High Cost of being poor.

[Felch]

I remember reading a similar article in the economist where it was talking about actual poor people (like in Indian slums and such) and it compared the cost of certain commodities like rice and water and telephone service with what people were spending in rich countries.

It's true that the poor pay more for many goods. It has to do with issues like security, distribution costs, lack of credit, and so forth. This article is just kind of lazy and full of silly stories though, like the guy who wanted to buy nine dollars with of chicken wings.

[notyoueither]

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.

Believe it or not, there are people who are of below average intelligence, who have poor educations and even poorer upbringing.

There is a market in exploiting people who do not have your background or skills. Feel free at any time to become shocked.

[notyoueither]

Hell, if you listen to KH there is a market to rob people smarter than you of your money. It's called brokers pushing you to buy particular stocks.

[SlowwHand]

The barter system has a lot to say for itself.

[DarkCloud]

I found it annoying when someone I knew complained about the cost of health insurance for themselves... about 150/month or something of the sort (I forget the precise figure) and how they decided not to pay for it.

Yet they had an iPhone and a computer and an internet connection and cable at home, and made purchases on iTunes. I explained what I saw as the obvious easily-eliminated expenses. They were angered and said that they should be allowed to enjoy nice things. I suggested drop the phone or drop the internet or drop the cable- the monthly bills alone from one of them would nearly allow them to afford health insurance with little negative effect on their quality of life.

For the record, I never owned a cellphone before last year, and I only use prepaid- 30 dollars every 3 months... more than I WANT to pay, but I no longer have a landline, so I figure it works out- if not necessarily directly in cash, then at least in added mobility.

The one splurge I allow myself is high-speed internet. Oddly it came cheaper with free cable this year, so I took that option and so for the first time in my life, I finally had cable TV... which is useless to me- all I watch are TLC, CNBC, and ESPN.

The article is dead-on right about the problem of overpriced gas station groceries though. I lack a car, so I walk 30 minutes each way to buy my groceries at a real place about once a week, just so that I can save the 10-20%. I really feel empathy for the thousands that poor people lose each year because no real cost-effective groceries can operate successfully in inner cities.

And it is even more of a pain to get to a Target or a (shudder) WalMart- I have to bum rides off acquaintances.

[Kuciwalker]

Believe it or not, there are people who are of below average intelligence, who have poor educations and even poorer upbringing.

There is a market in exploiting people who do not have your background or skills. Feel free at any time to become shocked.

Thank you for repeating what I had just said.

[Dis]

Ben is right about a car is just about cheaper than public transportation. In my city, public transportation isn't very useful for things like grocery shopping (it will get you to work just fine). Are you suppoed to bring 10 bags of groceries onto the bus?

I simply can't imagine life without a car. I'm willing to sacrifice certain things to have a car. What I see in my city is people who can't sacrifice taking drugs to own a car. Most men who ride the bus do so because they spend their money on drugs. Women are a different story, many of them have kids, and can't simply afford a car.

I grew up poor, real poor. We couldn't even afford to eat fast food more than once a month. Which is good actually. I don't eat fast food at all now days. It's too expensive. You save a lot more money eating at home. And fast food is poison as well.

I made a determination early in life not to be poor. And I was willing to make sacrifices to achieve this. But as mentioned above, most people don't have the intelligence or skills some of us have. I happen to be very smart and skilled. I just lack confidence (hence why I'm still underachieving big time), and lacked initial capital.

Another distinction is most people lack impulse control. This is more important than intelligence when it comes to getting out of the slums. I've seen some pretty dumb people do fairly well for themselves and live in decent neighborhoods. You have to resist that urge to go down to 7-11 and by a 40, or chips/soft drinks.

So what am I saying here? There are options. People don't have to be poor. But it takes serious impulse control and discipline which most people don't have.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Good article. It summarizes several threads of thought that I'd been entertaining for some time.

[Patroklos]

found it annoying when someone I knew complained about the cost of health insurance for themselves... about 150/month or something of the sort (I forget the precise figure) and how they decided not to pay for it.

Yet they had an iPhone and a computer and an internet connection and cable at home, and made purchases on iTunes. I explained what I saw as the obvious easily-eliminated expenses. They were angered and said that they should be allowed to enjoy nice things.

You have just explained the true source of the financial problems of most of Americans in trouble right now.

[Jon Miller]

I was talking to someone today who put the price of self insured health insurance and closer to 1200 per month.

This would fit with my current situation, where I have very good health insurance which is almost entirely covered by my employer (the University of Maryland) and yet I still pay 60-100 per month.

JM

[Patroklos]

I was talking to someone today who put the price of self insured health insurance and closer to 1200 per month.

It obviously varies, but that is way over what you average person will pay. Now maybe a family of 4-5 will pay that.

The report states that nationwide, annual premiums averaged $2,613 for single coverage and $5,799 for family plans in the 2006-2007 period. This is where McCain most likely obtained his numbers, though some would argue that information obtained from industry associations is not reliable, given the goals of the association: promoting private insurance plans.

The report goes on to state that for single policies, annual premiums ranged from $1,163 for persons under age 18 to $5,090 for persons aged 60-64. For family policies, premiums ranged from $2,325 for policies covering children under age 18 to $9,201 for families headed by persons aged 60-64.

The limitation of relying on this study is that it is only based on individual policies and does not incorporate the costs of corporate insurance policies.
2. The National Coalition on Health Care, the nation’s largest non-profit, non-partisan alliance working to improve America’s health care, places the average annual cost that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four at $12,100 (2007 estimate). This relays the true cost of the insurance to the employer, even though the average cost per employee for family coverage is estimated at $3,300.

http://sefora.org/2008/10/17/for-the-record-just-what-is-the-average-cost-of-health-care-insurance/

[Dinner]

Another big problem is that healthy food is so expensive. Most poor people eat things like $0.99 double cheese burgers because on a calorie per dollar count they're just about the best prepared food you can buy. Compare that to some of the healthy prepared foods served hot at Whole Foods where a nice healthy low fat dinner with lots of veggies might cost $8-$10 or more. Thus the poor end up more obese then the well off which is ironic since they're much less likely to have health care.

[Patroklos]

Another big problem is that healthy food is so expensive.

This is largely a myth, people are simply not willing to take the time to cook or shop for healthy food (this includes me sometimes). Whole Foods price gouges like a mother ****er, you can buy perfectly healthy food at any normal grocery store.

Even if you do end up paying marginally more for healthy food, it is more than made up for in other areas when you are not a fat slob. We just did a thread on this a few months ago.

[Dinner]

I agree that cooking at home is cheaper then eating out but we're comparing the cost of healthy prepared food to the cost of unhealthy prepared food here. Let's face it, unhealthy food with high junk calorie counts is subsidized to hell and back in this country so it is much cheaper then healthy food which isn't really subsidized.

[Patroklos]

I agree that cooking at home is cheaper then eating out but we're comparing the cost of healthy prepared food to the cost of unhealthy prepared food here.

Alright, then I agree.

The solution = COOK YOU LAZY BASTARDS!!! (I am saying this to myself as much as anyone else )