Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The cost of hand-to-mouth living

ft.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 127 posts

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#101

Post by 6d0debc071 »

danso wrote: post #4

I was hoping to see some data on how limited funds forced people to buy inefficiently...that is, buying cheaper quantities that are per-item more expensive than bulk buying because they can't afford the up front cost of buying bulk. My roommate will do this when buying dish soap for the household, always getting the smallest bottle than just paying for the large one at a 30% discount per ounce. Also, some cheap items…

We came across something similar to this when we were researching credit unions and pay-day lending. One of the reasons that people on benefits here can't access cheaper fuel bills is that they have difficulty planning their finances on a monthly basis when given a fortnightly lump of money. I can't remember the exact figures - I think it worked out as something like £5 a month they were losing. Which when you multiply it up for thousands of people or significant stretches of time is fairly significant - more or less what some people are getting into debt over, multiplied by a year, for people borrowing money to cover Christmas for instance.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#102

Post by rquantz »

kbenson wrote: post #92
johnpowell wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have had this in the USA for as long as I have bought food. Next to the price on something like a pizza they note the price per ounce.

I'm not sure it's a law though (I doubt it, at least it's not federal, as it's not in all stores). I imagine it could just as easily have been market pressure, as the supermarkets began to offer their own brands of products for cheaper than premium, it made sense to offer direct comparisons with as much information as possible.

It appears to be state regulated. I'd imagine that different types of stores are regulated different ways (e.g., coop vs. supermarket).

http://www.extension.org/pages/45117/is-unit-pricing-mandato...

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#103

Post by yummyfajitas »

tptacek wrote: post #54
w1ntermute wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's one big difference, though. To shop at Costco you have to buy twice as much (plus typically pay membership fees). That step could be too steep for the people most living hand-to-mouth, even though it would save them money within weeks. So there could be sample bias here too. See the article Why Can’t Walmart Be More Like Costco? [0] for more on this. 0: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/26/why-c…

You can often sift through McArdle's post to find the Yglesias or Salmon post she's citing and just read that instead. Here, the analysis seems to boil down to "sure, Walmart could pay every worker $3000/yr more and have Costco's margins, but who cares about a paltry $3000?". The rest of her argument appears to be "I don't know if that would work for Walmart". Neither do I, but "I don't know" isn't a persuasive argum…

Did you even read her article? She gives a very clear reason.

Walmart sells 140k skus, sorted on shelves and available in small quantities, and has lots of cashiers so you can get in and out reasonably quickly. Costco sells 4k skus, mostly in bulk, and forces you to wait 20 minutes to leave the store.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#104

Post by tptacek »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #103
tptacek wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can often sift through McArdle's post to find the Yglesias or Salmon post she's citing and just read that instead. Here, the analysis seems to boil down to "sure, Walmart could pay every worker $3000/yr more and have Costco's margins, but who cares about a paltry $3000?". The rest of her argument appears to be "I don't know if that would work for Walmart". Neither do I, but "I don't know" isn't a persuasive argum…

Did you even read her article? She gives a very clear reason. Walmart sells 140k skus, sorted on shelves and available in small quantities, and has lots of cashiers so you can get in and out reasonably quickly. Costco sells 4k skus, mostly in bulk, and forces you to wait 20 minutes to leave the store.

You know what? You're absolutely right. I went down a little wormhole of McArdle-vs-Other-People link following, watched 12(!) minutes of her and Dean Baker going at it on video about whether the fed can reasonably call asset bubbles, and lost my place; I had a different McArdle post in my other window when I wrote this.

The irony is, I was particularly poorly served by the advice I offered here, since skipping straight to Yglesias totally screwed me up.

Sorry about that.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#105

Post by protomyth »

LogicX wrote: post #51
protomyth wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The membership is the too steep part for Costco.

One can shop at Costco for a 5% premium on purchases

And that 5% puts Wal-Mart back in competitive range without the stigma of being too poor for a membership.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#107

Post by e12e »

nijk wrote: post #46
HCIdivision17 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor people aren't ignorant of the long-term. Note that Vimes himself is poor (he never really becomes a noble, at least); his point is you need boots now , and can't wait a year to save up for a good pair - the boots you get today leave you without enough to ever buy nice boots. Most depressingly, many don't see how they can save at all, making just slightly less than what's needed to make it to next week. I suppose…

There are a few options when your life is negative sum: Take on debt to amortize against future positive sums. End yourself. Change the weights in your utility formula.

You forgot: organize a revolution.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#109

Post by protomyth »

malandrew wrote: post #43
protomyth wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The membership is the too steep part for Costco.

It would be nice if CostCo allowed people of low income to apply for a financial aid in the form of free membership if their income was low enough. It's unfortunate that only the people with greater purchasing power get access to the lowest cost per item unit.

CostCo's profit is the memberships. It is a smart business model that is very successful. It just isn't designed for people who are living hand-to-mouth. Nothing wrong with that, its just how it is.

Re: The cost of hand-to-mouth living

#110

Post by radd9er »

patio11 wrote: post #76
ilaksh wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "go out there and beat the bushes" what exactly do you mean? I have tried networking a little bit at one or too networking events but few people seemed interested in my help.

Networking events are generally not the best place to meet people with business problems -- they tend to attract a bit more of an aspirational audience. Business owners with budget congregate in predictable places: conferences for their industry, their own offices, locally organized meetups, the Chamber of Commerce, etc etc. If you absolutely can't find an appropriate event, throw one yourself. I'm totally serious. T…

ilaksh You should take this guy up on his offer, sounds like hes willing to mentor you.
Post reply on HN