High Cost of being poor.

[KrazyHorse]

Yes, but we have no idea how much of that is due to the natural operation of the market vs. how much is due to poor eduction or understanding of finances.

I honestly don't know how hard it is to get reasonable credit with extremely low income (poverty level) beyond a certain age (college/recent grad). I'm guessing it's not that easy.

[Aeson]

The point is that I say that to people who do. If you are tight on money I suggest canceling your internet

I don't pay for internet, and the income I do have is made over the internet. Try again

[Patroklos]

I suggest abandoning your sailor moon kos play habit, those costumes get expensive

[Aeson]

But then I would lose all the clients I've lined up in regards to self-biased's exemplary advise... er... I mean ... n/m

[KrazyHorse]

I suggest you get a job.

[onodera]

Yes, but how much does their vodka cost at the local market?

Unfortunately, not very much.

[Aeson]

I suggest you get a job.

I never would have thought of that! Thanks!

[KrazyHorse]

That's why I decided not to do business consulting. Too easy.

[Guynemer]

"lawyers, guns, and money"

Warren Zevon


Didn't read rest of post.

[DanS]

Rural communities sending their poor to the cities? You guys are out of touch with reality.

(1) I see evidence every day that this happens
(2) Mostly, I was pointing out the absurdity of the POV of the article -- focusing on the urban poor to the exclusion of other impoverished people, when there's a heck of a lot more poor people in rural areas

[Ben Kenobi]

I've done that when I went to school and lived in Vancouver. Lived without a car and whatnot. The cost wrt to groceries is huge, and you don't get a break anywhere. Have you ever tried to haul your groceries home on the bus after work? Here's the way it goes.

Say I work 8-5. I get off at 5. Bus doesn't come until quarter after, so I wait 15 mins for the bus. Bus takes a half an hour to go what would take 15 minutes to drive. By quarter to the hour, I get to the store. I shop, takes a half an hour, get out. I wait another 15 minutes for the bus. I get back on, ride the bus, and carry my bags. Takes another half an hour to get home, what would be about a 15 minute drive.

It's now 7pm.

That's 2 hours of time. Now, with a car, it takes me half the time, half hour to drive, half hour in the store. I pay some in gas, but I save on a bus ticket.

Busses used to cost me about 120 a month. Now, when I drive, it costs me maybe 50 a month for gas, if that.

So the irony is that having a car is much cheaper then public transportation, even for a single person. More people, the economies of scale just get even greater.

The other thing is that the car frees you from the high rents too. Where I live now is 300 a month, in a shared apt. That's a savings of about a hundred a month and I get better living conditions. I'm wealthier and my costs are going down.

[Ben Kenobi]

Also, most people in those areas don't eat food they have to prepare, they will generally eat high calorie ready made foods. This is from my own observations.

Groceries would generally run me to 40 a week, or 160 a month.

5 bucks a day x 30 = 150 a month.

Eating out once a day, actually saved me money, as well as about 8 hours a week. 8x10 = 80 dollars of time.

[Sava]

the US would be a better place if our cities were more ruthless in squeezing out the poor.

I agree. I think we have similar ideas about what would be best for this poverty question.

[DanS]

No, that's a particular type of urbanization, Sava. Think Siberia.

[Sava]