I was reasonably poor once (even did a stint homeless living out of a motel).<p>The basic assertion: you make less and end up being charged more is in a sense "correct".<p>For example: if you're poor, you'll probably shop at a discount retailer and buy discount or knockoff clothes, which will fall apart and need replacing faster than if you had just bought more expensive clothes. Over time, the replacement costs will add up and you'll "pay more" for clothes.<p>Another example: if you buy in bulk, you can get some items cheaper, but poor people tend to buy in small quantities (e.g. cigarette and alcohol "singles" are a phenomenon that only exist in poor areas for example)<p>This all sounds kind of stupid, but there's a rationale for it that makes sense from the inside, here's a scenario:<p>I just paid rent, I have $100 left in my bank account and payday isn't for 2 weeks. I work a physical labor job and my work boots need replacement. Do I?<p>a) Buy the $29.99 on sale boots at Walmart and hope they last for a couple months?<p>b) Buy the $259.99 boots at the high-end boot store and they'll last for a couple years?<p>c) Buy the $84.99 boots at the discount shoe store and they'll probably last for 6 months to a year?<p>Of course the answer is a). This leaves me with $50 to eat on for two weeks. I can't afford b) no matter what so it may as well not exist and c) leaves me starving before payday.<p>You count pennies when you're poor, you know exactly how much small amounts of things cost because you spend all your time buying small amounts of things and balancing out the bottom few rungs of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs against your daily purchases.<p>Getting out of this cycle is <i>very</i> hard. It's not like you can save up enough to be worthwhile. Even with $5/mo left over at the end of every month, it takes 52 months to save up to buy the b) boots.<p>This means also that you live in a constant state of emergency. Literally <i>everything</i> is an emergency -- and this short circuits your ability to prioritize and make what seems like rational decisions. It also means that whatever spare money/time you have you may as well spend on stupid bullshit because you've convinced yourself it won't make any difference anyway.<p>It really is a vicious cycle.