# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/121 "2012-11-15T05:50:16Z")
> [@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? They don’t repo the baby if you fail to pay the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/122 "2012-11-15T05:51:45Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > what about shes a girl she has to get her hair done and nails isn’t that $100 a month do you guys still live in the 1920’s? I know plenty of poor girls that do their own hair and nails. I’ve seen some fabulous weaves on a friend that their other friend did as part of a barter deal. (You babysit, I do your hair up.) Not to mention great manicures. If we DID still live in the **[1920s](http://www.fashion-era.com/flapper_fashion_1920s.htm)** we’d expect a woman to have a whole new wardrobe with every season. (My Mother’s MIL expected this, Mom was born in 1932. Edit: My paternal Grandmother was a local newspaper owner’s wife, mind.) And she’d wear “costumes” not just clothing. She wouldn’t be seen without a hat, and a fasionable hairstyle, not to mention **[makeup](http://www.fashion-era.com/make_up.htm#1920s%20-%20Suntans)**! She’d have expensive beauty rituals. **[This song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfk8kLJMab0)** goes into the attitude quite well, even though it was written in 1933. (That’s Annie Lennox performing it.) We’ve come a long way from that. ---
**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, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/123 "2012-11-15T06:05:40Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > Luxury You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ---
**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, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/124 "2012-11-15T06:08:12Z")
Look, the only reason I’m going to notice a girl’s manicure is if her fingers are already wrapped around my penis. And by then it’s a moot point. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/125 "2012-11-15T06:10:06Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > I would love to see what other think about the world of FIVE DOLLA LUXURY GOODS. :rolleyes: Sweetie, I agonize over whether or not I really need that $5 pack of cheese all the time, and food is arguably far less a luxury than paying someone for services you’re perfectly capable of doing yourself. Here’s the thing: $5 here, $5 there, it ADDS UP over time to quite significant sums of money. This is why we make the decision to do without – so we can put that money towards things we _can’t_ do without. Also, if someone is judging you based on your _fingernails,_ I suggest making greater effort at being capable at your job/school/whatever, because it ain’t the manicure holding you back. I trim my own nails, and basically never do anything else. I can’t recall a single person ever commenting on them. Certainly not at any job I’ve held. > [@CEOofPolar](#): > > 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. That’s easy. Don’t own a car. My beater died two years ago at the ripe old age of 13 when the undercarriage cracked in half (sadly, my car got caught parked on a flooded street when I was away at work during a thunderstorm a couple years earlier), and I had no money to replace it. I’d owned that beater outright for several years, btw, and probably would have had to give it up a lot sooner had I still needed to make car payments. Now I travel by public transit, or if for some reason I really NEED a car, I have a membership with a car share that’s less than a third of the cost of owning my beater, forget about a newer car. Hell, it probably works out to even less than that, because gas is included in the membership, and prices have gone up quite a bit in the last two years. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/126 "2012-11-15T06:13:56Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > also they give you free food stamps if your poor and you get financial aid no fair for colleges! There is a **[limit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Stamps#1996_Welfare_Reform_and_subsequent_amendments)** to how long you can be on food stamp assistance. If you go on food stamp assistance, you have to enter a program designed to help you find a job. Here it is **[KanWork](http://kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_39/Article_7/39-7x104.html)**. You HAVE to apply at a set number places per week or face being kicked out of the program, and they do check to be sure that you did. It has to be a new place each time, you cannot apply to the same place repeatedly. If the town is small enough, you eventually run out of places to apply, and have to range further and further out. You CANNOT turn down a job, even if the pay is for less than minimum wage. (Or this was true in the 90s, when I and my first husband had to go on foodstamps for a time.) If you do turn down the job, you are kicked out of the program, and off of foodstamps, and I believe they make you repay what they have already given you. Once you have a job, if you make above a certain amount in a month, they penalize you heavily deducting a lot from your foodstamp allotment. (They will keep giving you foodstamps if your income is below a certain point.) They do test you to see where your apititudes are, teach you to write a resume, and help you get appropriate clothing for your job. I think they might also help you get training/courses in some cases to improve your skills. The whole aim of the program is to get you a job, get you back on your feet, and off the government dime as quickly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/127 "2012-11-15T08:15:54Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > 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. Here in SE Kansas, for a married man over 25, minimal car insurance isn’t that much. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/128 "2012-11-15T08:22:59Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > you can use charge cards for things so the money don’t get taken away from your check right away and you can pay it back later/ It makes less sense to do that though. That is living beyond your means, because it actually ends up costing more in interest. See all the other comments about how many poor live by the rule “If I can’t pay for it in cash right now, I don’t really need it.” for further understanding. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/129 "2012-11-15T08:45:29Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > I never said that. Her original post and her reply to me, made it seem like she was counting 5 dollars worth of things as luxury items and thinks items other consider common are luxury items. I know she has a longer post history than I do, but come on. Five dollars isn’t “luxury”. There is something between necessities and luxury. If you feel everything feels into one category, it is being biased. You are not seeing things fully. There is a point, at which “common” things become luxury items and not affordable. Where, if it isn’t food, or doesn’t go towards a roof over your head you cannot afford it. If you ask a poor person to define the word luxury, many of them will explain that it is items that they cannot buy because they are not ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to their continued existence. And some cannot even afford to pay for enough necessary things. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/130 "2012-11-15T08:57:13Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > That was my whole point. When a person, any person, says every thing is a luxury, they are biased. I think most Dopers are from first world countries, in first world countries many things aren’t considered luxuries. For example, in third world countires computers are a luxury and we all access to them. The poster I was referring to says they can’t afford internet, many people in the US and first world country can. Thus, it is not a luxury. Saying everything is a luxury isn’t a valid argument. I’m done talking about off topic things. If you want to continue this useless talk, pit me. I would love to see what other think about the world of FIVE DOLLA LUXURY GOODS. :rolleyes: The person you were addressing lives in the US! I don’t think you realize how sheltered you have been! You obviously have not known anyone who was truly poor. You don’t have the proper perspective at all. Let me tell you, when a friend of yours says how grateful they are that a relative of theirs was successful during hunting season, because it means they will have meat for the winter, THAT gives you a whole new angle of view! There are a lot of people who have been without a job for at least a year. How do you think they are surviving? Many of them are living very much like **Rushgeekgirl** I assure you. ---
**Author:** ![RockytheflyingS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RockytheflyingS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RockytheflyingS)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/131 "2012-11-15T09:05:13Z")
> [@thenonepercent](#): > > You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Very original. That quote’s never been said on this board before. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/132 "2012-11-15T10:36:30Z")
> [@RockytheflyingS](#): > > The poster I was referring to says they can’t afford internet, many people in the US and first world country can. Thus, it is not a luxury. That is one definition of luxury, but it is not the only one. “Luxury” can also be defined as something that is not a necessity. If it doesn’t help your survival, it is by this definition a luxury, no matter how cheap or affordable it may be. And by that definition, a great many things that cost only five dollars are luxuries. If you have ever been in a situation where you have ten or twenty dollars in your pocket, and you know that has to last until payday and payday isn’t tomorrow… well, it does a great job of teaching you that no, that five dollar bottle of nail polish is not a necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/133 "2012-11-15T11:32:07Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 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. [No, he’s the head of the world leader in heart rate monitors](http://http://www.polar.com/en) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/134 "2012-11-15T12:01:08Z")
I felt damn rich in my mid-20s when I was working about 70 h/w to pull in $25k/y. Granted, I didn’t have many expenses. Sharing an apartment, cooking cheap foods, and knowing where babies come from go a long way. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/135 "2012-11-15T12:18:22Z")
In response to the OP, define “everything”. To get by, I borrow my landlord’s Internet access, don’t go on vacations, don’t have the latest gadgets (I get the iPhone 4 late in its product cycle from a promotion, and haven’t switched to an iPhone 5), eat at the fancy restaurants perhaps twice per month, have just basic insurance, don’t drive, tries not to take the cab and as much as possible if I want to try something ‘luxurious’, use GroupOn. And I consider myself relatively lucky. From my country, there are others who are far worse than me and they can get by too, without “everything”. In fact, sometimes I wonder how they could afford anything. I believe there are ways to get what you want, as long as you don’t mind drowning in the bloody lake of red. Some electronic outlets let you pay with interest-free installment. There’s always credit cards and loans that asks no questions and just gives you immediate cash. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/136 "2012-11-15T12:41:44Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 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. Or of Polar Beverages. Which would stink, if so, because it would mean I’d have to stop buying their stuff and I really like their orange dry. ---
**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, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/137 "2012-11-15T14:02:55Z")
What if you can’t pay your cable bill? after a few months or car bill can they take it away? ---
**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, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/138 "2012-11-15T14:05:20Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > What if you can’t pay your cable bill? after a few months or car bill can they take it away? Try it, you need to gain some valuable real-life experience. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/139 "2012-11-15T14:09:40Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Try it, you need to gain some valuable real-life experience. No kidding. In case this is a serious question and not some sort of computer attempting a Turing test - they will turn off your cable and send collection agencies after you. Don’t pay your car loan and they will send a tow truck to take your car back, then they keep all the money you paid and sell the car to someone else. Don’t pay your electricity and they’ll turn it off, and demand full payment plus a deposit of extra money to turn it back on. Don’t pay your water bill, they shut it off. And so on. ---
**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, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018/140 "2012-11-15T14:13:04Z")
> [@CEOofPolar](#): > > What if you can’t pay your cable bill? after a few months or car bill can they take it away? Take it away, and in some cases (like mine) charge you an early termination fee for not fulfilling your contract. So my $40 a month cable bill spiraled into a $400+ collection. And if it’s something truly important like your water/electricity? You usually only get a month or two of missing your payment before they shut it off. Middle of winter? Too bad. Need water to drink? So sorry. You have to come up with the ENTIRE amount due, not just past due, to get it turned back on. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I was skirting along with just 2 days between me and no electricity for months at a time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-poor-people-afford-everything/641018.md?page=8)