They don't (have to) care. At least in America, the vast majority of people have never felt the pinch of being "broke"-broke. When you have money coming in, you

They don't (have to) care. At least in America, the vast majority of people have never felt the pinch of being "broke"-broke. When you have money coming in, you have enough to waste on dumb stuff. Going off my own list: $100/m phone bills when $15/m ones are available (even less, because employee discount!)? Well, it's more convenient (it wasn't, it was just money getting shoveled into the trash). Eating out at lunch? Making food is a chore (actually, stew pots are your friend, Panda Express is not). $200/m for a storage unit isn't reasonable. Neither is a new car note. Overspending on insurance. Monthly media subscriptions. On and on. You don't realize it until the money simply isn't there anymore, and you're forced to make cuts. And it's at that point that you realize, "Dang, I could have had a lot less stress now if I'd been more vigilant about spending money I didn't need to - if I'd just known better - then." But the entire economy essentially encourages and then preys on your apathy and lack of knowledge.^1 By the time you see what's going on, it's too late. You're a bum and no one cares about what you have to say. 1: Actually, this is not in and of itself a bad thing. "Stupid" purchasing decisions keeps artists and artisans in food and home, is the "slack" that keeps labor inefficient enough to be tolerable. The problem is twofold: 1) that corporations systematically prey on this tendency, and 2) its distribution as an ability is lopsided: most people can be extremely frivolous with money, and some can't be frivolous at all, and there's very little middle ground.