I guess you could say I live in a bad neighborhood. Or at least, it has all the signs of a bad neighborhood. There are dilapidated cars in the parking lot. And kids who run around all winter without a coat on. And at least one drug dealer per five hundred yards. I’m not ashamed of my neighborhood, though. I mean, I don’t think it says a whole lot about me as a person. If this were a perfect world, obviously, it wouldn’t be my first choice of residences, but it’s not a perfect world. I have no job for one thing. And my husband is in medical school for another. So we’re pretty much poor, and we will be for about two more years.
Another reason I’m not too torn up about living in my bad neighborhood is because I’m not a mother. I’d be a little upset if I had to bring up my children there. Obviously, my future child’s safety would be foremost in my mind. But I’d also be disappointed that I could not provide a more picturesque environment for my child’s upbringing. I had a yard to play in as a little girl, and a swing set, and a pool and a playhouse. I think I would feel guilty about denying my child the opportunity to have those things. But obviously, sometimes, it can’t be helped.
The other day, when I was lugging my groceries up the three flights of stairs to our apartment, I happened to pause on the second floor, a little out of breath. I noticed one of my neighbors letting herself into her apartment, flanked by her two little kids. The two little kids, who were one and two years old, or there about, were waiting patiently to go inside. I don’t know why I noticed, because I never usually look very hard at little kids, but it occurred to me that both her children were wearing UGGs. My first thought was “Oh, I didn’t know that they made UGG’s for babies.” But my next thought was somewhat more judgmental. “ I would never spend THAT much money on shoes for a baby. “ I said to myself. I mean really, how much walking do they really do?
It seemed really crazy to me, but I wasn’t offended right away. It’s a free, Capitalistic country after all, people can spend their money on whatever they want. But, out of curiosity I looked online to see how much a pair of baby UGG’s would set me back. The UGG booties (for tiny babies) cost about forty-four dollars, but the bigger ones (for toddlers) were closer to sixty-five dollars. One hundred and thirty dollars total for two pair of shoes that your kids will probably grow out of by next winter. Like I said, it seemed crazy to me, but what really seemed crazy is spending that kind of money on a little kid’s shoes when those little kids are stuck living in a crappy neighborhood. Great they have nice shoes, but how much use will they get out of them since they can never go outside? Call me crazy, but I like to think that I would manage my money a little differently if I had a child to consider. Something tells me my two year old won’t mind if I get him a thirteen dollar pair of shoes from Kids “R” Us. My question for you though is this: Is there a right way to be poor? And if there is, do most people do it right?
I suppose the right way to be poor would be to live within your means. Until I was thirteen or so I was very poor, and it meant not having good clothes and other such things. I didnt care much but I could definitely see the way it affected my sister, who (back then) would be the type of person to be buying expensive clothes well out of her price range. Does it reflect on the person? I dont think so. We live in a society where status is important, and clothes say something about the person wearing them. Unfortunate but true. UGGs for toddlers? Thats ridiculous. But I can understand how easy it is to make bad decisions with money.
ReplyDeleteI suppose most people arent doing it the "right way". But even people who are living within their means for the most part are going to step outside that range once in awhile. Its only natural to fulfill your wants every so often. When I was younger I had toys and whatnot that were unnecessary. And the poor friends that I had had even more unnecessary stuff at their houses. I think no matter how much money you have you just do what it takes to get by, and getting by means being happy and having fun and looking good if you want to, not just having food to eat. If you spend all your time remembering that youre poor then you just make the quality of life even worse.
If you don't wanna be as poor, I think buying cheaper shoes, for one, would definitely help. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from older cousins. Me and my siblings would bug for the cool stuff on tv that we thought our friends would have, of course, but, we rarely got any of it. Sometimes, if we were lucky and my parents remembered what we liked, we'd get the knock off brand of shoes from payless or walmart. While growing up, I felt weird about it, like I was poor. We weren't poor, but we definitely didn't just have money to throw around on fancy shoes. Today, though, I don't care if I have the nicest shoes or coolest looking clothes. I've had jobs the past couple summers and saved my money for nice clothes that I knew would last. I did my little splurges, yes, I guess cause I couldn't have it when I was younger, and I felt like even then I spent too much. Buying cheap is fine when you don't have much money, I totally understand that now that I've had to deal with my own money issues. When I have my own kids, I'll buy them what I can afford without going overboard. They're not getting fancy UGGs, or sparkly twinkle toes.. not unless they're on sale. I want to make the best with what I'll have, not spend a bunch on stupid shoes when they could have the same looking shoes for twenty bucks less. I'm sure they'll appreciate it when they're older and see how much money i saved. I know some pretty useless stuff my parents bought, and thought we needed, that was a total waste. I don't want to end up spending money like that.
ReplyDeleteI don't really think there is a right way to be poor. If your poor you shouldn't go around buying your spoiled little kids $50-60 UGGs. If you were really poor, you wouldn't waste money on UGGs. First off, when I was growing up, nobody really judges someone off the type of shoes they wear. I remember I always got converse because they were cheap and junky. When your little you ruin your shoes. Thats the point of being a child, to have fun. By having UGGs the kids won't have a good childhood. I don't know, growing up in the 90's was completely different then in todays time.
ReplyDeleteIt's simple: The less money you have the less money you spend. If your going to consider yourself poor and then buy your kids $60 shoes then two conclusions can be drawn from your predicament. One you deserve to be poor for making unwise decisions and/or two you have no concept of what it is like to be poor. Necessities should be your only priority arguably no matter how much money you make, especially if you consider yourself to be poor. $60 shoes don't fall into that category. Food, shelter, hygiene, these are all important things, sadly you don't really have the luxury of considering the quality of the items you buy when your poor because generally the more money it is the better the quality. Look for the cheapest item ask yourself is it necessary and does it benefit me in the long run and then make your decision. If everyone in the world did that and got a job we would not have poor people.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is no right or wrong way to be poor. Everyone has different beliefs on how they want to live their lives. Some people struggle paying mortgage on their expensive beautiful house and not be able to have the most stylish clothes or jewelry. However, you have people who may live in a cheap apartment building but have the extra cash to be able to be updated with the newest fashion. I feel that as long as people ensure of all of their finances are stable, why not go out and buy something nice? Everyone deserves some sort of pampering in their life.
ReplyDeleteBe happy with the stuff you have ,but always try having more get an education thats the fastest and easiest way to have money.
ReplyDeletei think that there is no way to be poor...when your poor your poor. getting through that rock in the road though does depend on how you manage your money and spending 150 bucks on baby shoes is a big waste of money because they are going to grow out of there shoes faster that you think, believe me i have two nephews and a niece and ive seen them go through a crazy amount of shoes.
ReplyDeleteOf course there is a right way to be poor. You work hard, buy the necessities, get by, and save so you aren’t poor any more. We try to live beyond our means. We want Vera Wang when we can hardly afford Wal-Mart. Man’s temporal need for lavish things seems to shadow the harsh realities of our vacant bank account.
ReplyDeleteI think if the mom want to buy her child uggs that is her choice cause it is her money amd she can do what she wants with it.
ReplyDeleteI believe there is a right way to be poor. As someone said it’s about living in your means. If you’re poor you wouldn’t spend that much money on a pair on shoes for your child. Shoes are a necessary need just like clothing but not if you’re spending a ridicules amount on a pair of shoes when you can buy another pair for much cheaper that still do the same job. People that over spend on unnecessary things shouldn’t be poor. They could be spending it on paying bills and better homes and if not then their just making themselves poor. But just because someone is considered poor doesn’t mean they are. Maybe they wouldn’t if they didn’t spend their money on crap when they don’t have that kind of money to do so.
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