If you have a pretty comfortable life, you probably don’t think a whole lot about things that poor people have to do.
Like carrying your laundry to a place to get it done while you wait. Or having to repair the same car problems over and over again. Or renting things instead of owning them.
Those things really add up and make being poor a real grind.
AskReddit users talked about why it’s cheaper to be rich than to be poor. Let’s have a look.
1. Not an option.
“Being unable to take a day off work is not an option when living paycheck to paycheck.
I respect the f*ck out of the hustlers out there, but also keep in mind that free time and mental health are important to your overall well-being”
2. Risky business.
“Entrepreneurship and investing become dangerous territory.
Risk tolerance is too low when funds are low as well.
Becomes almost as risky as gambling at this point.”
3. Teeth problems.
“Dental care.
If you can afford to go to the dentist even once a year, get preventative care, fix cavities early, and it’s significantly less expensive than more complicated restorations and treatment.
I know way more poor people who just wait there’s a serious issue, and just have a tooth pulled, because that’s cheaper.
I know someone who lost a chunk of jaw bone from a bad tooth and needed a bone graft.
Not to mention, dentists in the US have worked hard to prevent dental care being included in health insurance.
You need separate dental insurance, even though oral health is very much connected with your overall health.”
4. No missed payments.
“It’s cheaper to be “not poor” because you never miss bill payments. Poor people are more likely to have late bills, so they get all the late fees associated with that
It is harder to buy groceries and household items in bulk, thus missing out on savings per unit.
Transportation. Being poor means you might not have a good reliable car (assuming you can even afford one), so your 30-year-old junker breaks down regularly and thus costs more money to upkeep compared to a middle class person’s vehicle. And then, if you can’t afford to fix your car, you no longer have a source of Transportation to get to work, then you get fired….and it’s a vicious downhill cycle
There are soooo many things that are small costs that add up and end up being more expensive if your are poor versus rich.”
5. All about who you know.
“Rich people often have connections and can get things or services for free or reduced rates.”
6. One on top of the other.
“$250 ticket for not having your inspection up to date because you cant afford the $80 for registration.”
7. Free stuff.
“I don’t know how to categorize this but when you have/make a lot of money you end up in situations where you just get stuff for free just for being there.
Colleague can’t make it to the game, so here’s two free court-side tickets.
One of your friends has a house in Tahoe you’re welcome to stay at. Your mentor is a successful entrepreneur and asks about funding your venture when you only wanted advice.
The list goes on. Privilege snow balls like crazy.”
8. It’s very real.
“When I worked for a non-profit making less than $40k/year, I worked 45/50hrs per week, and I paid the following:
paid roughly $60/month for my health plan at work, which was basic prescription coverage for $5/per, and limited dental. Nothing else was covered.
paid $20/month for my bank account, with 21% interest on my credit card, .01% interest rate on savings
had no sick days
had zero benefits as far as rrsp, stock, work from home allowance
spent $80/month on bus passes because I had to work from the office
I now work for a large software company, work 25-35hrs per week, make substantially more money and have the following expenses/perks:
$20/month for my health plan which offers full prescription, comprehensive dental and mental health coverage, massage/physio, etc.
pay $0/month for multiple bank accounts and have 18% interest, .05 interest rates on savings
$50/month subsidy for internet at home
free cellphone
stock purchase plan that offers matching stock purchases and discounts
sick days, flex days, and more than 2x the paid time off
$500/year budget for home office expenses
work from home, meaning saving on transit expenses
The high cost of being poor is very real.”
9. Wear and tear.
“Remote work.
I’m practically saving the equivalent in a minimum wage job from reduced wear and tear / gas / servicing / insurance.
And that’s just the quantitative dollars.”
10. Low balance.
“Ran out of money in your checking account?
Well now you have to pay a $50 fine for not having any money.”
11. Think about it.
“Not being able to pay for medical appointments, which lead to accumulating health issues overtime, which is extremely expensive.”
12. Lasts a while.
“Furniture.
More expensive furniture is often made better and lasts longer so you don’t have to keep buying new.
Same with clothes.”
13. Cars.
“I worked in the business/accounting office of a car dealership for 2.5 years. I remember going through files and thinking “Man, I wish I could afford to write a personal check for $28,000.”
And that person who had $28k to spare is going to be paying less overall than the person who makes half that amount in a whole year, who gets forced into a 14%+ interest rate (yes, really. I’ve seen 24% at times) just so they can have a car to get themselves to work when theirs breaks down beyond reasonable repair.
We once had a guy (almost) max out four different credit cards paying for his car, and when our finance director tried to tell him “You’d qualify for a much lower interest rate on a loan with [manufacturer] than the interest rate on these cards,” the guy brushed him off and said “I’ll have all of these paid off in two weeks.”
So presumably he had the money to just hand us a check, but was getting a lot of cashback on these large purchases on his (very high limit) credit cards.
The difference between that and a 24% interest rate on an already used car is just so unfortunate.”
14. Laundry.
“I used to rent this apartment in Manhattan on Thompson St. by Washington Sq.
I’ve also lived in Chinatown, UES, Brooklyn, East New York, and Ridgewood, and always used coin-operated self-service laundry because “why would I pay more for someone to do my laundry?”
Well, The first day I moved to Thompson street I wanted to clean some sheets and clothes—good thing there’s a self-service laundromat across the street. I popped in and filled two medium size machines.
It was something crazy like 30 quarters for each machine and 4 minutes per quarter to dry. All in all it cost me about $45 and 2hours of my time to wash and dry everything. I told a few coworkers who live fairly close-by this story and they asked me why I do my own laundry because it’s more expensive.
The next week I canvassed the 2 block radius of my apartment and found a korean dry cleaners and laundry service. I started bringing my laundry to them, who export it out to BK or NJ, and they bill me $19 and tie a bow on top. I still can’t believe how much cheaper it was and that the self-service laundromats in “nice neighborhoods” are a scam
Poor me would never think a rich move like laundry service would save money over doing your own.”
15. Connections.
“Connections leading to more income.
Best job I ever had was at an engineering firm that got so many applications, if you weren’t referred by a staff member, your resume got tossed.
My dad was drinking buddies with the hiring persons husband so she referred me, hired me and was my supervisor for 2 years.”
16. A luxury.
“Travel.
I used to travel for work, expensing meals, hotels, flights, etc. on my personal card and then expensing them later.
I rack up so many airline, hotel, and credit card points that I can generally do at least one nearly free vacation a year or at least pay for two international flights.”
17. A big one.
“Healthcare.
Medicaid is cheap but isn’t taken everywhere. But my platinum plan costs me nothing (no copay, no deductible, no coinsurance).
Most jobs that have this benefit pay really well.”
18. Loans.
“Borrowing money.
Rich people with better credit ratings, when they DO need to borrow money, don’t pay as much for it.”
19. Interesting.
“Period products.
There’s been a debate in my country whether they should have them freely available in schools for everyone up until their 25th birthday (as we already do with contraception in pharmacies), since 40% out of all 14-25 year olds cannot afford them.
The amount of people saying that “they should just buy reusable pads if they can’t afford the single-use ones etc”…! They completely disregard the fact that one reusable product is more expensive than a pack of single-use pads, which 40% can’t afford already.
Not to mention the “they shouldn’t buy iPhones and make up then”-folks. Some people just don’t know what it’s like to be poor.”
20. True.
“Getting arrested costs way less if you have money.
Paying out of pocket for a lawyer may cost more up front, but if you can’t afford one (or even bail) you will be in a much harder spot. You could easily lose your job if you have to stay in jail until your trial. Court appointed attorneys are often incredibly overworked and will not work as hard to get you a better deal.
Then if you can’t afford the legal fees to seal your record that arrest could prevent you from getting a job that pays well enough to afford a lawyer.”
21. Falling behind.
“Growing up without a computer makes poor kids fall so behind their richer peers.
My friend works as a teacher for inner-city high schoolers and most never owned a laptop until the school gave them one for covid. They don’t know how to use the essential applications.
At one point my friend literally explained to them how to Google anything they need. They were kind of dazzled.
In comparison, my boyfriend’s son is 9yo (middle class) and literally making spreadsheets and video games. He knows how to Google anything he wants and works a computer as well as an adult.
This gap in knowledge is going to greatly affect poor kids in the future as computer knowledge will be a must in almost any job.”
22. Right on the money.
“Everyone’s gonna say rent vs mortgage, but there’s more to it than just equity.
Another aspect is that there’s an opportunity cost to buying that’s not immediately obvious – and that cost is significantly reduced, if not outright inverted to a benefit, the better off you are.
And that is jobs.
Say you and your neighbor are competing for a job. The job is in another city with a comparable cost of living — it’s not going to be any more or less expensive to live there rather than here.
The job pays 20% more. A significant raise.
Except… you can’t really afford both a mortgage and rent. You need the proceeds from the sale of your current home to buy a new one. And that’s on top of the huge expense that is moving your stuff to another city.
It’s going to be a pretty significant hardship to actually accept the new job. Sure, once you’re there it’s a clear benefit but you can’t actually afford the transition.
Your neighbor, on the other hand, is a bit more well off than you, they have more savings, pay a smaller % of their income in housing. Even though the job is only a 10% raise for them, they can actually afford to move and take it.
They can afford to pay rent and the mortgage for a couple of months while waiting for the house to sell so that they can buy a new one while maintaining adequate reserves.
Your other neighbor on the other hand, makes even more money than either of you and has even bigger savings. Sure, the job is only a 5% raise, but they can afford to just outright buy a new house in the new city and retain the old one, hiring a rental management firm to get in some tenants.
Sure, between landlord expenses and the management company’s cut they don’t even pay for the mortgage from the tenants, but it’s close and they keep on building that equity for very little cost.
You other other neighbor makes more than all of you. He gets a management job at that company for a 10% raise, but the company pays for all of his moving expenses, including 4 months in an apartment while he secures a new house.
He has basically zero cash outlay to move except for the fast food and gas on the drive over to the new city. He doesn’t understand why some people turn down jobs that pay better because they can’t afford to accept.”
23. Can’t get sick.
“Being sick. At least in the USA.
The sick policy is usually more generous the more $ you make and if you’re an hourly employee with no sick days you work or you do not get paid.
If you have to seek treatment or, god forbid, go to the hospital then you better hope you have decent health insurance or it will cost you an arm and a leg.
Many Americans are one medical emergency from total financial ruin.”
What do you think are some prime examples of this phenomenon?
Tell us what you think in the comments.
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