Understandably Angry People Online Explain How Being Poor Is Actually Expensive In Reality
Surprisingly, the life of a poor person is much more expensive to maintain than you might think.
When most people think of the lower class, they imagine individuals deprived of the basic necessities of life. They don't have access to big houses, fancy cars, or nice clothes—just the bare minimum to get by.
Well, they're not wrong. Life as a lower-class citizen can be quite tough.
There's never any extra money to spend on fun activities or new accessories. Even basic needs like food and shelter can be a significant financial strain.
But what many people don't understand is that the life of a poor person is expensive in its own way. The less money you have, the more you seem to be punished for it.
For example, let's say you need to buy a new pair of shoes. If you're financially comfortable, you can simply go to the store and purchase them. But if you're struggling financially, you might not have the cash on hand to do that.
So you put it on a credit card to pay it off at the end of the month. However, you get hit with an interest fee because you couldn't pay your balance in full—meaning that $50 purchase just ended up costing you $60.
Little things like this add up over time and make it harder for lower-class citizens to get ahead. Other common examples include overdraft fees, living in a food desert, and deposits required for people with low credit scores, among others.
These expenses can quickly spiral out of control, making it difficult to save money or climb out of debt.
Redditor u/Paratrooperkid started a discussion on this topic in the r/antiwork subreddit, prompting members to explain how being poor is expensive.
The resulting thread is full of relatable examples that illustrate just how difficult it can be to get by when you're struggling financially. If you've ever wondered how the other half lives, this thread is a must-read—maybe you can even relate to some of the experiences shared.
u/Paratrooperkid started an eye-opening conversation on how being poor can actually be expensive
Thousands of users responded, sharing different views and experiences. Here's what people had to say.
1. Some hard realities that everyone in the lower class has to deal with
r/antiwork2. A low credit score can be your undoing when you want to pay for power
r/antiwork3. Overdraft fee
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4. You can't afford regular dental work, so you end up spending more to fix everything that was neglected
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5. You take high-interest loans to repair your old beater
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6. Walking or taking a bus for years because you can't afford a car has some expensive health consequences
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7. If your old beater gets damaged in a car accident, insurance companies will pay you peanuts and leave you to your fate
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8. You can't afford a washing machine, so you spend money every day to do your laundry
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9. "The mental burden of being poor also requires money to cope with, and since professional help is expensive, it often ends up being dealt with in an unhealthy way."
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10. Indeed, the less money you have, the more you seem to be punished for it.
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11. "The hardest part of being poor for me was the cost of time."
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12. What it feels like to be poor
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13. Inability to save by buying in bulk, no access to credit lines with better interest rates, and the struggle of buying cheap items that always keep breaking.
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14. Homelessness is illegal.
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15. "After four pairs of okay shoes in a year, you've spent more than if you'd bought one pair of good shoes."
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16. A parking ticket for a homeless person living in their car could be devastating.
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It's hard to break out of the poverty cycle when every penny is accounted for and it seems like the system is against you. This Reddit thread gives a glimpse into what it really means to live paycheck-to-paycheck, struggling to make ends meet.
Hopefully, we can all work together to change the system and make it easier for everyone to succeed. After all, we're all in this together.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Have you ever experienced firsthand how being poor is actually expensive?
Share your story in the comments below!
