Being broke is romanticized way too much. There are plenty of dystopian situations that mask themselves as feel-good stories. Like the idea of the "struggling artist" — we love hearing about some waiter who sacrifices their material well-being and puts all of their disposable income into their creative projects. But in reality, is there any glamor in hustling paycheck to paycheck?
Whatever the answer might be, if you want to make ends meet with empty pockets, you have to be resilient. And part of that is being honest with yourself and everyone around you about the predicament you're in. To show you how it's done, Bored Panda collected a list of very honest tweets from people who are broke and proud.
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apparently researchers found in 2021 that any solitary individual making above $75,000/year in USA at a maximum has reached plateaued happiness - $37/hour. To think federal minimum wage in the US is still $7.5/hour
The number of bankruptcy filings in the United States has steadily increased over the last century, and especially so from 1980 to 2005.
In fact, bankruptcy filings hit an all-time high in 2005, when more than 2 million cases were started. In that year, one out of every 55 households went broke.
But the following year, bankruptcy filings dipped to about 600,000, the lowest point in 20 years.
Sadly, nowadays the vast majority of bankruptcies are filed by consumers, not by businesses. In 1980, for example, businesses accounted for 13 percent of cases. Today, they account for about 3 percent.
"That sofa bed is still usable... I just need to be careful the pissy side"...
I would still look, no matter how much money I had. And I'd probably still grab it; I hate seeing anything usable go to waste. But that's the mindset you grow up with when you're poor. It never goes away.
Having supported myself during my student days with roadside (or even dumpster) furnishing "finds", some of which lasted well into my non-student days, I *still* do a double-take every time I see something abandoned which looks like it might be usable.
Me too, you can find beautiful stuff there. I envied people who would go shopping if they need something while I was looking at roadsides and fleamarkets for month until something turned up. But now I like this stuff over buyed stuff.
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Im fortunate enough to be comfortable but I still do this… maybe habits from the times I wasn’t. But also a lot of people throw some nice things away.
I've never understood why so many perfectly usable things are thrown out. If it's not something I need, I will often just take it down to the op shop (secondhand/thrift store)
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Concerning a point in the Article, "living beyond one's means" is closely followed by "helping family and friends" as an expense that can lead to bankruptcy. IMO, that should be ONE category, because we're often called on to help family and friends even when it's above our means.
I say I wish I had enough money so I don't have to look at the ground for money...
In my first apartment after college my roommate and I got all our furniture by scrounging. We brought a coffee table home once that was left out as trash, and it had some unidentifiable gunk on the bottom. We left it outside until we could go back out to clean it properly... then some squirrels came over and ate it all off. They liked whatever it was so much they chewed into the wood to get every last morsel. Sometimes things just work out on their own LOL!
Picking up furniture has nothing to do with income. Paul McCartney has been known to pick up chairs in London.
I remember dreaming of making the amount of money that I'm starving on now !!
That chair looks better than the one at the house. And I can fix this lawn mower, easy.
According to a 2018 study, 66.5 percent of all American bankruptcies were tied to medical issues —either because of high costs for care or time out of work.
The researchers found that roughly 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy every year because of medical issues and bills.
Other reasons include unaffordable mortgages or foreclosure, at 45 percent, closely followed by spending or living beyond one's means, at 44.4 percent, providing help to friends or relatives, at 28.4 percent, student loans, at 25.4 percent, or divorce or separation, at 24.4 percent.
At least it's an emergency number because this is a crisis for many.
Between savings, pension, and Social Security, I should be able to retire about three weeks after I die.
“Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, people don’t have very good alternatives, because the insurance that is available and affordable to people, or that most people’s employers provide them, is not adequate protection if you’re sick,” a co-author of the research, Dr. David U. Himmelstein, a distinguished professor at Hunter College and founder of advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program, said.
Most families do not have enough saved for a simple emergency, let alone thousands of dollars in unexpected medical costs.
Over three-quarters of all full-time workers are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a report from jobs site CareerBuilder, and just 40 percent of Americans are able to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense with their savings, according to another survey from personal finance website Bankrate.
So sadly, it looks like we will see a lot more similar tweets in the future as well.
I once got robbed at uni and my wallet only had one dollar...so jokes on them. Lol
Good analogy. Add 4 more bills or bad situations to your life. Always something! ALWAYS!
Then you remember you are not a Sim, and although knowing the pool ladder probably won't magically disappear you are still bummed.
Oh but horse shoes are actually really expensive and need to be replaced every 6 weeks.
Note: this post originally had 56 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
As an American, these are so relatable. I'm sure it's not just in America but, crippling health care and student debt are the cause of many of these in my country. The cost of living goes up but pay does not. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The homeless rate increases. People die from lack of health care. I could go on and on. Living here is far from living the American Dream. Its more like a nightmare.
"It's called The American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin
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My family's been just scraping by each month for two years now. I thought this would cheer me up. It didn't.
Yeah, I was wondering if the posters are really "embracing" poverty or "just surviving" partly by needing to have a sense of humor.
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We have to stop embracing being exploited and inhumane treatment. I know we are trying to feel better about what's really going on. I think just rolling over and laughing is what the 1% want. This should not be happening and we definitely should not see it as a joke.
I find it astonishing that so many people know what's wrong with our society today, yet not a damn thing will ever be done to change it. People will just keep living in misery.
Everyone is finally quitting their jobs/endentured servitudes/plantations lately. I remember every time I walked into work as kid I would actually feel my soul die. After 8 hours of work all night long I would have less than $50 after taxes. I have always known that s**t isn’t right for anyone of any age.There were people working there with kids and a family I could barely afford to eat ramen and had three other roommates. I don’t know how they made it working at Walmart A LOT of them made less than I did I got hired at $8.65 and was told not to tell anyone else as they would be upset because they had been there for years and only made $7.25/hr
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Poverty sucks, no doubt. Without money, you live in an entirely different universe. It is often exhausting, frightening, demoralizing, sometimes humiliating, and much more dangerous than life for those with money. If you've not read the book Nickeled and Dimed, written by a woman trying to live only on minimum wage, I highly recommend it.
Don't need to read books on poverty... the 80% of us who live it know.
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This is relatable anywhere... Whatever you earn is not enough... I love music and books but cannot afford to splurge (not at the moment). I have asked my friends to give me their books which they don't want anymore. I also shop second-hand at times. No shame at all. Plus pay my basic plan with good net pack. It allows small pleasures like downloading movies on youtube. Pay one music app for year. I get music..
I love the tragic-comedy of this thread but also would love to give money to everyone who needs it. Including me.
Presidents have NOTHING to do with wages (their job is comander and chief of our military and be a public face internationally). This is like taking claim to how many children are adopted during those years, or how many inches of rain a state got. You got stuck on the fancy wording describing numbers, and gave into political garbage, forgetting a president is not a CEO.
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As an American, these are so relatable. I'm sure it's not just in America but, crippling health care and student debt are the cause of many of these in my country. The cost of living goes up but pay does not. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The homeless rate increases. People die from lack of health care. I could go on and on. Living here is far from living the American Dream. Its more like a nightmare.
"It's called The American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin
Load More Replies... My family's been just scraping by each month for two years now. I thought this would cheer me up. It didn't.
Yeah, I was wondering if the posters are really "embracing" poverty or "just surviving" partly by needing to have a sense of humor.
Load More Replies... We have to stop embracing being exploited and inhumane treatment. I know we are trying to feel better about what's really going on. I think just rolling over and laughing is what the 1% want. This should not be happening and we definitely should not see it as a joke.
I find it astonishing that so many people know what's wrong with our society today, yet not a damn thing will ever be done to change it. People will just keep living in misery.
Everyone is finally quitting their jobs/endentured servitudes/plantations lately. I remember every time I walked into work as kid I would actually feel my soul die. After 8 hours of work all night long I would have less than $50 after taxes. I have always known that s**t isn’t right for anyone of any age.There were people working there with kids and a family I could barely afford to eat ramen and had three other roommates. I don’t know how they made it working at Walmart A LOT of them made less than I did I got hired at $8.65 and was told not to tell anyone else as they would be upset because they had been there for years and only made $7.25/hr
Load More Replies... Poverty sucks, no doubt. Without money, you live in an entirely different universe. It is often exhausting, frightening, demoralizing, sometimes humiliating, and much more dangerous than life for those with money. If you've not read the book Nickeled and Dimed, written by a woman trying to live only on minimum wage, I highly recommend it.
Don't need to read books on poverty... the 80% of us who live it know.
Load More Replies... This is relatable anywhere... Whatever you earn is not enough... I love music and books but cannot afford to splurge (not at the moment). I have asked my friends to give me their books which they don't want anymore. I also shop second-hand at times. No shame at all. Plus pay my basic plan with good net pack. It allows small pleasures like downloading movies on youtube. Pay one music app for year. I get music..
I love the tragic-comedy of this thread but also would love to give money to everyone who needs it. Including me.
Presidents have NOTHING to do with wages (their job is comander and chief of our military and be a public face internationally). This is like taking claim to how many children are adopted during those years, or how many inches of rain a state got. You got stuck on the fancy wording describing numbers, and gave into political garbage, forgetting a president is not a CEO.
Load More Replies...