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How many people on a single $1200 check and unemployment will go out and buy a car, a house, a washing machine or visit a Disney park?

frockington1 6y ago
In Q1 pick-up sales were up 2%. Granted only half of the quarter was in coronavirus pandemic but it still shows people are willing to spend dollars.
- racnid 6y ago
  People are still going need cars at the same rate they always have.
rwmj 6y ago
For many people outside the highly paid HN reading bubble that's a huge windfall.
- onion2k 6y ago
  Not enough to buy a car though, especially if you've also lost your job.
- jointpdf 6y ago
  It’s really not. Even in a low cost of living area, $1.2K is about one month of basic living expenses.
  - beamatronic 6y ago
    ...which is a huge windfall. Has anyone on here ever actually been poor before? Genuinely curious.
    - frosted-flakes 6y ago
      I grew up in a poor family. Not poor enough that we ever went hungry, but that was partly because of the generosity of friends/family who would sometimes buy us groceries. Us kids certainly never got new clothes (there was a steady stream of hand-me-downs from the older kids and other families we knew). Being self-employed, my dad's income was irregular and often came in $5000 chunks. You might call that a windfall, but my parents were disciplined enough with their money that it automatically went into a savings account for the next mortgage payments, or to pay off credit card debt[1]. We weren't suddenly going out to eat when a cheque came in (in fact, when I was 10 or so, I remember helping my mom enter receipts into her big accounting book, and the total restaurant expenses for the entire year was something like $30). I don't think we were ever officially under the poverty line, but with a family of 11 in a high cost of living area, the money had to go a lot farther than normal. [1]: Unfortunately, they weren't disciplined enough to build up and maintain an emergency fund to carry them through rough times, so they relied on a low-interest credit card for essentials way too often.
  - rwmj 6y ago
    You're thinking about this wrong: consider it terms of how much floating cash you have available. If you are paid $2000/mo but pay out $1800/mo in living expenses (rent, bills and food), then you have $200/mo to spend on fun. Then you receive a check for $1200, that's 6 months of fun in one go. If you are paid weekly, the amount of cash you have in your pocket might only be $50, and then only on a Friday night, so $1200 looks like an extraordinary windfall.
  - jointpdf 6y ago
    Re: rwmj I used to do taxes for extremely poor (<$10K yearly income) people in Michigan as a volunteer thing. For most of them, I could get the ~$3.5-5K earned income tax credit. A huge windfall? No, these people need that money for basic expenses like feeding their kids. I can guarantee you these same folks—and the millions that suddenly lost their jobs—are not looking at a $1200 check and thinking, “sweet, 6 months of weed money!”. But yeah, I’m “thinking about it wrong”.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- dustingetz 6y ago
  Realistically if you're poor with credit card debt, $1200 adds two months runway from default dead state of losing your housing, (so at least you're not instantly wiped out as of April's eviction notice date)
SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
Going out and financing a car loan is practically the canonical thing to do with a sudden windfall in the thousands of dollars.
jvp 6y ago
A house?! Come on.

frockington1 6y ago

In Q1 pick-up sales were up 2%. Granted only half of the quarter was in coronavirus pandemic but it still shows people are willing to spend dollars.

racnid 6y ago
People are still going need cars at the same rate they always have.

rwmj 6y ago

For many people outside the highly paid HN reading bubble that's a huge windfall.

onion2k 6y ago
Not enough to buy a car though, especially if you've also lost your job.
jointpdf 6y ago
It’s really not. Even in a low cost of living area, $1.2K is about one month of basic living expenses.
- beamatronic 6y ago
  ...which is a huge windfall. Has anyone on here ever actually been poor before? Genuinely curious.
  - frosted-flakes 6y ago
    I grew up in a poor family. Not poor enough that we ever went hungry, but that was partly because of the generosity of friends/family who would sometimes buy us groceries. Us kids certainly never got new clothes (there was a steady stream of hand-me-downs from the older kids and other families we knew). Being self-employed, my dad's income was irregular and often came in $5000 chunks. You might call that a windfall, but my parents were disciplined enough with their money that it automatically went into a savings account for the next mortgage payments, or to pay off credit card debt[1]. We weren't suddenly going out to eat when a cheque came in (in fact, when I was 10 or so, I remember helping my mom enter receipts into her big accounting book, and the total restaurant expenses for the entire year was something like $30). I don't think we were ever officially under the poverty line, but with a family of 11 in a high cost of living area, the money had to go a lot farther than normal. [1]: Unfortunately, they weren't disciplined enough to build up and maintain an emergency fund to carry them through rough times, so they relied on a low-interest credit card for essentials way too often.
- rwmj 6y ago
  You're thinking about this wrong: consider it terms of how much floating cash you have available. If you are paid $2000/mo but pay out $1800/mo in living expenses (rent, bills and food), then you have $200/mo to spend on fun. Then you receive a check for $1200, that's 6 months of fun in one go. If you are paid weekly, the amount of cash you have in your pocket might only be $50, and then only on a Friday night, so $1200 looks like an extraordinary windfall.
- jointpdf 6y ago
  Re: rwmj I used to do taxes for extremely poor (<$10K yearly income) people in Michigan as a volunteer thing. For most of them, I could get the ~$3.5-5K earned income tax credit. A huge windfall? No, these people need that money for basic expenses like feeding their kids. I can guarantee you these same folks—and the millions that suddenly lost their jobs—are not looking at a $1200 check and thinking, “sweet, 6 months of weed money!”. But yeah, I’m “thinking about it wrong”.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
dustingetz 6y ago
Realistically if you're poor with credit card debt, $1200 adds two months runway from default dead state of losing your housing, (so at least you're not instantly wiped out as of April's eviction notice date)

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

Going out and financing a car loan is practically the canonical thing to do with a sudden windfall in the thousands of dollars.

jvp 6y ago

A house?! Come on.