Being Poor on Purpose

by Bill on January 27, 2012

I’m borrowing from another author or two again today. And again, there’s a reason for it. Because they said it so much better than I could; and that it ties into something else I believe in here.

Over at She Negotiates, Lisa Gates wrote a post about “nobile poverty”. The reason I bring this up is that it ties into core financial beliefs of many more outside of her audience. It deals with under earning and debt, hence the reason I grabbed it.

“When I was getting my coaching certification, our training leader asked me and my cohorts, “What is your niche, who is your target market and how much do you plan on charging to start.”

A lot of ummms and errrrrs. And then one woman said, “I plan to charge whatever my clients want to pay, or can pay. Since my husband is the main breadwinner, I really see my work as a noble service, not a job.

I fell out of my chair.

My feminist blood boiled, to be sure. But our leader saved me, saved all of us really, when he said, “That’s all well and good, but there’s really nothing noble about poverty. What are you really afraid of?” And that launched a two-hour inquiry–and it’s a conversation I continue having with my negotiation clients routinely.”

And that’s the point that hit me, the lady in that comment was actually afraid of earning more. Why?

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Then comes the main quote from Daily Worth about understanding the difference between noble poverty and actually being frugal and self-sufficient. Yes, there is a huge difference. Being poor on purpose means you do without, or make-do, out of fear. The fear is that you cannot achieve more; or the fear is that you don’t want to potentially become a statistic of debt.

A few examples:

continuously buying beater cars instead of saving for a better reliable car

consumption is something you view as a task best done after everything wears out completely

telling others you want more, but never making the attempt to earn more

you view those with money, or have nicer things, as a person who is mired in debt and lives a sad miserable life

Being Poor to Avoid Debt
Unfortunately this isn’t true with so many people. Yes, if you have less money, you can’t spend it immediately. But, this is why the payday loan places and the rent-to-own stores thrive. Being poor on purpose isn’t the way out of avoiding debt. Saving up and buying when you can is the way around that.

But what about using something until it falls apart, or continuously buying things you know will fall apart? Again, stupid. Why? Because last years models, while not as cheap are also just as good as this years new models. And they can still last for awhile. Buying a 2010 Chevy makes a lot more sense than getting another 1986 Dodge. Why, because the overall repair cost to keep the old car on the road will match or exceed the cost of the newer car. Been there, done that.

Staying Employed and Staying Poor
Here’s the other thing that these two blogs bring up, and I seriously agree with. Staying employed is a good thing – but not at the expense of deprivation. If you keep wishing for more, but never try to earn more to get more, that’s your issue. There are free methods to gaining more financial independence. Staying in the low wage group because you believe its morally correct, or because it helps you remain frugal isn’t the answer. The problem isn’t how you earn it, it’s how you use it.

Again, the payday loan people love those who keep using without trying to earn more; hell it’s their business model for God’s sake. Practice on being thrifty with spending, saving and living within your means yes – but by all means, also practice increasing your own worth for yourself. If you learn how to live within your own means, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, you can always support yourself if times get rough again because you don’t forget this stuff.

See both these women view leadership as a tool towards economic ability. To me, having the ability to control sustainable values and goals also yields economic ability. If you can find a way to control your own self worth, and therefore your financial worth, you can then control your economic ability – meaning you gain the resources and tools to be self-sufficient and keep out of debt.

Do you know anyone who was, or is, poor on purpose?

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Fewer college students volunteer their time – USATODAY.com

by Bill on January 25, 2012

Here’s the actual article

Fewer college students volunteer their time – USATODAY.com.

I found this article surfing through Google News on Sunday. It makes me wonder. How many people are limiting themselves, both socially and financially, by actively limiting their networking ability; and on top of that, their ability to be exposed to new or fresh ideas that they didn’t consider both in employment and in their financial world.

It also says another thing that I found seriously disheartening – people are starting not to care about each other again. While I do agree that you must always watch out for yourself, the fact that people are less likely to seek out ways to help others also points to two major factors related to this blog.

Debt – in a society such as we have in America we have come to believe that people tend to seek out more than what their neighbors have, or think they have. The point I seriously think people miss is that volunteering helps them understand just how much they already have without debt added on. The more debt you incur the more problems you incur; the more volunteering you do, the more you see the need for less debt and more opportunity. At least to me anyhow.


Employment or Customer Oriented – no matter what business you are in, employer or employee, you have customers and clients. Somehow, somewhere, you are serving the needs of someone else. So how does volunteering connect? With the lack of volunteering I also see a lack of regard to best serve those around us, or in a business sense, best provide for the needs of your customers. How are you going to learn how to serve others, thereby increasing your benefits and income, if you don’t make an attempt at learning? Again volunteering is the attempt to learn something, to reach out, to expand yourself outward – for free. On top of that, it also makes good public relations for you, your company or whatever. So what happened?

On the positive end of this, like I said earlier, volunteering brings both networking and training opportunities. One year when I worked as a bell ringer for the local Salvation Army I ran into both homeless people and college kids, along side a vets wife. You honestly don’t know who you will find yourself working next to during a volunteering effort. Now as for training, yes, you can get that too. Let’s say you wanted to find out what working in the child care field was like; you could volunteer your services to be alongside trained personnel working child care. This gives you an idea of what to expect, and maybe a reference, and maybe a contact or two. I know a pet care clinic up here, Stray Haven, that uses mostly volunteers. Now if you wanted to get into the pet care field, there you go – volunteer for a pet sanctuary and get the training you need.

So while I’m hoping the trend in college kids not volunteering doesn’t remain when they go to work, I am also hoping that adults today take the chance to strengthen their volunteer efforts to expand their lives, worth and value to themselves.

Have you volunteered lately?

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What a Writer’s Blog Teaches About Dollars and Debt

January 23, 2012

How much do you really need to earn? I thought about this while reading a post by Ruth Zive on her blog The Freelance Writing Blog. She wrote about how people start blogs with the intent on making money, and how most people don’t make money from writing blogs directly. Now, her point wasn’t that [...]

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The Impatience Factor

January 20, 2012

People seem too impatient these days. Everyone wants bigger or better, yet no one wants to work towards that goal. I see people settle for less than they can achieve every day; if for nothing else, for the fact that they just don’t have the will to do more. They become settled into a life [...]

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How to Manage Your Personal Finances Using Excel

January 18, 2012

One of many opinions I have is that your money is better managed when you have the information printed out in front of you. There’s a whole slew of ways to do this with computers today. Among the earliest ways of personal finance management was the Excel spreadsheet that came with MS Office. Since then [...]

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Don’t Budget Out Fun, But Don’t Plan it to Death Either

January 16, 2012

I’m going to go against the wave of budget gurus and others on this post. They all say to not worry about fun when you’re in debt. I totally disagree with this. The more you do away with fun, the more you leave room for worry and stress. You have to have some way to [...]

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What Do You Do When the Money Dries Up

January 13, 2012

Here’s a situation I haven’t seen myself in for many years; and yet I am sure there are thousands of people stuck in this very spot. What do you do when you hit a dry spell for work, and the money runs out? Now, I’m a writer; and since I don’t have a boss, the [...]

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Dealing with Under Earning Redux

January 11, 2012

In a post written here by Anne Wayman way back in 2006 called Dealing With Under Earning, she advocated a group called Under Earners Anonymous. I noticed in the comments she got hit with how it isn’t the person’s fault they can’t earn enough. This is partly true. While the economy, and the size of [...]

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Is Your Debt and Your Employment Related

January 9, 2012

Is your paycheck related to the amount of debt you owe? I know there are people who are unable to work certain jobs or certain pay rates because they simply cannot afford it with the debt they have. This happened a lot with the housing bust and the spike in unemployment around 2009. People found [...]

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Spend Only What You are Willing to Earn

January 6, 2012

This morning I spotted a post over at The Simple Dollar in my email. It reminded me of another post I saw awhile ago at another blog I read My Two Dollars. Both were about spending only what you earn. Now while this is good advice, it only goes so far. Here’s what I mean [...]

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