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Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#51

Post by dclowd9901 »

cubano wrote: post #14

The poor get financially hosed in so many different ways in the US that singling out toilet paper , of all things, seems almost laughable. How about real killers, like payday loans, bank fees, and paying more for milk, eggs, and everything else at the corner store because you don't have transportation to get to Costco? And if you want next level hosedom, how about the opportunity cost of having limited or no transpor…

How about more things?

Credit, which was literally created to hose the poor.

How about goddamn product marketing which merely has the effect 1) robbing poor people of their time and 2) jacking up costs of goods at the expense of 1?

It's all wrong.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#52

Post by SilasX »

542458 wrote: post #45
SilasX wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, the quote irritates me to no end (doubly so how people trip over each other to copypaste it). In practice, most opportunities are not a pure savings like this where you will end up ahead in every way if only you could borrow the money; usually, you'll end up with more painful feet but more money to spend, as the cheaper shoes aren't completely useless and in need of replacement. If the quote were as true as cl…

I don't think that's quite fair. While the quote oversimplifies it, you too are oversimplifying it. If the boots situation existed your planned boots-loan would never work. Because poor people are high-risk loans, you'd need to put a significant risk factor on that boots loan if you ever hoped to break even (there's a reason credit cards charge 20+% interest). So now the $100 boots are $130 or more. Additionally, nob…

>Because poor people are high-risk loans, you'd need to put a significant risk factor on that boots loan if you ever hoped to break even (there's a reason credit cards charge 20+% interest).

Well, yeah, but that's the point: it's not that they're $50 away from a perpetually self-reinforcing cycle of rising out of poverty. It's that even if you loaned them the money, and showed them the savings, they still won't take the rudimentary steps (pay back some of the easy savings). (Hence why my disproof involved the example of a charity program.)

But at that you'd you'd be using a very different theory of poverty than the Vimes one; it's not that the person couldn't find an extra $50 one time, it's that they are unwilling to plan ahead even when the seed money is given to them. That has a very different moral than the one in the excerpt.

>"But why would you deliberately go into debt?". Imagine trying to explain to somebody below the poverty line that the boots are worth going into debt for!

So wait, now you're saying the problem is that the poor are too unwilling to borrow?

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#53

Post by mikeash »

bcheung wrote: post #11

The points in the article are all true but there's a case when the poor would pay less that isn't discussed. For something like toilet paper people who aren't poor probably don't even check the price. In that regard they would be paying more than someone who did comparisons to find the most economical option.

That's just a matter of habits and motivation. A well-off person who can't be bothered to price-compare toilet paper still could pay less if they wanted to, they just don't care to because they don't need to. The poor person stuck paying more doesn't have the option to pay less if they want to.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#54

Post by matt_wulfeck »

My wife has taught me so much about living frugally. We both grew up relatively poor and I consider myself frugal, but she knows the power of coupons and sales. She combines coupons with sales to get very good prices, and budgets strictly for what we need. She'll also game the heck out of store policies ("you are out of stock on item Y so I'm wondering if I can buy item X for the same price").

Also buy a bidet. They cost less than $40, are better for the environment, and will save on your TP costs!

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#56

Post by NiftyFifty »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #51
cubano wrote: post #14

The poor get financially hosed in so many different ways in the US that singling out toilet paper , of all things, seems almost laughable. How about real killers, like payday loans, bank fees, and paying more for milk, eggs, and everything else at the corner store because you don't have transportation to get to Costco? And if you want next level hosedom, how about the opportunity cost of having limited or no transpor…

How about more things? Credit, which was literally created to hose the poor. How about goddamn product marketing which merely has the effect 1) robbing poor people of their time and 2) jacking up costs of goods at the expense of 1? It's all wrong.

Its a product for normal people, not those who are unable to manage their budgets. Oh wait ... crack whore money n shit. Keep forgetting about that.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#57

Post by tomlock »

parenthephobia wrote: post #34
tomlock wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation please.

To be fair, I think most people probably agree about this. Where the disagreement occurs is the question of whose behaviour is chiefly responsible: people in poverty, or people very much not in poverty.

To be fair, I don't think most people agree on this.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#58

Post by ars »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #54

My wife has taught me so much about living frugally. We both grew up relatively poor and I consider myself frugal, but she knows the power of coupons and sales. She combines coupons with sales to get very good prices, and budgets strictly for what we need. She'll also game the heck out of store policies ("you are out of stock on item Y so I'm wondering if I can buy item X for the same price"). Also buy a bidet. They…

Seconded about a bidet. They sell kinds that install under the toilet seat of any toilet (i.e. you don't need a special toilet).

You need just a bit of paper after to dry yourself and that's it. No wiping.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#59

Post by chanux »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #54

My wife has taught me so much about living frugally. We both grew up relatively poor and I consider myself frugal, but she knows the power of coupons and sales. She combines coupons with sales to get very good prices, and budgets strictly for what we need. She'll also game the heck out of store policies ("you are out of stock on item Y so I'm wondering if I can buy item X for the same price"). Also buy a bidet. They…

Also buy a bidet. They cost less than $40, are better for the environment, and will save on your TP costs!

THIS! I really don't understand why a bidet isn't very popular.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#60

Post by startDaemons »

mikekchar wrote: post #31

I've never been able to articulate my own feeling about wealth and poverty. I've been objectively poor at some points in my life. I became vegetarian in my early 20s when I was travelling because I couldn't afford meat. Even then there were some weeks where I didn't eat for a few days because I had spent all my money for the week. It sounds bad, but being hungry taught me how to prioritise and I don't regret it. In o…

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