# How do poor people afford everything? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018 "2012-11-14T19:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CEOofPolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@CEOofPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CEOofPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/81 "2012-11-15T01:25:44Z")
alright but hes being mean to me ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/82 "2012-11-15T01:37:14Z")
A lot depends on how/where you live. And whether you have health problems, whether you have any dependents, etc. It is possible to live a fairly decent (decent to me at least) life fairly cheap if you live in a cheap town with a few roommates, take the bus and live on rice. FWIW, you don’t need to live in the ghetto to get cheap rent. A 3 bedroom can be had for $700 in a lot of areas in the midwest, a 1 bedroom is $500. But if you are sharing it with people you like (emphasis on that part) you can get your rent and utilities for $300 a month w/o living in a dangerous area. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/83 "2012-11-15T01:44:24Z")
if you really want to know how it works for the poor read [**this book**](http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352943741&sr=8-1&keywords=nickled+and+dimed+by+barbara+ehrenreich) ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/84 "2012-11-15T01:45:28Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > alright but hes being mean to me If you feel the need to vent on another poster, there is a board called the BBQ Pit expressly for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![thenonepercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@thenonepercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thenonepercent)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/85 "2012-11-15T01:46:00Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > alright but hes being mean to me How old are you? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/86 "2012-11-15T01:47:08Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > if you really want to know how it works for the poor read > > [**this book**](http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352943741&sr=8-1&keywords=nickled+and+dimed+by+barbara+ehrenreich) I dunno. I read that book, and I don’t believe that Ehrenreich actually gave enough time or effort to learning how to live as a poor person. A few weeks here or there on one piss-poor job or another does not give a person the tools they need to live poor. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/87 "2012-11-15T02:05:51Z")
Is “Polar” the name of the fort you built in your bedroom? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/88 "2012-11-15T02:13:36Z")
I grew up in a poor area and have been very poor, middle class, and rich. I prefer rich but I also know how I did it when I had very little money. Hardly anyone is starving in the U.S. so poor is relative in world terms. You can make it work on very little money especially if you don’t have dependents. The first thing to go are things that you deem non-essential like insurance of all forms. You don’t need car, home, or health insurance as long as you are reasonably healthy and responsible. Just don’t get stopped or get into a car accident. Sure it is illegal in most places but taking that risk is better than paying several hundred dollars a month for all the insurance you are expected to have as a middle class person. If you need urgent medical care, go to the emergency room.and don’t pay the bill. You don’t have anything for them to take. The same is true if you hit someone in your crappy car. As a poor person, you probably don’t have a house to worry about so you don’t need to worry about property taxes, good school districts, or having several thousand dollars in emergency funds in case your furnace decides to crap out in the middle of winter. There are all kinds of corners you can cut that way. It sucks in a way but it generally works. I always felt guilty about that stuff but the first thing that pissed me off when I went from poor to middle-class was that I didn’t actually have any extra money because I started paying for things that I should have been already. I had to start paying income taxes. I had to save for retirement and I had to keep all my insurance and car inspections current. I didn’t worry about that stuff before because there was little anyone could do to me but I was expected to then and it adds up to a shit-ton of money. It is expensive as hell to follow the traditional middle-class recipe of paying for everything you should while paying off student loans and saving for retirement, a house down payment, and college expenses for your kids. If you are poor, you can just forget about all that and live day to day which is pretty cheap once you cut out all non-essential expenses and hope for the future. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/89 "2012-11-15T02:39:21Z")
I’ve heard that the cost of delivering a baby at a US hospital is often a huge expense, like $10,000+, yet obviously a lot of poorer Americans have babies. How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![CEOofPolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@CEOofPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CEOofPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/90 "2012-11-15T02:56:38Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > I’ve heard that the cost of delivering a baby at a US hospital is often a huge expense, like $10,000+, yet obviously a lot of poorer Americans have babies. How does that work? well i doubt you have to pay $10,000 to have a baby ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/91 "2012-11-15T03:01:04Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > \<101 Dalmations Puppy voice\>Mama Cat, someday I wanna own a home.\ > > I left school right when your boom went the next province over. ☹ We bought our first house right before things boomed like crazy here - if we had waited much longer, we probably couldn’t have bought a house, either. > [@Dangerosa](#): > > That is true of wealthy people as well. There are plenty of people who make a lot of money who don’t budget and try to get ahead. It just SHOULD be easier. And, as you can see from the ‘but don’t you need manicures’ comment, it isn’t necessarily so. True enough. When you make more money, your mistakes don’t seem to be quite so life-and-death, but sometimes bigger stakes means bigger mistakes, too. > [@CEOofPolar](#): > > yes my sister has 2 kids they both go to college. Do they pay their own way at all? There is this crazy idea out there that adult children shouldn’t pay a cent for their education - yes, studying should be their primary focus, but there are millions of people who have either put themselves through college or helped pay their way significantly - it can be done. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/92 "2012-11-15T03:01:46Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > well i doubt you have to pay $10,000 to have a baby What makes you say that? [WedMD](http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/cost-of-having-a-baby?page=2) > [@](#): > > The costs of childbirth can be steep. The charge for an uncomplicated cesarean section was about $15,800 in 2008, while an uncomplicated vaginal birth cost about $9,600, government data show. Note this was from 2008. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/93 "2012-11-15T03:02:11Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > I’ve heard that the cost of delivering a baby at a US hospital is often a huge expense, like $10,000+, yet obviously a lot of poorer Americans have babies. How does that work? Worst case, going into labor is considered a medical emergency for the mother and baby. You just show up at the emergency room and they deliver the baby and keep the mother and child until both are stable and ready to go home which is the same amount of time they spend on anyone. If you are truly poor, you just don’t pay the bill and there isn’t anything they can do. In practice, most large cities and virtually all states have charity and state hospitals to take those cases even for prenatal care and get the process set up ahead of time. The U.S. health care system is admittedly confusing and fragmented but I believe the poor actually have it better in that regard than the lower-middle class. There are programs for the truly poor. The problem becomes when you can pay some and have assets but still can’t afford what you are charged. Even the poor get expensive treatments like dialysis and cancer treatments through various hospitals and state programs at little or no cost to them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/94 "2012-11-15T03:03:21Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > well i doubt you have to pay $10,000 to have a baby Have you ever had a baby? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/95 "2012-11-15T03:05:44Z")
Home birth is far less expensive than hospital birthing. Probably an okay option if you are very low risk. > **[Home Birth: Increasingly Popular, But Dangerous](https://www.thedailybeast.com/home-birth-increasingly-popular-but-dangerous)** > > A small but growing number of mothers are skipping hospitals to have their babies at home. Michelle Goldberg reports on what’s fueling the trend—and the hidden dangers at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/96 "2012-11-15T03:05:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Do you own a house? Or anything? > [@CEOofPolar](#): > > tri be quiet and stop harrasing me i can sue! **TriPolar; CEOofPolar** ; are you two related? > [@CEOofPolar](#): > > alright but hes being mean to me Are you sure you’re cut out for the internet? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/97 "2012-11-15T03:06:03Z")
I’m sure this varies by state, but when I got pregnant in 2007, I was unemployed and uninsured. In Oregon, you’re only eligible to get the state medical insurance if you’re a child or pregnant. So once I was able to prove my pregnancy, I was put on the state insurance. It covered everything, and I was lucky enough to not have to pay anything out of pocket. From what I heard from others in my birthing class, if you had regular insurance through your employer, you were expected to pay anywhere from $1000-$3000 out of pocket towards the birth. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/98 "2012-11-15T03:07:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > **TriPolar; CEOofPolar** ; are you two related? No. And I have strong suspicion that is not even his real name. ---
**Author:** ![CEOofPolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@CEOofPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CEOofPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/99 "2012-11-15T03:10:34Z")
yeah and what i meant for insurance was car insurance but health too if your a really young driver it can be thousands a year for car insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/100 "2012-11-15T03:16:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > No. And I have strong suspicion that is not even his real name. It think the name is clue. **CEOofPolar** is either the head of a large water bottling company or Santa Claus. I am not sure which one is more likely yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018.md?page=6)