People Who Grew Up Poor And Are Now Rich Are Sharing The "Poor Person" Habits They Still Follow

If you grew up poor, I know you learned some invaluable habits that you will never grow out of, no matter how well-off you become. So, recently, I decided to ask people in our very own BuzzFeed Community to tell me the "poor person" habits they will never, ever stop doing, no matter how rich they get. From money-saving to time-saving to sustainable, these life tips are infinitely useful; so, here are some of the best:

1."Washing and reusing freezer and sandwich bags (if they weren’t used for raw meat). My mom would hand-wash and reuse bags three to four times, so now throwing away a bag after a single use feels so wasteful to me."

2."Licking the bowl after melting chocolate, don’t judge. 😳😅"

3."I lived in Calgary, Alberta during the oil crash as a stay-at-home mom. My husband's income halved overnight. Luckily, we had several amazing, CHEAP wholesale produce places open to the public. I learned to make as much from scratch as I could: gave up processed food because we couldn't afford anything but flour, sugar, produce, eggs, etc. Now I avoid processed food out of preference and own a restaurant where I put a lot of those skills to good use. And lost 220+ lbs in the last decade to boot."

4."Picking coins up off the street. I'm more comfortable now than I was growing up, but I am not above squatting for a nickel! "

5."I put half of my mouthwash in a separate container and fill them both with water. That way I get two bottles for the price of one."

6."I grew up in an immigrant family as the oldest of four kids. Up until I left for college, I grew up in a two-bedroom apartment — my parents in one bedroom, and the four kids in the other (two bunk beds made it doable). My wife and I now own two houses, one that we rent out to a single mom and her kids for less than market value, and another house on a lake that my wife and I live in."

7."I really don't buy anything new. I check thrift stores, and then I check discounted stores, and then I will check to see if there are sales on the item, and if I absolutely have to, I’ll buy it new."

—Anonymous

8."Asking myself, 'Do I really NEED that?' for pretty much everything."

"I'm a solidly middle-class adult now, and stable enough that I could buy or do everything I need and 90% of what I want. And yet...I'll fill an online cart with a new pair of jeans and some cute accessories and see the $100+ total... and end up closing the whole tab because the jeans I have are fine and I don't really NEED new earrings or hair clips or whatever.Repeat for pretty much all non-grocery purchases. $6.99 just for the food delivery fee? Ugh...never mind, I'll just eat what I have. $15 per movie ticket, times a family of four? Forget it... we'll wait 'til it comes out on streaming and have a family movie night.The benefit, I guess, is that my retirement accounts (where all the extra money goes) are looking really good!"

—Anonymous, 41, Illinois

9."EVERY plastic bag becomes a dog poop bag or a trash can liner. This includes chip bags, bread bags, ceramic bags, etc."

—Anonymous, 51, Denver

10."I refuse to buy a brand new car. Two years old and someone has paid the lion’s share of the price. With clothing, I still always check the clearance rack or the sales rack first. I rarely, if ever, buy things at regular price if there’s a chance it could be gotten on sale."

11."Buying lightly used things, including clothes, shoes, furniture, etc. I hate paying full price for anything! I could pay for it now since I make six figures, but it’s deeply ingrained in me!"

12."Never throw away the last sliver of soap. Press it on the new bar."

13."I'm going to squeeze every penny's worth out of any product that comes in a bottle, container, or jar. Product packaging is often designed to be wasteful, so you have to buy more, and that deceit — and the waste it creates — really bothers me. So yes, I will slice open that lotion bottle to get the last few scoops, I will add water to the soap/shampoo bottle, and I’ll use a skinny makeup brush to get to the bottom of my foundation bottle. I feel like I’m not letting capitalism win when I use every drop of what I’ve spent my money on."

14."All 'useful garbage' like bottle caps, wrappers, wrapping paper, string, magazines, buttons, etc. make great craft items."

16."When it’s time to clean the fridge of numerous leftovers, I make soup or a tasty ground beef casserole with 'everything' in it. Mom used to call it 'Bubble and Squeak.' Our family loved it!"

17."I cut the bottoms off of my moisture tubes and use a Q-tip to extract the remaining cream. I generally get three or more applications.🙂"

—Anonymous

18."I bike and walk everywhere, and take public transit occasionally. Haven’t had my own car in over 10 years. Even if I hit the lottery and could afford a Ferrari I wouldn’t buy one."

19."A bonafide Q-tip was a treat since brand names were for rich folk, so, to this day, I keep one pack of cheap-o cotton swabs and one pack of legit Q-tips. It's annoying because every time I need a cotton swab I gotta pause to make a $.01 cent mental calculation."

20."We grew up thinking we were quite poor, like, no money for basic things like underwear — we now know we had money, but my mom was obsessed with accumulating wealth, which now she’s selfish about."

"There was never any money for much of anything outside of what she wanted to do. Taking us kids out for a 50-cent McDonald’s cone was a tall order. Anyways, there were many kids in the family (more than cheaper by the dozen….haha) and we gave each other haircuts. My husband makes over a quarter million a year now, and I still cut his hair and I don’t think there’s ever going to be a number that makes me send him to the barber."

—Anonymous, 35, Canada

21."Even though I can afford to pay movers to pack everything I own and move it wherever, I still cannot throw away cardboard boxes in case I suddenly have to move. Growing up poor, my dad’s employment was spotty, which resulted in us having to move relatively quickly every few years. More than once, my things got left behind or thrown away because there weren’t enough boxes or trash bags. That early trauma is hard to shake. Maybe if I were a multimillionaire, I would give up my boxes, but as a thousandaire, I’ll keep 'em."

22.And finally, "I reuse all my jars, from honey to tomato sauce. I wash them and refill them with oats, spices, or whatever is necessary. There is literally no need to buy mason jars or any sort of container."

So, what'd you think? Any habits of your own you want to share? Leave all your opinions and examples in the comments! Or, if you want to share but prefer to remain anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form. Who knows — your story could be shared in a future BuzzFeed article.