Back when a struggle meal was called dinner on Tuesday.

The opposite of Nouveau Riche: Nouveau Pauvre. They lack the culture of people who were born into poverty.

I legitimately think this is a thing.
I suspect folks who grew up with door dash see it as a normalized service. I grew up poor before it was a thing, and even though I'm financially better now it's only used when we're absolutely pooped.
There are just... So many more entrenched predatory services now that only serve to extract money more efficiently. All that klarna "buy now pay later" stuff? Absolutely deadly if someone doesn't know how to budget.

Full blown shanty town

I grew up on the lower end of middle class. Govnment cheese grilled cheese sammies is definitely something I loved eating as a kid. This forced us to be industrious. My parents gardening, did their own DIY home improvements, woodworking, hunting, and more. They weren't survivalists because of some doomsday shit, but lived this way because we couldn't afford not to if we wanted to live in a house in a big city suburb in the late 80s & 90s. Over time, my mother took on work utilizing the skills she gained doing the stuff for ourselves and we slowly climbed out of the near poverty life and I was able to have nice things in my teens.

I'm now doing well for myself, solidly middle class in this economy and region. But as things are shifting like crazy around us, I just decided to turn my yard into a garden so I can at least feed myself fresh food if shit becomes unavailable or unsafe to eat. If I have to start hunting again, I will.

I'm not panicking, I'm just going to control what I can, and will do my best to have a good life, and will fight for everybody else to have a chance at a good life too.

..he said, drinking his Starbucks coffee

Found a new poor.
Are you implying that the poor should be denied luxury items?
- Are you dumb? thanks
- Aren't luxury items supposed to be high quality?
those don't look like Starbucks cups? Aren't the only brown parts on a smaller sleeve? This cup looks mostly brown?
- These Nouveau Pauvre can't tell a gas station French vanilla from a Starbucks caramel macchiato
- i used "Starbucks" in a "generic expensive coffee to go"- way
Quitting coffee has never make anyone rich. That's not a cost that kills you.
- That's not a cost that kills you.
  For real.
  Some folks have a vice where they can't start a single day without a fancy grande latte or whatever, but mostly when I see that, it's middle-managey types that make more in a month than I'd ever see in my account at any given time.
  How many skipped small vanilla cold-brews or boba teas (+a tip for my fellow working class ✊) buys an average healthcare deductible or car repair beyond my DIY abilities? Heck let's lower the bar...An oil change?
  Just filling the tank costs like 8 enjoyable refreshing coffees. What a lame exchange rate!
  Even if we struggle, it's still okay to enjoy things once in a while.
Stole it.
That's gas station coffee. Talk about new poor.
- oh so there is they also a chance they have a car

Using IASIP for this meme is pretty silly, considering everyone on that show (except for maybe Mac) has a seemingly unlimited amount of money via Frank.

The meme is literally a scene directly from iasip.

Hey, I still regularly troll driveways for stuff they are tossing on trash days.

A relevant discussion on the topic: https://youtube.com/watch?v=05RZJxDIhTU

As someone who went poverty -> comfortable -> not so well off, I can confirm. It was (mentally) easier to get up from the bottom than to deal with the loss and try to do it all over again and risk even further loss.
As the old curse says - May you have and then not have.
- I married a trust fund kid and then got saddled with his credit card debt after he dumped me.
  Got to go on nice expensive vacations, ate ridiculous food on the top of Harrod’s in London. Now I’m making pillows out of old t-shirts because I don’t have a mattress.
  The big lesson I learned is that it actually does not matter how smart, talented or hard working you are. It’s about having rich family.

When people said we needed to focus on. A class war, they weren't trying to tell the middle, lower middle, and lower class to fight each other. Yet here we are

How is the economy what anyone is freaking out about?

I bet you'd start freaking out too if you don't have a roof over your head or food to eat...
- When you can't afford food, fishing regulations are just a suggestion.
- My job is shit I make minimum wage, but dog the fascist right terror regime overshadows that by a longshot.

if they got 5$ coffee for one cup instead of brewing their own, they are not truely poor lol

"ah man I cant afford anything besides the takeout everyday"

"Mansion Trash" lmao