Frustrated People Explain How Being Poor is Actually Really Expensive

Author image for Mel Dawn
Mel Dawn
Dec 20, 2022 7:00 AM EST

Breaking news: Being poor is expensive. The less money you have, the more a person is punished for it, it seems. Redditor u/Paratrooperkid made a post prompting r/antiwork members to explain how being poor is, in fact, expensive so they could relay the best points to their rich friends.The resulting thread is full of relatable examples, like overdraft fees, living in a food desert, deposits required for people with low credit scores, high interest rates, more expensive insurance for crappy cars, and the list goes on and on. Take a look at some of the most eye-opening examples that really drove the point home.

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  • 01
    Font - r/antiwork u/Paratrooperkid · 48d · i.redd.it 23 Top Awarded 3 40 2 2 61 O 33 2 2 O 1 Need help driving the point home. Please share. I need some examples of "Being poor is expensive," for my rich friends. Please share. That stuff is eye opening. 61.1k 16.3k 1, Share +
    via r/antiwork
  • 02
    Font - lipgloss_addict · 48d 2 Awards There are no grocery stores in your neighborhood and you don't have a car. The Bodega you can walk to is under stocked and extremely expensive. These are your groceries. There is no bank near you and they close at 4 or 5. So you can't take a bus to the bank. So you have to use check cashing services that take a percent. You have a mild toothache you can't afford to fix. So I becomes an outrageous expense when it turns into an abscess. 6 Reply 1 1.7k
    via r/antiwork

  • The situation described above was familiar to Redditor u/CyberneticPanda, who went on to explain “That's called a food desert, and besides being more expensive all the options are highly processed foods that lead to obesity and other expensive and life-shortening health problems."

  • 03
    Font - cella80 · 48d S 1 Award If you have a low credit score you have to pay a $300 deposit in order to get power turned on at your place. (In Las Vegas Nevada) Edit: in Vegas there's only one power company NV Energy 6 Reply 1 2.5k 3 +
    via r/antiwork
  • 04
    Rectangle - justsomeguyfromny · 48d 6 Awards Chase $35 overdraft fee. G Reply 4 10k + PTblankplanetfear · 48d 2 Awards Can't cover $2 for a couple of days? How about $37? 6 4 5.7k
    via r/antiwork
  • 05
    Rectangle - Hrtzy · 48d O 2 Awards Actually that seems to be two $1 transactions so it's $72. 4 1k 3 ...
    via r/antiwork
  • 06
    Rectangle - dayoldhotwing • 48d 8 Awards I've never had the money to spend on regular dental work so now l'm spending thousands more to fix everything that was neglected I would like to make an edit and add that a ton of you in the comments have suggested dental tourism and dental schools. Both are great ideas! 6 Reply 1 19.6k 3 +
    via r/antiwork
  • 07
    Font - ctiger881020 · 48d I just called and made a appointment to get a tooth pulled and she asked if I was already a Patient I said yes so she looks up my account and says oh you are only an emergency patient yeah that's all I can afford... 4.6k 3 TreClaire • 48d And then those jerks scold you for only coming -when it's this bad- like l'm sorry but ARE YOU GONNA PAY FOR IT? 1 3.8k 3 BritBuc-1 • 48d S 2 Awards Dental costs are an organized scam 6 4 2.4k 3 +
    via r/antiwork
  • 08
    Font - [deleted] • 48d 7 Awards Getting to and from work. Since you're poor, you cannot afford to live close to work and thus have a longer commute. But you also cannot afford to own and run a reliable car, so you have a beater that breaks all the time and gets poor mileage. When it breaks, you can't get paid because you aren't at work so you have a new bill PLUS halted income. To compensate, you take out high interest loans to repair the car. But it breaks again later so you're always in debt f
    via r/antiwork
  • 09
    Rectangle - skidwitch • 48d 23 Awards Or you can't afford a car at all and walk/take the bus for so many years (and can't afford good shoes) that it damages your feet causing chronic pain so you have to spend $500 on orthotics that are somehow deemed medically unnecessary. Every step I take for the rest of my life l'll feel the pain of poverty and capitalism. The cost isn't always money, a lot of times it's your body. + 6 1 6.8k 3 ...
    via r/antiwork
  • 10
    Font - crizelnitch · 48d 4 Awards You meticulously maintain a high mileage used car that is totaled in a car accident that is not your fault. Insurance company will only pay you $1,000 for your car. Reply 1 8.2k 5 +
    via r/antiwork
  • 11
    Font - jsteele2793 · 48d SocDem O 2 Awards Or you're in a high interest loan situation where you owe more than the car is worth. Car gets totaled and you're left with no car AND payments on the car you no longer have. And no money to buy a new car.
    via r/antiwork
  • 12
    Font - falanian • 48d 5 Awards you cant afford your own laundry machine or an apartment that comes with one it costs like $10 in quarters to do laundry. EVERY TIME. 6 Reply 1 18.4k +
    via r/antiwork
  • 13
    Font - SmashinCetacean • 48d Also add to that altering your schedule around laundromat hours and time to commute, all the time you waste waiting around for it to be done because you can't get other stuff done like you would if you had laundry appliances at home. 6 4 3.2k 3
    via r/antiwork
  • 14
    Font - ThrobbingSerpent · 48d 33 Awards The monetary burden of poor people is staggering, but the stress is just as bad if not worse. Owing money that you don't have is incredibly stressful, as is struggling to perform a shitty job just to barely scrape by. 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 (inebriation at best, suicide at worst). Things like drugs can cause additional
    via r/antiwork
  • 15
    Font - JoeMayoParty · 48d 9 Awards Higher interest rates any time you borrow. Lack of assets to borrow money against. Lower paying jobs are generally harder on a person's body and lead to more doctor visits and medical bills. Driving a cheap old car means shelling out more money for repairs and fuel than a person driving a newer model. G Reply 11k + ... vijukej · 48d Holy shit. The part about the car really struck a chord with me. 仓 2k
    via r/antiwork
  • 16
    Font - TwoBlueToes · 48d 52 Awards The hardest part of being poor for me, was the "cost" of time. My weekly grocery trip took almost four hours. Between the time spent looking over fliers and making a list of what I could afford, walking to the closest bus stop, transferring to another bus, an hour of shopping and tallying up my total to make sure I was within budget, waiting up to 20 minutes for a bus home, including another transfer and the walk home with all my groceries from the bus stop. I
    via r/antiwork
  • 17
    Font - klms21 · 48d 4 Awards Only being able to afford the small jar of mayo (or whatever), even though the larger jar is a better deal. Overdraft fees that charge you money for having no money. Late fees for not being able to afford your bills. Having to go to the closest grocery store, even though it may not be the cheapest, because it's on the bus route or within walking distance. Payday loans Rent to own stores where you have to pay a ton of money for a couch, but pay weekly Reply 1 6.5k + .
    via r/antiwork
  • 18
    Font - Duochan_Maxwell · 48d Not being able to save by buying in bulk. Even though it costs less per unit, the TOTAL is higher Not having access to credit lines with better interest rates / payment plans because your credit score is shit or you don't have any collateral Having to buy cheap shit that breaks fast because you can't afford good quality stuff (clothes, shoes, electronics) - Terry Pratchett wrote about it, btw... Reply 1 1.7k 3 + ...
    via r/antiwork
  • 19
    Rectangle - texas-hippie • 48d 19 Awards How about the fact that homelessness is illegal 6 Reply 1 5.4k 3 ... +
    via r/antiwork
  • 20
    Font - TheVantal • 48d 1 Award Shoes. You need good shoes to work in, but you can't afford good shoes so you buy ok shoes that break after 3 months. After 4 pairs of ok shoes in a year, you've spent more than if you'd bought 1 pair of good shoes. G Reply 1 4.5k +
    via r/antiwork
  • 21
    Font - Frothydawg • 48d * 3 Awards I can help you out. I worked with homeless folks in LA for a few years. The stories I could tell you. One that was a recurring tale, all too common, were parking tickets. Rich people? Big deal. Pay it online, it's an afterthought at its worst. Now that same parking ticket issued to a homeless person living out of their car, trying to scrounge together money for a deposit on a place whilst working a shitty service sector job? That's devastating. It's another 2-3
    via r/antiwork

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