4 ms·
> You can only afford cheap stuff, and cheap stuff breaks a lot and needs to be replaced often. And with little possibilities to save up money, you'll have to
by creshal 11y ago
> You can only afford cheap stuff, and cheap stuff breaks a lot and needs to be replaced often.
And with little possibilities to save up money, you'll have to rely much more on credit financing for emergency expenses, which drives up "unnecessary" expenses further.
- steveklabnik 11y agoYes, this is also a huge part of it, for sure.
- odonnellryan 11y agoAlso, a lot of things are "hidden taxes" on the poor. For example, tickets do not scale with wages. Few things do. I was without work a while back: I was near-devastated by a double-whammy parking ticket (total ~$100) I had gotten.
- antod 11y agoThat reminds me of a media report I heard a while back from (I think it was) Switzerland where apparently speeding tickets are proportional to both your wealth and the amount over the limit you were. Some guy had landed himself a 6 figure speeding ticket.
- steveklabnik 11y agoRelated story, though because this was a high-school job, it didn't threaten my ability to live or anything, but could have happened to anyone... I delivered pizza as a job, and the car that I had to do the job broke down. I couldn't afford the repairs, but I also didn't want to lose my job, so I junked it, and took my savings and managed to find a 12-year old car with 255,000 miles on it for $150. Rural areas have lots of old junkers lying around.... that car lasted a month, until the engine overheated and destroyed itself mid-delivery. Before cellphones, I had to hitchhike back to the shop. But in that month I managed to make a couple of hundred dollars, and buy an okay car that lasted me another year or two... I am glad that I was lucky enough that my hobby turned into a profession that pays well.