# The perks of poverty. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714 "2012-01-07T08:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/41 "2012-01-11T20:27:59Z")
No concerns about a pesky mortgage payment. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/42 "2012-01-11T20:41:24Z")
And then it hits you… At [something].EDU, you can help that little girl learn how to cut hair, instead of just hoping she does. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/43 "2012-01-11T20:59:09Z")
A couple of months ago, the amount of things wrong with my car crossed _that_ threshold. You know, the one that renders it unsafe to operate without $x worth of repairs that you won’t even be able to afford when the tax return comes in? So I started commuting by public transit. My apartment is a 13 mile drive from my office, so this required my getting up an hour earlier, walking a mile to a bus stop, catching a train at the local depot, and then walking another mile. The return trip was the same in reverse. An unexpected windfall (and a smaller repair bill than expected) has made it possible to get my car back on the road. I am nonetheless continuing to commute by rail. I cheat a little by driving to and from the train depot, but I am still enjoying numerous auxiliary benefits. [ul] [li]Walking 2 miles a day, thereby getting some badly needed exercise (with all of the expected corrolaries).[/li][li]Having just that much extra time to myself for dozing, contemplation, reading, or listening.[/li][li]Getting to work and back almost as quickly as via car, but without the stress of rush-hour traffic.[/li][li]Leaving the office promptly at the end of the day (thus making me unavailable for after-hours tasks I was previously expected to handle).[/li][li]Forcing me to make better use of my working day, since I can no longer stay late to finish tasks left undone due to procrastination.[/li][li]Filling up the car’s gas tank once a month instead of once a week.[/li][/ul] This one change in my daily routine has made a major impact for the better on my life. And it’s something I simply would not have done had it not been dictated by financial circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/44 "2012-01-11T21:23:22Z")
Being unemployed means you can grab the best Craigslist deals and free stuff before the employed chumps get them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/45 "2012-01-11T22:26:29Z")
No more having to wade through Occupy Wall Street dirtbags to go shopping at the Zuccatti Park Brooks Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/46 "2012-01-11T22:39:39Z")
There’s always a good movie on at the plasma center! ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/47 "2012-01-11T22:52:19Z")
You don’t have to deal with those snooty maitres d’ to get a good table – at McDonald’s, you just seat yourself! ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/48 "2012-01-12T19:56:14Z")
While going thru all your pockets looking for change, you find the phone number of someone you want to get back in touch with. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/49 "2012-01-12T20:01:27Z")
You don’t have a problem with loose change adding up - you’re too busy spending it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/50 "2012-01-12T20:07:01Z")
Ther’s always plenty of broads at the trailor park! ---
**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:** [January 12, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/51 "2012-01-12T20:08:41Z")
Dirty dishes and clothes don’t pile up when you only have one set of each. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/52 "2012-01-12T21:45:12Z")
You get a quiet sense of satisfaction from learning to install Ubuntu Linux instead of replacing your nine year old Pentium IV computer. Trolling thrift stores and yard sales for cheap, playable cassettes, working cassette decks, amplifiers and receivers becomes a skill you enjoy. You don’t worry about burglary because you don’t have anything worth stealing. Plus, you save money because you don’t need renters insurance. When the value of everything you own comes to twenty bucks tops, you couldn’t care less about fires and burglaries. You regularly get freebies like pots and pans, dinnerware, quilts and blankets, and furniture (all used, of course) from relatives and friends, and instead of embarassing you, it pleases you to know they thought about you. Plus you get big plates of turkey, ham, potato salad and deviled eggs to take home with you every Thanksgiving. You find that you actually have more disposable income now that you reallize you don’t need all the latest technology. You can do without or find cheap substitutes (e.g. Linux). You have a convenient excuse for breaking off unwelcome phone calls: “C’mon, man, this is a prepaid cell, you’re eating up my minutes.” You love the look on people’s faces when you tell them the sweater or jacket they were just oohing and ahhing over was purchased for six bucks at the Salvation Army. You get to talk with all kinds of interesting people while you’re selling blood to make the rent. Heating and cooling hardly cost anything at all because your apartment is slightly smaller than a two car garage. When the homeless hit you up for money, you just turn your pockets inside out and laugh. Sometimes they share their wine with you out of pity. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/53 "2012-01-12T23:58:43Z")
Going to the laundromat is getting a chore done and social time, all rolled into one. You don’t have to worry about weeding out your stockpile of books, you just return them to the library. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/54 "2012-01-13T00:29:51Z")
You learn how to be creative with what you have because you can’t afford more. Some of my best soups have been a mish-mash of what I had available. The outfits I receive the most compliments on are of my own creation, not Nordstrom’s, Prada or True Religion. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/55 "2012-01-13T00:32:21Z")
You get your life back NOT reading endless Amazon reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/56 "2012-01-13T08:35:07Z")
These are amazing. I love it. When I called a used book store trying to sell some of my books she immediately said We don’t need it. I said Well, what _do_ you want? She said, The ones you aren’t willing to sell. I hung up. I’m not _that_ bad off. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/57 "2012-01-13T15:04:04Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > I _want_ to help that little girl learn how to cut hair. > > I swear I don’t mind looking like I’m leaning to one side. > Anybody got another reason to go on? I feel really dumb but I don’t understand this. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/58 "2012-01-13T15:18:00Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > I feel really dumb but I don’t understand this. When one is poor, the only haircut one can afford is from a student at the beauty college. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/59 "2012-01-13T22:00:50Z")
People don’t expect fancy gifts from you and are surprised by your creativity! ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714/60 "2012-01-13T23:10:13Z")
You can start a new fashion trend in interior design by calling your style “Yardsale Primitive”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perks-of-poverty/608714.md?page=4)