Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
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Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
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Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#2Terry Pratchett said it very well:
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#3Terry Pratchett said it very well: “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten d…
I was just about to post this because it said there was no comments and when I opened it you had just beaten me to it! I would like to note that it was from the book "Men at Arms".
The older I get the more I see this. Paying upfront to get a lower rate on your mortgage. Having money to begin with to manage well to get a good rate on a mortgage to start with. Having the flexibility in general to try something that may lead to less money overall if it pans out, but is a waste if it doesn't.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#4This reminds me of getting ahead of a leveling curve in a game. If you can do that, you can level in better areas (relative to your present level), giving you better rewards (relative to your present level) which then helps you get to even better areas.
The only way to get ahead of the leveling curve is to work really hard at first, and it's painful (or boring), and then reap the rewards after.
Or in the context of this story live extremely poorly (in the "badly" sense of the word, not the economic one), forgoing every single possible thing not absolutely necessary, and then reap the rewards later.
It's hard to forgo every single luxury, or even to forgo simple inexpensive entertainments. But it's worth it later.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#5Terry Pratchett said it very well: “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten d…
I was just about to post this because it said there was no comments and when I opened it you had just beaten me to it! I would like to note that it was from the book "Men at Arms". The older I get the more I see this. Paying upfront to get a lower rate on your mortgage. Having money to begin with to manage well to get a good rate on a mortgage to start with. Having the flexibility in general to try something that may…
To continue your point: Having the credit score to get a good mortgage. Living in a good zip code, and so your car/home insurance is cheaper. Living in a good zip code, so you can send your kids to public school. Living in a good zip code, so you don't need an expensive security system. Working for a company that provides high-quality health care plans with low deductibles. Owning a newish car, that is much less likely to break down.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#6"One possible solution is that retailers could consider pushing their deals to the beginning of the month."
I wonder is she realized what she was saying/implying by writing that.
She's basically saying "the poor can't be trusted to save their money, so help them spend it well, before they waste it [later in the month]".
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#7Some destitute-college-student friends were telling me that they lived on a $20/week of rice + beans + canned tomatoes; I suggested that I take them out to Costco and for $100 stuff their pantries with ~3 months of supplies.
They patiently explained to idiot me that the reason they ate so poorly was because finding $100 was effectively impossible.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#8"One possible solution is that retailers could consider pushing their deals to the beginning of the month." I wonder is she realized what she was saying/implying by writing that. She's basically saying "the poor can't be trusted to save their money, so help them spend it well, before they waste it [later in the month]".
They basically can't. Time preference is linked in many many studies with all kinds of properties we deem good.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#9Terry Pratchett said it very well: “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten d…
I heard a quote somewhere regarding buying quality items: “I’m so poor I can only afford to buy the very best.” It’s life-changing when you can get to that minimum income threshold.
Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else
#10This reminds me of getting ahead of a leveling curve in a game. If you can do that, you can level in better areas (relative to your present level), giving you better rewards (relative to your present level) which then helps you get to even better areas. The only way to get ahead of the leveling curve is to work really hard at first, and it's painful (or boring), and then reap the rewards after. Or in the context of t…
My god, you've solved poverty!