I wasn't quite that poor, and it was a long long time ago, and it still feels weird to look at my bank balance. A part of me still always fears that is will be taken away.
I broke into the middle class over 20 years ago, but I still have a constant nagging fear that this is all temporary and that life will bring me back at any moment.
I've done a lot to mitigate it though. My savings include a cash position that could get me (my family) by for over a year of unemployment if necessary. I have a good retirement savings. My son has a large college fund. I've also not been afraid to spend money on things that make me happy even if it's frivolous.
I don't feel like I don't belong in my position. It's just a worry that it could be fleeting, and I don't think that's ever going to be completely out of the back of my mind.
I felt the same way, like I deserve to be stuck back where i was but I know it’s just the guilt of who I have left behind. Nowadays since I have a great job and my gf is from a nicer background where she never went hungry and her family could buy cars from Acura or Lexus but not to where they could vacation every year. She knows where all the nicer restaurants, clothing stores, and everything else nicer is which helps me forget the places I used to go to. I feel safe knowing I’m doing all I can to never be poor again, and that she is how she is because it alleviates a side of me that is stuck is poor mode but has moved on. Idk if it makes sense but being with someone who was never poor helps me cope better with the guilt of how being poor was for me.