6 ms·

One of my favorite realizations is that more things are free when you have money. People just want your business. It’s expensive being poor.

Waterluvian 9y ago
Payday loans, credit card interest. Financing plans. Being poor is cripplingly expensive.
- curiousgal 9y ago
  Credit cards are the one thing I can’t wrap my head around. I am not American and most of my young U.S. friends I met early in college were so excited about having a credit score of x which entitled them to more debt...
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    Then those young US friends were idiots. I only know people who use credit cards to get 2%+ back from their purchases, plus an interest free 20 to 45 day loan. If you're spending with a credit card more than the cash you have on hand, then you're doing it wrong. Obviously, there must be some cohort of people that pay interest, but there's no reason anyone with half a brain can't setup up autopay and earn the cash back benefits and rental car/travel insurance benefits without paying any interest at all.
    - tomschlick 9y ago
      Yup. I put almost everything through CCs and pay it off weekly/bi weekly. I almost never keep a balance except on 0% interest cards which are handy for large purchases. By having a few cards and keeping your utilization low (under 15%) you'll be able to make your credit score sky rocket which is crucial for when you need a car/home loan.
    - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
      Why were his friends idiots? They could have been doing exactly what you described
      - lotsofpulp 9y ago
        I don't recall the comment I responded to saying anything about credit score, I thought they said their friends couldn't wait to get into credit cards just so they had access to more debt, which to me implied they were going to pay credit card interest rates. I apologize though if I read it incorrectly the first time.
  - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
    Yes debt like cheaper homeownership via mortgage and cheaper better cars through lower cost car loans Credit cards are an efficient gateway to a higher credit score which achieves these goals It is pretty easy to wrap your head around, read a book before you finish concluding debt is irresponsible in all scenarios.
- cratermoon 9y ago
  See for example Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
ams6110 9y ago
Public schools do a disservice to low income students by not teaching personal finance, or if they do it's a short unit topic for a few weeks somewhere in high school. We should be drumming into heads from an early age the real cost of debt, the value of saving, time value of money, when debt makes sense and when it doesn't, etc. Anyone can open an online account at Vanguard. Imagine what could be done in a generation or two if people would participate in the markets instead of buying lottery tickets and being bitter and envious about "the rich"

Waterluvian 9y ago

Payday loans, credit card interest. Financing plans. Being poor is cripplingly expensive.

curiousgal 9y ago
Credit cards are the one thing I can’t wrap my head around. I am not American and most of my young U.S. friends I met early in college were so excited about having a credit score of x which entitled them to more debt...
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  Then those young US friends were idiots. I only know people who use credit cards to get 2%+ back from their purchases, plus an interest free 20 to 45 day loan. If you're spending with a credit card more than the cash you have on hand, then you're doing it wrong. Obviously, there must be some cohort of people that pay interest, but there's no reason anyone with half a brain can't setup up autopay and earn the cash back benefits and rental car/travel insurance benefits without paying any interest at all.
  - tomschlick 9y ago
    Yup. I put almost everything through CCs and pay it off weekly/bi weekly. I almost never keep a balance except on 0% interest cards which are handy for large purchases. By having a few cards and keeping your utilization low (under 15%) you'll be able to make your credit score sky rocket which is crucial for when you need a car/home loan.
  - ringaroundthetx 9y ago
    Why were his friends idiots? They could have been doing exactly what you described
    - lotsofpulp 9y ago
      I don't recall the comment I responded to saying anything about credit score, I thought they said their friends couldn't wait to get into credit cards just so they had access to more debt, which to me implied they were going to pay credit card interest rates. I apologize though if I read it incorrectly the first time.
- ringaroundthetx 9y ago
  Yes debt like cheaper homeownership via mortgage and cheaper better cars through lower cost car loans Credit cards are an efficient gateway to a higher credit score which achieves these goals It is pretty easy to wrap your head around, read a book before you finish concluding debt is irresponsible in all scenarios.
cratermoon 9y ago
See for example Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

ams6110 9y ago

Public schools do a disservice to low income students by not teaching personal finance, or if they do it's a short unit topic for a few weeks somewhere in high school. We should be drumming into heads from an early age the real cost of debt, the value of saving, time value of money, when debt makes sense and when it doesn't, etc. Anyone can open an online account at Vanguard. Imagine what could be done in a generation or two if people would participate in the markets instead of buying lottery tickets and being bitter and envious about "the rich"