A poor person’s home is full of making-do habits: free glassware, one warm spot, mismatched towels, a drawer of unpaid bills and more folding chairs than real ones. A home is the sum of everything that has happened in it, and this tongue-in-cheek list reads that sum out loud. It works either as a reminder of where you started or as a wake-up call about where you want to end up.
If you grew up poor and made it out, you will recognise a lot of these. Here are the 15 items in the order the video counts them down, grouped so they are easy to scan, plus a bonus at the end.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 things at a glance
- 1-3. Free glassware, a warm spot and knock-offs (0:25)
- 4-5. Everything crammed and a poster of a former goal (2:31)
- 6-8. Diluted soap, borrowed things and mismatched towels (4:27)
- 9-10. The bill drawer and a house full of people (5:44)
- 11-13. Old work swag, unfinished fixes and the trick to it (7:27)
- 14-15. Too many pets and furniture that never leaves (9:01)
1-3. Free glassware, a warm spot and knock-offs
Number one is glassware that came free with other purchases. Containers get repurposed as Tupperware, and the cookie tin has a better than 80 percent chance of holding nails, sewing materials or batteries and under 5 percent odds of holding cookies. No sauce packet is ever thrown out, because you never know when you might need it. Some homes even keep a restaurant napkin pile for emergencies.
Number two is the warm spot. Heating does not reach the whole house, so a mobile heater sits in the room where you spend most of your time. Wet socks and towels dry on the heating element, and you know exactly where the floor is warm because a hot water pipe runs under it. In winter a bottle of hot water adds heat, and in summer a plastic fan with a strange noise takes over.
Number three is knock-offs and generic products. Everyone in the know can tell the fakes, and the video’s view is that they are not as good on quality or attention to detail. They are fine as a token that one day you will afford the real thing. Cheap shoes with almost-familiar names and cereals with off-brand colours belong here too, because poor households tend to prioritise volume over quality.
Volume over quality is the thread that connects the first three.
4-5. Everything crammed and a poster of a former goal
Number four is a home where everything is crammed. The video offers a rule of thumb: if your front door opens straight into the living room you are probably poor, a small hallway suggests middle class, and the rich have stairs, elevators and several rooms before they reach a living room. Whatever the layout, there is not enough space. Things sit on the floor and on top of the things on the floor, cabinets barely open and the pantry holds stuff you have meant to clear out for years.
Number five is a poster of a former big goal: an exotic car, a singer, a band, sometimes a tiger or a wolf, and lately anime. The video is relaxed about it, since the hosts had posters of the car, the house and the hero they looked up to, too. In fancier settings the same thing is called a vision board, a constant reminder of what you are working toward.
The difference shows up later. Once you rise toward those goals or reach them, the posters come down.
A poster is fine as a reminder, as long as it is a plan in disguise.
6-8. Diluted soap, borrowed things and mismatched towels
Number six is diluted dishwasher soap. Adding water makes more of it, right? It sits near the pot of cooking oil you are saving to reuse, tinfoil covers the stovetop for easier cleaning, and sometimes you eat straight from the delivery box or off napkins to keep the cleanup minimal.
Number seven is something you borrowed and have not given back. Not pens: a board game, a hoodie, a skirt, a yard tool, books and old DVDs you no longer have a player for. Sometimes it is by mistake and sometimes by design. Borrow enough and people get explicit about never lending you anything again.
Number eight is towels that do not match. Every towel is a different colour, and extra points go to the single beach towel you use all the time, decorated with a dolphin, a cartoon or your football team. Folded towels also double as kitchen and bathroom mats.
None of these cost much, which is exactly why they pile up.
9-10. The bill drawer and a house full of people
Number nine is a drawer filled with bills to be paid. Every bill goes in, with the honest intention of paying it. A few weeks later the payment notices arrive and join the pile, until you hold several bills for the same payment and have lost track of what is due when. You try again next month, or wait for the final warning that threatens to cut off the service. That is the one you pay.
The same part of the home usually holds the bag of bags, a collection of shopping bags you forget to take to the supermarket so the number only goes up. There are also the saved good bags, kept apart from the ones you are comfortable using as trash bags. Beneath the drawer sits a section of cables and old electronics, most of which no longer work.
Number ten is roommates or extended family members. It was meant to be temporary while someone gets back on their feet, and roommates help with the rent. Occasionally there are people you do not know in the house, brought over by someone, who may or may not be eating your food or staying the night. You are used to it.
Paying only when the final warning arrives is the costliest habit on the list.
11-13. Old work swag, unfinished fixes and the trick to it
Number eleven is branded clothing and swag from former workplaces. You still wear the shirt despite no longer working there, and some basic tees are more than a decade old. Free calendars and gifts from local election season pile up because you do not dare throw them away.
Number twelve is unfinished renovations and mold. Construction was needed and the place never went back to normal. Exposed brick gets passed off as industrial style, faulty wiring is held up by duct tape, one window does not open and the blinds are missing panels. Faucets are crusty, mold or water damage shows in easy-to-reach places, and you wait for the water to go from brown to clear before using it.
Number thirteen is the there’s-a-trick-to-it functionality. You jiggle the handle to make it work, or fix a stubborn device by slapping it, though the video notes that this generation moved the habit from humans to electronics. You probably also own a weird, maybe homemade tool for reaching, opening or getting something to work.
When every object needs a trick, the home is running on workarounds.
14-15. Too many pets and furniture that never leaves
Number fourteen is more pets than you are supposed to have: an oversized dog for the space, or several cats breeding with one another, sometimes both. You have gotten used to the smell. Your dog once bit someone, and you told yourself it was temporary while you look for a good home for them. People are starting to notice.
Number fifteen is never-to-be-thrown-out furniture and folding chairs. Somebody was moving or offered free furniture as long as you handled the transport, so you took it. Now the house is a mix of pieces that do not fit, the main table is small and there are not enough chairs for visitors. When guests come you gather every chair in the house, and the outdoor set is probably white or faded. A beer crate or keg may still serve as a step stool.
You do not get to choose where you start, but you do have a say in where you end up.
The bonus: expired food, and a clear-out
The video’s bonus item is expired food, since the date is treated as a mere recommendation. It is also why people from these homes distrust products or medicine that arrive without packaging. Some sauces in the fridge expired in 2022.
The advice that follows is practical: go through the old junk, throw away what should go and donate clothes you no longer wear. Less clutter at home, the video says, contributes to your mental well-being. The list is meant to be funny, but the last line is the point: where you start is not a verdict on where you finish.
FAQ
What are common signs of a poor household?
The video lists free glassware, one warm spot heated by a portable heater, knock-off products, crammed rooms, a drawer of unpaid bills, mismatched towels and plenty of folding chairs. They are habits of making do rather than a verdict on anyone.
Why do poor homes tend to be crammed with stuff?
The video’s view is that poor households prioritise volume over quality, so items accumulate: free furniture, old electronics, bags of bags and swag from past jobs. Little space and little money to replace things keep it all in place.
What is the bag of bags?
It is a bag where you keep all your other bags, but you forget to take them to the supermarket, so the number only grows. Many people also set aside a few good bags that are separate from the ones used as trash bags.
What is the difference between a poster and a vision board?
The video treats them as the same idea. A poster of a car or house you want is just a vision board in fancier settings, a constant reminder of what you are working toward, which people tend to drop once they reach those goals.
How can you declutter a home that feels like this?
The video suggests going through all your old junk, throwing away what should be thrown away and donating clothes you no longer wear. It says this reduces clutter and contributes to your mental well-being.
Keep reading
- 15 Things Poor People Don’t Know About Making Money
- 15 Money Habits That Keep You Poor
- 15 Things Broke People Always Have Money For
