[PebblesHD]

Yes, similar to the other responses I found work wherever possible and moved away as soon as I was able to afford it. Having a safe place to then study and focus on school while working made a huge difference, as did eating properly and getting somewhat reasonable amounts of sleep. Its amazing how much other people can notice your mood drop when you haven’t slept or eaten properly and it just becomes another thing they can single you out over...

[tinyegg]

It’s also important not to be singled out as having money available, but I found this to be the case only around other people in poverty with a poverty mindset. It’s best for others in this environment to consider you out-group. If they consider you in-group they will sabotage and belittle your attempts to escape. It’s a delicate balance of seeming different but also poor. If other poor people find out you’ve been saving money they’ll try to take it. They have an odd view of what “having money” is. My mother is almost sixty and thinks if she has five hundred dollars then she has “a lot of money”.

[tomp]

What do you mean by "eating properly"? As in, "enough", or more like, "not McDonald's"?