aemeijers wrote:
Pete C. wrote:
SteveB wrote:
"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message
...
i wonder if thats like renting appliances,it ends up costing 3 times
more than if you just bought it.

That is one of the things that keeps the poor people poor. No
cash, no
credit, so they rent for the same monthly (or weekly) payment forever.

You can buy a new refrigerator for about $450 today. In the same
building where I worked was a used appliance dealer that preyed on the
low income families. He'd sell a used model for $300 with weekly
payments at 22% interest. Miss a payment and he'd repo it and sell it
again.
you'd think that people would clue up and go to the library and search
craigslist and/or just go to the salvation army. Heck, I do that
(well,
craigslist, not SA) for non-essentials and I'm not poor. All you
need is
an old pickup truck and you can get all sorts of stuff for cheap/free.

nate


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I seriously doubt that's what keeps poor people poor.

Anywhere in the US, used washers, dryers, and fridges go for around $50.
More if you have to have newer or side by sides. What keeps poor people
poor is having to have that $600 fridge, pay 22% interest, and not
paying
the payments when they could have owned one for less than the down
payment
on the new one.

Actually, it all comes down to parental apathy and failing schools. The
ranks of the poor are rapidly growing not just due to the economy, but
due to the lack of education in basic life skills like balancing a
checkbook or budgeting.

That has been a pet rant of mine for years. Many or most parents
obviously are not up to the job, so the High Schools should teach a
course, at least a full semester, on 'Stuff you HAVE to know how to do
to survive'. Basic personal finance, how health insurance works, how
apartment and car leases work, why 'Rent to Own' is best avoided, etc.
Maybe throw in a week on basic car care, like how (and why) to check and
change oil, and how to change a tire and jump a battery, so you don't
get ripped off the first time that comes up. Make passing a requirement
for graduation.

--
aem sends...

Add in something like "how to make a beat up fridge/filing
cabinet/dishwasher front/whatever look like new with some 320 grit, a
sanding block, and a rattle can of appliance epoxy" and I'm with ya.

I actually take some perverse satisfaction in taking something two steps
away from the dumpster and making it look respectable again. That, and
a lot of older stuff is more quality made than new stuff...

Of course, taken to an extreme, you end up like... well, me. Drives the
girlie nuts, because there's half finished projects all over the damn
place just waiting for a nice warm day to be dragged outside and
sprayed. "Why can't we ever have new stuff?" Well, 'cause I don't make
$150K/year. Wish I did, but I don't.

nate

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