Re:Payday loans are coming for everyone
by maerF0x0 on Wednesday September 19, 2018 @01:36PM
(#18026009)
Adding to your comment, also comparing $10 to $15 is really hard because that could be $10 where rent is $500 or $15 where rent is $2000. Because price levels vary so much nationally we need a way to level those out. It makes little sense to compare people who have fundamentally different purchasing power. Also, IMO, this applies to taxes (why should someone "just making it by" in the bay area, but makes $100k be taxed like someone who pays 50% less for everything they buy in another region of the country)
But then I came to the realization that real life doesn't work that way, even looking at my (lack of) savings through the years. That is because life is full of stress, and throwing money at the causes of stress is sometimes the only way to reduce that stress. For example, having a teenager that has a drug issue, if you don't have the extra money then you deal with it, but if you do have extra you can spend it on therapy which may help thereby reducing stress.
And the various stress items really don't go away until you are bringing in about 70K or so a year -- at that point you can finally afford to pay off various debts, build an emergency fund, drive a reliable car, and live in a slightly better neighborhood.