My Story

My name is Angel Durr and I am the newest of TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates. I was pregnant when the show aired and have since had a beautiful little girl. I think my story is unique from the Cheapskates featured so far because my background and reasoning is very different from everyone that has been on the show thus far. The show has a habit of showing people in situations without explaining how they got there. I am going to provide you all with my back story so you can understand who we are. 

My mother, featured on the show, was adopted by a lovely pair of black people that grew up in the midst of the depression. She didn’t meet her biological mother until well into adulthood. She was Italian and the man she got pregnant by was black. To this day my mom doesn’t know who her biological father is. Her adopted parents loved her to death, but her adopted mother had no more than a 3rd grade education. My grandmother cleaned the homes of wealthy white society people in Connecticut. She was nothing but a lady, but being a child of the depression, she valued money and worked hard to make it last. My grandmother died when my mom was pregnant with me.

I was the result of a relationship between a man and a woman who were young and unmarried. My parents tried a relationship but my dad was abusive, verbally and physically. Much of the anger was a result of the financial situation we were in. My mom dropped out of high school and so did my dad. Therefore, they worked a variety of odd jobs to keep us afloat. From cleaning movie theaters, to moving pianos, to bogging for cranberries, my parents did it all to keep a roof over our heads. Therefore, I learned how to survive from a very young age. There were times we didn’t have hot water or heat, but we somehow managed to scrimp by. My parents split as a result of the abuse and other negative aspects of the relationship. Drugs were also involved.

My mom couldn’t take me and my younger brother with her when she left my dad because she literally had nothing. This left me and my brother to live with a father who was abusive both verbally and physically. I knew I had to get out. I knew I couldn’t live in a household with someone tearing me down so I begged my mom to stay with her.

I went from staying with my dad in my own room to not even having a bedroom. I had an “area” in the home because  my mom could only afford a one bedroom. Even with so little I was never happier.

I excelled in school, despite being a welfare kid who people thought would ultimately do nothing more than flip burgers. I graduated high school at the top of my class, something neither of my parents could accomplish, but didn’t stop there. I went on to get my BA and graduate with Honors. Then after that Masters, and now PhD. I have probably 2 years left until I graduate. At that point I want to work as a Data Analyst.

I didn’t have the same opportunities as someone who had money. I have been working since I was 16 years old non-stop in addition to going to school. I have been my sole financial support since the age of 16, I even bought my own prom dress in high school.  I made so little back then I decided a car was not a necessity. At that point I started biking everywhere, which I still do today.

I got married 2 years ago and we just had are first child in July 2013. We bought our first home in January 2013. My mom got divorced the prior year and has my two younger siblings to care for. My mom got in some legal trouble as result of hustling to make sure her family had a roof over her head. She can go to jail at anytime now so her and my brother and sister stay with me and my husband and baby. 

The show Extreme Cheapskates has a habit of showing people in crazy situations without telling you how they got there. I have been poor as long as I can remember so I have learned how to survive from both of my parents. Good and bad, they showed me how to make it and be successful, I just choose to utilize my talents differently than they did. I am not materialistic because things will come and go, which they have most of my life, but family is the most important thing. Our futures are not determined by our past.