[rey]

Lacking in something essential?

Our president is a man of poor character.

[MNJohnnie]

if you can afford a cell phone, you are not “poor”.

[IYAS9YAS]

No means to better your condition.

[ShadowAce]

Poor is when you do not have what you need to survive.

Rich is when you have what you need and want.

There are no poor in America due to welfare/zer0Care/Obamaphones/SNAP/etc.

[rbg81]

“Poor” - When you are already living frugally (e.g., no new car, no expensive cell phone plans, no eating out regularly, etc) and can barely afford the basic necessities (e.g., paying the rent, keeping the lights on, etc).

[jsanders2001]

“poor” means many things to different people depending on their conditioning. Poor for most Congressmen would be stepping down amd livinv in a half million dollar home and having to drive a two year old Lexus instead of a brand new one. For African children it would be eating 3 times a week instead of 5 days a week. It varies according to what one is accustomed to. I think its more defined by the amount of financial stress and its effects on the individual.

[going hot]

Not having a pot under the bed to piss in?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Poverty is relative. I’d say if you have difficulty making ends meet to pay for essentials (AFTER you’ve cut out extras like cable TV, vacations, $110 monthly cell-phone bill), then you’re poor.

[Resolute Conservative]

Poor is looking your children in the face and telling them they won’t eat today or snuggle each other to stay warm while the heat is being “fixed”.

Not poor is you are telling them to cut back on their data usage.

[toast]

“broke” is a temporary cash flow issue that can be rectified with a some effort.

“poor” is a chronic state of mind.

[goodnesswins]

usually (but NOT always) bad habits

[Responsibility2nd]

Good article here...

 

Most Americans have less than $1,000 in savings

Wednesday, October 07, 2015 11:08:27 PM      · by TigerClaws      · 27 replies

MarketWatch ^

      Americans are living right on the edge — at least when it comes to financial planning. Approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts and 21% don’t even have a savings account, according to a new survey of more than 5,000 adults conducted this month by Google Consumer Survey for personal finance website GOBankingRates.com. “It’s worrisome that such a large percentage of Americans have so little set aside in a savings account,” says Cameron Huddleston, a personal finance analyst for the site. “They likely don’t have cash reserves to cover an emergency and will have to...

 

 

If this is true, I'd say that 62% of Americans are poor.

[Ingtar]

It seems that in current usage it is, “You have something that I do not.”

[ctdonath2]

One angle I want addressed: what is the objective minimums a human needs for sensible sustenance? To wit: minimum caloric intake, nutrients, living space, heat (BTUs), information/communication, medical maintenance, etc.

[Kirkwood]

Why do you want to know?

[TomGuy]

Poor in the US means only one widescreen TV in the living room and one in the bedroom, and only 1 premium channel on the cable.

It is tough. Especially when the cellphone battery is drained and they can’t call out for pizza delivery.

[MNDude]

When I was in college, I dated a woman from Mexico (now my wife) and I often told her how I was poor.

When she first came to my place in USA she said “You are NOT poor! You have an automobile, TV, VCR, air conditioning, live in a comfortable house, you eat out at McDonald’s all the time. I live in a single room house with no AC, and I eat tortillas and beans every day. I AM poor. You are RICH”

After we were married, we went on a trip to India. After meeting many people who lived on the streets my wife said “I always thought I was poor. But I never had to worry about going to bed hungry. I always had a roof over my head. I always had access to clean water. I now see that I was RICH! “

[Tijeras_Slim]

You are a burden on others.

[taxcontrol]

Financially poor:

Insufficient income to be able to pay for necessary food, shelter, clothing. I.e. sustenance living. Lowest tier of lower class (lower lower class)

My description of the classes:

Lower lower class-
Unable to afford basic food, shelter and clothing. Struggles to sustain basic necessary components of living

Middle lower class-
Able to afford basic food, shelter, and clothing. Also able to afford medicine and education.

Upper middle class-
Able to afford more than basic food, shelter, clothing, medicine and education. Also able to afford transportation and the occasional entertainment.

Lower middle class-
Able to afford more than basic food, shelter, clothing, medicine, education, transportation, occasional entertainment and insurance for health and life.

Middle middle class-
Able to afford modest food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, post secondary education, transportation and more frequent entertainment, and make modest investments for retirement

Upper middle class-
Able to afford nicer food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, post secondary education, transporation and more frequent entertainment, and make more robust investments for retirement.

Lower upper class-
Not worried about making payments for nicer food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, post secondary education, transporation and frequent high end entertainment, and make substantial investments for retirement and generational transference.

Middle upper class-
Not worried about making payments for nicest food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, post secondary education, transportation and frequent high end entertainment. Personal retirement investments complete. Focused on generational transference and donations to charities.

Upper upper class-
Not worried about making any payments for the nicest of things. Personal retirement fully funded and at least one subsequent generation of retirement fully funded. Focused on changes to society either through direct involvement or charities.

[Laslo Fripp]

Look no further than our FReepdom to define “poor.”

When it takes 2 months to raise a stinkin’ $90K, we are surrounded by “poor” people.

Or, a bunch of cheap Remington Raiders.