4 million Texas households can't afford basic needs, report finds

42 percent, of Texas households can't afford basic needs

But the good news is 58 percent of us do.../p>

If you want to move out of the lower percentile it helps to have resources and know something about how to negotiate (use) them to your benefit. It also helps to know the native culture and speak the native tongue of those in the higher percentile.

You can begin to learn the art of negotiation starting with yourself. Assume nothing is free, nobody owes you anything, and no one trusts you unless it's to their benefit.

You must decide based on your resources what is best for you. My advice is negotiate a trade. For instance, ask yourself if you are willing to trade something (your first born) to someone (the banker) for that resource you lack (money). If both parties agree, you have made a deal.

If you're lacking common sense (can't distinguish between success and failure), have no resources to invest (we all have something, just ask the devil, you MAY have something he wants), no sense of real value, and cannot sense an opportunity when it hits you where the sun doesn't shine, you may have to rely on one the following:

BEG: Construct a "Will work for ... (fill in the blank) ..." cardboard sign and stand on the street corner and wait for a favorable outcome.

BORROW: Acquire debt. See your local loan shark, pawn broker, banker, and numerous others for details.

STEAL: Become a politician. Dare to run for the highest elected office at the local, state, or federal level. If the outcome is favorable, you've hit the JACKPOT.

OTHER: Marry for money. (Worked wonders for LBJohnson and JFKerry). Works regardless of gender type and variations in between.

I could go on, but these are some extreme examples. There are many more that may be applicable to you, but nothing will change without your effort and resources. So get moving. Down here in Texas, we'll be waiting for you.

Four million Texas households do not equal 42%.

Texas has about a 29 million population.

A household is defined as one or more people living in a single residence.

I’m now single and still live in the residence my wife and I bought nearly 34 years ago. This is a household!

Also, a vehicle IS a basic living need in Texas, as we don’t have lots of public transportation or taxis and sometimes have to drive quite a few miles just to run errands.

Around Big Dem run cities.

Plus age of population, those 30 and younger won’t stoop to using coupons for groceries, rummage sales for clothes, they have to have the High Cost Name Brands, eat at expensive restaurants. Education is the other factor along with NO willingness to work manual labor if necessary. To many single parent homes.

My dad raised 4 on a Boilermakers pay at a big Steel Mill in East Chicago, IN. We lived in the Burbs in a $18,500 4 bedroom house that didn’t have AC, dishwasher except Mom or me as the eldest. Didn’t run to the doc for sniffles either. 60-80’s. We lived paycheck to paycheck.

Ha, Texas isn’t NYC with a bus stop on every corner and taxis lined up to cart you around. I’d imagine a vehicle is a basic need in rural Georgia. There are lots of people here who commute by car 2+ hours one way to Austin for work and there’s no public rail service (what a joke) until you get into Austin and it would take you forever to get to work riding it. Guarantee most here have never seen a taxi much less ridden in one. A car is a basic need in most of Texas with no grocery stores or schools within 30 miles and zero public transportation. Moo had no clue what are real food deserts.

Most here truly need more than one vehicle. I was driving nearly 100 miles/day just getting the kids to school and back and that’s not counting driving another 20 miles in the opposite direction to Walmart for basic shopping - shopping here is pretty much limited to Walmart. It was drive them or put them on the school bus for 3.5 hours a day... if a new bus driver could find the house or remember to stop and besides, the kids had after school activities outside the bus times. Many Texas kids get a car at 16 because the parents need their own vehicles to get to work.

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