Households making more than $100k = 38% would have some difficulty coming up with $1000

[SheilaT]

31. I am likewise somewhat astonished at this information.

What's even worse, is a lot of people couldn't even put such a charge on a credit card, which is even scarier.

And again, this is in reference to those making good money.

It is true that a lot of people do spend more than they should on lots of things. Cars. A lot of people don't really buy a car so much as sign up for five years of car payments. It doesn't seem to occur to many of them that they should buy something that results in less than the absolute max car payment they can afford, maybe even only take out a three year loan, then when it's paid off save that amount for a few months, or even longer, so they take out a smaller loan next car. Eventually, it's possible to be in a position to pay cash for a car.

And yes, I do understand limited income. I live on one. And I live alone, so I don't have the benefit of someone else contributing to the household.

The essential problem is really that will live in a culture that encourages consumption. We are constantly surrounded by blandishments to buy, to spend, that we can't live without some particular item. TV and movies only make it worse, because they rarely show the actual way real people live. They show people living in nice apartments or homes that their characters could not, in real life, possibly afford. And on TV the shows are constantly interrupted by ads that suggest that of course you can take that impulse trip to a Greek Island, of course you can buy a brand new car, surely you deserve to eat out every night of the week. And so on. Since I moved to where I currently live some eight years ago, and decided not to buy a TV, I have found that living on a limited budget is a lot easier than it otherwise would be.