How to Not Be Poor Part 1 - Defining the Problem

It sounds simple, doesn't it? If people could stop being poor, why don't they do so? The sad fact of the matter is a lot of people have the ability to stop being poor, but they decide that they're comfortable in the situation that they're in. People are afraid of change. In fact some people are downright terrified of anything that would be constituted as different. They're fond of routines. The sad fact of the matter is routines are not liable to make you not-poor. They're great if you plan to live a satisfactory nine-to-five life and take what life gives you, but the people who do that are doomed to be relegated to the lower income bracket. It's simply NOT enough in this day and age to be comfortable.

Generational Changes

A lot of us learned in high school and college that the idea behind getting a great education is the promise of an ethereal job that would help us to pay the bills and live comfortably. The sad fact of the matter is that even if you have a degree in this economic climate, it's unlikely you'll find yourself in a job that will take care of your needs. Very often, you will find yourself a slave to corporate whims and desires by corporations that pay you far less than you are worth. The idea of slaving for forty years to get half of what you were paid when you were in the prime of your life hasn't changed, it's just shifted up the corporate ladder. In your parents' time having a degree was a guarantor of success, but now, everyone has a degree, making your degree nothing special.

Spending Habits

We live in a consumer-based society and as such we are encouraged to spend at every turn. Your position in societal standing comes from what you wear and who produced it or wore it before you. Marketing is one of the fastest growing industries in the world because everyone is concerned with how to get their product to as many people as they possibly can. We are taught that once we make a certain amount of money, we are expected to spend a certain amount of money. All the advertisements, free samples and demonstrations make for a compelling reason to buy a product or service from a particular supplier or distributor. We're a deals-based society founded firmly on the idea of capitalism.

Stemming the Flow

Something most of us realize by the time it's 'too late' to do something about it is that in combination, the generation mentality and the consumer society we find ourselves in makes for a fertile ground to grow one thing, and that one thing is debt. Th sad truth of it is that most of us find ourselves either unable to make ends meet when the month closes or just able to do so, with nothing left over. The new paradigm isn't about saving money as it is about repaying loans that you take when you require savings that you don't have. And although it might seem like a good idea at the time, the only thing loans are good for is making sure you pay more than you borrow.

It's a bleak picture. But it's one that you can change. The first thing you need to do is to admit to yourself that you need to get out of this rut. You need to get your ass in gear and understand the difference between living and existing. There's a whole world out there to explore, but you can't do that sitting behind a desk working forty hours a week for someone else. It will require some sacrifices. It will be scary. It will make you think differently about life. But most importantly, it will reward you in excess of what you put in. The only question remaining is: Are you ready to not be poor anymore?

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