Poor Person Explains What Invisible Poverty Looks Like To His Rich Friend
The ‘American Dream’ rides largely on the idea that you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find success, but the reality that many Americans find themselves in proving that it’s not that easy. In a long heartfelt Tumblr post user rrojasandribbons described a conversation they had had with one of their more privileged friends on why it was so difficult to escape poverty.
The friend could not believe that the poster had experienced such hardship like living on food stamps before, as they didn’t fit the image of what poverty line people look like or understood why they couldn’t have just “save money” to get out of it. Scroll down below to read this thorough and thoughtful explanation of the reality of escaping the poverty cycle.
Poverty is defined as when people “lack the means to satisfy their basic needs.” These needs can be explained from a more narrow perspective of what is necessary for survival or in a broader sense, the ability to maintain the standard of living for one’s community. A cycle of poverty is when poor families remain so for three or more generations.
When people imagine low-income people much of the time, they have a caricature of a dirty face with ripped clothing, living in the city, but if you look at the data, this image falls completely out of line with the full picture. In 1960 Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty that focused resources on inner-city and rural areas, but in 2000 there was a geographical shift of poverty – to the suburbs.
According to a May report from the Pew Research Center, in the U.S suburban counties have experienced sharper increases in poverty than urban or rural counties since 2000. This change makes suburbanization of poverty one of the most important demographic trends within the last 50 years. Unfortunately, suburbs lack the same resources to respond to the growing poverty that the cities do.
Necessary life expenses can be debilitating when you are living in the poverty cycle – especially health issue ones. To put it in perspective the cost for insulin, the shot for people with diabetes, doubled from 2012 to 2016 from $2,864 annually to $5,705. Meanwhile, the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) found that, on average, Canadians spend more than $1,500 Cdn per year on diabetes medications, devices, and supplies.
Other people online have echoed this message before
Image credits: TayZonday
And shared their experiences
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Share on Facebook"The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice runs thus: At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots, the sort that would last years and years, cost fifty dollars. This was beyond his pocket and the most he could hope for was an affordable pair of boots costing ten dollars, which might with luck last a year or so before he would need to resort to makeshift cardboard insoles so as to prolong the moment of shelling out another ten dollars. Therefore over a period of ten years, he might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet. Without any special rancour, Vimes stretched this theory to explain why Sybil Ramkin lived twice as comfortably as he did by spending about half as much every month." -- Terry Pratchett
This paragraph right here turned Pratchett into one of my favourite authors. I've tried to explain this concept to my dad for years, but now that my parents are a little better off he still keeps buying cheap stuff that he needs to replace often, instead of something that would last.
Load More Replies...It’s not about saving five dollars here and there. A truly, actually poor person is guaranteed to be behind on more than one bill, always, at all months. Any spare five dollars is just part of catching up on whatever is the furthest past due.
True. Having a few hundred dollars in savings is not a reality for most low income people. You are forever behind on bills, and if an emergency occurs, you end up pawning something, or taking out a payday loan. And that's a trap that keeps you further and further behind.
Load More Replies...What the OP said. And anyone who says, "Just go to college" or "just do (fill in blank)" is so blessed that they have *no* idea how blessed/lucky they are... and still probably only one bad day away from the situation they disparage.
And those same people will have no sympathy when you have thousands of dollars in college loans to pay back.
Load More Replies...My favorite statement of ignorance is, "Just get a job." As if there are hundreds of them out there that pay a living wage with benefits and all the trimmings just waiting for any old person to walk in and take without the red tape getting in their way. I currently have a phenomenal job that pays the bills and I love it.
Yes. I also love it when people get mad at poor people being "picky" about which jobs they get. I will do any job to pay the bills, but I can't justify driving 100 miles one way for a low paying job. I'm not being picky; I literally cannot afford to take that job. My car can't handle that. I can't handle that. Someone actually asked why I didn't just move closer. Why, and how, would I do that? I have taken 'out of town' jobs before, and just slept in my car, but no one should have to do that.
Load More Replies...:( Being poor is hard. I lived in relative poverty as a child (single mom, alcoholic/absent dad, social housing). But we had support, there was always financial aid available. Eventually, we were better off than that later (our moment of "we made it" was when we went to shop at IKEA for the first time). I have now a normal job and it feels like I'm living the dream. However, I cannot imagine how it must be to be poor in the US. Being poor in Germany was tough, lonely, but managable. Being poor in the US means that you need to pay for basic human rights (healthcare, sickness, education - none of that affects you financially when you're in Germany). This is some next level sh!t and I'd bet that there'd be a revolution in that system if the people affected by poverty weren't so damn busy just trying to keep themselves and their dependants alive. This is so messed up.
All of my life, my mother has been on disability (she was 41 when I was born, and when I was six months old, she suffered an accident with a horse). She received welfare. My father worked morning to night for his parents, who hardly paid him. Our house should have been condemned, and we couldn’t afford to pay for it. Twice, our power was cut off. The second time, it lasted for three or four years. My mom left my dad, I went with her. I only get clothes because the government helps us, but half of the money we get, my mother uses so she can have clothing as well. We can’t afford to wash them when we need to; we have to rewear stuff. My dad only got his power back on a few years ago. We live paycheck to paycheck. Mom and I have to scrape at the end of the month. I know a level of poverty myself, and always have. And I’m used to it. I’m working age, but still a minor, but I can’t drive. My iPad was given to me by the school. I get a lot of help, and I know I’m not on the lowest (cont...)
- lowest level of poverty. But I understand it. It’s difficult. And you can’t just save to get out of it.
Load More Replies...My husband's illness (Crohn's disease) beggared us along with a whole bunch of medical bills for bowel surgery that he had. He eventually committed suicide after they hooked him on opioids.
Wow. These are the realities of poverty, but because you guys may have went to the movies or had new pants, people dismiss it or say you deserved the poverty. I’m very sorry about your loss.
Load More Replies...My parents make enough money that it puts us in the middle class area, but because of their huge amounts of debt and my dad's constant health problems, I've had to take out loans for every year of college. I work a part time night job from 9:30pm to 2:30am on top of taking 18 hrs a semester, I pay for rent and groceries, have no savings, and am looking into selling plasma so I have a safety net. I've even had to visit the Paw Pantry which is a store of free non-perishable items for students in financial trouble. I’m also going to group therapy every week since it’s covered by tuition and struggle with anxiety and depression. I have to somehow maintain financial stability, mental stability, academic success, and my physical health. I’m doing my best to thrive instead of just survive.
You sound like someone determined and capable. Take any help offered (be mad not to) but it will be YOU that gets you through all of this.
Load More Replies...I'm a single Mom and I fit into the poor to lower middle class range. And I find that I struggle the most when I make bad decisions and try to live above my means. I do not struggle to put food on the table. But I have to be really careful and stick to a budget and not give in to wants. Also I sacrifice stuff that I need so I can provide for my child. I'm lucky because I have a job with insurance. He needs braces though and so I'm not sure where that money is going to come from. We'll make it somehow. :)
I am a single mom too and I do not overindulge. I simply do not have enough money to cover my basic needs. Last month I made $1,600... With the rent over $1,1K and phone & internet bills, gas, food, I do not have to make sacrifices - there's just no room for them. One cannot make "bad decisions" when your total $$ earned are less than what you need to cover basic needs. Yeah, I guess I can go to a bar and get drunk instead of paying rent, but it does not really matter when you don't make enough. You are screwed anyways.
Load More Replies...We were middle class but still poor. My parents had lower paying blue collar jobs and each worked 50+ hours per week. Even with the both of them working, money was tight. We wore hand-me-downs and never ate out. We didn't have cable, electronics, or the latest and greatest new toy. There was no such thing as disposable income when I was growing up, but we were never hungry and we always had a safe, clean roof over our heads. Things were starting to look up when they managed to save up for a down payment on a small house. Then my father got cancer and passed away at the ripe old age of 49. Suddenly my mother was a single mom with 2 kids in middle school, a mortgage, and car payments. It looked like we were fine but it was a House of Cards. I will never know how Mom did it all. People blame the Poor because they weren't doing all that they could to have more. My experience shows that you can be doing all the right things and still get shoved down by the unexpected.
Part of the problem about the middle class is they don't understand what being poor for prolonged periods of time really means. It means you don't have a wardrobe full of good clothes, it means you don't have a well-maintained car, it means you don't have quality furniture and appliances that don't break down, it means you don't have good bedding and curtains in your house to keep warm, it means you don't have a stock of food in your cupboard and freezer that you bought in bulk on sale 4+ weeks ago. It's one thing to go from having a stable job with a good income and all of your built-up assets and being unemployed for 6 months, so you have some of that built-up capital you can depreciate without replacement, compared to being in precarious / low-paid employment for 5 years and then losing your job for 6 months.
It means only eating pasta and rice for weeks, because you save the better foods for your child. It means not being able to treat yourself to a snack because you don't have money for it. I crave cheese - and I have not had cheese for weeks now, because it is not essential and my daughter does not eat it, so with whatever money I have I buy food for her. I cannot afford the goddamn cheese! Yeah, I do not go hungry and my kid gets all nutrient she needs. But aside from calorie count a person needs some satisfaction - and I cannot afford it.
Load More Replies...America, home of the working poor. Where companies like Walmart expect the government to give their staff food stamps because they grossly underpay everyone.
Yes and it would take a price increase of less than one cent per item to give everyone who works for Walmart a living wage. They destroyed small towns and small businesses.
Load More Replies...All in all - it sucks to be poor in the USA. In most of EU medicine is mostly free and you get paid if you're sick and can't work. Education in many cases is also free. And there's a lot of jobs with good wages that doesn't require to be a rocket scientist.
In the United States, you don't get paid if you are ill? In my country you still get full pay, because it is not your fault that you are sick. Otherwise, in some ways at least, I can relate to this. I have been saving for years and barely have enough to cover e.g. a broken washing machine. Rents are high and I will never save enough to buy my own place. So from my small salary, I am making someone else more rich. I am thankful to have a home, but sometimes I wonder how I could get out of this cycle.
It depends on your job. Most people here have bad jobs, so they don’t get paid days off. My last job was mediocre and after two years of working there, they finally gave us 3 paid sick days per year.
Load More Replies...It's easy to be contemptuous of the poor, to despise those on the public dole as "welfare queens" when you don't know of their struggles. Those ignoramuses who rail against welfare, food stamps, etc. need to trade places with the working poor. Even one month of struggling to pay bills and feed a family should awaken them to the reality of poverty. The dork that has the bumper sticker "Keep Working - Millions on Welfare Depend On You" doesn't realize that the real "welfare queens" are rich-a*s corporations getting huge tax breaks and subsidies.
Most of the people against welfare are on some form of welfare themselves.
Load More Replies...Poverty is often multi-generational. Generations of scrapping by in substandard housing and food insecurity is soul deadening. Modern American society, especially social media, paints a false picture of what represents success and it is usually excessive. This either deepens the despair or the determination to rise above it. And one of the saddest things about finally edging OUT of poverty is that, after generations of having nothing, a lot of people have no idea of how to adequately care for those things they can now afford. No one has taught you to how to maintain a washing machine or a lawnmower much less a house. When you are living on the margins your car in working order can determine whether or not you keep your job.
But with the internet or a library if you want to learn, you can. People I knew taught me stuff that I later found out were wrong.
Load More Replies...People who don't understand how it's sooooooooo hard to get out of poverty have a lot to be thankful for!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm lucky, but when I was a kid my family was poor. I KNOW hunger, I KNOW shame. Fortunately, thanks to sacrifices my parents made, my siblings and I are not poor, not rich but not poor.
This hits hard to me, i'm the oldest of 7 children, my parents came here from Italy in the 50's with less than nothing, ww2 had caused immense poverty and problems in their already poor village so they bet everything on a better life here. They were constantly one payday away from being homeless etc, they had no family here, i remember sleeping in the same bed as my siblings top to tail because we couldn't afford another bed, i remember my clothes being worn by my younger brothers, we were lucky we came through it all.
Because they are higher risk, banks have free accounts if you maintain certain minimum amounts, etc.
Load More Replies...Here's the thing; when people who do okay get a bit of extra money they didn't have before, like in a bonus paycheck or raise or lotto winnings, whatever, they then plan a holiday or a massage or whatever. These people aren't rich either, but they're also not aware of how much better off they are than some other people like the ones who when they get a bit of extra money through a raise, or bonus or lotto winnings, whatever, they then get excited about putting milk and tea into the weekly budget or that they can finally get the proper feet-support shoes they've been putting off... I've been both of these. I know when I'm doing okay, but some people I know consider themselves poor because they can't go on a holiday whenever. They're not rich, no, but they can take milk and good foot support for granted.
Great words! I wrote about this a couple of times here in comments, but I will repeat myself - I do not need the money so I can go to a resort (although that would be nice!) or buy fancy clothes - I just want to be able to buy cheese whenever I want. And not even fancy roquefort - I will be happy with Kraft muenster. And I have not eaten cheese in weeks, because it it not essential, my kid does not eat it, so I whatever little $$ I have, I spend on what's good for her. Being not poor for me is not having an apartment on Manhattan and not vacationing at resorts. Being not poor is just as simple as buying myself cheese whenever I crave it.
Load More Replies...Then there's the part where poor people usually also have poor credit which means getting s****y loans at high interest rates on bad cars from the lemon lot. Then they spend an extra car payment on it every few months getting something repaired just to keep it running. There's also the part where they get something turned off because they couldn't pay the bill and now they have to pay insane fees to get their power restored. Being poor is expensive.
people with poor credit also pay higher insurance rates for car and home insurance, perfect driving record poor credit. you get to pay more...
Load More Replies...I'm poor and I'm so damn glad I do not have kids.
My husband is over 6'5" tall. There are no Walmart stores or second hand stores that carry his size.
I had more than one job most of my life in order to escape living from paycheck to paycheck and be able to afford a little more than just basic needs (bills, rent, food, transportation).
What's your point?? I have more than one job, I have a bachelor's degree and I do for living what I went to school for. I still struggle to make my ends meet. Very often hard work and a good degree do not equal high pay.
Load More Replies...That last comment: There is nothing wrong with "living in a trailer." It's an affordable housing solution for many people. What's sad is when a family of 5 live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment that is not kept up by the owner/ manager (read: slumlord). And the family is spending 1/2 of their combined bring home pay just for rent/ utilities. Lack of affordable housing is a definite sign of poverty.
Trailers are okay if they are nice inside. I used to live in one as a child, it had a tin roof. It was in tornado country though so it was pretty much constant terror during the spring.
Load More Replies...I consider myself wealthy. Even though I am struggling to pay bills and mortgage on a disability pension - after a crippling work injury. I have a roof, and i am not in a forced marriage. I have a car ( ok it is 21 years old ). Poverty is relative, I am not in a refugee camp in fear for my life,
My father worked as a diesel mechanic for many years. He had, for the most part, a middle income job. But we still lived paycheck to paycheck because of a pricy mortgage and four kids to raise. Not to mention the area we lived in was expensive. I think he was hoping if we went to a good school and grew up in a safe neighborhood, we'd surpass his earning potential. Little did he know how expensive divorce can be and how college educations would soon turn into just a piece of paper that has the net worth of a scrap of toilet paper. He worked until he was old enough to retire with a full pension. I think always worried that we'd end up in the same situation. There is a way out of poverty if you have help along the way. Otherwise history is doomed to repeat itself.
There were some things in this article i don't agree with. You don't need to spend 30$ on a pair of jeans, you could buy your jeans from second hand stores for 10% of the price. And you definitely don't need a car. I am not poor, but i still buy second hand clothes and use public transportation. And I don't understand people who are so poor they don't have enough money to eat but make children. Why? So you can all starve together? It is hard for poor people, I don't doubt that. But some make really bad decisions in life...
The jeans and transport are true for some parts of the world. I grew up in an area with NO public transport. The closest public transport was an hour away...by car. If you lost driving privileges you were screwed. As for thrift stores, this same town I grew up in, just about everyone teetered on the edge of poverty. The clothes in thrift stores were worn out already and weren't going to last long, plus they were usually pre-stained. Not great for work. You were better off shelling out for "nice" jeans at Walmart (speaking of keeping the poor, poor). On kids, they happen. You can be on three forms of birth control and still get pregnant. "Be abstinent." OK, unfortunately sex is one way we build ties with our spouses, it's also a stress reliever. Some people's relationships can last without it, others can't. You have very valid points, but unfortunately they don't work for everyone. Don't judge someone based on your experiences.
Load More Replies...I have taken care of clients in hospice, so poor, that when. I came for my visits, they gave me the best chair in the house. And I knew it, and felt honored. I always made my clients feel they had my absolute attention, because they did. But... the depths of poverty, made me cry. It’s not hard to give back. You just need to do it, however you can. Poverty doesn’t mean they should be treated like dirt. Allow everyone, th dignity, and respect. Everyone deserves..
I'm also that poor.. Maybe more. Since my house budget is 70 Euro until the end of the month.. I have 2 sisters and a niece to support. I work 50 hours a week, have 2 days off in the month. Commute every day for 3 hours. I have medical problems due to my work... but to pay for my medicals I need a job. I make 800 euro per month... my rent is 320, electricity 100, water 120, phonecards 40, commute 30 and 190 to spend on food... Yay! My teeth are rotten for years.. cant pay while they get worse and worse.. cant find a new job coz.. appearances... There are no nights out for me.. no dates, no girlfriends.. nothing.. just work for bills.. I have anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies.. I know I have an issue but I cant just go to a therapist.. it costs..
This is why I absolutely DESPISE how some people in the United States insist that any type of helping hand extended to the poor is evil and must be stamped out as "socialism" and anathema to true "liberty and justice for all"... when I fact all that does is exacerbate economic inequality, making sure the poor never stop being poor, while the rich get even richer. Only in the US has someone who was rendered homeless due to having to pay for medical bills explained to me how healthcare was a "privilege, not a right", and we "won't be having any of them pinko ideas here in the land of the free, thank you very much, I'd rather die like a red-blooded American than let Communism win..." :/
Yeah, that's a very familiar story. I heard people think I'm stinking rich back in my hometown, they don't care to see what payed for my "success". And now that I actually do have a stable job with decent salary, and can afford a little more than basic needs, my husband and I are not yet confident to start a family, because then we'd get back to struggling. It's all about calculations followed by priorities followed by sacrifice, all of it veiled with luck.
It's the effect of Reagan and Thatcher. An all out attack on the middle and working classes, with money being hoovered upwards to the already fabulously wealthy...
My dad used to say that Reagan kept him in the military. My mom left the air force shortly after I was born, and my sister and I were born during the Reagan administration. During that time, we qualified for food stamps and my parents were using credit cards to buy diapers. From what I was told, military housing and benefits were the only thing keeping us from NEEDING food stamps.
Load More Replies...The "invisible poverty" thing is so true. I have two friends and you'd never think that they have such a huge huge separation financially from each other. One friend lives in a mansion and her parents are paying for her to go to university so she doesn't have to work at all yet (we are in high school), whereas the other friend has TWO jobs and has to pay for university all on her own. They both dress nicely and the poor one even has a nice car (nice meaning average, clean, no rust), but the poor friend has to work hard for everything, including her possessions. If she needs something like new boots, she has to save up and she takes nothing for granted
After reading the comments below as I wanted to see what people had to say, it was well said, I agree totally, I have experienced the low income life, forget about saving, if you have a small saving, there is always a need like the dentist etc; the old saying, " the rich get richer and the poor get poorer " a fact of life for too many !!!
Even though my husband worked and had health insurance through his work we would never have had a house if we hadn't built it ourselves. We used our income tax return to buy a 100' x 200' lot from a local farmer. We then borrowed from out credit union enough to build a cellar on that lot, capped it off and lived in it for a year. The next year we borrowed more from the credit union and went up with the house. The guys my husband worked with helped put up the roof rafters but he and I did everything else except the wiring. I learned how to mix cement, I would mark the boards and my husband would do the cutting. His uncle helped him put in the windows since they were too heavy for me. It was less than 950 square feet but it was ours. My husband and I worked every evening until dark and most weekends. We also had a large garden which supplied a lot of our food. My grandmother taught me how to stretch a dollar so we did get by. We didn't have many new clothes.
man.. after reading this, I thought of changing and limiting my spending habits...
I hate the "just save $5 a week" argument. People who say that never experienced poverty. That $5 can buy me a gallon of milk and a box of cereal so I can feed my kid for a couple of days! That $5 amounts to about 22 miles worth of gas on my old car, which means I can drive my kid to school. There's A LOT $5 buys and those who never experienced poverty can't even imagine what it is like to have those five bucks! If I have an extra $5, I will not put it away - I will buy myself some food. Because eating noodles and rice for half a month is unbearable. I crave some cheese - even some Kraft american cheese will do. If I have an extra $5 (which I never have anyway) I will not put it on my savings account. I will buy myself some goddamn cheese! To start saving even $5/month you need to have your basic needs satisfied first and also be able to satisfy some of your cravings. I am a self-employed artist, I have a BFA degree and I do for living what I went to school for...
That person, star1022, obviously doesn't get this post. Actually most of those in poverty have a firm grasp of budgeting and spending. That poster is just falling into the same prejudices that the op was talking about. You can't waste money when you don't have it.
That was me but I was able to get out of that cycle and actually save. How? I took a second job and now I have have no social life nor time to do anything but clean / eat / walk my dog. The extra money I am getting is going directly into my 401k and a savings account. The fact that I don't have a family to support helps with saving and dedicating my time to multiple jobs. Obviously my solution doesn't work for everyone.
I read a reply to an advice columnist that rings true to this article. A woman wrote that a coworker asked "are you pregnant?" No, I'm just fat. "Oh, you're not fat." replied the coworker, looking scandalized. "Why do people say that?" And the columnist replied, because "you're fat" doesn't mean that you carry extra weight. It means that you are lazy. That you don't care about your health, your appearance or your self at all. It means that you lay around eating instead of doing daily tasks of living. And I see that in terms of this article. "You aren't POOR!" Poverty is something that happens to people who don't try and don't care. They are just lazy or stupid. They are dirty and grasping. You aren't those things. You aren't poor.
this has as much to do with prejudice against fat people as it does with prejudice against poor people
Load More Replies...amricans often say the high tax my country has(the highest on planet earth) but at least I dont go into financial ruins just because I need to go to the hospital or take a university degree
I grew up on food stamps too. My mom worked two or more jobs, but eventually got to the point where she could stay off public assistance by working her way up in the department (ironically working WIC and welfare fraud investigation). The problem is that for many, the safety net has become a hammock. By that, I mean it's damn hard to get out of it. Having generations on public assistance indicates the system has failed. Also, the author describes significant, costly medical issues and that they do not work full time. I would wager that those facts have some influence on the author's continued financial difficulty.
Or maybe inspire you to get off your a*s instead of waiting for a handout.
Load More Replies...HOW I BECOME AN AGENT OF ILLUMINATI AND MY MEMBERSHIP ID 666166 I am Alex by name. as the going says, money is powerful in human beings life and money rules the world.I'm from a poor family in which I found it hard to feed my family During the end of 2006 and the early part of 2007, I was suffering from a terrible depression that led me to start thinking about suicide.All Around that time I was talking to some people on a few forums about my problems. One of those people helped me learn a little bit about iluminati I suffered before I became a millionaire via the help of iluminati.I knew here in US promised to help me give email which I emailed told them I want become a member and be protected.They accept my application and I was initiated after my initiation. I was given first money of $2,000.000.00 US Dollars and on monthly basis am now paid $20,000.00 USDollars for working for the hood. Please if you are tired of poverty join here iluminatihood123@gmail.com join one join all.
HOW I BECOME AN AGENT OF ILLUMINATI AND MY MEMBERSHIP ID 666166 I am Alex by name. as the going says, money is powerful in human beings life and money rules the world.I'm from a poor family in which I found it hard to feed my family During the end of 2006 and the early part of 2007, I was suffering from a terrible depression that led me to start thinking about suicide.All Around that time I was talking to some people on a few forums about my problems. One of those people helped me learn a little bit about iluminati I suffered before I became a millionaire via the help of iluminati.I knew here in US promised to help me give email which I emailed told them I want become a member and be protected.They accept my application and I was initiated after my initiation. I was given first money of $2,000.000.00 US Dollars and on monthly basis am now paid $20,000.00 USDollars for working for the hood. Please if you are tired of poverty and you want to change your status or you are already weath
A man so poor he actually refuses to live in his own house.
Poverty is not only about how much money in your hand. But it is also about mentality that keep a poor person in the same "poverty cycle". I don't think his rich friend is wrong when he asked him to save money. Unless you have debt that higher than your income, there always some room for cutting down your spending. It's not how much money you take, but how you manage it.
Save $5? I'm struggling to just not go into negative numbers at the bank between checks. Being overdrawn is way more expensive. I had to get a credit card - which I had been avoiding - because car repairs went from $300 to $1000 after the mechanic got in there and looked. And we had to have that car. So now I have at least one more bill to pay. And I don't have the money to pay more than the minimum payment each month.
One of the things that helped me a lot during my struggle to climb out of poverty was learning to enjoy shopping in thrift stores and at yard sales for things I otherwise couldn't afford. It was the realization that there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying things that are used rather than new. Wealthy antique collectors do it all the time, and unless you tell people, they won't know whether you bought something new or used, or where you got it. It also enables you to enjoy better quality products than you could otherwise afford. Which is better: a Dollar-store chef's knife that bends and won't hold an edge, or a Wusthof chef's knife from Goodwill for 99 cents that will last a lifetime and would have cost close to a hundred dollars retail? A $20 pair of shoes from Walmart, or a pair of like-new Doc Martins from a thrift store for $10? And when someone sees me in a Brioni suit, all they see is someone in a suit they couldn't afford. They don't know I paid $10 for it at Goodwill.
This is continued from below. My grandmother had taught me to sew and cook so our clothes were mended and I cooked all our food from scratch at home. My husband never made much (he was a laborer) and we were told that we were poor but we did things that didn't cost much money (like board games, cards, and bicycle riding. We had three kids (two of which had Cystic Fibrosis) so I couldn't work (I never knew when they might be sick and I would have to be home with them). I have often thought I could write a book that would help the poorer people get by more easily. Maybe some day I will....
i remember waiting for my tax return, including the 'poor person rebate' just so I could replace the tyres on my car - tyres that had the metal coming out :( So agree about not being able to save. When you start with practically nothing, there are so many things you need. During the GFC, our government did the best thing it could to save us from a recession. it gave the poor (and families entitled to government assistance) bonuses. The recipients, of course, spent it, thus helping the economy.
Tay Zonday ~~ you innocent child. Have you been poor, living on the street poor? Can't pay for dental? you manage with what teeth you have. Can't get that lump checked out? Then you don't have to deal with arrogant doctors, costly meds, or unrealistic treatment plans. I'm doing ok now, but for years after my career-ending stroke partner and i made do on $10/day, thank the goddess fir cheap Oregon weed.
There's a great book about this topic called The Working-class Poor. Highly recommend it.
Why do people keep having children if they can't afford to? Serious question, if you're poor and have no money, why start a family?
of course it's not really a valid reason to have kids but people do it anyway.
Load More Replies...read The Road to Wigan Pier, absolutely awful what we go through when we're poor. i am less poor but still poor, saving is impossible but at least now i can afford vegetables and meat and sleep in a bed instead of a floor as i ant afford to sleep in bed as the heating was too expensive so i slept in the kitchen as it was the warmest room in the flat.
People need to read Mr Money Moustache (website and forum) and "The Millionaire Next Door" (library book - so free). Give it an hour a day. Read, take notes, and think. Lots of great ideas there. Lots of smart people sharing their experiences and ideas freely. There are now quick fixes but once a person starts optimizing their life and finances, its east to see the momentum build as bills get paid, savings are created, emergency fund is established, and eventually a retirement fund begins. Use the parts of the info that serves you best but consider it all. I got my baseline start via a Navy enlistment. Came out with skills, savings, GI Bill, VA home loan option, and a clear mind.
And any couple in your lineage could've easily worked on getting out of poverty by not being selfish and having kids, or at most just one. Raising children is expensive, and your parents had no problem dragging your grandparents even farther into poverty to pay for their kids schooling. Irresponsible breeding plays a part in poverty, whether people want to believe/admit it or not.
I really understand this situation. I know some people that live like this and can't get any money, how small the amount, to stay in their savings account. But what I do not understand is: why do so many of these people own pets? Having to pay doctors bills is hard enough, but why taking the risk of having to pay large vet bills??
You should look into the research behind how owning a pet can actually help those in poverty
Load More Replies...If you are in poverty then $30 for jeans is too much. I can get jeans at walmart for $10. Or name brand, if thats your thing, at a 2nd hand store for $5. Living beyond your means is not poverty, its stupidity.
I hear him and I see where he's coming from, but I always have to raise this question, if you can't afford to take care of yourself, why have kids? Why have multiple kids? Why subject an innocent child to a life of poverty when you didn't have to? That's my 2 cents.
I agree, but people have kids sometimes because they are ignorant about pregnancy risks or too brainwashed to get abortions. Also they may think a kid will bring them some sense of joy in a life where they have very little happiness. Or they just become poor after the kids. Or they underestimate the financial burden of having kids. Plenty of reasons. Just because you or I wouldn’t do it doesn’t mean that everyone else is thinking it through that way. A dumb person who thinks they can have unprotected sex without getting pregnant doesn’t know any better to think these things through.
Load More Replies...lol or really almost anyother country besides USA. People here claim poverty while tweeting it from their $400 - $1000 smartphone, wearing name brands, and eating fast food. FFS when I was in "pverty" (by the standard in article above) I bought all my clothes from Goodwill, when needed. I literally had a matress(fancy I know) and a t.v.. And honestly I could have done better and saved more but I loved to do drugs and drink. So sue me. But I didn't dare complain about being in "poverty". I worked my s**t job and had a s**t lifestyle. Period.
Load More Replies...The most significant emblem of a poor neighborhood is mountains of broken furniture. People need something, but they know it won't last forever so they buy the cheapest product they can find. Eventually it gets broken like they knew it would, so they throw it out and when they get some money then they buy another one. There is no grieving, because it was only cheap c**p to begin with, and this is simply a fact of life. Being poor is expensive.
Anyone that down votes this, it just proves my point. Too lazy to change your circumstances. In first world countries there is no excuse not to get a secondary education, NONE. You want a better life, you need to work for it.
Load More Replies...“Because I overcame it, the problem isn’t real.” - Josh Berry
Load More Replies...I can use 5 hours of Internet per week by paying 14 € per YEAR. Yay for public libraries !
Load More Replies..."The Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice runs thus: At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots, the sort that would last years and years, cost fifty dollars. This was beyond his pocket and the most he could hope for was an affordable pair of boots costing ten dollars, which might with luck last a year or so before he would need to resort to makeshift cardboard insoles so as to prolong the moment of shelling out another ten dollars. Therefore over a period of ten years, he might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet. Without any special rancour, Vimes stretched this theory to explain why Sybil Ramkin lived twice as comfortably as he did by spending about half as much every month." -- Terry Pratchett
This paragraph right here turned Pratchett into one of my favourite authors. I've tried to explain this concept to my dad for years, but now that my parents are a little better off he still keeps buying cheap stuff that he needs to replace often, instead of something that would last.
Load More Replies...It’s not about saving five dollars here and there. A truly, actually poor person is guaranteed to be behind on more than one bill, always, at all months. Any spare five dollars is just part of catching up on whatever is the furthest past due.
True. Having a few hundred dollars in savings is not a reality for most low income people. You are forever behind on bills, and if an emergency occurs, you end up pawning something, or taking out a payday loan. And that's a trap that keeps you further and further behind.
Load More Replies...What the OP said. And anyone who says, "Just go to college" or "just do (fill in blank)" is so blessed that they have *no* idea how blessed/lucky they are... and still probably only one bad day away from the situation they disparage.
And those same people will have no sympathy when you have thousands of dollars in college loans to pay back.
Load More Replies...My favorite statement of ignorance is, "Just get a job." As if there are hundreds of them out there that pay a living wage with benefits and all the trimmings just waiting for any old person to walk in and take without the red tape getting in their way. I currently have a phenomenal job that pays the bills and I love it.
Yes. I also love it when people get mad at poor people being "picky" about which jobs they get. I will do any job to pay the bills, but I can't justify driving 100 miles one way for a low paying job. I'm not being picky; I literally cannot afford to take that job. My car can't handle that. I can't handle that. Someone actually asked why I didn't just move closer. Why, and how, would I do that? I have taken 'out of town' jobs before, and just slept in my car, but no one should have to do that.
Load More Replies...:( Being poor is hard. I lived in relative poverty as a child (single mom, alcoholic/absent dad, social housing). But we had support, there was always financial aid available. Eventually, we were better off than that later (our moment of "we made it" was when we went to shop at IKEA for the first time). I have now a normal job and it feels like I'm living the dream. However, I cannot imagine how it must be to be poor in the US. Being poor in Germany was tough, lonely, but managable. Being poor in the US means that you need to pay for basic human rights (healthcare, sickness, education - none of that affects you financially when you're in Germany). This is some next level sh!t and I'd bet that there'd be a revolution in that system if the people affected by poverty weren't so damn busy just trying to keep themselves and their dependants alive. This is so messed up.
All of my life, my mother has been on disability (she was 41 when I was born, and when I was six months old, she suffered an accident with a horse). She received welfare. My father worked morning to night for his parents, who hardly paid him. Our house should have been condemned, and we couldn’t afford to pay for it. Twice, our power was cut off. The second time, it lasted for three or four years. My mom left my dad, I went with her. I only get clothes because the government helps us, but half of the money we get, my mother uses so she can have clothing as well. We can’t afford to wash them when we need to; we have to rewear stuff. My dad only got his power back on a few years ago. We live paycheck to paycheck. Mom and I have to scrape at the end of the month. I know a level of poverty myself, and always have. And I’m used to it. I’m working age, but still a minor, but I can’t drive. My iPad was given to me by the school. I get a lot of help, and I know I’m not on the lowest (cont...)
- lowest level of poverty. But I understand it. It’s difficult. And you can’t just save to get out of it.
Load More Replies...My husband's illness (Crohn's disease) beggared us along with a whole bunch of medical bills for bowel surgery that he had. He eventually committed suicide after they hooked him on opioids.
Wow. These are the realities of poverty, but because you guys may have went to the movies or had new pants, people dismiss it or say you deserved the poverty. I’m very sorry about your loss.
Load More Replies...My parents make enough money that it puts us in the middle class area, but because of their huge amounts of debt and my dad's constant health problems, I've had to take out loans for every year of college. I work a part time night job from 9:30pm to 2:30am on top of taking 18 hrs a semester, I pay for rent and groceries, have no savings, and am looking into selling plasma so I have a safety net. I've even had to visit the Paw Pantry which is a store of free non-perishable items for students in financial trouble. I’m also going to group therapy every week since it’s covered by tuition and struggle with anxiety and depression. I have to somehow maintain financial stability, mental stability, academic success, and my physical health. I’m doing my best to thrive instead of just survive.
You sound like someone determined and capable. Take any help offered (be mad not to) but it will be YOU that gets you through all of this.
Load More Replies...I'm a single Mom and I fit into the poor to lower middle class range. And I find that I struggle the most when I make bad decisions and try to live above my means. I do not struggle to put food on the table. But I have to be really careful and stick to a budget and not give in to wants. Also I sacrifice stuff that I need so I can provide for my child. I'm lucky because I have a job with insurance. He needs braces though and so I'm not sure where that money is going to come from. We'll make it somehow. :)
I am a single mom too and I do not overindulge. I simply do not have enough money to cover my basic needs. Last month I made $1,600... With the rent over $1,1K and phone & internet bills, gas, food, I do not have to make sacrifices - there's just no room for them. One cannot make "bad decisions" when your total $$ earned are less than what you need to cover basic needs. Yeah, I guess I can go to a bar and get drunk instead of paying rent, but it does not really matter when you don't make enough. You are screwed anyways.
Load More Replies...We were middle class but still poor. My parents had lower paying blue collar jobs and each worked 50+ hours per week. Even with the both of them working, money was tight. We wore hand-me-downs and never ate out. We didn't have cable, electronics, or the latest and greatest new toy. There was no such thing as disposable income when I was growing up, but we were never hungry and we always had a safe, clean roof over our heads. Things were starting to look up when they managed to save up for a down payment on a small house. Then my father got cancer and passed away at the ripe old age of 49. Suddenly my mother was a single mom with 2 kids in middle school, a mortgage, and car payments. It looked like we were fine but it was a House of Cards. I will never know how Mom did it all. People blame the Poor because they weren't doing all that they could to have more. My experience shows that you can be doing all the right things and still get shoved down by the unexpected.
Part of the problem about the middle class is they don't understand what being poor for prolonged periods of time really means. It means you don't have a wardrobe full of good clothes, it means you don't have a well-maintained car, it means you don't have quality furniture and appliances that don't break down, it means you don't have good bedding and curtains in your house to keep warm, it means you don't have a stock of food in your cupboard and freezer that you bought in bulk on sale 4+ weeks ago. It's one thing to go from having a stable job with a good income and all of your built-up assets and being unemployed for 6 months, so you have some of that built-up capital you can depreciate without replacement, compared to being in precarious / low-paid employment for 5 years and then losing your job for 6 months.
It means only eating pasta and rice for weeks, because you save the better foods for your child. It means not being able to treat yourself to a snack because you don't have money for it. I crave cheese - and I have not had cheese for weeks now, because it is not essential and my daughter does not eat it, so with whatever money I have I buy food for her. I cannot afford the goddamn cheese! Yeah, I do not go hungry and my kid gets all nutrient she needs. But aside from calorie count a person needs some satisfaction - and I cannot afford it.
Load More Replies...America, home of the working poor. Where companies like Walmart expect the government to give their staff food stamps because they grossly underpay everyone.
Yes and it would take a price increase of less than one cent per item to give everyone who works for Walmart a living wage. They destroyed small towns and small businesses.
Load More Replies...All in all - it sucks to be poor in the USA. In most of EU medicine is mostly free and you get paid if you're sick and can't work. Education in many cases is also free. And there's a lot of jobs with good wages that doesn't require to be a rocket scientist.
In the United States, you don't get paid if you are ill? In my country you still get full pay, because it is not your fault that you are sick. Otherwise, in some ways at least, I can relate to this. I have been saving for years and barely have enough to cover e.g. a broken washing machine. Rents are high and I will never save enough to buy my own place. So from my small salary, I am making someone else more rich. I am thankful to have a home, but sometimes I wonder how I could get out of this cycle.
It depends on your job. Most people here have bad jobs, so they don’t get paid days off. My last job was mediocre and after two years of working there, they finally gave us 3 paid sick days per year.
Load More Replies...It's easy to be contemptuous of the poor, to despise those on the public dole as "welfare queens" when you don't know of their struggles. Those ignoramuses who rail against welfare, food stamps, etc. need to trade places with the working poor. Even one month of struggling to pay bills and feed a family should awaken them to the reality of poverty. The dork that has the bumper sticker "Keep Working - Millions on Welfare Depend On You" doesn't realize that the real "welfare queens" are rich-a*s corporations getting huge tax breaks and subsidies.
Most of the people against welfare are on some form of welfare themselves.
Load More Replies...Poverty is often multi-generational. Generations of scrapping by in substandard housing and food insecurity is soul deadening. Modern American society, especially social media, paints a false picture of what represents success and it is usually excessive. This either deepens the despair or the determination to rise above it. And one of the saddest things about finally edging OUT of poverty is that, after generations of having nothing, a lot of people have no idea of how to adequately care for those things they can now afford. No one has taught you to how to maintain a washing machine or a lawnmower much less a house. When you are living on the margins your car in working order can determine whether or not you keep your job.
But with the internet or a library if you want to learn, you can. People I knew taught me stuff that I later found out were wrong.
Load More Replies...People who don't understand how it's sooooooooo hard to get out of poverty have a lot to be thankful for!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm lucky, but when I was a kid my family was poor. I KNOW hunger, I KNOW shame. Fortunately, thanks to sacrifices my parents made, my siblings and I are not poor, not rich but not poor.
This hits hard to me, i'm the oldest of 7 children, my parents came here from Italy in the 50's with less than nothing, ww2 had caused immense poverty and problems in their already poor village so they bet everything on a better life here. They were constantly one payday away from being homeless etc, they had no family here, i remember sleeping in the same bed as my siblings top to tail because we couldn't afford another bed, i remember my clothes being worn by my younger brothers, we were lucky we came through it all.
Because they are higher risk, banks have free accounts if you maintain certain minimum amounts, etc.
Load More Replies...Here's the thing; when people who do okay get a bit of extra money they didn't have before, like in a bonus paycheck or raise or lotto winnings, whatever, they then plan a holiday or a massage or whatever. These people aren't rich either, but they're also not aware of how much better off they are than some other people like the ones who when they get a bit of extra money through a raise, or bonus or lotto winnings, whatever, they then get excited about putting milk and tea into the weekly budget or that they can finally get the proper feet-support shoes they've been putting off... I've been both of these. I know when I'm doing okay, but some people I know consider themselves poor because they can't go on a holiday whenever. They're not rich, no, but they can take milk and good foot support for granted.
Great words! I wrote about this a couple of times here in comments, but I will repeat myself - I do not need the money so I can go to a resort (although that would be nice!) or buy fancy clothes - I just want to be able to buy cheese whenever I want. And not even fancy roquefort - I will be happy with Kraft muenster. And I have not eaten cheese in weeks, because it it not essential, my kid does not eat it, so I whatever little $$ I have, I spend on what's good for her. Being not poor for me is not having an apartment on Manhattan and not vacationing at resorts. Being not poor is just as simple as buying myself cheese whenever I crave it.
Load More Replies...Then there's the part where poor people usually also have poor credit which means getting s****y loans at high interest rates on bad cars from the lemon lot. Then they spend an extra car payment on it every few months getting something repaired just to keep it running. There's also the part where they get something turned off because they couldn't pay the bill and now they have to pay insane fees to get their power restored. Being poor is expensive.
people with poor credit also pay higher insurance rates for car and home insurance, perfect driving record poor credit. you get to pay more...
Load More Replies...I'm poor and I'm so damn glad I do not have kids.
My husband is over 6'5" tall. There are no Walmart stores or second hand stores that carry his size.
I had more than one job most of my life in order to escape living from paycheck to paycheck and be able to afford a little more than just basic needs (bills, rent, food, transportation).
What's your point?? I have more than one job, I have a bachelor's degree and I do for living what I went to school for. I still struggle to make my ends meet. Very often hard work and a good degree do not equal high pay.
Load More Replies...That last comment: There is nothing wrong with "living in a trailer." It's an affordable housing solution for many people. What's sad is when a family of 5 live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment that is not kept up by the owner/ manager (read: slumlord). And the family is spending 1/2 of their combined bring home pay just for rent/ utilities. Lack of affordable housing is a definite sign of poverty.
Trailers are okay if they are nice inside. I used to live in one as a child, it had a tin roof. It was in tornado country though so it was pretty much constant terror during the spring.
Load More Replies...I consider myself wealthy. Even though I am struggling to pay bills and mortgage on a disability pension - after a crippling work injury. I have a roof, and i am not in a forced marriage. I have a car ( ok it is 21 years old ). Poverty is relative, I am not in a refugee camp in fear for my life,
My father worked as a diesel mechanic for many years. He had, for the most part, a middle income job. But we still lived paycheck to paycheck because of a pricy mortgage and four kids to raise. Not to mention the area we lived in was expensive. I think he was hoping if we went to a good school and grew up in a safe neighborhood, we'd surpass his earning potential. Little did he know how expensive divorce can be and how college educations would soon turn into just a piece of paper that has the net worth of a scrap of toilet paper. He worked until he was old enough to retire with a full pension. I think always worried that we'd end up in the same situation. There is a way out of poverty if you have help along the way. Otherwise history is doomed to repeat itself.
There were some things in this article i don't agree with. You don't need to spend 30$ on a pair of jeans, you could buy your jeans from second hand stores for 10% of the price. And you definitely don't need a car. I am not poor, but i still buy second hand clothes and use public transportation. And I don't understand people who are so poor they don't have enough money to eat but make children. Why? So you can all starve together? It is hard for poor people, I don't doubt that. But some make really bad decisions in life...
The jeans and transport are true for some parts of the world. I grew up in an area with NO public transport. The closest public transport was an hour away...by car. If you lost driving privileges you were screwed. As for thrift stores, this same town I grew up in, just about everyone teetered on the edge of poverty. The clothes in thrift stores were worn out already and weren't going to last long, plus they were usually pre-stained. Not great for work. You were better off shelling out for "nice" jeans at Walmart (speaking of keeping the poor, poor). On kids, they happen. You can be on three forms of birth control and still get pregnant. "Be abstinent." OK, unfortunately sex is one way we build ties with our spouses, it's also a stress reliever. Some people's relationships can last without it, others can't. You have very valid points, but unfortunately they don't work for everyone. Don't judge someone based on your experiences.
Load More Replies...I have taken care of clients in hospice, so poor, that when. I came for my visits, they gave me the best chair in the house. And I knew it, and felt honored. I always made my clients feel they had my absolute attention, because they did. But... the depths of poverty, made me cry. It’s not hard to give back. You just need to do it, however you can. Poverty doesn’t mean they should be treated like dirt. Allow everyone, th dignity, and respect. Everyone deserves..
I'm also that poor.. Maybe more. Since my house budget is 70 Euro until the end of the month.. I have 2 sisters and a niece to support. I work 50 hours a week, have 2 days off in the month. Commute every day for 3 hours. I have medical problems due to my work... but to pay for my medicals I need a job. I make 800 euro per month... my rent is 320, electricity 100, water 120, phonecards 40, commute 30 and 190 to spend on food... Yay! My teeth are rotten for years.. cant pay while they get worse and worse.. cant find a new job coz.. appearances... There are no nights out for me.. no dates, no girlfriends.. nothing.. just work for bills.. I have anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies.. I know I have an issue but I cant just go to a therapist.. it costs..
This is why I absolutely DESPISE how some people in the United States insist that any type of helping hand extended to the poor is evil and must be stamped out as "socialism" and anathema to true "liberty and justice for all"... when I fact all that does is exacerbate economic inequality, making sure the poor never stop being poor, while the rich get even richer. Only in the US has someone who was rendered homeless due to having to pay for medical bills explained to me how healthcare was a "privilege, not a right", and we "won't be having any of them pinko ideas here in the land of the free, thank you very much, I'd rather die like a red-blooded American than let Communism win..." :/
Yeah, that's a very familiar story. I heard people think I'm stinking rich back in my hometown, they don't care to see what payed for my "success". And now that I actually do have a stable job with decent salary, and can afford a little more than basic needs, my husband and I are not yet confident to start a family, because then we'd get back to struggling. It's all about calculations followed by priorities followed by sacrifice, all of it veiled with luck.
It's the effect of Reagan and Thatcher. An all out attack on the middle and working classes, with money being hoovered upwards to the already fabulously wealthy...
My dad used to say that Reagan kept him in the military. My mom left the air force shortly after I was born, and my sister and I were born during the Reagan administration. During that time, we qualified for food stamps and my parents were using credit cards to buy diapers. From what I was told, military housing and benefits were the only thing keeping us from NEEDING food stamps.
Load More Replies...The "invisible poverty" thing is so true. I have two friends and you'd never think that they have such a huge huge separation financially from each other. One friend lives in a mansion and her parents are paying for her to go to university so she doesn't have to work at all yet (we are in high school), whereas the other friend has TWO jobs and has to pay for university all on her own. They both dress nicely and the poor one even has a nice car (nice meaning average, clean, no rust), but the poor friend has to work hard for everything, including her possessions. If she needs something like new boots, she has to save up and she takes nothing for granted
After reading the comments below as I wanted to see what people had to say, it was well said, I agree totally, I have experienced the low income life, forget about saving, if you have a small saving, there is always a need like the dentist etc; the old saying, " the rich get richer and the poor get poorer " a fact of life for too many !!!
Even though my husband worked and had health insurance through his work we would never have had a house if we hadn't built it ourselves. We used our income tax return to buy a 100' x 200' lot from a local farmer. We then borrowed from out credit union enough to build a cellar on that lot, capped it off and lived in it for a year. The next year we borrowed more from the credit union and went up with the house. The guys my husband worked with helped put up the roof rafters but he and I did everything else except the wiring. I learned how to mix cement, I would mark the boards and my husband would do the cutting. His uncle helped him put in the windows since they were too heavy for me. It was less than 950 square feet but it was ours. My husband and I worked every evening until dark and most weekends. We also had a large garden which supplied a lot of our food. My grandmother taught me how to stretch a dollar so we did get by. We didn't have many new clothes.
man.. after reading this, I thought of changing and limiting my spending habits...
I hate the "just save $5 a week" argument. People who say that never experienced poverty. That $5 can buy me a gallon of milk and a box of cereal so I can feed my kid for a couple of days! That $5 amounts to about 22 miles worth of gas on my old car, which means I can drive my kid to school. There's A LOT $5 buys and those who never experienced poverty can't even imagine what it is like to have those five bucks! If I have an extra $5, I will not put it away - I will buy myself some food. Because eating noodles and rice for half a month is unbearable. I crave some cheese - even some Kraft american cheese will do. If I have an extra $5 (which I never have anyway) I will not put it on my savings account. I will buy myself some goddamn cheese! To start saving even $5/month you need to have your basic needs satisfied first and also be able to satisfy some of your cravings. I am a self-employed artist, I have a BFA degree and I do for living what I went to school for...
That person, star1022, obviously doesn't get this post. Actually most of those in poverty have a firm grasp of budgeting and spending. That poster is just falling into the same prejudices that the op was talking about. You can't waste money when you don't have it.
That was me but I was able to get out of that cycle and actually save. How? I took a second job and now I have have no social life nor time to do anything but clean / eat / walk my dog. The extra money I am getting is going directly into my 401k and a savings account. The fact that I don't have a family to support helps with saving and dedicating my time to multiple jobs. Obviously my solution doesn't work for everyone.
I read a reply to an advice columnist that rings true to this article. A woman wrote that a coworker asked "are you pregnant?" No, I'm just fat. "Oh, you're not fat." replied the coworker, looking scandalized. "Why do people say that?" And the columnist replied, because "you're fat" doesn't mean that you carry extra weight. It means that you are lazy. That you don't care about your health, your appearance or your self at all. It means that you lay around eating instead of doing daily tasks of living. And I see that in terms of this article. "You aren't POOR!" Poverty is something that happens to people who don't try and don't care. They are just lazy or stupid. They are dirty and grasping. You aren't those things. You aren't poor.
this has as much to do with prejudice against fat people as it does with prejudice against poor people
Load More Replies...amricans often say the high tax my country has(the highest on planet earth) but at least I dont go into financial ruins just because I need to go to the hospital or take a university degree
I grew up on food stamps too. My mom worked two or more jobs, but eventually got to the point where she could stay off public assistance by working her way up in the department (ironically working WIC and welfare fraud investigation). The problem is that for many, the safety net has become a hammock. By that, I mean it's damn hard to get out of it. Having generations on public assistance indicates the system has failed. Also, the author describes significant, costly medical issues and that they do not work full time. I would wager that those facts have some influence on the author's continued financial difficulty.
Or maybe inspire you to get off your a*s instead of waiting for a handout.
Load More Replies...HOW I BECOME AN AGENT OF ILLUMINATI AND MY MEMBERSHIP ID 666166 I am Alex by name. as the going says, money is powerful in human beings life and money rules the world.I'm from a poor family in which I found it hard to feed my family During the end of 2006 and the early part of 2007, I was suffering from a terrible depression that led me to start thinking about suicide.All Around that time I was talking to some people on a few forums about my problems. One of those people helped me learn a little bit about iluminati I suffered before I became a millionaire via the help of iluminati.I knew here in US promised to help me give email which I emailed told them I want become a member and be protected.They accept my application and I was initiated after my initiation. I was given first money of $2,000.000.00 US Dollars and on monthly basis am now paid $20,000.00 USDollars for working for the hood. Please if you are tired of poverty join here iluminatihood123@gmail.com join one join all.
HOW I BECOME AN AGENT OF ILLUMINATI AND MY MEMBERSHIP ID 666166 I am Alex by name. as the going says, money is powerful in human beings life and money rules the world.I'm from a poor family in which I found it hard to feed my family During the end of 2006 and the early part of 2007, I was suffering from a terrible depression that led me to start thinking about suicide.All Around that time I was talking to some people on a few forums about my problems. One of those people helped me learn a little bit about iluminati I suffered before I became a millionaire via the help of iluminati.I knew here in US promised to help me give email which I emailed told them I want become a member and be protected.They accept my application and I was initiated after my initiation. I was given first money of $2,000.000.00 US Dollars and on monthly basis am now paid $20,000.00 USDollars for working for the hood. Please if you are tired of poverty and you want to change your status or you are already weath
A man so poor he actually refuses to live in his own house.
Poverty is not only about how much money in your hand. But it is also about mentality that keep a poor person in the same "poverty cycle". I don't think his rich friend is wrong when he asked him to save money. Unless you have debt that higher than your income, there always some room for cutting down your spending. It's not how much money you take, but how you manage it.
Save $5? I'm struggling to just not go into negative numbers at the bank between checks. Being overdrawn is way more expensive. I had to get a credit card - which I had been avoiding - because car repairs went from $300 to $1000 after the mechanic got in there and looked. And we had to have that car. So now I have at least one more bill to pay. And I don't have the money to pay more than the minimum payment each month.
One of the things that helped me a lot during my struggle to climb out of poverty was learning to enjoy shopping in thrift stores and at yard sales for things I otherwise couldn't afford. It was the realization that there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying things that are used rather than new. Wealthy antique collectors do it all the time, and unless you tell people, they won't know whether you bought something new or used, or where you got it. It also enables you to enjoy better quality products than you could otherwise afford. Which is better: a Dollar-store chef's knife that bends and won't hold an edge, or a Wusthof chef's knife from Goodwill for 99 cents that will last a lifetime and would have cost close to a hundred dollars retail? A $20 pair of shoes from Walmart, or a pair of like-new Doc Martins from a thrift store for $10? And when someone sees me in a Brioni suit, all they see is someone in a suit they couldn't afford. They don't know I paid $10 for it at Goodwill.
This is continued from below. My grandmother had taught me to sew and cook so our clothes were mended and I cooked all our food from scratch at home. My husband never made much (he was a laborer) and we were told that we were poor but we did things that didn't cost much money (like board games, cards, and bicycle riding. We had three kids (two of which had Cystic Fibrosis) so I couldn't work (I never knew when they might be sick and I would have to be home with them). I have often thought I could write a book that would help the poorer people get by more easily. Maybe some day I will....
i remember waiting for my tax return, including the 'poor person rebate' just so I could replace the tyres on my car - tyres that had the metal coming out :( So agree about not being able to save. When you start with practically nothing, there are so many things you need. During the GFC, our government did the best thing it could to save us from a recession. it gave the poor (and families entitled to government assistance) bonuses. The recipients, of course, spent it, thus helping the economy.
Tay Zonday ~~ you innocent child. Have you been poor, living on the street poor? Can't pay for dental? you manage with what teeth you have. Can't get that lump checked out? Then you don't have to deal with arrogant doctors, costly meds, or unrealistic treatment plans. I'm doing ok now, but for years after my career-ending stroke partner and i made do on $10/day, thank the goddess fir cheap Oregon weed.
There's a great book about this topic called The Working-class Poor. Highly recommend it.
Why do people keep having children if they can't afford to? Serious question, if you're poor and have no money, why start a family?
of course it's not really a valid reason to have kids but people do it anyway.
Load More Replies...read The Road to Wigan Pier, absolutely awful what we go through when we're poor. i am less poor but still poor, saving is impossible but at least now i can afford vegetables and meat and sleep in a bed instead of a floor as i ant afford to sleep in bed as the heating was too expensive so i slept in the kitchen as it was the warmest room in the flat.
People need to read Mr Money Moustache (website and forum) and "The Millionaire Next Door" (library book - so free). Give it an hour a day. Read, take notes, and think. Lots of great ideas there. Lots of smart people sharing their experiences and ideas freely. There are now quick fixes but once a person starts optimizing their life and finances, its east to see the momentum build as bills get paid, savings are created, emergency fund is established, and eventually a retirement fund begins. Use the parts of the info that serves you best but consider it all. I got my baseline start via a Navy enlistment. Came out with skills, savings, GI Bill, VA home loan option, and a clear mind.
And any couple in your lineage could've easily worked on getting out of poverty by not being selfish and having kids, or at most just one. Raising children is expensive, and your parents had no problem dragging your grandparents even farther into poverty to pay for their kids schooling. Irresponsible breeding plays a part in poverty, whether people want to believe/admit it or not.
I really understand this situation. I know some people that live like this and can't get any money, how small the amount, to stay in their savings account. But what I do not understand is: why do so many of these people own pets? Having to pay doctors bills is hard enough, but why taking the risk of having to pay large vet bills??
You should look into the research behind how owning a pet can actually help those in poverty
Load More Replies...If you are in poverty then $30 for jeans is too much. I can get jeans at walmart for $10. Or name brand, if thats your thing, at a 2nd hand store for $5. Living beyond your means is not poverty, its stupidity.
I hear him and I see where he's coming from, but I always have to raise this question, if you can't afford to take care of yourself, why have kids? Why have multiple kids? Why subject an innocent child to a life of poverty when you didn't have to? That's my 2 cents.
I agree, but people have kids sometimes because they are ignorant about pregnancy risks or too brainwashed to get abortions. Also they may think a kid will bring them some sense of joy in a life where they have very little happiness. Or they just become poor after the kids. Or they underestimate the financial burden of having kids. Plenty of reasons. Just because you or I wouldn’t do it doesn’t mean that everyone else is thinking it through that way. A dumb person who thinks they can have unprotected sex without getting pregnant doesn’t know any better to think these things through.
Load More Replies...lol or really almost anyother country besides USA. People here claim poverty while tweeting it from their $400 - $1000 smartphone, wearing name brands, and eating fast food. FFS when I was in "pverty" (by the standard in article above) I bought all my clothes from Goodwill, when needed. I literally had a matress(fancy I know) and a t.v.. And honestly I could have done better and saved more but I loved to do drugs and drink. So sue me. But I didn't dare complain about being in "poverty". I worked my s**t job and had a s**t lifestyle. Period.
Load More Replies...The most significant emblem of a poor neighborhood is mountains of broken furniture. People need something, but they know it won't last forever so they buy the cheapest product they can find. Eventually it gets broken like they knew it would, so they throw it out and when they get some money then they buy another one. There is no grieving, because it was only cheap c**p to begin with, and this is simply a fact of life. Being poor is expensive.
Anyone that down votes this, it just proves my point. Too lazy to change your circumstances. In first world countries there is no excuse not to get a secondary education, NONE. You want a better life, you need to work for it.
Load More Replies...“Because I overcame it, the problem isn’t real.” - Josh Berry
Load More Replies...I can use 5 hours of Internet per week by paying 14 € per YEAR. Yay for public libraries !
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