I just finished watching a late night talk show hosted by Tavis Smiley. It concerned the plight of people who work…maybe multiple jobs, and remain poor. This is a subject being discussed more and more today. It always boils down to their income being too little. It seems to appear (to some) to be that simple. Just give them more money. Problem solved.
Not so fast.
Their are other sides to this equation. Many poor families continue to add new mouths to feed. Some folks, (particularly younger folks), are consumed by the latest fads. There are those who regard expensive athletic shoes and the newest versions of electronic entertainment items to be basic necessities.
How often have we heard of a lucky low income person who’s won some lottery and lost it all in a matter of months?
Why isn’t anyone talking about the obvious benefits of educating youngsters in the art of responsible spending at a grade school level? Instilling the concept of shopping intelligently and how to save. So many poor do their weekly grocery shopping at convenience stores day by day. They are called convenience stores for a reason. Convenience costs extra. This, rather than buying at discount markets on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Using coupons, and buying at sale prices seems to be demeaning to some. Too uncool and “old school.” The concept of “I can’t afford that right now.”, when it comes to some nonessentials doesn’t seem to exist. Paycheck “advance” stores mercilessly prey on this attitude. And no, cell phones are not actually essential for survival no matter what the companies tell you on your TV (which is also not essential).
Maybe the “old school” ideas might be timely today. Middle class people do this. The wealthy who want to remain wealthy do it, too. They live within their means.
“Old school” won’t fix everything, but there is no way for it to make matters worse. So isn’t it worth a try?
I love your thinking. It’s good old fashioned common sense. It’s the way I was raised in one respect: learning limitations. But I was never taught about money management, planning for the future and investing. The result is I’ve led a comfortable life, I don’t have any loans except for my house but I also have no savings or a retirement plan to speak of. I’m 65 and will work as long as they let me because I have to. How much better would kids be served by giving them a game plan for making the money they work for work for them?
You speak of common sense. I think of common sense as a tool of adaptation. Confronted with new or changing and unfamiliar circumstances or environments, common sense is a good tool to have in our kits. An “if nothing else works” adjustable wrench, if you will. From my perspective, this tool has been left to rust as we favor newer more complex technologies and ideas. We have become so reliant on the new that we now fit the description of a highly specialized species. Cash register clerks rely so much on their machines that now many don’t know how to make change of a dollar bill. It would be like removing eucalyptus from a Koala’s diet. Kid’s spend so much time playing computer games that if you put one of them in a forest without the technology, they would have no idea how to amuse him or herself…rather like putting a Great Panda in a forest with no bamboo. Brown bears and black bears have common sense. They are adaptable. They can eat berries and fish. They can hunt red meat. When the cold comes and food supplies diminish, they adapt to it by hibernating. We are more like polar bears. They require freezing temperatures that last for many months. This is changing and those animals are showing no adaptive abilities. Even migration is not an option. Specialized species are naturally doomed to extinction. What would happen to mankind if a large solar flare took out the electrical grid worldwide for a month? Could we adapt for such a short period? Perhaps those with common sense might have a chance. The others? Oh, well……….At least overpopulation would cease being an issue.
United Way is using this approach now, ALICE
Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
http://unitedwayalice.org/reports.php
Eye opening.