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I'll share an interesting story. I know someone who is selling their old car. While it only has 140,000 miles it is 18 years old, the body is completely rusted through in spots and the outside mirror is held on with duct tape, etc, etc. Needless to say it's probably worth about $400 or so.
A friend of the car owner is very interesting in purchasing the old car. Apparently, the potential buyer owns a car that is currently not working because it needs major repairs (something like $2,000 in repairs) so she wants to buy an old cheap car to use until she can save up enough money to get her car repaired.
It is so sad that because she does not have $2,000 to pay for car repairs she has to buy a replacement car to use right now. It just shows that "it costs a lot of money to be poor" or "the rich keep getting richer".
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-20-2016 at 09:47 PM..
How does this illustrate that the rich keep getting richer? This just illustrates that someone who doesn't earn enough money to maintain her or perhaps did not prioritize maintaining her vehicle finds herself in the position of having to purchase a beater that may also leave her stranded. It doesn't tell us why she cannot afford to maintain her vehicle, so there is no way to determine whether this is, in fact, a sad story. Maybe she spent all her money on cigarettes and tattoos. Maybe she gambled it all away. We don't know. All we know is that she has apparently neglected her vehicle to the point where it needs repairs she says she cannot pay for.
This anecdote says absolutely nothing about rich people.
The scenario you outlined does not show it cost a lot of money to be poor
Most people can either afford to pay $2,000 for a car repair or have enough money to put it on a credit card or have enough money to pay part of it right away and the rest later to the car repair shop and not be forced to buy and title a completely different car. She will need to spend $400 plus on a car instead of putting that $400 towards the repairs of her good car.
Heck, I don't have a lot of extra money (richer) and over the years I have had to pay $2,000 in car repairs several different times but I have never once had to buy a completely different car because I could not put it on a credit card or take the money out of savings or work out a payment plan with the car repair shop.
And, I certainly can not picture someone who is actually rich having to buy a car just because they can't afford to repair their regular car until they save up the extra money. That's what I mean't by "the rich get richer".
BTW, to my knowledge (she is a good friend of my friend), she does not gamble or smoke or drink to excess. She does have two jobs (one full time & one part) that are both barely above minimum wage & also support her elderly mother.
I guess others disagree but it seems like a pretty sad situation to me.
Last edited by germaine2626; 08-20-2016 at 10:17 PM..
Most people can either afford to pay $2,000 for a car repair or have enough money to put it on a credit card or have enough money to pay part of it right away and the rest later to the car repair shop and not be forced to buy and title a completely different car.
Heck, I don't have a lot of extra money (richer) and over the years I have had to pay $2,000 in car repairs several different times but I have never once had to buy a completely different car because I could not put it on a credit card or take the money out of savings or work out a payment plan with the car repair shop.
BTW, to my knowledge (she is a good friend of my friend), she does not gamble or smoke or drink to excess. She does have two jobs (one full time & one part) that are both barely above minimum wage & helps support her elderly mother.
I guess others disagree but it seems like a pretty sad situation to me.
Most people can either afford to pay $2,000 for a car repair or have enough money to put it on a credit card
or have enough money to pay part of it right away and the rest later to the car repair shop
and not be forced to buy and title a completely different car. She will need to spend $400 plus on a car instead of putting that $400 towards the repairs of her good car.
.
I understand that a lot of people may not have all of the cash at one time, but do you think that many people need to buy a "beater" car because they can't work out some type of credit agreement or payment plan or get a loan to pay for the entire $2,000 in car repairs right away?
Maybe that does happens often but I am just not aware of it.
I'll share an interesting story. I know someone who is selling their old car. While it only has 140,000 miles it is 18 years old, the body is completely rusted through in spots and the outside mirror is held on with duct tape, etc, etc. Needless to say it's probably worth about $400 or so.
A friend of the car owner is very interesting in purchasing the old car. Apparently, the potential buyer owns a car that is currently not working because it needs major repairs (something like $2,000 in repairs) so she wants to buy an old cheap car to use until she can save up enough money to get her car repaired.
It is so sad that because she does not have $2,000 to pay for car repairs she has to buy a replacement car to use right now. It just shows that "it costs a lot of money to be poor" or "the rich keep getting richer".
I think most people would be amazed at how much things would change if they were forced to live within their means.
It sounds like this person is alot like me; she can't just whip out a Visa for the car repairs. Is that the only keeping the middle class viable? I'm not assuming; it's an honest question.
I think most people would be amazed at how much things would change if they were forced to live within their means.
If people were actually forced to live within their means, there would be a full-scale civil war among the social classes. If poor people no longer had access to cars, electronics, cigarettes, alcohol, Disney vacations, etc., theft would surge and there would be widespread rioting.
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