That's fair. I was more going for "if you can afford internet and you have a roof over your head, you're good", but I know you've had a real brush with it.

Based on your description it sounds like you may indeed be missing something: children or any kind of life event that has left you in serious debt. You don't sound like you're able to save, which means you're just one hospital stay or serious car breakdown from finding yourself living in the red with just as much trouble digging your way out as other people living below the poverty line.

Yeah I have to agree... I have seen poverty true poverty I lived in Kenya and I was devastated by what I saw row after row of trash bag houses, or people eating termites outta the ground.. that's poverty...

I have been poor by US standards, and I have been rich by US standards... and you know being rich was not all it was cracked up to be, I just want to have a roof, food, and every once and a while, be able to buy something that strikes my bizarre fancy...

This annoys me, too. The more you earn, the more you spend. I work in a field where there are a lot of very "middle class" people and some from quite wealthy families or have wealthy partners/husbands/wives. I often hear them complaining about what they cannot afford, when they are likely easily earning $200k+ in their household. One woman at my work was complaining that she couldn't stay at home to be a mum, because she couldn't afford it, or something. Her husband earns about $100k in the mining industry. They go on constant overseas holidays, their kids go to private schools, splurge lots on luxury items. It just seems so ridiculous to me.

Bah, and you told me you were a teacher.

I'm not sure what the poverty line is, but I would have assumed it was much, much lower than the level of income mentioned in the OP.

Most people will always adjust their lifestyle to their income, and therefore feel they dont have enough expendable income. After being unemployed for two years straight, and currently unemployed and studying, I think I've at least learned to choose my words more carefully when I claim not to have the money for something. Usually when someone says that, it means they do but they have that money earmarked for something else.

Ha, I am usually a lowly teacher! But when I was doing my PhD I was working with a bunch of university academics and people in Educational consultation and other random stuff...

What you say is true, but even if you have the funds earmarked for something else, that means you still can't afford to buy whatever the luxury is. E.g. I could say, I can't afford to go overseas because I need the money my current rent and bills, but someone else could say they can't afford to go overseas because they need the money to service their Lambourgini. So even if you can technically afford it but have the money there for something else, there are still variables...

I consider having clean drinking water, healthy food, a running car and a nice house a luxury. But when people are making $100k+ a year and complain about not being able to afford their annual overseas holiday, or a personal cleaner for their house, or designer brand clothes... It's just getting a little ridiculous.

I certainly see your point, but then again it would technically be true that because of the luxuries they have already afforded themselves, they can't afford the next one.

It's all about priorities. It's natural to say we can't afford something, like a holiday, when what we really mean is we are choosing to spend that money elsewhere. It's just not always technically true.

Yeah, and I consider food and a place to live a priority... So I'm choosing that over a holiday. It's a little different to choosing a Lambourgini over a holiday!

Anyway, point was that you spend what you earn. People earning three digits will say they can't afford the luxuries they want, and people earning minimum wage will as well. Some families with kids I know can easily live on about $45k a year, others say they would struggle on anything less than $100k - which relates back to the OP and the discussion of what people think they need to live on based on their style of living and choices of living expenses.

Hehe, yes. Thats pretty much the point I'm driving at too. That theres often a difference between something we "can't afford" and something we actually cannot afford.

Of course I consider prioritising food and shelter over the holiday, and prioritising a flash car over a holiday to be two very different situations. In the first instance, if the holiday money is being spent on those things, then I would say that person actually cannot afford a holiday.

But the OP was about living below the poverty line, which really is difficult.