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Why do poor people buy expensive unnecessary things..

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Original post by exams_are_hard
What are you doing on a student forum either way? Paedophile are we? Go back to the care home.


Making assumptions again, I see. I'll let you into a little secret seeing as you don't seem to know very much and base your knowedge on what you think you know. I am a soon to be 3rd year undergraduate. University is not just the preserve of the young.
So someone over a certain age who posts on a student forum is a paedophile and someone over a certain lives in a care home?
[QUOTE="exams_are_hard;71498714"]Well you are poor, and have been poor your whole life, so you are going to vote for those socialist basstards.[/QUOTE
How do you think you know so much about me? And why does it bother you that someone else's opinion differs from yours?
Where exactly is the line drawn between what is and isn't a luxury?

Is it wrong for people on benefits to buy free range eggs and smoked salmon?

What about things for your children?
Unbelievable!
Need to show off that you have dank amounts of cash. You get me fam ?
Original post by xobeauty
... Of course people can do whatever they want, but I have freedom of speech.


The other day I seen a girl holding a Gucci bag, waiting at the bus stop?
Yes the purse was authentic.

People are willing to go in debt for expensive things they don't really need. Why pretend to be something you are not.

Ugh. But then again don't we all make stupid desicions.


I see your point, and it's the same idea why so many people buy the latest models of Apple products. But tbh you can't infer that she is poor just because she uses public transport! :tongue:
Spending habits.

1. Kids grow up with poor parents, who have bad spending habits
2. Kid grows up and has their own money.
2. Never got taught anything about managing money in school. Therefore defaults to what they do know, and that is how their parents spent their money.
4. Sees hand bag as a better investment than a car. Buys Gucci handbag
5. walks to the bus stop to get home.
6. Weird dood looks at him, like she's crazy.
7. She doesn't think anything of it, its normal to her.

Does that help?
If you don't have the money it's stupid, but if you do have the spare cash then why do you care? I like shiny nice things, I work bloody hard in my job to afford that stuff, how I spend my spare money is not your concern. A bit of jealousy on your part perhaps?
Original post by KappaRoss
Spending habits.

1. Kids grow up with poor parents, who have bad spending habits
2. Kid grows up and has their own money.
2. Never got taught anything about managing money in school. Therefore defaults to what they do know, and that is how their parents spent their money.
4. Sees hand bag as a better investment than a car. Buys Gucci handbag
5. walks to the bus stop to get home.
6. Weird dood looks at him, like she's crazy.
7. She doesn't think anything of it, its normal to her.

Does that help?

Children should be learning not just about money in school but how to spend it. As in, if you have x amount coming in, then showing them how to budget wisely. Then they can possibly avoid the spending habits of their parents. Children learn what they live but that doesn't mean as they get older, they have the same spending habits of their parents and that goes both ways. Again, you don't know anything about the girl in question any more than the OP does so, it's a generalisation - not a certainty. x
Original post by Seamus123
Children should be learning not just about money in school but how to spend it. As in, if you have x amount coming in, then showing them how to budget wisely. Then they can possibly avoid the spending habits of their parents. Children learn what they live but that doesn't mean as they get older, they have the same spending habits of their parents and that goes both ways. Again, you don't know anything about the girl in question any more than the OP does so, it's a generalisation - not a certainty. x


Yes, i know they should be learning how to manage money in school. But the truth is, they are not.

- The vast majority of children are raised by their parents.
- The vast majority of girls buying Gucci handbag are fairly young (15-25)
- The vast majority of young people (15-25) don't have much experience with money.

Those may be generalisations but without making any assumptions, you cannot many any conclusions. And to me those are completely reasonable.

I don't think you understand the question, they're not asking specifically about that particular girl. They're is asking for a general answer. Hence the title is "Why do poor people buy expensive unnecessary things" and not "Why does this poor girl i saw on the street buy expensive unnecessary handbags"

So no i don't know anymore than OP does about that girl, in fact they probably know more. So then why would they ask anything that is specific to what they saw? (Its because they aren't)
Original post by KappaRoss
Yes, i know they should be learning how to manage money in school. But the truth is, they are not.

- The vast majority of children are raised by their parents.
- The vast majority of girls buying Gucci handbag are fairly young (15-25)
- The vast majority of young people (15-25) don't have much experience with money.

Those may be generalisations but without making any assumptions, you cannot many any conclusions. And to me those are completely reasonable.

I don't think you understand the question, they're not asking specifically about that particular girl. They're is asking for a general answer. Hence the title is "Why do poor people buy expensive unnecessary things" and not "Why does this poor girl i saw on the street buy expensive unnecessary handbags"

So no i don't know anymore than OP does about that girl, in fact they probably know more. So then why would they ask anything that is specific to what they saw? (Its because they aren't)


PogChamp KappaRoss PogChamp EleGiggle DansGame Keepo KappaPride TriHard
I have legal responsibility for one of my grandchildren since he was tiny. He will be 18 in a couple of weeks. I homeschooled him and he was taught about money from a very early age. He knows what spending priorities are with money. By some standards we may be seen as poor, but I brought up 7 since my oldest was 12 and my youngest 6 months old so learned to manage so didn't ever consider myself to be poor. My grandson isn't bright academically as my children are but he knows how to spend money.
Has it occurred to anyone in this thread that some people who take the bus don't have a choice? I take the bus at least once a week to visit my parents. I don't drive for medical reasons and the 1 hour walk there isn't overly safe.

So, just how does using the bus make me poor?
(Because you'll smell like 'Bus' for the rest of the day :P )
Is the internet a luxury that people on benefits should not have?
Original post by Arran90
Is the internet a luxury that people on benefits should not have?


No, it's not a luxury. If it's a family on benefits, children of school age need the internet. There is an assumption in schools that all children have access to the internet which is just not the case. The internet, especially for children from low income families should be accessible because most homework now is done on the internet, using Moodle, the equivalent of Turnitin to submit work.
What may have been a luxury years ago is not so any more.
Original post by Seamus123
No, it's not a luxury. If it's a family on benefits, children of school age need the internet. There is an assumption in schools that all children have access to the internet which is just not the case.


There are certainly enough older folk and Daily Mail readers who strongly believe that the internet is a luxury that people on benefits should not have or that if they have the internet then their benefits are too generous. What I find bizarre is that the same people are far less inclined to say the same about television despite having to have a TV licence to watch it. There definitely are poorer families that have the internet but no TV at home.

Mobile phones are another example despite basic or older models being dirt cheap. The old folk don't seem to say the same about landlines.

The internet, especially for children from low income families should be accessible because most homework now is done on the internet, using Moodle, the equivalent of Turnitin to submit work.
What may have been a luxury years ago is not so any more.


When I was at primary school kids were expected to handwrite their homework and teachers didn't like it when I submitted homework that was printed out.
Original post by xobeauty
... Of course people can do whatever they want, but I have freedom of speech.


The other day I seen a girl holding a Gucci bag, waiting at the bus stop?
Yes the purse was authentic.

People are willing to go in debt for expensive things they don't really need. Why pretend to be something you are not.

Ugh. But then again don't we all make stupid desicions.

Sure because if you get on the bus, that must mean you're poor. No other explanation
We, I'm one of those older folk. I'm 69. My 7 children didn't do homework in Primary school as I didn't allow it, they went to the grammars and had homework then. But again homework was handwritten.
My grandchildren all have to use Internet for projects etc. Older generation say, 'Well, we didn't have this and we didn't have that ' etc. But we live in a different world now and children become marginalised by not having access to the net. Most of my grandchildren have a phone, except for the babies. I live on my pension but don't think I'm poor and we manage. I can't imagine not having it.
I really do get tired of hearing older people say how why should they have it and they are on benefits? But they are from a time when they lived through rationing and there is an element of that in their reasoning.
My youngest son is a senior programmer and specialises in Coding. Where he lives, a lot of the children don't have a computer at home and he runs groups of them from his home to learn coding and do their homework on 2nd laptops which he buys cheaply and upgrades them. I don't think children should be at a disadvantage because they can't have it at home.
In some ways I think the poorer you are, the more apparent it will tend be that you buy unnecessarily expensive things. This is because a lot of people want to show off how wealthy and successful they are to those in their peer groups of similar status, and buy (what they perceive to be). expensive things that will get them noticed for it.

If someone for example buys lots of conspicuous designer clothes to catch their peers' attention, it probably means that they come from a social circle of relatively low wealth, of people who consider designer clothes to be items that are normally a stretch to afford. Someone from a background of higher wealth might not feel the need to do this, as in their social circle, having designer clothes seems like no big deal because anyone can afford them. Instead they might need to buy an expensive luxury car to achieve the same effect, something that the person from the poorer background wouldn't have even be able to dream of doing as the price tag is totally out of reach.


The poorer you are, the more your status symbols will come in the form of cheaper, everyday objects such as clothes and accessories (e.g. sportswear or designer brands) or portable technology (e.g. Apple products, Beats headphones).

Those of a medium income would probably do the same thing with larger, more expensive purchases such as cars (sports or luxury brand), or a residence (such as a large suburban house and its internal decor). But these things will be a little less visible to the majority of people they come across over their lives.

As you go further up the ladder there are people of celebrity or royal status doing the same thing with private jets, yachts and island resorts (which the average person they come across is even less likely to see), and the effect continues the higher up you go with larger, more expensive, less publicly visible items.

Every now and again, you get people who aren't really interested in such petty matters, either because they have always had so much money (and everyone knows it anyway), to the point that It has little value and showing it off means very little to them, or because they've found their life purpose and status in something else (e.g. some kind of religion or monasticism).