People who grew up poor share the weird habits that they carried into adulthood

For many in this world who were impoverished during their childhood, life has turned out to be better, making them less worried about finances. However, habits do not die hard. Even after growing into a better financial shape in adulthood, some people keep following the frugal lifestyle they grew up in. Last year, Rachel Gist–who goes by @rachgist on TikTok–shared a video about one of her "weird" frugal habits, which went viral. As she talked about the one stingy habit she could not get rid of even after growing out of poverty, thousands could relate to her and shared how frugality still sticks with them.

Gist joked that her weird habit could be because of an unknown mental health issue, but she was sure that it was mostly because she grew up poor. So, whenever Gist bought some snacks or eatables from the grocery store, she made sure she would not finish all of it. For instance, she showed a cookie box she had just bought and said, "I love them and there are 8 in there. I will eat 7 of them and I will leave one until I buy an entirely new box of 8." She mentioned due to this strange habit, she had a lot of singular items in her pantry. When her husband, who was not poor when he grew up, asks her to buy more rather than leave one, she always says, "But what if we can't?" Though she was not poor anymore, the thought of not being able to afford always concerned her.

Gist's video garnered huge responses and people could not help but agree with her. "So mine was that I didn't have a good childhood. There were locks on the food cabinets, fridge, etc. When my mom would cook and we could actually eat dinner, she would always leave the pans with dinner to cool off and put them away later. So I think because I felt like food was scarce, I would sneak into the kitchen and eat the cold leftovers out of the pans, hungry or not. So now, as an adult, not only do I sleep-eat, but I also prefer my food cold," commented @moonmarie222. "I promise you that when I throw away chapstick and deodorant, there is not a spec of product left. I'm digging it out with a toothpick," wrote @jayleabay.

@nicmill2003 mentioned, "I definitely ration. I get so mad when my husband eats all of something in just a couple of days. It was supposed to last 7 days." For @quakergirl08, it's about saving electricity, "I turn off lights every single time I leave a room or at other people's house when they aren't in the room." @enchantress.111 shared about saving nice clothes and said, "I never had clothes. So I buy clothes and if I really like them, I leave the tags on and never wear them because I'm 'saving them'." For some, it's about saving things that they get for free. For instance, @perks_of_being_ mentioned, "I save sugar packets, coffee, tea, condiments packets, etc. If something is free, I'm saving it and it's not going in the garbage." @lesbian_nextdoor wrote, "I save all napkins, sauce packets, gift bags, gift paper, etc., and sometimes I'll wash out zip locks to reuse."

You can follow Rachel Gist (@rachgist) on TikTok to see more of her hilarious takes on her frugal habits.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 19, 2024. It has since been updated.