Comment by washadjeffmad
18 days ago
Middle class poverty traps look like what you describe. I don't understand the compulsion to spend all of what you make every month, and sometimes more, either.
18 days ago
Middle class poverty traps look like what you describe. I don't understand the compulsion to spend all of what you make every month, and sometimes more, either.
> I don't understand the compulsion to spend all of what you make every month, and sometimes more, either.
It's a faux 'status symbol' thing. The idiom is "Keeping up with the Joneses" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeping_up_with_the_Joneses) and it is a self inflicted syndrome.
A large portion of the population has poor impulse control. Many of them see nothing wrong with spending large portions of their income on discretionary expenses even when cheaper alternatives are available.