Increasing income is what you might be able to do in the future. Spending less than you earn is what you can do right now to keep the hole from getting deeper. The author is correct. It applies at all income levels. When I read the title of the article, I instantly knew what the golden rule was, because it's obvious.

If you make $35k, it is still possible. It might not be comfortable, and that seems to be the great success of capitalism in the 21st century: convincing people that they shouldn't ever be uncomfortable, or that they can't be without certain items or experiences that they most certainly can be.

Increasing income is great. Literally (almost) everybody wants this. There is high demand for increasing income. The supply is part of the issue, and the cost of increasing income is the next barrier. Bettering your situation takes effort, either to decrease your spending, or to increase your income. Doing both at the same time takes double the effort.

The last thing somebody making $35k (or $25k) is some provincial yuppie zoomer saying to them "Just make more money lul". It doesn't help anything.

>It doesn't help anything.

My advice is for those at 25 years old working in a fast food place who can read and write English. Their time excessively pruning their budget is better spent learning new skills and attempting to sell their services in a market that pays more.

>If you make $35k, it is still possible. It might not be comfortable, and that seems to be the great success of capitalism in the 21st century: convincing people that they shouldn't ever be uncomfortable, or that they can't be without certain items or experiences that they most certainly can be.

I do not know what this means. It is possible to live in the forest and forage and be comfortable, everyone was a few tens of thousands of years ago. But surely things like a safe neighborhood, healthcare for you and family, and opportunity for education are basic things that people can be expected to strive for, and that are not really achievable under a certain income in pretty much all populated regions of the US at $35k per year.

You cannot out earn a spending habit. It will grow way faster than paycheck because it is nto held in check by reality.

At most you cannot make more than the GDP of the Earth, while your spending habit can be arbitrarily high.

> Their time excessively pruning their budget is better spent learning new skills

Doing anything excessively isn't good. Nobody is saying budget "excessively". If budgeting is taking up all your time, may be you're budgeting excessively.

Not to mention having a budget allows you to plan out _how_ to increase your income.

If you needed time off to study for a career change, you cannot do it without first having a budget, saved up and such.

So regardless of the desire to increase income, the first step is to have solid data about your expenditures; aka, a budget.

The wildest success of capitalism for me has been the continual smartphone treadmill. It almost seems like the less someone makes the more they feel compelled to spend money on smartphones, I guess it's likely symbolic of status these days. I live pretty comfortably, and I don't feel like I could afford a $1500 smartphone, and yet almost everyone I meet no matter their income seems to have a better phone than me.

I think it's an obtainable status symbol. They may never have a fancy car or a nice house or even a top of the line TV, but they can have a nice phone, and for some people I'm sure that's important to have SOMETHING to have status about. It's also the primary form of entertainment and socializing for some people so I can understand wanting to have a nice screen.

They've also perfected the "it's only $x a month!" sales technique - combine this with anyone who dares to try to use an older Android phone just absolutely being shit on (you need to be pretty technically savvy to pick one that can stay up to date) and most people will lean into "get the new one".

Thankfully I think most Samsungs are offering 5 years of updates now, so that's getting better (I assume most people are buying Samsungs as they really have become the face of high-end Android).

I was thinking of smartphones in particular with that comment and I agree with you completely.

Do you own a computer or tablet?

It may be that those with lower incomes spends more on a smartphone because it is their only way to access the internet.

Fair point of discussion, I do indeed own a computer and I loath doing anything on my phone that I could have done on my computer.

This is fair - since a personal phone is arguably required in today's society and most people will have one regardless of income. It does not satisfy me that you need the latest and greatest phone however.

I bought a Chromebook for $200 probably 5 years ago that my wife still uses for all of the things that she doesn't want to use the phone for. There are still decent computers that are available for far lower prices than top-of-the-line phones.

It all goes back to personal finance vs. capitalism. Big Business wants you to believe that only the best smartphone will do, no matter your budget (what budget, haha?).

If you don't make that much money and you want to escape eternal debt-hell, you have to overcome this mindset and find good budget options. And I maintain that it can be done. Move out of the city. Establish trusting relationships through your own hard work and good faith efforts. Swallow your pride and lean respectfully and gratefully on friends and/or family if you have to. And then be there when someone needs you for the same. Big Business also wants you to believe that it's every man for himself, but that doesn't have to be true either.

"here exists a lower limit under which certain parts of life are simply not affordable"

You do realize that like half the world lives in under a dollar a day right? It is expensive to live in the west, and technically you are right, but people even manage to have an apartment, etc, etc, etc, in NY city and live on $100 a month.

People spend money mostly to signal to others their wealth, and secondly to save the brain power it would take to find free alternatives. 35k is just so far below your income it is the furthest you can image or have acquaintances at that level. But if you make that, you would have some other arbitrary number where it was not affordable to live under.