This is often quoted but whenever being poor vs rich comes up I'll never not quote it just because it's so good. "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness." -Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms, Discworld series I encourage anyone who hasn't read Discworld yet to take a look at it.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

That is indeed a very fitting quote! Maybe more relevant today than it's been for a long time. Thanks for sharing!

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Great book!

by Anonymous 3 years ago

I think he puts the vimes boots theory in several of the Discworld books. I first read it in Jingo

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Really? I haven't read them in so long.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

It's worse than expensive. It's time-consuming. "The problem with being poor is that it takes all your time." — Barbara Ehrenreich

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Money is just tradable time

by Anonymous 3 years ago

oh boy do the truth hurt very very much

by Anonymous 3 years ago

So very accurate

by Anonymous 3 years ago

It's probably more expensive to be poor than to be rich actually.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Being poor is expensive physically and probably mentally while being rich is expensive if u have a family Bc there is always a big disconnect

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Nothing is more expensive than being poor.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Stick that on a food stamp

by Anonymous 3 years ago

I think that I get what you are saying. Would you mind explaining for clearifacation purposes though?

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Can't. Got denied because income "exceeds the limit for this program"

by Anonymous 3 years ago

So they punished you for earning money? Hmmm that seems like a system that's based on keeping you poor.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

I think I heard some Republicans say just don't be poor. Seems like sound logic

by Anonymous 3 years ago

If you're homeless just buy a house.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Duh!

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Look at something as simple as an overdraft fee

by Anonymous 3 years ago

And I don't want to hear manage you money better eating Thursday makes you do it

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Are you okay?

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Me I'm good no issues at all I have just been around too many people that have had to make that decision

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Some people, they like to go out dancing. Other people, they have to work.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Some of us put the style in cheap. Some of us just look cheap. Some of us are too cheap to look stylish, we are the ones that leave large estates and rich next generation.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

It's not what you make, it's what you spend.... The sooner you understand that concept, the better off you will be.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

If think you're missing the point. Rich people can buy the same stuff but all at once, to avoid interest; better quality, to remove the need to replace or repair; and in bulk, to benefit from economies of scale. Being poor is literally expensive even for basic necessities. One example is that I'd be saving £200 this year if I could pay my insurance up front

by Anonymous 3 years ago

You're missing the point. You can spend less on insurance by having a lesser car or no car at all and save that money.... "Keeping up with the Jones" is what leads people to being poor no matter how much money they make.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

User name checks out.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Yes, because when you're poor suddenly there's no need for a car or groceries. If you think "keeping up with the Jones" is the root of poverty, you're obviously taking from a place of privilege and you have no idea.

by Anonymous 3 years ago

Lmao nah

by Anonymous 3 years ago