3 ms·

Let's say small packs cost $85/mo (as per $1k/year). Big monthly pack is $30. So weekly supplies in small packs are barely cheaper than buying in bulk for a mon

by mantas 9y ago

Let's say small packs cost $85/mo (as per $1k/year). Big monthly pack is $30. So weekly supplies in small packs are barely cheaper than buying in bulk for a month. Unless you pay day's diapers every day.. Do you think poor people are stupid and can't plan even a week ahead? They're getting paid weekly or monthly in most cases after all. In my experience, poor people are much better at managing money than better off folks. I could see plenty of people who couldn't bother to order bulk of diapers and then store them somewhere. But poor people usually go the extra mile even for couple bucks.

war1025 9y ago
My comment wasn't about poor people being dumb. My comment was attempting to point out that, when you are poor, small amounts of money matter a lot more. I may have worded it poorly or misread the context of the comment I was replying to, but the point I was trying to get across is that when you don't have much money, you have to be much more conscious about how you spend it. And if you aren't, then you go broke and don't eat for a while. It's an easy thing for well-off people to lose sight of.
- mantas 9y ago
  Exactly, they're much m ore conscious about how they spend it. Thus putting aside $30 is no brainer vs buying in small packs. Most people, poor or not, get paid weekly or monthly. It's not that hard to buy $30 worth of goods after getting paid vs spending $10 every few days...
TheCoelacanth 9y ago
It's usually not that they are stupid, it's often that they literally don't have the money to pay the upfront cost of the bigger pack because they are living paycheck to paycheck.
- mantas 9y ago
  How big is paycheck? Probably more than $30. When buying in bulk for 2 months is cheaper than buying weekly for 1 month, it's kinda nobrainer. And they'd need even more from one paycheck to another to get supplies in smaller packs. Unless they're getting paid weekly. But even then, $30 is not that much of a stretch. especially if you buy food in bulk one week, diapers in bulk another week. Your point would be correct for bigger hundreds-or-thousands-of-dollars purchases though. But $30... Come on?
  - TheCoelacanth 9y ago
    Someone in that situation likely isn't going to be able to get a single full time job because employers are cheap and don't want to pay for benefits. Getting paid multiple paychecks in a two-week period is not at all unrealistic. If they are working non-formal employment they could easily getting paid for a single day of work some times. Some one who manages to get 40 hours a week of work at minimum wage of $7.25 minus 7.65% for FICA taxes is getting $1,116 a month. Take out rent, transportation and food and there is not going to be much left over for buying things that you don't need right away. You seem to be completely out of touch with the way people in poverty live if you think people aren't living paycheck to paycheck and have money left over after paying essential expenses.
    - mantas 9y ago
      Maybe US poors are somehow special and different from poors in other countries? In my country lots of people make ~ $500. Or even less. With prices similar (or even in many cases higher) to flyover USA. Living paycheck to paycheck is the norm here. What people do, after getting paycheck(s) they put together a budget for the next month. And $30 once a month for essentials is definitely a better deal than paying $15 weekly for the same thing. As you said, they don't have much money left. Thus they take every possible bulk or coupon deal to save money. Yes, poor people are having a harder time than your average HN folk. But vast majority of them are not dumb and can do math pretty well. I hate how US media is portraying poor people as unintelligible who can't think ahead. Yes they can. Unless US poor are somehow different? What they need is more job security, better paying entry level jobs and more education opportunities (wether vocational or after-hours college). And better pay for infamous but educated jobs like librarian or teacher. Which are borderline minimal wage and borderline poor over there.

by mantas 9y ago

war1025 9y ago

My comment wasn't about poor people being dumb. My comment was attempting to point out that, when you are poor, small amounts of money matter a lot more. I may have worded it poorly or misread the context of the comment I was replying to, but the point I was trying to get across is that when you don't have much money, you have to be much more conscious about how you spend it. And if you aren't, then you go broke and don't eat for a while. It's an easy thing for well-off people to lose sight of.

mantas 9y ago
Exactly, they're much m ore conscious about how they spend it. Thus putting aside $30 is no brainer vs buying in small packs. Most people, poor or not, get paid weekly or monthly. It's not that hard to buy $30 worth of goods after getting paid vs spending $10 every few days...

TheCoelacanth 9y ago

It's usually not that they are stupid, it's often that they literally don't have the money to pay the upfront cost of the bigger pack because they are living paycheck to paycheck.

mantas 9y ago
How big is paycheck? Probably more than $30. When buying in bulk for 2 months is cheaper than buying weekly for 1 month, it's kinda nobrainer. And they'd need even more from one paycheck to another to get supplies in smaller packs. Unless they're getting paid weekly. But even then, $30 is not that much of a stretch. especially if you buy food in bulk one week, diapers in bulk another week. Your point would be correct for bigger hundreds-or-thousands-of-dollars purchases though. But $30... Come on?
- TheCoelacanth 9y ago
  Someone in that situation likely isn't going to be able to get a single full time job because employers are cheap and don't want to pay for benefits. Getting paid multiple paychecks in a two-week period is not at all unrealistic. If they are working non-formal employment they could easily getting paid for a single day of work some times. Some one who manages to get 40 hours a week of work at minimum wage of $7.25 minus 7.65% for FICA taxes is getting $1,116 a month. Take out rent, transportation and food and there is not going to be much left over for buying things that you don't need right away. You seem to be completely out of touch with the way people in poverty live if you think people aren't living paycheck to paycheck and have money left over after paying essential expenses.
  - mantas 9y ago
    Maybe US poors are somehow special and different from poors in other countries? In my country lots of people make ~ $500. Or even less. With prices similar (or even in many cases higher) to flyover USA. Living paycheck to paycheck is the norm here. What people do, after getting paycheck(s) they put together a budget for the next month. And $30 once a month for essentials is definitely a better deal than paying $15 weekly for the same thing. As you said, they don't have much money left. Thus they take every possible bulk or coupon deal to save money. Yes, poor people are having a harder time than your average HN folk. But vast majority of them are not dumb and can do math pretty well. I hate how US media is portraying poor people as unintelligible who can't think ahead. Yes they can. Unless US poor are somehow different? What they need is more job security, better paying entry level jobs and more education opportunities (wether vocational or after-hours college). And better pay for infamous but educated jobs like librarian or teacher. Which are borderline minimal wage and borderline poor over there.