ways that make life a little bit better.

We’re going out to eat!

When our kids were growing up and we went out to eat, that sometimes came with a caveat. Before going into a lower priced to mid-lower priced eating place, my kids would ask, “Are we drinking water?”

If I was particularly flush, the answer would be no, you can have pop. Oh, happy days!

Generally, as we started doing a little better financially, we would go to a restaurant that featured a buffet. This led to some decision making. Could we do enough damage to the buffet to make it worth ordering the buffet as opposed to ordering of the menu?

How hungry are you kids?

My wife was pretty much a non-factor, but there was always the question of if they had stuff she preferred on the buffet as opposed to the menu, thus taking the financial equation out of play. A lot of thinking went into going to a restaurant.

It actually reminded me of my friends’ dad when going to a buffet.

General Patton takes the Golden Corral.

Two of my best friends growing up were brothers. They had a sister and of course their mother and father. When it came to buffets, their dad was an analytical sort. He would map out the visit like it was a military campaign.

It would go something like, “Okay boys, your mother and sister aren’t going to eat much so it’s up to us. Stay away from the salad. that’s just filler. Concentrate on the meat. Based on that strategy, he hoped to do better than the gambler, who just broke even by dying in his sleep.

Of course, overeating at a buffet is a good way to die in your sleep.

Dinner and a movie!

Sounds exciting right? Well maybe not, but for the Lambert family it was. Of course, the movie was the dollar show. And dinner? That was popcorn and a soft drink. And the dollar show offered great values on those items.

You could get a 55-gallon drum of popcorn for a decent price, but the kicker was free refills. As for the soft drink, you could also get a keg of a soft drink for a decent price, and it too offered free refills!

So, we would get the drum of popcorn, a keg of soft drink and four straws and let the good times begin!

And a special thanks to PanPan

Back in the 90s Little Caesar’s PanPan was a good deal. While it might not have been the best, I liked it, and could occasionally afford.

Plus, a shout out to Taco Mayo who had the cheapest tacos around. Once again, not the best tacos, but 24 of them would fill the family up.

I eventually went on to Taco Bell, but recently put them on my blacklist after spending $12 on a meal that didn’t fill me up. Things are a little better now that I’m slightly less poor and can afford it, but it’s the principle of the thing. Okay, it’s the money.

What will tomorrow bring?

Maybe I’ll eat at Mazzio’s, Subway, or even the local rib place. That’s right, I can take my family to any of those places. I’ve got coupons.