Although I'm not sure which "first paragraph" you are referring to, I will take the first two paragraphs of when the Spirit of Christmas Present brings Scrooge to Cratchit's house. Here the narrator comments that "Bob had but fifteen 'Bob' a-week himself." This explains how much income Bob Cratchit earned for the family. A "bob" is slang for a shilling, which was 1/20 of a British pound. It's hard for modern American readers to know what this meant, although the way it is presented suggests it is a very low income. According to the source below, in the late 19th century, a family needed 18 shillings a week to get by, and assuming the "get by" rate was a bit lower in 1843 when this book was written, the Cratchit family is at that level of barely scraping by, especially considering that they have several children.
The next paragraph makes the Cratchit level of income more understandable. Mrs. Cratchit wears a "twice-turned gown." That means her dress has been made over twice--she cannot afford new clothing. She has to dress up her outfit with cheap ribbons, as do her daughters. Their son, Peter, has to wear a hand-me-down shirt from his father that is much too large for him because they cannot afford new clothes for their growing son. They are eating potatoes, a cheap food, and have splurged on a goose for the day, showing that they can't afford even mildly expensive foods on a routine basis.
Even if one does not understand the value of the money Dickens talks about, the way that the Cratchits have to skimp on clothing and food shows how poor they are.
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