Posted on 08/05/2014 10:16:16 PM PDT by Ellendra
It’s a mystery why one person can be poor but still be proud, independent, and reasonably content while the guy next door is only content to slide into a swamp of misery, blame, slovenliness, dependence, and cigarette smoke.
I agree that Alchemist summed things up pretty well by observing, “Poor is a state of finance. Poverty is a state of mind.”
But why?
Entire tomes have been written about poverty, of course. How soul-crushing it is. How it leads to crime. How it’s everybody’s fault except the individuals who are in that state. How it’s increasingly becoming institutionalized among entire classes.
I have no answers for that (and neither do the tome writers or the politicians who pimp poverty for power). Better to look at the “poor who aren’t impoverished,” the poor who don’t live in either mental or physical squalor.
How are they different?
(Excerpt) Read more at backwoodshome.com ...
The discussion at the site is interesting.
Thanks for posting.
I think Johnny Cash once said, when you’re poor all you worry about is money. When you’re rich, you worry about everything but money.
I heard a wise speaker ( I thik it was Chuck Misler) once say ( and I agree) There are three root causes of poverty; Lack of resources, lack of knowledge, and governments, all causes can be subheadings under these
My sister did taxes for 20 years at H&R Block. She had clients making $15,000/year who owned their house, car and were putting money away. She had clients making $100k in debt to their eyeballs. One in this category was unaware she’d gotten a $10k raise and could not explain where the extra money had gone. I think the difference is mental maturity. It wasn’t unusual for people on welfare and EBT to own a BMW convertible, have the latest iPhone and have their hair and nails professionally done. People with savings often drove a ten year old Escort and were not professionally put-together.
If you’re living of Uncle Sugar, why save? But then since Uncle Sugar is printing money like crazy, why not live to the hilt now? (Not my philosophy, just posing the question.)
“My sister did taxes for 20 years at H&R Block. She had clients making $15,000/year who owned their house, car and were putting money away. She had clients making $100k in debt to their eyeballs. One in this category was unaware she’d gotten a $10k raise and could not explain where the extra money had gone.”
Truth be told, that is a fascinating story and a truth few like to admit. It’s so strange how people making so much end up so much in debt. Sometimes, I’m told “you have to spend money to make money” and I think the ones up in debt are the ones who are currently living the lie, that if you make a lot and save, you’ll fall behind. It’s the idea of appearances needing to be maintained.
“I think the difference is mental maturity. “
Exactly.
People who are upper class and fiscally irresponsible are the ones who tend to be airheads, the kind of people who have kids running around committing crimes and can’t seem to fathom that yes, THEIR spud are the ones who are doing the crimes.
I myself cannot understand how people on lower incomes avoid debt and manage well, but people making money hand over fist are for one reason or another NOT saving and can’t keep track of where all their money is going. This is why I don’t blame people on welfare for the economic meltdown, or even the government.
To be honest, I admire the ideal of a husabnd being the sole breadwinner, but when I hear stories of upscale high earners not saving anything, I wonder, who on earth is spending the cash? The husband obviously works all day, and so, why isn’t the family free of financial worries? How on earth is a man who makes a half a million a year up to his eyes in debt?
From what I read, wifey is spending buku bucks on:
Shopping sprees
Club Memberships
Nannies
New up to date cars
Interior decorator
Expensive lunches
Books recommended by Oprah
I mean, I don’t get how or why a huge million dollar house is good, if the husband is pulling in half a million a year. Second, considering the nightmares that I read about on here about ex-wives taking their husbands for half of everything, I don’t think it’s the fault of people on welfare for everything that has gone wrong in the US.
To me, it sounds like alimony is a form of welfare and something that (with few exceptions) should be cut back on and reformed.
to be honest, I’m on SSD and slowly rebuilding my life after a series of painful experiences, so I don’t judge people on welfare as hard as others on here do.
It notes than most millionaires are small business owners who live well below their means. It also provides pithy insights, such as a $25 Timex and a $2500 Rolex tell time equally effectively.
I've made the book required reading for both of my sons. So far, the oldest appears to be embracing the message.
I am glad you are going to catch the arrows for me. I have seen lots of wives spend their husbands in to the poor house.
Me, I am unmarried. I spend all my money on machinery, shop tool, payroll, and overhead. My machinists live better than me even though I am one of those evyil hated caputalists democrats are always whining about.
Thanks; I’m tired of seeing how housewifery is idealized when so man wifeys are bankrupting their husbands trying to keep up some kind of image that demands a lifestyle to go with it.
I think that more wives should be working to at least pay off bills and other basics. Husbands shouldn’t be considered a marital version of “Daddy” who pays their merry way through life.
You’re right and small business ownership may well end up being one of the ways of a middle class life. That is how it used to be and people were both working in a marriage. The idea of a husabnd being the sole provider is in fact a very NEW concept and social setting and something I think is becoming obsolete mainly since men are showing they don’t need a spouse to keep their home neat and clean.
They avoid debt by avoiding debt, living day-to-day within ones means. For poor people, the trick is to save up for everything. No college loans. Live in someone's basement for lower rent then move up to the most modest choice. Public transportation, walk, or bicycle. Budget the spending money for an interval and stay within it. Have a credit card, but for things you've already saved the money for. Keep the utilities and technology at the minimum needed to function. Public libraries. Buy clothing sensibly so it doesn't go out of style or fall apart. etc
I call it living "upper poor". Once one gets ahead of the game when younger, it's possible to accumulate some savings even on low incomes.
Very often when a guy chooses a "trophy wife" it's because he wants to make an impression. To make that impression, they'll spend the money it takes.
How many guys consider a woman's ability to live within her budget when choosing a mate?
I think I wrote wrong; why is it that someone with a fat paycheck ends up to debt in their eyeballs? All that cash coming in and yet the maroons end up filling for bankruptcy.
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