Did you know that some banks require a minimum balance and charge their clients a fee if they drop below it? Sounds absurd, I know. But that's just the beginning of the journey we're taking.
Recently, Reddit user Paratrooperkid made a post on r/AntiWork, asking others to list all the examples why being poor is actually expensive. And they definitely picked the right place for it.
r/AntiWork is a subreddit with 1.3 million members who, according to the community itself, "want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on anti-work ideas, and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles." In other words, these folks have plenty of shared experiences regarding unemployment.
As more and more people shared their answers, the post went viral and now has 60K upvotes and 16K comments. Here are some of the (indirect) ways the system taxes the most vulnerable ones.
Image credits: Paratrooperkid
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Rent vs mortgage. The bank says you're too poor for an $800 mortgage payment, so you have to pay $1500 on rent instead.
Plus a minimum of like 10K up front. Because everyone can save that when they have to pay $1500 in rent a month.
Well. Here's a good example of something that happens all the time. Daily. Single mom hasn't gotten her child support check on time. A water* utility bill hits her account that was supposed to be covered by that support. Bank account goes -$135.00 due to the utility bill. The overdraft then incurs a $45 overdraft fee. So. The mom is now -$180 and the electric company sends a letter saying her power will be shut off if payment is not rendered by x date. She knows she won't be paid until two days after the cutoff. So. Waiting for support and her check she's now scouring her floorboard for change to put in her tank to get herself to work and the kids to school. The electric cutoff day comes and goes and the support check doesn't show up. Because she's being paid a sh*t wage she has nothing left over for this emergency. The electric gets cutoff and now her $135.00 bill has incurred a $50 service restart fee. Now her electric bill is $185.00 and she still owes $175 to the bank for the water* overdraft. She is still waiting on the support check. But now because she had to pay the extras for the overdraft, and the electric, she can't afford lunch for the kids this week. So she again scours change to get a loaf of bread and peanut butter. Her kids are still hungry so they get lunch from the school. If the school isn't a*sholes they'll have an account for her kids that will now also be negative. This actually happened in my friends household. It was the most heartbreaking bullsh*t thing you'd ever hear. And it happens every.single.minute.
The hardest part of being poor for me, was the “cost” of time. My weekly grocery trip took almost four hours. Between the time spent looking over fliers and making a list of what I could afford, walking to the closest bus stop, transferring to another bus, an hour of shopping and tallying up my total to make sure I was within budget, waiting up to 20 minutes for a bus home, including another transfer and the walk home with all my groceries from the bus stop. I would often go without groceries because I didn’t have time to get to the store and was stuck making Kraft Dinner Mac and Cheese without butter or milk, because that is what was in the pantry. Now that I live more comfortably, I drive to the store in 10 minutes, spend 30 minutes shopping and am home and finished within an hour.
ETA: it’s been more than 10 years since I ate Sad KD and today I’m lucky to have a full cupboard, fridge and freezer. I am so sorry for everybody who can recognize themselves in this post. I never realized this was such a universal experience.
Yes. When I was a teen I lived by myself in a little hovel on the outside of town. I didn't have a washing machine or car so I would have to walk to the laundromat to wash clothes. If I left them there, they were stolen so I had to sit and wait for them to be done and then walk home again. Instead of being able to throw a load of laundry in and go to work, it took three hours of my time. Then I had to do grocery shopping. Couldn't carry laundry and groceries and they weren't in the same direction anyway, so walk to the supermarket, shop takes time because you have to carefully inspect prices and then walk home again. I was unable to pick up extra working hours to get out of poverty because poverty demanded my time.
It’s cheaper to buy processed foods, leading to higher risk of cancer and other illnesses. Healthy foods are a privilege. I wish I could afford more fruit
Getting to and from work. Since you're poor, you cannot afford to live close to work and thus have a longer commute.
But you also cannot afford to own and run a reliable car, so you have a beater that breaks all the time and gets poor mileage.
When it breaks, you can't get paid because you aren't at work so you have a new bill PLUS halted income.
To compensate, you take out high interest loans to repair the car. But it breaks again later so you're always in debt for high interest loans on top of the car costs.
I see this a lot in the northeast.
Shoes.
You need good shoes to work in, but you can't afford good shoes so you buy ok shoes that break after 3 months.
After 4 pairs of ok shoes in a year, you've spent more than if you'd bought 1 pair of good shoes.
For more see genius Terry Pratchetts character cpt. Sam Vimes ´Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.´
I can help you out. I worked with homeless folks in LA for a few years. The stories I could tell you.
One that was a recurring tale, all too common, were parking tickets. Rich people? Big deal. Pay it online, it’s an afterthought at its worst.
Now that same parking ticket issued to a homeless person living out of their car, trying to scrounge together money for a deposit on a place whilst working a sh*tty service sector job?
That’s devastating. It’s another 2-3 months of sleeping in the car. Or maybe it’s a few days worth of missed meals. Or maybe it’s skipping out on that expensive medication that your sh*tty insurance wont cover.
I could provide you endless examples of the way this country punishes the poor. People need a reality check.
Living in your car WHILE HAVING A BLOODY JOB is insane. The underlying system is completely broken.
I don’t own my home, I rent. My colleague owns. We make the same money and pay the same income taxes. The gov uses the taxes to upgrade the roads, and infrastructure in town. My colleague’s equity goes up, so does my landlord’s, because of our tax dollars spent. So he gets richer. My land lord gets richer.
Me? My rent goes up
this is something that pisses me off to no end. if you have a person or couple with decent jobs who show through their history that they are good renters but have no other assets or a huge savings, why the hell would a lending agency think they were not a good risk to have a mortgage. renting costs so much more than owning. also, not all apartments have utilities included and, if a person/couple is renting they they already are paying for those kind of things.
I’ve never had the money to spend on regular dental work so now I’m spending thousands more to fix everything that was neglected
I would like to make an edit and add that a ton of you in the comments have suggested dental tourism and dental schools. Both are great ideas!
You meticulously maintain a high mileage used car that is totaled in a car accident that is not your fault. Insurance company will only pay you $1,000 for your car.
This sucks even when someone isn't poor. It's such a pain to replace a car for what rip-off...er, I mean insurance company deems your car worth.
Many banks charge a monthly fee to have an account with a balance under a certain level (e.g. $1500). It's literally a poverty fee.
Seems that a US bank that would treat their customers like European banks do, would blow all the other US banks out of the water.
if you cant afford your own laundry machine or an apartment that comes with one it costs like $10 in quarters to do laundry. EVERY TIME.
And that's a luxury too. In my country I've never seen those quarters laundry places. Always thought it was an american movies thing. Also, noone has a washing machine in the basement of apartment buildings. Only in dorms.
I’m the opposite of poor and I see this every day. Because I have money to always pay my credit card bills fully on time I buy everything with them and wind up with a 2% discount/cash back on everything I buy. This adds up to thousands of $/year. There are tons of things that are discounted if you are rich. One of the sh*ttiest things about our economy
Yeah. Also, being able to buy the good, lasting stuff leads to not spending money on many things like good quality clothing, appliences and tools. Saves a HUGE ammount of money over time.
Attendance micromanagement at work.
Hear me out.
I am currently at a much higher paying position. It’s salaried. My boss has the mindset that she doesn’t care when things get done just so long as they get done. She’s flexible on when I clock in/out and doesn’t feel the need to track if I’m hitting exactly forty hours a week. (Again, salaried position).
Contrast to past jobs that paid less than half as much. Many of my coworkers took public transit (couldn’t own a car). I could have easily taken public transit, it was one bus and short walk from my house. However. I opted to drive because we would be disciplined for being more than two minutes “tardy” clocking in.
The bus is NOT that reliable, y’all.
So we have multiple workers showing up 10-20 minutes early to sit around with unpaid time so they don’t get docked for being tardy. And the policy was such that three tardies mean you get written up, then it escalates to action, then to termination. It’s real easy to lose your job because your bus route is not reliable. But most of the people taking the bus to work are in the low paying positions that micromanage if you’re two minutes late (even if it’s out of your control).
Bosses keep their thumbs on the low earners and it keeps them there.
Only being able to afford the small jar of mayo (or whatever), even though the larger jar is a better deal.
Overdraft fees that charge you money for having no money.
Late fees for not being able to afford your bills.
Having to go to the closest grocery store, even though it may not be the cheapest, because it's on the bus route or within walking distance.
Payday loans
Rent to own stores where you have to pay a ton of money for a couch, but pay weekly
And you spend so much time just trying to survive you have little time to improve yourself
When I first lived on my own (escaped a bad situation), I bought a splurge...$100 of groceries. I meal prepped, made dozens of bags of frozen prepared veggies etc. I was eating healthy and I felt like I actually just did good for myself. I thought it was a smart move.
I was literally set up for almost two months.
The power went out. My insurance couldn't cover it. I lost so much food. I just saved a few items that were frozen solid.
I cried until I threw up. I eventually had my dad drop off some leftovers but I never told him what happened, I was too embarrassed.
That’s so sad. You shouldn’t be embarrassed as I’m sure your dad didn’t mind helping you out.
Not being able to afford preventive medical care leads to huge medical bills later. I’ve seen it numerous times where people put off routine exams/procedures, and then come through the ER and end up with an amputation, or even death, because the illness had progressed so far before they sought treatment.
Every injury, every cough, every tooth pain is accompanied by panic because it is like having a hole in your pocket. You have no idea how much this is going to cost. But you know it is likely to ruin you.
40,000 per year before taxes
35,200 after taxes
Rent 1100 × 12 = 13200
Car note 400 × 12 = 4800
Car insurance 200 × 12 = 2400
Utilities, gas for the car, internet 400 x 12 = 4800
Food 400 × 12 = 4800
Total 30,000
These are nice round numbers and I live in one of the "lowest cost of living" states in the US....this also includes 0 entertainment expenses like Netflix, going out with friends, taking a vacation etc.
5200 bucks left over to save for the year easily gets decimated by just 1 or 2 car issues, maybe 1 or 2 doctor/dentist visits, God forbid you have 1 of each Car issue, doctor visit and dentist visit in the same year...
Imagine working 40+ hrs a week just to be able to work 40+ hrs a week and stay alive....nothing more.
For me, it was moreso the fact that everything was a choice. The mental strain of trying to figure out how to budget $100 when you realistically need $150...it's f*cking horrible.
It leads to bad decisions over time too. I smoked cigarettes because I was always so stressed and cigarettes are expensive. I knew I was wasting money and couldn't really afford it, but it was one of the only things that got me through shifts of hell at work
Cigarrettes... alcohol... now you know why poor people get into them
I overdrafted my account by $.27. The bank charged me $35. My credit score was bad so my interest was worse when getting a car. My credit sucked so I couldn't buy a house so I had to rent for almost double.
Just some of my past examples.
College loans: spend thirty years paying interest on a college degree because you don't have rich parents. Also if you don't have a college degree, you'll be excluded from nearly all jobs that pay decently.
Freedom of "choice"
Not me personally but my best friend recently got an unpaid internship at a hospital because he needs the experience as an upcoming graduate student in an MPH program.
The hospital required him to be fully vaccinated and to get a sh*t ton of shots. However, they won’t pay for it and if you don’t do it, you will lose your spot. Since he has no insurance, he ended up paying $280 out of pocket to go work for free just so he can build his resume. SMH !
"intern" is the new word for indentured servant, but being an indentured servant was better because room, board, and clothing was provided.
How abput depression and anxiety caused by financial pressures being 'treated' by a therapist and being charged $75 copay per visit. Then, if the anxiety is bad enough that you don't go, you get a $45 cancellation fee unless you cancel 2 days+ in advance. Self-fueling system.
US health care is a for profit system and only aimed at being beneficial for the ones working in the business. It doesn't matter if your treatment makes you better or makes you dead, you will pay the bills.
If you have a low credit score you have to pay a $300 deposit in order to get power turned on at your place. (In Las Vegas Nevada)
In Vegas there's only one power company NV Energy
We're in the New England states where it's gotten to 15 degrees Fahrenheit overnight. We've been without heat for three weeks now because it will cost us $800 to fill our K1 tank. We don't have the $350 for 100 gallons either. We're currently jacking up our electric bill, risking fire, and risking the safety of us and our cats by using the oven to heat the house. We're also risking our pipes bursting.
All because we can't come up with $350 upfront.
Higher interest rates any time you borrow. Lack of assets to borrow money against. Lower paying jobs are generally harder on a person’s body and lead to more doctor visits and medical bills. Driving a cheap old car means shelling out more money for repairs and fuel than a person driving a newer model.
My dad freaked out when he heard what my auto loan interest rate was. My credit score wasn't even that bad.
Friend broke his glasses today. Insurance wants a reeval of his eyes to get new ones, so now he's out a couple hundred for the script and can't work until they're replaced. Also can't drive until he can see.
What shíthole country is this in? An eye test costs under £20 on the high street.
Poor people can’t pay for childcare. The wealthy rely on underpaying people to take care of their kids. Meaning it’s easier to have two income households without the penalty of being a parent. Perpetuating the cycle of poverty
Thing I’ve noticed, as I have made more, is that I receive more free stuff. It could be clothes for the children that are good quality and have barely been worn, if at all. You’re more likely to be invited to events that have free food or giveaways. Work will provide free lunches or other things like gift cards that you don’t get in an entry level job. I’m more likely to get discounts on things, presumably because people expect a quid pro quo.
Not meant to be a brag but it is noticeable how much more you don’t have to pay for as you move out of poverty.
Indeed. It is outrageous the amount of free stuff richer people get just for being able to pay expensivier things... if you have enough money, then you most certainly won't need to pay for anything, because everyting is free. Only poor people need money to survive
Years ago, I was a seasonal on call worker for a furniture retailer. I was not offered benefits which i was ok with because i had state benefits for low income. Well, turns out I made too much money for state assistance for medication (diabetes) but not enough to afford the actual medication out of pocket. I had to go into credit card debt to afford my insulin. Luckily that was a temporary experience however it was very eye opening.
There are no grocery stores in your neighborhood and you don't have a car. The Bodega you can walk to is under stocked and extremely expensive. These are your groceries.
There is no bank near you and they close at 4 or 5. So you can't take a bus to the bank. So you have to use check cashing services that take a percent.
You have a mild toothache you can't afford to fix. So I becomes an outrageous expense when it turns into an abscess.
What do you mean no groceries in your neighborhood? There are potential customers, and store owners are just like "nah... Skip"???
As a single mom, I have to stay below a certain income in order to keep free healthcare for me & my kids, and to stay in my “low income” apartment that I pay $1000/month in rent.
So for me, the most expensive part of being poor, is trying to break the cycle of being poor in a system that was designed to keep us down here.
Let’s say you have an accident or stroke. If you’re able to afford private insurance, you are able to get some level of rehab. But if you are on Medicaid….you’re f*cked. Most states’ Medicaid programs DO NOT cover rehab. Physical or occupational. They do pay for nursing home care. They are willing to pay more in the long run to keep you in the system than to help pull you out of a hole.
old cars need more repairs, public transportation is more expensive than driving, rent is more expensive than mortgage, energy efficient appliances cost more, nutritious food is more expensive, burglaries and attacks happen in poorer neighborhoods as does police violence, low paying jobs are not qualifications for higher paying jobs, good doctors don’t take poor people health insurance, pollution is higher in poor neighborhoods, laundromats are more expensive than a washing machine, cleaning dishes takes more time than a dishwasher, late bill fees and tickets are not based on percentage of income
Hell yes exactly! A lot of good doctors don't accept the state's medicaid (poor ppl insurance) it's so hard to find a doctor that will take good care of patients with a lot of chronic illnesses that are younger than average. It's hard to find one that will listen and spend more than 3-5 minutes tops in your exam room and that's no exaggeration at all, just a fact. This was prior to the pandemic, so it's insane now.
My husband ends up spending money several times a year on doctors appointments because he can't afford his tonsillectomy and instead gets tonsillitis almost monthly.
My father couldn't afford proper dental care, now he has dentures that he's wiped out his savings to pay off.
My oldest sibling can't afford a house near their jobs, so they instead stay with a friend and commute back and forth across state lines (2.5 hours each way) to spend their days off with their spouse, who is at my parents house.
If only there was a way of reducing medical costs to a level that the health of the whole nation would improve...
Buying in bulk. You can only afford to buy a single roll of toilet paper instead of the better deal for more. Stuff like this. Also insurance. Going to the doctors takes an unpaid day off of work, and it costs at least $100 since you have no insurance.
Not to mention, if you live in a tiny apartment, you don't even have storage space for more than 1 roll of toilet paper at a time.
I went to the doctor to get a checkup for something I was pretty sure was just a swollen/tense muscle (I was right) and the doctor was very condescending and checking everything in the area except where I said it was.
I was sent to get an xray for my foot and was prescribed antibiotics for my other foot as I had a toe that got infected because I clipped that nail weird and it started bleeding.
Antibiotics were I believe $75 which is absurd.
I got a bill from the clinic, a bill for the doctor, and a bill from the xray place, and a bill for the xray tech, which is already what the f*ck, the 4 of which totalled to be over $600. At the time I was making around 900 per biweekly paycheck, and I have other bills that total to over 600.
Which means I was effectively broke until I finished paying off those bullsh*t bills.
I've started my real job 2 years ago. You'd think, hey, now I had enough money rolling in every month to afford some decent clothes (need to be clothed in business chique but all I had left were shirts and worn down sweatpants and 1 or 2 good things).
I've spent roughly 1k, if not 1,5k of my salary during these first 2 years on clothes and I still don't have anywhere near enough clothes to not constantly worry about not wearing the same thing too often. Could I have gone for even cheaper clothes? Hardly, as it wasn't even top notch stuff. Just a wide variety of everything you need but don't have anymore, a decent winter jacket, bras, shirts, pants... ESPECIALLY if you gain weight during your unemployment, which come on, it's so common. You're feeling low, you can only afford junk food, etc. Most people go up a size or two in those circumstances.
Sh*t breaks down too, it's been 2 years of wearing the original good pants and the first wave of clothes I was able to buy. They're trashed by now.
This isn't supposed to be a pity-party-comment, it's just to highlight that rich people don't realise how much you have to pay in order to even work somewhere.
Most importantly; if you don't have nice clothes anymore, your chances of GETTING a job are significantly worse.
not to mention, you feel like crap, too, if you don't have nice clothes like everyone else is wearing. You'll get passed over for promotions, as well, if you are 'dressing for the job you want'.
The monetary burden of poor people is staggering, but the stress is just as bad if not worse. Owing money that you don't have is incredibly stressful, as is struggling to perform a sh*tty job just to barely scrape by.
The mental burden of being poor also requires money to cope with, and since professional help is expensive, it often ends up being dealt with in an unhealthy way (inebriation at best, s****de at worst). Things like drugs can cause additional health issues, as well as potentially risking fines or jail/prison, so it's a slippery slope.
Not being able to save by buying in bulk. Even though it costs less per unit, the TOTAL is higher
Not having access to credit lines with better interest rates / payment plans because your credit score is sh*t or you don't have any collateral
Having to buy cheap sh*t that breaks fast because you can't afford good quality stuff (clothes, shoes, electronics) - Terry Pratchett wrote about it, btw...
Insurance. I just moved from a decent neighbourhood to another decent neighbourhood, same quadrant of the city, but because the one I’m moving to has older homes that are cheaper to rent and thus have more low income people like me living there, my vehicle insurance shot up with 160 cad. I can’t afford that. I might as well have stayed in the more affluent area. I’ll be drowning in debt either way.
Spending $800 to fix a 22 year old truck that is worth $500 cause you can’t afford a newer vehicle, and can’t get to work without a reliable vehicle (live in the country 30 miles from the city). Or spending $150/wk on gas for said truck cause you don’t have a job, so can’t get a car loan for a vehicle that would cost less than what the cost of gas is.
Thankfully I’m past that point in my life.
My roommate physically assaulted me and the apartment complex I was renting from wanted $6,300 for me to break my lease, which was more money than I had earned during the previous six months working part-time because I was still in college.
If you own your own home, count your f*cking blessings. Being a renter is utter bullsh*t.
I worked at Walmart back about 2005. When someone wanted to buy a camera we would always try to push them to the next price up.
If they could afford it they bought it. If they couldn’t we tried to saddle them with an 18-26% interest card. So a $150 camera would end up costing them nearly a thousand and/or ruining their credit score for years.
The entire department quit over the policy.
Had a child with health issues where insurance only covered a portion of the cost. Credit got wrecked so we had 1 “good” car which my wife drove. Couldn’t get a loan on another car for a couple of hundred per month so I was forced to keep buying high mileage cars for 2k or so (all I could ever scrape together) that would last 3-6 months getting me to work. I spent far more buying junk cars over 2-3 years than I would have had I been able to just buy a cheap economical new car.
On occasion I get parking tickets, because the city I live in wants us to move our car to the opposite side of the street every day. To me this is a prime example, because if I was rich enough to buy a home and own a drive way I wouldn’t need to worry about moving my car every single day. It’s a literal tax on the poor.
Banking fees, overdraft fees, ATM fees, etc. All disappear when you have enough in your account.
Also just everything is relatively more expensive. If you make 10 dollars an hour, to fill up your 12 gal tank is 1/2 a workday (ignoring taxes). When you make 40 an hour, it's 1/8. Car insurance, healthcare premiums, utilities, food. For people with low income, the essentials are a huge percentage, if not all, of income. When you make more money the essentials are a small fraction.
You got it. Now if high school or, better yet, college students were made to take courses on that subject. But that leaves the young people without means for college left in the hard crash-course of life-and-learn. Damn.
My wife and I don’t have the time and energy to cook for ourselves most nights. A good, home cooked dinner costs maybe $15-20, and I usually make 4-6 servings per meal. That adds up to 4 cooked dinners a week with leftovers making up other meals, or about $60-$80 in dinner money. Instead we’ve been spending $120-150 weekly on fast food bc otherwise we don’t have the time or energy left to feed ourselves. At this point it feels like I’m paying to work.
Is there any way you can get your hands on a slow-cooker or crockpot? Maybe second-hand? When I was working 2-3 jobs and very cash-poor, cooking a huge vat of beans and rice with some veggies and spices, which would keep for a long time and fill me up, was a life-saver. To this day, my slow-cooker is my favorite appliance, because I owe it big-time for saving me back in the day.
My mom used to use those check cashing places because she would be short each payday. She must have spent thousands over the years. The first thing I did when I had a job was to tell her never to use those places again because I could spot her any time.
Good advice to your mom. The more you use those places, the deeper in debt you become. For most people, if they look hard enough, if they research, if they try to find answers, this in-debt to the debtors doesn't have to happen, at least not in that area.
Don’t make enough per hour, need to work long hours at job. Job isn’t very good because you needed it out of high school and couldn’t afford higher education. Can’t make time to study for higher education without reducing work hours… etc.
Sh*tty cars are targeted by cops. I haven't gotten pulled over in a decade but when I drove a POS I always had my eyes out for the fuzz and got a ticket at least once a quarter. I drive the same.
The inability to afford a lawyer or to afford the time needed to consult with one/try to find a good one that might actually work without costing a lot upfront.
This applies in many, many situations, but the one that's fully boned me is disability. I cannot afford a lawyer to help me to successfully navigate the disability application process. I can't even afford the bills for the numerous doctor visits required to build my case. To top it off, each and every form needed from a medical provider requires that I go in for an appointment (paying that expense in time, travel, and the office bill), then pay anywhere from $75-200 per form needed (keeping in mind that most doctors charge that even though they also expect me to fill out and send the form - they just sign it).
Add the expectation that disability will be denied & require appeal, drawing out the process even further... And that part of my disability includes PTSD related to bad medical experiences, so the whole process is triggering to begin with... Well, let's just say that even though I should qualify for disability assistance, I'm stuck with nothing. Meanwhile, I get to watch affluent ladies with only a small portion of my chronic ailments easily hire a lawyer and get on disability.
Uber driver here. I live in a Major city with sh*t public transportation - I can’t even tell you how many rides I give weekly where the Uber Ride one way costs more then the passengers hourly wage. I drive tons of people working part time shifts that pay 12$ an hour when the Ride just to work costs 20$- I feel very bad for them. It’s not like I am making the big bucks driving Uber but sh*t paying 40$ to get to and from work when you only make a few hundred a week just doesn’t make any sense to me- but this is the reality for many
The ones who say eat at home
Sometimes, okay all of the time, groceries are more money than having a meal at McDonald's.
I mentioned this on another post - is there any way you can get your hands on a slow-cooker or crockpot? Maybe second-hand? When I was working 2-3 jobs and very cash-poor, cooking a huge vat of beans and rice with some veggies and spices, which would keep for a long time and fill me up, was a life-saver. To this day, my slow-cooker is my favorite appliance, because I owe it big-time for saving me back in the day.
My car was repossessed. Until I get a new one, I’m paying Uber $40/day to get to and from work. Sucks, man.
Friggin' FHA loans.
Actually! Better example: Car title loans. Payday cash advance loans.
Literally if you're rich you can afford a loan from a bank with a normal interest rate. You can afford a regular mortgage. You can pay general cost of living bills on time and not need loans for them.
If you're poor, you can't actually make ends meet, so you're constantly taking out shady loans just to pay for, like, utilities, or co-pays on medications.
You're chronically underemployed because you're always burning out at work. This is because when you have a job, you're constantly trying to work 60+ hours per week so you don't lose your car or house over debt.
But that's unsustainable. You get physically sick or have a mental breakdown and lose your job. Time for another loan!
People kill themselves over this.
Banks will take withdrawals out before deposits in order to hit you with overdraft fees. So that $100 electric bill might cost you and extra $50 because you don’t have as much money as other people in your account.
I’m taking time off work to care for wife with cancer, because my checking account balance is low and I’m not receiving a paycheck (no qualifying direct deposits) I’m caught with the $12/month service charge.
currently paying 300 a week for a motel room
Not acceptable - on the other hand, most of us would need more detailed information about your circumstances before we could comment intelligently.
Not owning the means of production.
Sounds like a hilarious trope, right? Not really.
I have a buddy who is notorious from thinking he's the smartest guy ever and that's why he has access to wealth. His parents have him a "starter property" he instantly took a load against it to get a second property, paid for by renting out the first.
Both properties were several acres. He was making more than the mortgage just from the house on one property. With the rest of the land, he hosted WOOFers. They ran his chicken egg business that sold to the local bakeries and cafes.
An additional live-in worker was in his own modified school bus. He maintained both properties' infrastructure, making minor improvements. This included irrigation for the second property to become a licensed hemp farm, where he hired on travelers to camp on his land in exchange for food (from his other property) and space, and a percent of the final harvest.
He "employed" over a dozen people at no risk and with no money up front, simply exploiting their basic human needs for pay. Those who worked there, by the end, didn't have the means to walk away wealthier and often supplemented their pay with food stamps to get by.
The guy didn't do sh*t aside from smoke weed and tell people what to do. He had no idea how to even instruct people to do tasks and had them do the research to make him money. A clueless leader to a personal army built on the fact that his family had a sh*t-tier piece of land in the country.
If you’re unable to pay a higher premium on your car insurance, something like a broken windshield will cost $1000+ just to meet the deductible.
We rented a house once and had to heat it. Delivery for oil wouldn’t come unless you wanted a full tank or xxx amount of dollars of oil. To keep the furnace running we would fill jerry cans of furnace oil from a gas station pump and go a few days at a time, but the amount of $$ we spent on a little bit of oil (or diesel) at a gas station multiple times would be way higher then dropping 900 all at once for a fill up
The first time i had large bills to pay was when i was homeless sleeping in my car. I had to put all my stuff in storage. While i worked as a lyft driver during the day and slept in the car at night so i could make enough to afford the storage, gas, maintenance and insurance and fast food everyday.
Without further information, I'd say get rid of your storage items, or at least pare them down to sentimental stuff. Storage units suck the energy out of budgets, in the first place, and when a person finally gets out on his/her own there are plenty of local websites with people giving all sorts of items away, no cost. (You need a laptop; go to a public library and ask for one through their free Internet. Hell, ask a librarian; they're not there for their beauty, ya know.) Insurance - again, need more information. Fast food? No. Buy cans and bags and even fresh foods that will last longer, for less cost; put it in your trunk. Where there's a will, there's (almost always, or usually) a way.
You know where rich Americans go for dental work?
Mexico.
I just had two wisdom teeth and one molar removed and it cost $2442 because I can't afford insurance, or a vacation to Mexico. Still need two other wisdom teeth removed and another problem molar, but we'll see! I'm poor so I might just die instead!
I called it quits on all the failed root canals and started having them just pull the teeth.
Not having the money to pay liability insurance getting pulled over and being charged $500+ for not having insurance + $134 for court costs + a insurance rate that shoots up for "lapse"
Let's not start to mention any type of non violent crimes that get people on probation and/or into the system based off of racist class traitor cops.. Literally poverty enforcers
I hate saying this as I don't really like all these "look how bad America is" articles but it's obvious a lot (as in the majority) of these posts are from Americans. Guys, please, something is fundamentally wrong when you have to choose between medical care or rent and when a box of some salty, fatty, sugar laden conveyor belt food is cheaper to buy than vegetables.
Nothing any citizen can do about it. Corporate greed has politicians by the balls, they have no spine to change things. Unfortunately creating your own system when the system is broken usually means doing something illegal which just makes things worse. Voting for a politician interested in Making changes amounts to nothing. There is no political will to change things. Unfortunately this entire scenario creates a weak country with citizens who don’t trust their government…rightly so
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This is a depressing list of how a dystopian society looks like and how it is to live in one. But do keep voting for politicians who rather see you dead than earning a livable wage, telling you that you're a lazy POS if you refuse to work for less than a livable wage.
The rich get what they want in politics because they have the time to ask for it. Karen can go to the town hall meetings to make homelessness illegal because she's not on a bus between jobs trying to avoid homelessness. A doctor can give money to a lobbyist to sit in a senator's office just waiting for a meeting while his patient who gave them that money doesn't have the time to sit in that same senator's office.
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Thank f**k I live in Scotland, yeah a lot of these still apply but I have zero concerns about my utilities being cut off, medical bills, decent public transport, free education, free school meals in primary school....the list could go on. I'd rather eat my own toes than live in the society that's developed in a so called developed country
And you know what? Not a god-damn thing is going to change. This s**t has gone on in the USA since the late 70's (probably earlier) and our politicians have done little to nothing to help the average American. It's easy to blame Trump for the January 6th riot, but he didn't create it. The anger, frustration, and mistrust were already there, he just fanned the flames. And if our politicians don't wake up and smell what they've been shoveling us it's going to get worse, a lot worse. And if you think it can't happen here, did you ever think in your lifetime a riot would storm the Capitol Building?
A lot of these posts have been depressing to read. Create a socialist party. It's the only way out. The rest of the planet does it. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-political-party/
Load More Replies... i know there are people that will deny this but there is still an issue with a single woman buying a home. doesn't matter that you may have owned in the past when you were married. or, perhaps you are widowed and the loss of an income caused you to have to sell your former home. now, you are trying to buy a smaller place. the scrutiny you go through in insane.
Which country are you in Caro? You CAN do a lot. Push for global justice. Join and do charity work for an NGO which deals with global justice. Protest for America to accept rulings of the ICC, WHO, UN, and other international bodies.
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Unlike other Posts this is a very good one that shows how our society slowly turns more and more into... well let's say: paid slavery. I live in german where the lower classes could live relatively good but over the years I see more and more people begging, collecting returnable bottles for life and stuff, while on the other side rents are exploding and the life costs are going higher and higher. I fear that it doesn't take so long until we are at the same point the U.S. is today.
Germany was colonised by American in 1945 and remains mentally affected by their way of thinking, even though they "officially" pulled out in 1989.
Load More Replies... Oh, but it isn't over. With the wealth gap exploding over the past couple of years, there are corporations and super wealthy who are looking forward to the feudal society that is looming. Consider the number of people who have jumped on the authoritarian band wagon of he-who-shall-not-be-named. They are right in that the things are really bad but having a dictator who has absolutely no empathy and who only considers what he wants is not the way to go. I'm afraid we are too far down the rabbit hole for a good outcome.
This is been an ongoing an ever growing problem since the Reagan administration it got worse during the Gulf War with the first Bush and then the second Bush administration. The hope is that you make majority of the population so poor that they’re working so hard and they’re so exhausted that they really can’t put any extra effort time or money into trying to change things. It’s unfortunate it’s cruel and it’s completely unnecessary and ultimately the entire country will pay for it sooner or later and it’s not gonna be pretty. I sat on the board as a volunteer from my local clinic for over 10 years and I’m telling you it was the most amazing eye-opening experience I’ve ever had.
For me, childcare and travel to and from work cost more than I earned from that work. I became a stay-at-home mom because I couldn't afford to work.
Poverty is super expensive. I sometimes forget but throughout my whole childhood and my 20s I paid so much extra for crap because I lived under the poverty line. I finally reached financial stability and yea, I don't get nickel and dimed anymore. Want to buy a house without enough down, you pay over $100 more for mortgage insurance and you have higher interest rates. Good luck everyone, I know it sucks. The only comfort I had was the knowledge that I had been homeless before and dealt with it okay enough so I knew the worst that could happen is something I had already lived through before. It made me feel more confident about taking risks I was so far down the ladder that if I fell it would only be a minor step down from where I was.
Don't know if it's been said, but I'd like to add that there is an inability to relate. Ex: A friend wants to go out for drinks, but you can't afford it....ever. Friend says something like, "You can this once". No. I literally can't. Another Ex: my sister is a nurse, and when I had some sort of medical concern I'd ask her advice. She would say to go to the doctor. I never could. When I reassured her I could not afford to do so she said, "You just have to, what did you expect?". People who have never had to struggle in the same ways may sympathize over social media, but it's been my experience they just can not open their minds and understand the reality of some of these situations.
I am not saying that everywhere else is heaven, but oh my God how the USA is hell.
I read a lot of these things on B.P and elsewhere. I think everyone can agree America is in very serious trouble. I suspect other countries have similar problems we don't hear as much about but should. Here's the big question. When corruption and or rampant capitalism have infected almost every part of life how the hell does one even begin to address the problems and correct them??
The policies of liberals ALWAYS cost poor people more because it drives up the cost of everyday products! Since Biden took office almost everything costs more because of changes he's made!
Everyone raised their prices but never raised their payrates. Allowing that to happen is, in my opinion, a criminal offense.
Load More Replies... I hate saying this as I don't really like all these "look how bad America is" articles but it's obvious a lot (as in the majority) of these posts are from Americans. Guys, please, something is fundamentally wrong when you have to choose between medical care or rent and when a box of some salty, fatty, sugar laden conveyor belt food is cheaper to buy than vegetables.
Nothing any citizen can do about it. Corporate greed has politicians by the balls, they have no spine to change things. Unfortunately creating your own system when the system is broken usually means doing something illegal which just makes things worse. Voting for a politician interested in Making changes amounts to nothing. There is no political will to change things. Unfortunately this entire scenario creates a weak country with citizens who don’t trust their government…rightly so
Load More Replies... This is a depressing list of how a dystopian society looks like and how it is to live in one. But do keep voting for politicians who rather see you dead than earning a livable wage, telling you that you're a lazy POS if you refuse to work for less than a livable wage.
The rich get what they want in politics because they have the time to ask for it. Karen can go to the town hall meetings to make homelessness illegal because she's not on a bus between jobs trying to avoid homelessness. A doctor can give money to a lobbyist to sit in a senator's office just waiting for a meeting while his patient who gave them that money doesn't have the time to sit in that same senator's office.
Load More Replies... Thank f**k I live in Scotland, yeah a lot of these still apply but I have zero concerns about my utilities being cut off, medical bills, decent public transport, free education, free school meals in primary school....the list could go on. I'd rather eat my own toes than live in the society that's developed in a so called developed country
And you know what? Not a god-damn thing is going to change. This s**t has gone on in the USA since the late 70's (probably earlier) and our politicians have done little to nothing to help the average American. It's easy to blame Trump for the January 6th riot, but he didn't create it. The anger, frustration, and mistrust were already there, he just fanned the flames. And if our politicians don't wake up and smell what they've been shoveling us it's going to get worse, a lot worse. And if you think it can't happen here, did you ever think in your lifetime a riot would storm the Capitol Building?
A lot of these posts have been depressing to read. Create a socialist party. It's the only way out. The rest of the planet does it. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-political-party/
Load More Replies... i know there are people that will deny this but there is still an issue with a single woman buying a home. doesn't matter that you may have owned in the past when you were married. or, perhaps you are widowed and the loss of an income caused you to have to sell your former home. now, you are trying to buy a smaller place. the scrutiny you go through in insane.
Which country are you in Caro? You CAN do a lot. Push for global justice. Join and do charity work for an NGO which deals with global justice. Protest for America to accept rulings of the ICC, WHO, UN, and other international bodies.
Load More Replies... Unlike other Posts this is a very good one that shows how our society slowly turns more and more into... well let's say: paid slavery. I live in german where the lower classes could live relatively good but over the years I see more and more people begging, collecting returnable bottles for life and stuff, while on the other side rents are exploding and the life costs are going higher and higher. I fear that it doesn't take so long until we are at the same point the U.S. is today.
Germany was colonised by American in 1945 and remains mentally affected by their way of thinking, even though they "officially" pulled out in 1989.
Load More Replies... Oh, but it isn't over. With the wealth gap exploding over the past couple of years, there are corporations and super wealthy who are looking forward to the feudal society that is looming. Consider the number of people who have jumped on the authoritarian band wagon of he-who-shall-not-be-named. They are right in that the things are really bad but having a dictator who has absolutely no empathy and who only considers what he wants is not the way to go. I'm afraid we are too far down the rabbit hole for a good outcome.
This is been an ongoing an ever growing problem since the Reagan administration it got worse during the Gulf War with the first Bush and then the second Bush administration. The hope is that you make majority of the population so poor that they’re working so hard and they’re so exhausted that they really can’t put any extra effort time or money into trying to change things. It’s unfortunate it’s cruel and it’s completely unnecessary and ultimately the entire country will pay for it sooner or later and it’s not gonna be pretty. I sat on the board as a volunteer from my local clinic for over 10 years and I’m telling you it was the most amazing eye-opening experience I’ve ever had.
For me, childcare and travel to and from work cost more than I earned from that work. I became a stay-at-home mom because I couldn't afford to work.
Poverty is super expensive. I sometimes forget but throughout my whole childhood and my 20s I paid so much extra for crap because I lived under the poverty line. I finally reached financial stability and yea, I don't get nickel and dimed anymore. Want to buy a house without enough down, you pay over $100 more for mortgage insurance and you have higher interest rates. Good luck everyone, I know it sucks. The only comfort I had was the knowledge that I had been homeless before and dealt with it okay enough so I knew the worst that could happen is something I had already lived through before. It made me feel more confident about taking risks I was so far down the ladder that if I fell it would only be a minor step down from where I was.
Don't know if it's been said, but I'd like to add that there is an inability to relate. Ex: A friend wants to go out for drinks, but you can't afford it....ever. Friend says something like, "You can this once". No. I literally can't. Another Ex: my sister is a nurse, and when I had some sort of medical concern I'd ask her advice. She would say to go to the doctor. I never could. When I reassured her I could not afford to do so she said, "You just have to, what did you expect?". People who have never had to struggle in the same ways may sympathize over social media, but it's been my experience they just can not open their minds and understand the reality of some of these situations.
I am not saying that everywhere else is heaven, but oh my God how the USA is hell.
I read a lot of these things on B.P and elsewhere. I think everyone can agree America is in very serious trouble. I suspect other countries have similar problems we don't hear as much about but should. Here's the big question. When corruption and or rampant capitalism have infected almost every part of life how the hell does one even begin to address the problems and correct them??
The policies of liberals ALWAYS cost poor people more because it drives up the cost of everyday products! Since Biden took office almost everything costs more because of changes he's made!
Everyone raised their prices but never raised their payrates. Allowing that to happen is, in my opinion, a criminal offense.
Load More Replies...