You can still have personal budgets, even if they are very small. Heck, when things are tight, even having 10 Euro personal "fun money" a month for each partner can give a bit of freedom.

For sure, but the original article and the comment I replied to are talking about relatively expensive spends.

1200$, which were not squandered but invested.

You should do something about your financial situation if that seems like a lot of money to you.

Edit: how is it controversial that if you are poor, you should try to do something about it? To claim it is impossible to escape poverty is madness (unless you are sick or handicapped). Obviously the only way to escape is if you do something about it.

Even if you just earn 5$ per hour, you can try to save something. 1000$ would be 200 hours, not impossible. A better strategy would be to try to find a job that pays better, though.

"Stop being poor"

That's how what you are saying sounds like.

EDIT: Even when you aren't poor, blowing 1K on a crazy project that might or might not pay off is something that a lot of couples would discuss first.

> To claim it is impossible to escape poverty is madness

This is an offensively wrong statement and suggests an extremely privileged and out-of-touch upbringing. There are numerous - hundreds - of articles explaining in-depth why it's very expensive to be poor in the US.

> Even if you just earn 5$ per hour, you can try to save something. 1000$ would be 200 hours, not impossible.

It really sounds like you're suggesting that someone in poverty should be willing to work for below minimum wage for 200 hours (5 weeks of full-time work) to save $1000 to "invest" on Kazakh emoji domain names? I would typically assume I'm misunderstanding someone since that's such an incredibly asinine comment, but given the first half of the comment I have to wonder if that's what you actually mean.

"This is an offensively wrong statement and suggests an extremely privileged and out-of-touch upbringing. There are numerous - hundreds - of articles explaining in-depth why it's very expensive to be poor in the US."

Nobody says it is not "expensive to be poor". But it is idiotic to claim it is impossible to escape poverty. Billions of people have done so in the last century.

"It really sounds like you're suggesting that someone in poverty should be willing to work for below minimum wage for 200 hours (5 weeks of full-time work) to save $1000 to "invest" on Kazakh emoji domain names? I would typically assume I'm misunderstanding someone since that's such an incredibly asinine comment, but given the first half of the comment I have to wonder if that's what you actually mean."

No, your interpretation is asinine. However, if you believe "emoji domains" or whatever have a shot at becoming a viable business, doing that is an option. Personally I would suggest trying to find a better paying job first. But if you can't, what would you suggest? Vote Democrat and hope for a minimum wage law, which will then make you lose your job?

Obviously, if you don't believe in the emoji business, don't invest in it. Find something else to invest in.

Freedom

10EUR

I've never been that poor, but I've had limited funds in the past, and I can say that having even a small amount of money that you're psychologically comfortable spending on anything is a massive relief. Sometimes the best thing you can do in a situation largely out of your control is to consciously take back any amount of control you can, even if it ends up being more symbolic than anything.

GP mentioned a situation where money is tight.

I’m glad you’ve never been in a place where 10 Euro fun money felt like a bit of a luxury.

I don't know where you lived but I've been there and 10EUR doesn't make you feel free.

It's an amount lower than the volatility of basic life (running out of toilet paper...). You would have to save five months to buy a jeans.

10EUR remaining on your bank account is precisely the amount that makes you feel insecure and poor.

Either you live in a very poor country, either you have no idea what you're talking about and are just condescending.

You must be mis-understanding me. I am implying that the basic necessities are covered by the common budget.

10 Euro buys you a coffee in a nice cafe a couple times a month. When you're poor, that's something!

"a bit of freedom" is the quote that you're arguing about.

That goes a lot further in eastern europe than you might think!