How poverty changes your mindset

Post by snvzz » Mon, Feb 26, 2018, 12:23 PM UTC

flukus wrote: post #231

sparkie wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a subtle difference between "buying in bulk" and "keeping a reasonable stock". I grew up in a quite poor family and my parents are terrible with money. One thing that frustrated me to no end is that they would almost never buy something ahead of time. An item would literally have to run out before they'd consider buying its replacement, which meant I'd regularly get in the shower in the morning to find there…

> You'd end up going to a local convenience store and paying 2x the price for the item because you need it now. Your grocery budget becomes hugely inflated, and you still end up buying the same necessities. I see this at a lot at my local 7-11, many poorer people do a lot of their grocery shopping there even though an aldi is 5 minutes walk away (so it's actually closer for some of them, literally across the road) an…

Post by tudelo » Mon, Feb 26, 2018, 12:43 PM UTC

woliveirajr wrote: post #332

pm90 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it depends on you knowing what you want. I wouldn't drop money on a spanking new car even though I can afford to and all my peers drive Audis or whatever, but I feel just OK with my over 100k Civic just because I like not having a loan on my head. I didn't get the latest iPhone (still on the 5s) because a beautiful new phone means nothing to me; I'm just fine with a less expensive, smaller and slower model. O…

:) and, to some extent, this is kind of funny, because where I live having a Civic is a sign that you do have a expensive car, and people treat it like "just more 10k bucks and you could be in an Audi".

Post by JustSomeNobody » Mon, Feb 26, 2018, 12:45 PM UTC

Hextinium wrote: post #268

mrep wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When half your country frame it as: makers VS takers. I have never heard of that term before. What does that mean? > Then "simply need help" would be a significant policy change. Again, governments are based on policies and rules. "simply need help" is way to abstract. > Lots of other developed countries have made inroads on poverty. Just look. Which policies and rules used by other governments do you recommend?

Conservatives in the deep south I find have belief in this, they think that giving money to people that have none is fundamentally stealing from them through taxation and then giving it to someone that doesn't work as hard as them.

Post by bildung » Mon, Feb 26, 2018, 12:53 PM UTC

fastball wrote: post #330

analyst74 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American poverty sounds so different from Chinese poverty. I grew up during the tail years of communism and everybody was dirt poor. The interesting thing is, nobody was financially stressed, starvation and homelessness was not a thing. I ended up developing an abundance mentality and terrible money management skills. Looking even further back, my parents experienced the height of policy stupidity and barely survived…

"Chinese poverty is different from American poverty because we weren't worried about starving." Mentions a mass starvation event in China only a generation before which probably killed the equivalent of 10% of the US population at the time. You might want to think about that a bit more.

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Feb 26, 2018, 12:57 PM UTC

dizzystar wrote: post #260

Simon_says wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think, but I'm not sure, that at her income level, the Earned Income Tax Credit will let her get a net refund from the federal government? And Texas doesn't tax income. Savings have to come from the biggest choices in your life. You've already assumed a bunch of poor choices in your model of this hypothetical person. You didn't mention your city, but I found $400-500 2 bedroom apartments on a quick Craigslist searc…

But also, she will have to work a second job because no one gives full time work at that pay level. That's the brutal cost of ACA.