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I think someone flipping burgers at McDonalds would trade waking up thinking about work for waking up and thinking about how they'll feed their children any day
by pharke 12y ago
I think someone flipping burgers at McDonalds would trade waking up thinking about work for waking up and thinking about how they'll feed their children any day of the week.
Also, the concept of being able to sustain your current lifestyle for a few years on your savings alone makes you sound like you're from another planet to someone making minimum wage with the savings and benefits that entails. It also doesn't appear to jive with your earlier statement about managing your money in such a way that your day to day finances would be in any way similar to someone earning $10 hourly. Where I come from, having enough money for beer and weed might mean you've got $20 to your name, not a savings account with enough for rent and expenses for the next 2 years.
Edit:
Your friends at university might appear to have a fairly similar lifestyle to yours on the measly sum of $4000 per semester given the fact that university life generally comes accompanied by prepaid meal plans, health insurance, counselling, housing, on campus services and student discounts. Such amenities are a far off dream to those below the poverty line.
- morgante 12y ago> It also doesn't appear to jive with your earlier statement about managing your money in such a way that your day to day finances would be in any way similar to someone earning $10 hourly. I never claimed my finances were similar to someone earning $10/hour. Just my lifestyle. (The fact that I don't have much to spend money on is part of the reason I've managed to accumulate extensive savings.) > university life generally comes accompanied by prepaid meal plans, health insurance, counselling, housing, on campus services and student discounts They do have housing taken care of, but that $4000 is used for meals. While those fringe benefits are tangible, I don't think they make a major lifestyle difference considering that most never use health or counseling services
- nitrogen 12y agoYou're probably right about day-to-day lifestyle differences being rather small between surviving poor and thriving middle class. The biggest difference is in the exceptions, both positive and negative. Someone just getting by won't have the spare cash or leave time to take a vacation, and a single disaster could put them on the streets if they don't have family or friends to turn to (which can feel just as shameful as being on the streets). The other major difference is psychological: the feeling of being trapped in a precarious situation.