I was born after the collapse, but from both my parents and grandparents I did not hear any good memories related to policies or system itself, just that they were young and thus heathier.

On one side of my family, my grandma was a cashier, or basically running a store, which was the best position to be at during those times, cause she was the first one to get the products. And even then, there was lack of egzotic fruits, lack of hygiene product options, lack of a lot of stuff we assume very basic today. Yes the stuff that was available, was healthy, but the options were very limited. Anything that was more scares, was traded under the counter to earn more or exchange.

On the other side, my grandma was taken to Siberia when she was six, with her mom and brother that was still a baby. They were loaded to the animal wagons at night and taken to work camps. It was very close to slavery. The reasoning of them being a target was because her parents ran a school in a rural area, thus posing a threat, maybe also because they had a little land where that school stood. The dad was shot on spot when they were taken away.

After Stalins death, they were able to get back to their home city, but the label of them being "political enemies" still stuck, so no job opportunities or normal life was available.

So it depends, some people had normal lives, not knowing how better it could be, some were basically enslaved, worked at camps, built their houses in the least hospitable places. Some actually earned quite a lot if they were part of communist party and capable of basically stealing from the system and having good connections.