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“Too Poor To Budget”

Every single finance blog or article I find always has a clickbait title; the one I read today was “I saved $25,000 while I was in college”. The author lost me within the first paragraph after stating “many entry-level jobs came with low salaries… around $40,000”. First of all, any entry level job here pays $20,000 or less.

I would hypothetically kill for a $40,000 a year job, and that $25,000 that the author somehow squirreled away is more than my annual salary at the moment, between three jobs. 

You are probably wondering, why would I write a finance blog, or even dare to give advice?

Simply put, I may not make you rich, but I can certainly share the ways I have seriously saved on everyday expenses. While I may not earn an excessive amount, through opportunity and planning I have been able to negotiate and find unique ways to save on my general expenses, in such a way that my meager budget goes much farther than it would normally.

You may have browsed different articles that stated similar occurrences, such as “Budgeting allowed this man to save $40,000 in a year”, or others that include titles along the lines of “One Woman Paid off her $70,000 Student Loans in 2 years”. These articles all ignore the realities that working class people are facing as well as one basic truth; living a working class existence is more expensive than middle or upper class. By not being able to correct problems immediately, such as a broken tooth, health problem, or car repair, we are inadvertently forced to pay extra. By purchasing lower quality products (shoes and clothes for example) that are within our budget, we generally are required to buy them more frequently due to the poor quality and wearing out that comes with it. Spending $50 on a pair of boots that lasts three months will cost $200 over the year, but if we spend that $200 immediately on a pricier pair, we may be forgoing payment of other utilities.

My main point is that financial advice and monetary articles tend to be aimed at people who are above the working class through privilege, luck, or in some cases opportunity; My goal here is to discuss and potentially provide realistic advice and answers for those who work for a living.