QA問答：在美國，有家可歸的窮人是如何生活的？_風聞

【來源龍騰網】

評論原創翻譯：

Angel Nowak

I can’t speak for others, only for myself. I’m a 55 year old, disabled woman, living on SSI and food stamps. After I pay my bills on the first, I’m lucky if I have $20 or $30 left, which usually goes for necessities like toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo and other such things.

I haven’t really bought any new clothes is 30 years. Occasionally, I will get something at Goodwill or a yard sale. I buy the cheapest bra I can find, and wear it until it falls apart. The cheapest $3-5 shoes at Walmart. I can never find shoes or bras at Goodwill or yard sales. (I need size 11 womens shoes, and a 48D bra, not easy to find.) My current shoes have lasted me 4 years now. They have holes in the bottom and toes, but I still wear them, because I can’t afford new ones right now.

我不能代替別人説話，只能為自己説話。我是一名55歲的殘疾婦女，靠SSI和食品券生活。在我付完所有必須的賬單後，如果我還能剩下20或30美元，我就很幸運了，這些錢通常用來買衞生紙、洗碗皂、洗髮水等必需品。

我已經30年沒有買過新衣服了。偶爾，我會在Goodwill或舊貨拍賣會上得到一些東西。我買了我能找到的最便宜的胸罩，然後一直穿到它散架。沃爾瑪最便宜的3-5美元的鞋子。我在Goodwill或舊貨拍賣會上找不到鞋子或胸罩。（我需要11號的女鞋和48D的文胸，不容易找到。）我現在的鞋已經穿了4年了。它們的底部和腳趾都有洞，但我仍然穿着它們，因為我現在買不起新的。

New stuff is a luxury. Last time I bough a piece of furniture, it was a used loveseat I got for $25, nearly 20 years ago. No new pots or pans. No new dishes. No new electronics. I still have a PS2, one of the big ones, not the small ones you can sometimes find. My cell phone makes calls, and sends texts. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll get a smart phone before I die!

I’m reluctant to toss things out if I think I can use it for something else. A ripped sheet? If I can’t sew it, I’ll cut it up and use as cleaning rags, or a patch for something else, or I’ll make a pillow case with it. Empty jars can store other things in it. Soap slivers can be turned into liquid soap or mushed into a larger bar.

新東西是一種奢侈。我最後一次買到的一件傢俱，是我花了25美元買的二手情侶座椅，差不多是在20年前。沒有新的鍋碗瓢盆。沒有新的餐具。沒有新的電子設備。我仍然有一個PS2，一個大的，而不是你們看到的那種小的。我的手機只能打電話、發短信。也許如果我幸運的話，我能在死前得到一部智能手機！

我認為它還能用，所以我不願意扔掉它。破牀單？如果我縫不好，我會把它剪成碎布，或者做其他東西的補丁，或者用它做枕套。空罐子裏可以存放其他東西。肥皂條可以變成液體肥皂，也可以做成糊狀，做成更大的肥皂條。

I’m careful when I shop. I always buy marked down stuff. I buy dented cans and damaged boxes. We have a salvage grocery that sells the stuff pretty cheap. When I buy meat, I always repackage it into smaller portions. Then I use meat as more of a side dish or accent, not the focus of the meal. Instead of pork chops with a side of rice, I cut a chop into small pieces and mix it into the rice with some veggies and spices.

Pretty much, if there is a way to reuse something, it gets reused. If I can stretch a meal, I will. It’s a careful balancing act.

我購物時很小心。我總是買打折的東西。我買凹陷的罐頭和破損的盒子。我們這有一家廢品雜貨店，賣的東西很便宜。當我買肉時，我總是把它重新包裝成小份。然後我把肉更多地用作配菜或調味，而不是正餐的重點。我將排骨切成小塊，並將其與一些蔬菜和香料混合在米飯中，而不是吃排骨配米飯。

基本上，如果某個東西可以被重複使用，它就會被重複使用。如果我能飽餐一頓，我會的。這是一個謹慎的平衡行為。

Anonymous

I will add that non-homeless poor Americans have slowly increasing debt and no savings. They don’t have retirement savings, they don’t have a college fund for their kids, they have multiple credit cards that they are carrying balances and they buy cars and vacations using payment plans. Sometimes, they have a mortgage and they are making the payments on time. If they paid off their home (which is often old and in not so great shape), they may be easily tempted to tap into that equity with a new loan.

我想要補充一點，在美國，有家可歸的窮人的債務正在緩慢增加，他們沒有儲蓄。他們沒有退休儲蓄，他們的孩子沒有大學基金，他們有多張信用卡，他們以卡養卡，用來購買汽車和支付度假資金。有些人有抵押貸款，他們會按時還款。如果他們還清了自己房子的貸款（房子通常是舊的，而且樣子不太好），他們很容易被誘惑，抵押房子去做新的貸款。

Often, being a non-homeless poor person is a balancing act: borrowing from Peter to make just enough of a payment to Paul to get Paul off their back for the next month, searching high and low for new ways to get a few hundred dollars in credit and depositing payments in the mail on the exact day so the creditor will post it just before a late payment is due but late enough so a deposit has as much time as possible to clear.

They work all the time to break even, never getting ahead. Or they don’t work and just scrape by on whatever charity or government assistance comes in.

通常，成為一個有家可歸的窮人就是在玩弄平衡：向彼得借錢，然後支付保羅一筆足夠的錢，下個月向保羅借錢來擺脱困境，到處尋找新的可以借貸幾百美元的信貸，然後在當天將其存入還款賬户，債權人就可以在還款到期日之前扣款，只要時間足夠，所有的借款都能在足夠多的時間內結清。

他們總是為了收支平衡而努力，但從未取得成功。或者他們不努力，只靠慈善機構或政府援助勉強度日。

John Garner

I know some that live a quite comfortable life. They own their own home. They get social security retirement benefits plus their work retirement payment each month. If married, both get two retirement checks per month. They may not drive around a Bentley, but they do quite well.

我知道有些人生活得很舒適。他們有自己的家。他們每月領取社會保障退休福利和工作退休金。如果已婚，兩人每月都會收到兩張退休支票。他們可能不會開賓利，但他們過得很好。

Allison Dang

I have a whole bunch of techniques I acquired from my parents, who grew up during the Great Depression—saving most everything for re-use, shopping at thrift stores or wholesale outlets, wearing “hand-me-down” garments, learning to do and make things rather than paying people to do them or buying ready made, etc.

My mom used to say it was a good thing I was a “Starving Student” for so long because it prepared me for being a “Starving Musician”.

我從父母那裏學到了一整套技巧，他們在大蕭條時期長大，把大部分東西都保存起來，以備再次使用，在舊貨店或批發店購物，穿着舊衣服，學習做東西，而不是花錢買現成的東西，等等。

我媽媽過去常説，我當了這麼長時間的“飢餓的學生”是件好事，因為這讓我做好了成為“飢餓的音樂家”的準備。

But now I’ve discovered that because I try to help other people, other people help me. Lots of people have given me clothes, food, furniture, plants, masks; offered advice or help with tasks, repairs, problems; recommended me for jobs, told me about opportunities so if I didn’t need them myself, I could pass the word along to others. I like to think we take care of each other. So if someone needs something they don’t have, I try to give it or refer them to someone else who can help. We barter and trade and give.

但現在我發現，因為我試圖幫助別人，別人也會幫助我。很多人給了我衣服、食物、傢俱、植物、口罩；提供建議、幫助完成任務、維修、解決問題；向我推薦工作，告訴我機會，所以如果我自己不需要這些機會，我可以把這個信息傳遞給其他人。我喜歡人們互相照顧。所以，如果有人需要一些他們沒有的東西，我會盡量給他們，或者把他們介紹給其他可以幫助他們的人。我們以物易物，交換和給予。