I should just roll my eyes and ignore you after you tried to twist this into victim blaming, but you seem to have put some time into your post so I won’t. However, that was pretty stupid. Some poor people are indeed victims and blameless for their situation, but not all. And I do blame those that are at fault for…

You can’t save your way out of poverty. You might get a few hundred dollars set aside that disappears as soon as you so much as stub your toe, and miss a few days of work, but you don’t get ahead. Knowing that is why most poor people don’t bother living frugally any more than they already do.

I’m really not, but you are if you believe all poor people are there by no fault of their own. As I just said to another person, there are people who are stuck in a hole and there are people who put themselves in it. My guess is that the people in the latter category are the ones inflating numbers such as average…

I did read it and I did state that there are exceptions. I don’t expect you to have seen my other comment(s) but I was speaking from experience of working with people who make enough money to get out of poverty but make spending choices that keep them in it.

I’m glad you’re able to be amused while missing the point.

It was possibly implied by the article and definitely echoed by many people in the comments. If you missed that, you might be the unintelligent one.

It’s certainly a nuanced issue, but people here seem to think nobody is to blame for being poor. I think the prices reflected in this article are inflated by bad decisions rather than accurately depicting the true difference in what items cost if one is poor. It’s like of like the gender wage gap. You’ll see it…

Ok, argue with the article, dumb fuck. I like how you quote it about theft rates, beating your chest with “See? derp!” and then berate the rest of the article. So the only valid part is the part that agrees with your bullshit? You don’t know wtf you are talking about. I could advise you to think before you speak, but…

Why bother trying so hard

Actually, if we’re being honest, it was anecdotal evidence that formed my opinion. Not a pre-existing opinion confirmed by anecdotes. I was raised to be frugal. When I worked crappy summer jobs I was shocked at the way my coworkers spent money. Prior to that, I would’ve assumed they spent money like I did: always…

As opposed to you who must think everyone who is poor is a victim of the system? I fully agree that there are plenty of obstacles stacked against poor people, but my point was simply that a lot of people with incomes that could get them out of poverty are making choices that keep them there.

Just watched a 25 minute speach from the author. You’re right - pretty interesting.

From the first article I clicked “Those in the lowest fifth in terms of socioeconomic status (SES) had the “highest rate of lottery gambling (61%) and the highest mean level of days gambled in the past year (26.1 days).”

Plenty of enjoyable things are free.

False. You have not demonstrated anything. You’ve listed a scenario which would qualify as an exception.

That’s a cute theory and I’m sure it fits the narrative you want to believe, but it’s not accurate.

Maybe it’s a chicken and egg situation, but mental health is very neglected in the states, so I actually suspect that the mental health problems were present from the beginning for many homeless people. But that’s really another topic.

Aren’t you just a peach? And eloquent to boot! My IQ score would directly contradict your statement. You seem both bitter and unintelligent. Good luck on your endeavors.

I don’t doubt there are exceptions. And I wasn’t talking about homeless people or unemployed. I just mentioned this in another post, but growing up I worked with a lot of people who I know made enough money to get out of poverty but consistently made decisions that kept them where they were.

Well, that’s awful big of you to make an exception and do something you hate just for me.