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One of the biggest myths in our society is that the reason poor people are poor is because they spend their money on drugs, Clothes, technology. That if they just pocketed that 120 dollars on an Xbox they wouldn't be living in trailer parks/project lol.
News flash, you are never saving anything of significance on 9 dollars an hour, I don't care how "conservative" you are with money. For the record when I say significant I mean that will change your economic reality in a big way long term.
For the record, I don't want to turn this into a MW raising debate because it's not about that.
if not saving it, they should use it to get more skills or education...
what else would you have them do?
saving $120 might not make them rich but $1000 would be a good cushion so they aren't as stressed over money and have leeway to get more skills/find time to take a jobs class
poor is a mental state as much as a financial one . if you think poor , you will be poor . as you all know by now , i grew up pretty poor in a nyc housing project . but i never thought poor . that led to a strong drive not to be poor and it made me act not to be poor .
so today we are retired with multiple 7 figures and my mission was fulfilled . those i still keep in contact with from my project days are still poor because they never stopped thinking poor .
Rather go to bed with out dinner than to rise in debt. Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. It is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow. Benjamin Franklin.
If you save money you not only have it, you've disciplined yourself. Frittering away money you don't have on cigarettes and xboxes is not only bad, it destroys discipline and encourages extravagance. Once you've got discipline under control, you can work on something else. And so on.
Pretty soon you won't be living in that trailer park.
One of the biggest myths in our society is that the reason poor people are poor is because they spend their money on drugs, Clothes, technology. That if they just pocketed that 120 dollars on an Xbox they wouldn't be living in trailer parks/project lol.
Education and hard work (with a little bit of luck) will lift you out of poverty. Unrealistic spending will hold you back no matter what income you bring in.
I have a coworker that stresses over money and whines about how little spending cash he has or how bills seem to stack up and he can't seem to save. He and his wife probably bring in about 200k a year with no children...
I won't say I was poor but I grew up in very modest means. One thing I've noticed about my friends that I left behind is that they don't see opportunity everywhere.. they only see obstacles. So while that 120 may not be much, it is an opportunity to put the money to good use. Others they see it as "not enough to by that xbox."
One of the biggest myths in our society is that the reason poor people are poor is because they spend their money on drugs, Clothes, technology. That if they just pocketed that 120 dollars on an Xbox they wouldn't be living in trailer parks/project lol.
News flash, you are never saving anything of significance on 9 dollars an hour, I don't care how "conservative" you are with money. For the record when I say significant I mean that will change your economic reality in a big way long term.
For the record, I don't want to turn this into a MW raising debate because it's not about that.
Wife and I made the decision over 20 years ago to focus on making more money as being frugal was too difficult and would take too long to reach our goals. I got an advanced degree and we both worked to advance our careers and took chances to get to where we are today....it worked for us.
saving money through spending cuts has limits . being creative and motivated to increase earnings has no limits .
...unless you lack the intellect to be creative. Then you can only rely on the motivated part.
Poverty in the United States is a string of bad decisions. If you lack the intellect to recover from those bad decisions, it's tough to escape. If you're raised in an environment where your role models all make bad decisions, that makes the problem even worse.
I've written this a number of times but my objection to libertarian politics is that libertarians are smart, motivated people. They project their circumstances on people who aren't smart and who have no environment to obtain the motivation and good decision making element. Society could perhaps address the decision making and motivation part by improving education but there is no solution to the lack of smart problem. Forest Gump in the real world is always going to be bagging groceries or mowing lawns for near-minimum wage. Forest Gump is always going to be making bad decisions.
poor is a mental state as much as a financial one . if you think poor , you will be poor . as you all know by now , i grew up pretty poor in a nyc housing project . but i never thought poor . that led to a strong drive not to be poor and it made me act not to be poor .
so today we are retired with multiple 7 figures and my mission was fulfilled . those i still keep in contact with from my project days are still poor because they never stopped thinking poor .
HowTF would a poor person think rich? Working harder or longer at a menial dead-end job won't make them rich.
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