8 Ways Being Poor Is Wildly Expensive in America

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/8-ways-being-poor-wildly-expensive-america



***SNIP

1. Getting around. When you don’t have the money to get a nice, reliable car you are stuck with time-consuming and not-inexpensive public transportation—if it is available at all. Investment in public infrastructure has declined dramatically since the Reagan tax cuts, and that was a long time ago. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) “ Infrastructure Report Card” gives our country’s transit systems a D, saying, “45% of American households lack any access to transit, and millions more have inadequate service levels.” Additionally, “deficient and deteriorating transit systems cost the U.S. economy $90 billion in 2010, as many transit agencies are struggling to maintain aging and obsolete fleets and facilities amid an economic downturn that has reduced their funding, forcing service cuts and fare increases.”

***SNIP

2. A place to live. When you rent a typical apartment you have to pay the first month’s rent, a security deposit and sometimes the last month's rent. You have to have a reference and usually a credit report. If you are poor you may not have any of these things, and you have to live somewhere else. That can be expensive. You might be in a week-to-week situation in a budget motel, requiring you to pay with a money order. Money orders cost money so you’re even paying a fee to pay for your place to sleep.

***SNIP

3. Eating. Eating when you are poor is a problem. Of course, first is having money to get food at all. Then when you can get food you are faced with food choices that can lead to health problems. If you don’t have fridge or a stove you might depend on cheap fast food. If you don’t have a car (or gas for the broken-down car you have) you depend on what is nearby and local stores in bad neighborhoods are expensive compared to gleaming suburban supermarkets. Never mind buying in bulk at Costco, the membership fee alone is more than you can probably afford.

***SNIP

4. Banking. If you are poor you either don’t have a bank account ( 8 percent of American households) or have one that costs so much your money drains away. 28.3% of Americans conduct at least some of their financial transactions “outside of the mainstream banking system,” meaning they have to rely on expensive alternatives like non-bank money orders, check-cashing services, prepaid debit cards and payday loans.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. K&R. Most people don't even think about these things.

[LisaLynne]

2. These are all reasons why poverty is a cycle.

It's not because, as many think, the children see the parents "not working" or something.

[TNNurse]

3. I watched my employer

Make this worse this year. They have required EVERYONE be paid by direct deposit. Many of those who work in the lowest paying positions did not have bank accounts and had to start. I know they had some help and guidance in choosing and hope most went to the local credit unions. I know that some of these people walk to work and not because it is good exercise but because a car is not available or running.

There are so many situations where "the system" is making it harder on a portion of the population. More and more you see the requirement of "reading, learning, applying, filling out", all online. The presumption that everyone is computer literate and has access to a computer is a new form of bigotry and alienation. I cancelled my subscription to Time magazine when so many articles had an online link "for the full story". I was paying them for a magazine to read "the full story".

OK, I sound OLD.

[canoeist52]

5. You don't sound old, you sound accurate. This is their business model.

In addition to saving them the cost of printing checks,the big corps. requiring direct deposit, are in cahoots with the big banks. The banks want those fees.

[closeupready]

21. +1000.

[historylovr]

4. K & R

[Scuba]

6. These things didn't just happen ...

[xchrom]

8. +1

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

7. Another one with regard to banking...

Overdraft fees. If money is tight and you bounce a check for ten bucks, you could get hit with fees that are double and triple the amount of the overdraft.

[daleanime]

9. K&R....

[Utopian Leftist]

10. One very important thing

that the article leaves out . . . actually, this is hands-down the biggest unspoken story, concerning poverty, of our time:

THE POOR NEED HELP GETTING DENTAL CARE!!

Half of the country is going to be without their front teeth pretty soon. There is NOTHING out here. No help whatsoever for dental work anymore. If your teeth fall out (and all Medicare will do to help is PULL THEM OUT!).

Jesus fucking Christ, how many roads must a man walk down before the ThugliCONS get off his back?

[closeupready]

22. +1. Neglect of issues relating to oral health can lead to major illness

or even death, in the worst cases. It's a disgrace that America has little to no provisions for the poor to give them access to professional dental care.

[undergroundpanther]

24. you got that right

My teeth are a mess. I got half a
tooth left i have to fix . I got cracks,I
Don't want to go to the dentist. Can't afford it,true,but i don't want to lose my chewing teeth.

[davidthegnome]

11. Very accurate.

Yep, I'm very familiar with the things mentioned in the OP. During my year at University, I survived primarily on ramen and cheap 1 dollar or less packages of pasta. Not something I'd recommend. To anyone. Ever.

I fell off that "independent" wagon back in... hmm, I think was March of last year. Had to move back in with mom and dad. The bad news is, this makes finding a date really tough. The good news is, the food is better - and I actually get to eat more often. The rest of the problems though... having to get a new battery for my car, having to drive thirty miles to (and from) work, the overwhelming amount of money I spend on gas... the lack of public transportation...

When locals ask me, "How's it going Dave?" I often give them my best grin and tell them, "Oh, you know. Just livin' the dream." Life is tough, but I'm more fortunate than most. I have a great deal of empathy for everyone out there trying to survive on their own on the wages of the working poor. Eight dollars an hour... two or three jobs, no security. Always having to wonder where your next meal is coming from, if you'll be able to afford the heating bill, your car payment, gas. It's not an American dream. It's an American nightmare.

[theHandpuppet]

12. Re: transportation

Even if you can afford a car (plus the insurance/maintenance costs) you'd better make sure you never, ever get a ticket. Not for parking, speeding, nada. Because depending on where you live, a simple traffic violation can cost you a month's income. (I know D.C. is terrible in that regard.) Where are you going to get $250 or more to pay a ticket? That kind of money may be a mere inconvenience to some but for the poor it can be devastating. So the ticket doesn't get paid, or another one, and one day you find your car's been towed away and you can't afford to pay the fines nor get the car out of the impound lot. Hopefully you'll live somewhere that public transportation is available but there are still plenty of places where it is not. Without transportation you cannot look for work or get to work. You'll shop at the nearest convenience store with the jacked-up prices and lousy food. You'll pass up those trips to the doctor, the school meetings, perhaps the long walk to the voting precinct. Forget the trip to the nearest DMV, which could be miles away, to get a photo ID. Your kids won't be able to participate in after-school activities so instead they pass their time on the streets.
I'm not just spitting out hyperbole here. When you're poor all it takes is one bad break and that snowball starts rolling downhill. A Justin Beiber might be able to laugh off a pile of speeding tickets but for a poor mother with kids, even a single parking ticket is a kick in the gut because you're going to get the same fine that he does. There are no sliding scales for the poor. And he can afford a lawyer.

[marmar]

13. k/r

[ReRe]

14. K&R

Tremendous article. Haven't we all been there at some point in our lives? Count your blessings and search for someone to help, today.

[FarCenter]

15. Cars are probably more expensive than public transportation

What that car really costs to own

One of the least expensive cars to own in our estimation is the small Honda Fit, which costs just over $5,300 a year to own for five years. It combines a relatively low purchase price with low depreciation, great fuel economy, excellent reliability, and fairly low maintenance and repair costs.

http://consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/what-that-car-really-costs-to-own/index.htm

$5,300 a year is about $20 / work day.

The main difference is that public transportation limits the destinations that you can reach, and it generally takes longer, especially if you have to go through a hub or make transfers between routes.

[theHandpuppet]

17. And a lot of folks don't consider...

... there are many areas of the country where folks do not have access to public transportation. Many of the poor live in rural areas and have no choice but to have some kind of vehicle.

[FarCenter]

18. Poor people in rural areas may need vehicles, but other things are typically cheaper

Housing is a lot cheaper in rural locations than it is in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, or Washington DC, places with good public transportation.

[maindawg]

16. being poor is an art

Its the art of being free. Money is a burden. Having a little bit is a mirage. I know many people who exist in the middle classes. All they do is work and watch their money. They get old and die. No mater how hard they work. No matter how carefully they plan. They get old, and they die.
They tiptoe through their lives, never looking down, never looking up. Day after day, the sameness is comforting. They consider themselves better than poor people because they aren't poor. They cant understand why everyone cannot be just like them. They watch fox and they harbor the same resentment that their fathers did for the poor. They are poor because they are lazy. They are poor because they refuse to work their way out of poverty. They have no empathy for the dark skinned person who struggles to understand and find a place in a society that rejects anything other than sameness.
I am a poor person. I choose to be poor. Because I know that working my way out of poverty would surely kill me. Working my way out would mean no life. And life is short. I work enough, I have worked enough in my life that no one can say I am lazy. I am free. I may not have a nice car, I only have the things I need. I do not fly to Florida or ski or own a vacation home. I do not eat at fancy restaurants. I dont have health insurance.
How hard would I have to work to generate another 1000 dollars a month ? Well it would harder than my 54 year old body could take and I would wind up on disability within a year or two. Then, not only would I be a burden on society but my quality of life would be crap.
I suppose its a choice for me. But you are damned if you do, and you are damned if you dont.

[myrna minx]

19. K&R n.t

[aikoaiko]

20. Here's another way...

This news breaks my heart. The poor live in crappy houses with bars on the windows and use aging space heaters to heat the house.

And you end up paying for your childrens' funerals.

http://www.wtoc.com/story/24586064/house-fire-claims-the-lives-of-2-children-in-downtown-savannah

SFES: Space heater likely cause of double fatal fire

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
Savannah Fire and Emergency Services said that a space heater was likely to blame for an overnight house fire that killed two children.

Savannah fire crews were dispatched at 1:53 a.m. Thursday to a home on West 35th Street between Florance and Burroughs streets. Firefighters found heavy smoke and flames they describe as, "rolling out of the front of the house." Firefighter quickly began to attack the blaze.

Fire officials issued a second alarm to ensure more firefighters and resources were available to keep the fire from spreading to nearby homes.

Officials later confirmed that eight people lived in the home, two adults and six children, and that two children did not make it out alive. The ages of those two children are unknown at this time. Officials say four dogs also perished in the fire.

[Skittles]

23. ...