1. Think they are trapped in their current economic condition and not doing the simple things to get them into a better economic condition
2. Breed
3. Fail to take personal responsibility
4. Commit Crime. I don't mean this just due to the consequences of when they are caught. When people do things that they know are wrong, it eats at their own soul. They lose so much respect for themselves that they live a miserable life and think they don't deserve better.
5. Overspend (I was reluctant to put this in here because the middle class and the rich also do this but it is so much more harmful to the poor). One or two years of true sacrifice can really make a huge financial difference.
6. Not getting themselves a DL or ID. This leads to so many problems .. no bank account, limited ability to travel if needed, use of check cashing establishments, etc.
7. Surrounding themselves with losers and/or emulating the behavior of losers.
8. Repeating the cycle for their offspring - Not marrying and not supporting children. A family unit is a very stabilizing thing in life. It is good for the parent to have responsibility and take on that responsibility, and it is important for the kid to see the parent being responsible.
9. Live in expensive places.
10. Drugs - it is an unnecessary LARGE expense and it makes one less likely to change #'s 1-9
I guess #3 is the big one. If you work hard and make a few sacrifices, building a nice nest egg really isn't that hard. If you are working just 50 hours a week, you have plenty of time to better yourself into a higher paying position.
2. Breed
3. Fail to take personal responsibility
4. Commit Crime. I don't mean this just due to the consequences of when they are caught. When people do things that they know are wrong, it eats at their own soul. They lose so much respect for themselves that they live a miserable life and think they don't deserve better.
5. Overspend (I was reluctant to put this in here because the middle class and the rich also do this but it is so much more harmful to the poor). One or two years of true sacrifice can really make a huge financial difference.
6. Not getting themselves a DL or ID. This leads to so many problems .. no bank account, limited ability to travel if needed, use of check cashing establishments, etc.
7. Surrounding themselves with losers and/or emulating the behavior of losers.
8. Repeating the cycle for their offspring - Not marrying and not supporting children. A family unit is a very stabilizing thing in life. It is good for the parent to have responsibility and take on that responsibility, and it is important for the kid to see the parent being responsible.
9. Live in expensive places.
10. Drugs - it is an unnecessary LARGE expense and it makes one less likely to change #'s 1-9
I guess #3 is the big one. If you work hard and make a few sacrifices, building a nice nest egg really isn't that hard. If you are working just 50 hours a week, you have plenty of time to better yourself into a higher paying position.
A lot of good answers here. Certainly convenience store shopping is a waste and you should never need one roll of toilet paper for $1.49 when ShopRite has it on sale for 20/ $5.99.
Pets are a good example as well . If you're poor you don't need a dog and can't care for it well . Concentrate on the multiple kids you shouldn't have instead
Cigs, ill eagle drugs, alcohol, lottery are all a sort of monkey on their backs as well. Addiction to scratch off lottery tickets is as real as heroin addiction. When I worked as a Vegas bartender at a locals bar on graveyard shift, every night I'd see the video poker addicts mesmerized by the soft eerie bluish light of video screen in the darkish room with the omnipresent cigarette burning and the girl barely aware she is even smoking it, then BAM, out of credits !
Back out on Fremont Street to suck another dick and get $20 , so Doug can sell me two rolls of quarters and a couple of free drinks....lather, rinse, repeat....
Pets are a good example as well . If you're poor you don't need a dog and can't care for it well . Concentrate on the multiple kids you shouldn't have instead
Cigs, ill eagle drugs, alcohol, lottery are all a sort of monkey on their backs as well. Addiction to scratch off lottery tickets is as real as heroin addiction. When I worked as a Vegas bartender at a locals bar on graveyard shift, every night I'd see the video poker addicts mesmerized by the soft eerie bluish light of video screen in the darkish room with the omnipresent cigarette burning and the girl barely aware she is even smoking it, then BAM, out of credits !
Back out on Fremont Street to suck another dick and get $20 , so Doug can sell me two rolls of quarters and a couple of free drinks....lather, rinse, repeat....
Having kids is a big one.
Vices in general. I think it was the Barbary Coast that used to have a promo where if you cashed your paycheck at the cage they would give you a drink card that was good for a week. Free drinks for a week. I'm sure there were plenty of people who would leave the paycheck in the slots that very hour and go home thinking "well at least i can drink all week for free".....and be happy about it.
Vices in general. I think it was the Barbary Coast that used to have a promo where if you cashed your paycheck at the cage they would give you a drink card that was good for a week. Free drinks for a week. I'm sure there were plenty of people who would leave the paycheck in the slots that very hour and go home thinking "well at least i can drink all week for free".....and be happy about it.
That is an awesome promo idea, get that sucks in here everyday no matter how he scrounges up a few bucks to lose on whatever.
Towards the end of my time in Vegas, I remember some casino south of Tropicana on the west side of that south strip that had 5 cent beers on payday- Friday which was the norm for construction companies during the boom times. I might be off on the year could have been earlier.
Nickel beers equals free beer . Talk about combining a remote location, construction workers, payday and free beer....you get a lot of drinks driving for one thing.
MADD must have loved that one !
Personally I'm more a supporter of DAMM
Excellent example but most banks will waive fees for 1-2 foreign transactions per month.
I rarely go to bank myself and it is .5 miles away
I can easily go 6-12 months without needing to go there. I don't use ATM's. I I stead just use the cash back feature at places like Walmart and the grocery store, usually good for $100 cash, if you need more do 2 transactions.
I haven't written a check in years, and probably use about 2 postage stamps annually and that's from a former postal worker.
Even now , I often leave my mail in the mailbox for weeks at a time unless expecting something I actually want.
My carrier , Susan is a real sweetheart that goes way beyond the call of duty. If I blow off fetching the mail for say 2 weeks she will come to the door to make sureim ok, and likely call police for a welfare check if she thought it was warranted. Some might call that nosy, but your mail carrier knows everything about you . Everything from your dealings from the IRS,social security, probation, any fucking thing you can imagine, they know what is in your letter,shutoff notice from the electric company, she knows. It really isn't very hard to figure it out, especially if you know anything about mail or have postal experience.
