Poor is when you make $100,000.00/year and you spend $120,000.00
Frugal is when you make $45,000.00/year and you save $5,000.00. You are not only frugal, you are rich.

You are a great writer and thinker, Jacob, and I enjoy your blog very much. I don’t disagree with this post, but I think it fails to consider the constraints of being born into poverty, and barriers people face from discrimination which are very real. For example, many people have no reasonable prospect of escaping poverty because they were born into circumstances where there were few tools for them to develop. Ditto for individuals who battle significant barriers due to disability. I embrace a frugal lifestyle, and recognize that many unearned privileges help make that possible.

Like my man Jay said, gangstas do what they want, suckas do what they can.

It’s an interesting subject and I’ve enjoyed the discussion in the comments section, but as someone who works in a program for low-income folks, I’d have to say it’s more complex than this.

The behaviors attributed to poor people in the US: spending their limited incomes on cigarettes, beer, lottery tickets and junk food are often quite true. But why is this so? It’s complex and its origin lies in a mix of upbringing, local culture, lack of critical thinking skills, poor education and limited cognitive ability. When this is what you know, as it’s how you were raised, and the neighbors do the same as do your friends and extended family, and what you see on TV and in the ads validates these choices, why would you not do this? As well, there are complex brain chemistry reasons why indulging in regular hits of nicotine, alcohol, fats, sugar and gambling feeds the reward centers in the brain. When your job sucks and your life sucks, these things make it feel better, at least short-term.

While it’s true to a great extent that in this country there is a major difference between being poor and being frugal,they come down to mindset as well as actions, I don’t think it’s fair to just blame the poor. Expecting the poor to just “get it” and ditch the beer, cigs and lottery tickets, give up smoking and shut off the tube is not realistic. It’s a sea-change in their outlook and they have in general not a clue that this could be a rewarding way to live nor that it would help their circumstances.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible,but changing behaviors as ingrained and complex as these won’t happen overnight. And how shall poor people even learn about a frugal lifestyle that can be rewarding? They’re not on ERE, reading books on Voluntary Simplicity, etc.