"Its literally impossible to save money when you're poor"

[the cac mamba]

People will go broke to pay them tithes

its stupid if you can afford it, but the fact that people who cant afford it give money to the church is pretty saddening

 

[agnosticlady]

You seem to be speaking from a place of privilege.

Both my parents were too busy working full time jobs (and my mom went to school)?and keeping their sobriety in check to teach us that stuff. When you're struggling you don't think about teaching your kids how to manage what little you have in the best way possible because you're still learning your self. My Parents just wanted us to do good in school and stay out of trouble.

How many kids did your parents have?

 

[rapbeats]

Someone asked me my opinion

I said it depends on the situation and assuming we are talking U.S poor and not 3rd world country poor, it really on a case by case basis but IMO a single no children having, mentally/physically healthy adult in the US should be able to save some money

Adding kids and other things add complexity to the situation and really boils to down to how much sacrifice there willing to make. Again havin children is a huge factor on what sacrifices can be made

truth is, this idea of "should save some money" is false. what people are usually doing is fake saving. meaning they have all sorts of debt( not talking about the basic monthly bills/car payments). i'm talking about old debt. so what they do is choose not to pay those debts and use that money to save. but in reality if i did a your budget sheet. you would still be in the red with zero savings. true savings is when you are at worse up to date on all of your bills(current and old debt). at best, (dont have debt at all). all the while saving some cash on the side. anything else is fake savings. and people that are poor do this a lot as well as middle class and people with money.


Another truth is this. it all depends on how broke you are, how educated you are, how smart you are, where you live, whats your family circle looking like, etc.

a lot of factors go into this.

and last but not least, You pay a POOR TAX for being poor. especially vs people with real money. They get more free stuff then you ever have received.

People will allow Kim K to come to their food spot and eat for free as if her and yeezy dont have enough bread to buy the spot. I know why they do that, but its still the facts. ask me if a poor person on average wil eat for free at the same spot. the answer is NO 9 times out of 10.

You pay full value or even worse a little extra when you're poor. most people dont know this but your local hood grocery stores, liquor stores, etc are more expensive then some of those same chains in the nicer areas. yep thats right. they are price gouging you to death in the hood too.

And lets not talk about getting loans/line of credit. because your credit is bad, since you dont make much and dont have anything. they hit you with like triple the % on everything you owe then and will at times hit you with an addtl fee for getting the loan or credit too(or some shady annual fee). then if you're late, not only will you get hit with a crazy late fee, but most poor credit cards will raise your %'s to a much higher rate.

here's the thing, if i'm barely making enough money to pay $25 per month. what makes you think i can pay a late fee of $35.00 + my new upped interest rate which will boost my montly to like $40? of course i cant sustain that. so i will end up not being able to pay at all. making my credit worse. now the only places i can get things from are places that will kill me with interest. rent a center, etc.

the price of things in those places are way higher than they are in normal areas.

the cars you can afford are half broken down, but you still have a ridiculous car note for a half working car. that has a decent looking shell. your car breaks down(because its a piece of ish from the jump)> and now you have to foot that bill + the over priced monthly payment.

This my friends is why its oh so difficult to rise up out of poverty. its not just about being lazy vs not being lazy.

Ghetto tax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A ghetto tax is not literally a tax. It is a situation in which people pay higher costs for equivalent goods or services simply because they are poor or live in a poor area. A paper by the Brookings Institution, titled From Poverty, Opportunity: Putting the Market to Work for Lower Income Families,[4] is widely cited as a study into ghetto taxes, although the report itself does not use the term.[5][1][6]

The problem of ghetto taxes is closely associated with mobility; one study in the USA showed that higher prices might be prevalent in some neighbourhoods, but people with access to a car would have more access to affordable goods and services elsewhere, whilst those without a car would bear the brunt of higher local prices.[2][7]

Tackling the problem of ghetto taxes is difficult. For instance, high-interest-rate loans are more likely to be taken by people on lower incomes; however, a study has shown that capping interest rates results in reduced credit availability for those people who most need it. This may make the problem worse.[citation needed]

Examples[edit]

• Credit services: Lower income consumers are much more reliant on upon alternative financial services that are more expensive, such as check cashers and payday lenders, pawnshops, and auto-title lenders.[5]

• Cigarettes: In some areas it is possible to buy (legally or illegally) single cigarettes. Purchasers are typically poor (and perhaps unable to afford a whole pack of cigarettes), but per-cigarette cost is higher, thus making smoking a more expensive habit for poorer people. This is in addition to the fact that (in many countries) the prevalence of smoking is already concentrated in lower socioeconomic groups.[8][9]

• Household appliances: In the USA, lower-income households are more likely to spend more on a given household item. Also, rental of household electrical items is generally more expensive in the long term than purchasing them, but these rental services are mostly used by people unable to pay the whole cost of the item up-front.[5]

• Groceries: Grocery stores in poor neighbourhoods are smaller than in large neighbourhoods; lacking economies of scale, they are more expensive as well. Low income households may find it difficult to access cheaper out-of-townsupermarkets.[2][3] Some poor households may not be able to afford large quantities, and hence lose out on bulk discounts.[10]

• Utilities: Poor people are more likely to pay higher prices for long-distance phone calls.[11]

• Financial Services: Customers that can maintain a minimum bank balance (usually $1000) can avoid debit transaction fees that can add up quickly. those that have less than the $1000 minimum have to pay the per transaction fees; also there are far fewer bank machines in poor areas, often those machines are third party cash machines that charge very high fees, especially when withdrawing small amounts. A $2.50 fee on withdrawing $20 is not uncommon.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE BELOW

America's Poverty Tax

America's Poverty Tax
While America’s jobs and economy remain flat, it’s getting more expensive to be poor, with everyone from payday lenders to subprime credit cards charging extortionate rates. Gary Rivlin crunches the numbers to find just how much it costs.
It’s expensive being poor. And with the misery index high and unemployment persistently high, that’s good news for those in the poverty business. The working poor have become Big Business—with the invention of the payday loan, rent to own, and a long list of diabolically clever ideas that entrepreneurs have devised to get hundreds-of-millions rich off those with thin wallets.

Call it a poverty tax. It’s the hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, in extra fees that people making $20,000 or $25,000 or $30,000 a year pay because they live on the economic fringes. These days it takes more money than ever to be poor.

The corner check casher takes the biggest bite, at least from those 20 million or so Americans who have no bank account—the so-called unbanked. In the main these are people who’ve messed up their relationship with a bank. They’ve bounced so many checks that no bank wants them as a customer. Or they’ve racked up so many fees they have dug too expensive a hole from which to escape. ................

 

[Maschine_Man]

Right but these people are the norm in America. Slowly changing, but they Fed still uses these ridiculous benchmarks on what feeds a family of 4-5 based on 1970's standards of living. I'm like nikka life hasn't been like that since my parents were just born in that era.

that isn't the norm. I mean alot of ppl like to think it is so they don't feel like they are underachieving. But that isn't the norm

I ain't saying the norm is wealthy or rich, but the average person is living...average

 

[rapbeats]

its stupid if you can afford it, but the fact that people who cant afford it give money to the church is pretty saddening

well it depends on which church you give it to. if you're giving your 10% of your broke pay check. thats still tough. but if the church you give it to has a track record of helping those in need. you will then be able to reap the benefits of your 10%.

you are more or less contributing to a shared savings account or a rainy day fund so to speak. there are plenty of shady churches. and their are legit ones or some that do both shady and legit work. but a lot of churches own apts, homes, where they house broke church members, feed the homeless, open schools for small school kids/daycares for the broke locals, etc.

 

[agnosticlady]

Yes but are you telling me that the 27.4% of blacks in poverty are all like that? That all of them are simply poor because they didn't try hard enough? Using the same stereotypes they use on Fox News. A lot of these posts are ignoring institutionalized racism too bringing up immigrants that are making it



Some of the responses are very oversimplified

Yeah I can't get with that. Black people try hard and put in max effort only to get rejected time and time again. Its easy to say pull yourself up by the bootstraps. You have black kids that are messed over from jump in their youth, because they don't know better. Nobody teaching them about school , finances, the real world, how to survive, and etc. By the time they finally learn they are so messed up and probably deep in the debt that it is hard to pull themselves up. I remember almost getting aerated , because my managers thought that I had embezzled over $1,000 in company money, but that was false. Imagine if I would have a felony. Even a little job paying $7.93 wouldn't hire me. I went online and read stories about people embezzling money from their companies . these were white people. They were offered second jobs and able to my be forward and climb up. Even little retail job so hate hiring black people. I've been to job interviews at stores like Nordstrom, Anne Taylor, Marc Jacobs, and etc yet they refused to hire me even though I am them both knew I was qualified for the job. There were other black people there who did not get hired. They would only have one or two black people out of 30 non black people. Thank goodness I am going into a career field that pays off and let's me earn something. Thank goodness I am learning about investing and protecting myself at a young age.

 

[Maschine_Man]

I'm sure no one asked it yet, but what exactly happens with a year of savings?
So you miraculously save $1000.
Then what? You can't buy a house or a car with that. The money may act as a barrier in case you hit a hard spot, but it's not saving you from poverty.

keep saving.

Eventually you will have a downpayment or better. You are also building good traits and showing the ability to sacrifice and show logic in your decisions.
these skills are just as important as saving the money itself.

 

[Reginald Noble]

that isn't the norm. I mean alot of ppl like to think it is so they don't feel like they are underachieving. But that isn't the norm

I ain't saying the norm is wealthy or rich, but the average person is living...average

I don't know about you but in my city being broke and barely scraping by with 2 kids seems to be average.

Everyone I talk to including in my family considers me to be "Rich" because I can afford organic food. Well it's rather easy: Don't have kids unless you have a cool Million in the bank, don't live beyond your means and buy property with space you aren't going to use. But many folks have the traditional American dream of the 1950's and we are living in a different time and people are living in the past instead of adapting their expectations to the new reality.

 

[NotaPAWG]

How many kids did your parents have?

3, including me.

 

[Maschine_Man]

I don't know about you but in my city being broke and barely scraping by with 2 kids seems to be average.

Everyone I talk to including in my family considers me to be "Rich" because I can afford organic food. Well it's rather easy: Don't have kids unless you have a cool Million in the bank, don't live beyond your means and buy property with space you aren't going to use. But many folks have the traditional American dream of the 1950's and we are living in a different time and people are living in the past instead of adapting their expectations to the new reality.

This is mostly true. Ppl don't want to adjust, adapt, and overcome.


I've also known too many ppl that weren't willing to change or sacrifice their own personal lives (after they have kids)

I had my son when I was 18 years old. living on my own since I was 16....no help from my parents at all.
But as soon as I had my son my life changed. I was no longer running around and getting in shyt and doing stupid things.(as much lol)
I was working a few jobs and going to school just to get the bills paid.
I took out a 26,000 student loan for college and went to school full time during the day and worked full time hours on top of that.

but my kids(one at that time) never suffered, and my wife was able to take care of him while doing some part time school.

there were many times in our relationship that we should have probably just seperated, but we stuck it out together and it paid off now...financially being a big one.

I graduated college, joined the army and we moved away. We got established in a new place, bought a home, and then she was able to go back to school.(which we paid for from our own pocket as she worked part time while in university full time)

we went from shyt, to what we have now(not gonna bother saying cuz it would look like i'm bragging lol)
but while me and my wife and kids are doing great now, my old friends, even my mom and my dad are still living in poverty, no matter how much I tried to help them(drugs and alcohol ruined them)



PPL can make the change if they really wanted to. But its how much hard work and sacrifice do you wanna put in.


do ppl want to stop partying on the weekends so they can work?
do ppl want to go back to school and upgrade education?

 

[old_timer]

personally for me-
there;s no way i could "save' my way out of being poor

instead i "escaped" from being poor
i made moves that required skills most people don't possess
and took risks that most people couldn't stomach
..i also benefited from healthy doses of luck

later, once i had a good cashflow..
i had the chance to learn budgeting, frugality, and how to live below my means
and THEN it became relatively easy to "save" my way into a comfortable lifestyle

 

[MeachTheMonster]

You can save, but you can't save your way out of poverty, which is the important point.

No one makes it out of poverty by saving money.

 

[MrPentatonic]

Game is rigged against poor people. You know the rules now find the loopholes to your advantage.

Complaining ain't getting u nowhere but mediocrity.

 

[Prominence0]

TheColi is CAC Ridden and serious I will say this fukk you b*stards. You spread nothing but negativity, but your day will come believe it.

 

[intruder]

It's hard for everyone to save money. We're only human and we're gonna want things we dont need.

The key is to manage those things and be able to control and distinguish our wants and needs. People in the United States tend to have the approach of "if he can get one then i can get one too" when it comes to spending. Got random clones out there seeing Kanye has $250 boots so they with their $40K salary feel like they should have it too. Then why stop there? Kanye got them $200 headphones? Cop that. $400 jacket? Goes on and on.

My salary is in the 80s and to this day i have NEVER EVER bought a pair of shoes that cost $100. One might have come close after taxes but thats about it. Like them haitian brehs used to say "i stay in my role" (doesnt translate well) but you get what i mean.

Bottom line is people have to make better decisions, period. I see mofos making $50K a year buying $20K cars making $400 payments like thats hot. It's not Mofos making $50K think they can afford to pay $1,700 in rent. These mofos buy these cars and rent these places and still have to spend money here and there then live check to check and every check is gone before they even get it.

You have to know your limits.