#poor tax

[felinae-felidae]

I've had artblock for at least a week now so, have a wip I haven't been able to work on

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

My mom asked me to buy her a megamillions ticket, but the lady at the gas station refused to let me pick the numbers. I filled out the little card, she scanned it and then said I had to pick one of three random numbers I didn't ask for. Why? She didn't say. So I picked one, and she acted like I guessed wrong on a test and told me to pick one of four different numbers, again none of which I chose originally. I asked her what was going on, she wouldn't explain it to me. She started tapping randomly on her computer screen like someone pretending to press buttons in the background of a movie to look busy, I was holding up the line, so I left and went to a different gas station. That guy sold me a ticket, but he didn't let me choose any numbers, he just gave me a random one.

Okay, like, I get that the lottery is a scam, but if my mom's numbers end up winning I am going to go ballistic. A $2.00 idiot tax for the chance at hundreds of millions of dollars is worth it to me (jackpot is something like $1.5b, but Uncle Sam takes almost $900m right off the top, and when the jackpot is this high there are so many tickets sold that there are bound to be multiple winners, so you're looking to take home $100 to $200 million tops)

It's a big pipe dream anyway. I almost certainly wasted $2.00, but it will kill me if I lost out on the jackpot because every gas station attendant down here is a functional illiterate who's never used a computer before.

[theperplexedpoet]

costs of poverty

the sinister conversion heart rotted on the spit apathetic perversion all we have left of it we have truly lost our way a trillion times over avarice now owns the day we the people shoulder the burdens of the wealthy the fees that they inflict the pulse no longer healthy reflected in edict the documents are dusty founders turning in graves it's getting kind of musky the foundations betrayed the sinister conversion heart rotted on the spit apathetic perversion all we have left of it I saw these cold tides turning establishment of fees have paid with all my earnings these costs of poverty we have truly lost our way a trillion times over avarice now owns the day we just push the boulder the hill keeps getting steeper lines constantly redrawn the put upon seem eager to place these shackles on the covenants are crusty founders turning in their graves it's getting kind of musky showing signs of decay the sinister conversion heart rotted on the spit apathetic perversion all we have left of it I saw these cold tides turning establishment of fees have paid with all my earnings these costs of poverty we have truly lost our way a trillion times over avarice now owns the day methods growing colder laying waste to safety nets and the aid that matters to fund yachts and private jets excess served on platters machine no longer rusty for our blood soaks the gears the air is sour and musky so much it may not clear the sinister conversion heart rotted on the spit apathetic perversion all we have left of it I saw these cold tides turning establishment of fees have paid with all my earnings these costs of poverty we have truly lost our way a trillion times over as we're feeding this decay we die of exposure (06/16/26)

[wishihadatimemachine99]

As someone who grew up literally zero money who now is moderately stable there really is a poor tax. By that I mean there are so many things in our society that impact you negatively if you are poor. For example car maintenance, being able to afford $200 dollars every 4 months to get my car tuned up by a dealership. Another obvious one is doctor visits. Then there's being able to pay for my cats vet visits. Or buying healthier food and supplements. These little things which I wouldn't dream of being able to afford 10 years ago keep me from suffering later.

[rogueemmy]

I did a thing today - paid off my car. I've literally never paid off a car before - not one with an actual bank loan.It is a GLORIOUS feeling.(Buy-here-pay-here is not the same emotion.) I learned an important couple lessons in the process, several decades into life.

First, I paid if off through their app, not by check. The send-a-check payoff amount was nearly $100 more than "pay it instantly through our app." I asked them for the best method and the payoff amount. Lovely lady in the text box didn't mention that fact, I stubled on it when I put her dollar amount into the app, and it refused to take more than it was owed. (Computers are simple things, designed for info in - info out, not deceit!)

Second, cancel your autopay!!! My partner mentioned it in passing, after I completed my payment. Sure enough, in the pending payments window were this month's autopay, and next month's autopay! I had a bad feeling about those pending payments when I hit submit on the big one, and was prepared to simply monitor my account for the fraud I knew was coming. Nope, just cancel it. Fears (almost) vanished!

These are things folks with money know. I've lived my whole life on the wrong side of a balance sheet - I've lacked cash to pay my bills my whole experience. This is all new to me. And now you know.

[unknowndespair]

My yard has been full of infrequently mowed weeds for years... someone new moves in across the street and within a couple months I get a notice from the city that I’m in “violation” of city ordinances and have till the end of the month to landscape my yard or pay $500 in fines...

[cheap-goods-and-pink-slips]

Meanwhile, lower-income people face faster-rising prices for the same old products … to go along with their slower-rising incomes. Inequality gets you coming and going.

Laura Clawson via Daily Kos