One thing we don't talk about enough is how expensive it is to be poor.

When you're poor, big hits mean you put things on credit cards. So your car repairs end up costing 2-3 times as much.

When you're poor, you can't afford health insurance, so your health care bills are so much higher. And so are your medications.

Even when it comes to just buying things, you have to buy cheap crap that breaks and so you have to buy it again 2 or 3 years later, so you end up spending more money on it than if you had the money to buy a nicer product. Think electronics.

When you're poor, you can't afford to buy healthy foods, so you buy cheap food which is bad for your health, so you end up having to spend more money on health care. Why do you think poor people have higher % of diabetes?

When you're poor and struggling from check to check, you're more likely to face things like late credit card fees or over-the-limit fees and bounced check fees.

Being poor sucks. But most people ignore it's expensive.

And a footnote. I know this from experience. And I finally have a job that gives me expendable income and it's SHOCKING how much cheaper it is to live when you have more money.