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It's expensive to be poor
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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This comment informs me that you have never been close to poor. Poverty is, in fact, very expensive, believe it or not. The entire idea of an emergency fund is something that only the wealthy can afford. I don't intend to be US centric here, but around 43% of Americans cannot afford a $1,000 emergency .
That is a lot of people. Around 150 million in the US alone. I can break that down further by individual nation states if you'd like.
This informs me that you not only lack reading comprehension, but you are also an ill-informed troll. I would say "goodbye", but a "fuck you" is more in order, so I will go with that.
It must be nice to be so financially confident that you can't even imagine that paying bills consists of hard choices for MANY people, especially those renting. If they could save up an emergency fund, they could probably use it as a down payment on a house. Or would that we a waste, too?
It also must be nice to be so Sociopathic that you can just chalk up their lack of emergency fund to spending it on vacation or paying stupid bills like student loans. Dumb Welfare Queens, huh?
"Biff! Stop talking to the poors on Lemmy. We have to get to the club, I have Pickleball at 2."
"Coming Muffy!"
Most people do not have the opportunity to 'put away' the emergency fund you are accusing them of wasting. Are you new to the Earth? Or just a troll?
If they can't afford an additional $300 a month, they don't have an emergency fund, and they probably don't have credit, and if they do, it's probably 20%, which is worse than going without.
And show me a rental that doesn't require a security deposit. Your assumption that anyone who pays a security deposit is a "shit," is one of the most tone deaf things I've ever heard.
You sir, are a vile individual. Please consider yourself encouraged to go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.
That's the funniest thing I've read today, a majority of people do not have $300 in savings to their name. A majority of people are living paycheck to paycheck. There is no emergency fund. Something simple like a flat tire is enough to cause significant financial hardship
There’s lower levels of poor that don’t include emergency funds and/or credit unfortunately.
youre solution is to have family or friends.
family can suck, and its hard to make friends when you are poor, youre friends are also gonna be poor. Go you, who sounds well off, or at least stable, go make friends with someone on the poverty line. How many friend oppourtunties I lost because I was too broke to go do the stuff they do all the time.
also, putting that on your friends is a shit thing to do. and it feels like shit to be "needy". Most folks will let you crash there couch a few weeks max, which isnt enough time to do anything at all, except find the next spot to crash. this kinda life sucks, and is super demoralizing. Now youre just looking for trees you can hang a rope from.
This is an impressively out of touch comment that makes it clear you've never experienced being poor yourself
And if you stop paying rent they put you on a list so you can;t move in somewhere else and then have to either find a complete dive that probably has black mold in the walls and people selling crack on the sidewalk or buy your own home with that epic savings oif three months rent you dind;t pay before the Sheriff showed up to evict you.
So homeless and jail. Nice solution, removed.
Most of the truly poor also have bad credit or no credit due to, well being poor!
And bad backs.
It is APPALLING that living out of your vehicle has actually become a viable living situation in the 21st century. I am reading about people GRADUATING from college, and planning on living in their car for a few years, to save money, and pay off their student loans.
THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Living in your car is being homeless, and planning for that is the sign of a VERY unhealthy society.
arrogance can make you ignorant.
People like you are fucked in the head. Your advice is literally "just be homeless and pick yourself up by your bootstraps".
If your argument is that people should suffer an undignified and substandard living experience just to afford the basic necessities of survival, then you literally deserve to have everything taken from you and forced into the same position you're advocating for.
Do us all a favor and go bite a curb.
I understand what you're saying - I've known people who would say things like "even the cheapest groceries cost me $100, I can't afford them!" when they could instead suffer through a few months of eating nothing but ramen noodles and multivitamins in order to save up some money for cases like these. A terrible few months that they don't deserve, but a worthy sacrifice to allow for a better life in the future. A lot of us have had to do it, and many of us are in a stable financial situation now because of such past sacrifices.
However, I've also known people who were already eating nothing but ramen, and were already living out of their car, and were already sneaking into the gym to shower, and still couldn't save any money, often because it's very difficult to get a job when you're already that far down to rock bottom. You're thinking people can't get that low - that they can always go a bit lower for the sake of saving up enough money to escape that life - but there are enough people so far down that you can't assume any given person has the option to go lower.
So, if you're down and out, all you have to do is stop being down and out? It's that easy? Why isn't everybody doing this? Just stop being homeless and poor, it's a simple choice!
I choose to be a billionaire! Now give me all your money, I deserve it more than you!
Oh, I'm going to be good at this.
How are you this thick that absolutely everyone you interacted with in this thread has said you are out of touch and you just refuse to even entertain the idea. You are the real life "it's the children who are wrong" meme.
Your answer to the problem was to "put it on credit". Tell me, wise one, how they (in that position) would have credit to put it on? What was your solution again?
Ok. so troll it is then. You can not possibly believe this. Holy fuck.
no they dont.
I have never had a credit card, but I owe the electric company so much money it went to collections. My credit has never been over 600, but usually chills in the 500 range. No one, not even when I was 18-25, before the debt, would give me a credit card. The bank wanted me to give them $500 back then, and then run a line from the money I already gave them to build credit. I didnt have $500 extra laying around to give them, so I never did it. Then a few collections come cuz you cant pay, and now you have terrible credit without ever having taken credit out.
Living paycheck to paycheck, can be, living paycheck to four days before paycheck. There is nothing to give.
I was already always so broke, I never wanted to take credit out anyway. That debt was scary, and the longer you let it sit, the larger it grows.
go work, or volunteer at a homeless shelter for one month. I fucking dare yo bro. I double dog dare you.
wouldnt last a day
You're really stupid
Don't breed
My emergency fund has been eaten by eating over the past few years.
Now it's getting down to "Eat, or pay rent?" as a choice.
It’s such a tough spot, I’m sorry you’re experiencing it right now. I hope your luck turns around soon.
my child only cried once he was hungry with no food in the house. Already using food banks, I started stealing food from work. The maitenence department had thier own fridge, and often there would be whole boxes of burritos or all the stuff to make sandwhiches. The guys would bring thier whole weeks of lunch and store it in there.
I started stealing thier food for my one meal a day. I hated myself for it, but I had to feed my kid. The christmas he was 3, We had ramen topped with a can of corn for christmas dinner. His fourth birthday, I had no money for anything. Had $8 to my name, and got him a dominos take out pizza for himself. He didnt have any presents that year. I only comforted myself knowing he wouldnt remember.
I cried myself to sleep a lot in that time. I hated everything about what I was doing to get by. I have a sister who had moved many states away, she told me at one point she was dumpster diving, she luckily had an involved and loving father to her kid, so she just wouldnt see her kid when she couldnt afford to feed him.
Were all doing okay now, but man, it can be rough out there. half my siblings and I, didnt have parents. 3/6 of us became adults from fostercare. That is a setback out of our control. Not a death sentence, but pretty close.
How fucking out of touch are you? I'm happy for you that you're well insulated but your comments here are akin to telling someone who's suicidal to try smiling more
It's more like telling someone who's suicidal that "it's your own fault you're unhappy" and then telling them "it wouldn't kill you to smile for once".
Sacrifice your child?