A quick way to get a feel for what it's like to be poor is to give up communication and transportation, Teigen said. Getting along without a cell phone or car adds significant time and hassle to your day, he said.

All in all, being poor — even pretending to be poor — makes about everything in life a lot more work, he said. He was quick to note that making more effort isn't all bad.

"We found ourselves spending a lot more time together and being a lot more engaged in mundane tasks," he said. "Because things took more time and attention and because we had no money, we spent more time and attention on one another, the things they say money can't buy. Well, they're right."

Tregeagle said although she had believed prior to the experiment that being poor was rough, "now I know it. It's a trap that anyone can fall into, and one that can be impossible to get out of. Just the slightest thing going wrong — an illness, a car breaking, no gas money, being late to a job interview — will keep the cycle going. I really don't understand why people label the poor as idle or lazy. Being poor is the opposite of taking it easy."

She also said she now has a new word to describe hunger — relentless. "I'm not a big eater anyway, and maybe it was because I couldn't afford more to eat, I felt hungry all the time, and food became the center of everything," she said. "And going without feels a lot different if you don't eat because you're dieting than not eating because you simply can't afford to."

E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com