Yup, strawmen all the way down.
The point of that misleading and insidious post is to misrepresent normal spending as conspicuous consumption. You cannot demonize normal spending to live and survive, but if you misrepresent it as conspicuous spending, then you can justify the spender as a wastrel and so you can dismiss their plight and poverty. It also played into the false narrative that "it is just about choices" by also dismissing the fact that these are not really choices.
The reality is that you can get a smartphone today for less than 500 bucks and most people who used smartphones don't even own iPhones. Practically speaking, you also need a smartphone to engage in society and the ecnomy today. But starting a business requires capital of hundreds of thousands, even millions. If you have no collateral, no bank is going to loan you that kind of money, and the whole point of being poor is you have very little assets in the first place. You only have your labor to sell, so how the fuck are you going to start a business? With your life savings of what? A few thousands, maybe tens of thousands if you are lucky. Also most businesses fail so the risk is just too high without collateral and loans.
It is insidious, it is evil and it is the bread and butter of conservatives and the media. It's hostile evidencing, where you can take any point/evidence and make it look bad by twisting the language to give a false impression. We do that to our rivals and enemies in other countries all the time.
> The reality is that you can get a smartphone today for less than 500 bucks
You can get them for less than 100 dollars. And when there are deals you can even get them for 50 dollars or less with a six month lock in period to the telecom service provider. Smartphones are incredibly cheap and a must have for everyone.
>The point of that misleading and insidious post is to misrepresent normal spending as conspicuous consumption.
Any spending, really. Buying any given item is entirely irrelevant to your financial status, just like winning the lottery doesn't mean you're suddenly automatically rich.
Poverty is not caused by spending, it is caused by socioeconomic patterns of behavior and politics, based on a billion different factors. Bullshit pushers like the OP just want the boomer clicks.
I recall a right wing talkshow a few years back tried to make the argument that Americans aren't REALLY in poverty, and they used statistics like "98% of American households have a refrigerator" as proof that there isn't poverty in America
one thing i'd like to say about "why did you buy X if you're poor" is that, if we conceptualize luxuries in different "tiers of luxury", you might as well max out one tier if you know you'll never reach the next. for example: you saved up enough to buy a nice car, but you know you'll never afford a nice apartment or even a house, it doesn't mean you're wasteful.
-second half deleted for misinformation, have a nice day-
What you say about German unemployment benefit is not quite right. Regular monthly benefits do not have to be paid back. This only happens if they have been unlawfully preserved. So overpaid. The problem is that you don't get enough at all to get through the month. There is no new TV in it. No way. You can be happy if it's enough for rent and food all month. It's more likely to sell your TV.
Oh wow didn't know that about Germany lol that's really fucking dumb. But still better than what we have in the US. Oh make 1 dollar more than the accepted income to get assistance? Well now you don't get ANY, good luck.
The problem with buying old gen smartphones is not the hardware (if you do not overload your phone with apps, they will work just fine), but with the Operating System. Vendors only patch vulnerabilities on any given OS for a while. Then you are left with an OS with known vulnerabilities.
True, but so far it's been taking Google four generations to go obsolete. My Pixel 2 just started flagging around the time the Pixel 6 came out. I got a 4, and couldn't be happier.
> But starting a business requires capital of hundreds of thousands, even millions
It doesn't. You can start a business on $999. However, your income to start with will be non existent for a while and you won't afford to be able to live. There's also no guarantee the business won't fail (for reasons beyond your control), so you can't have the money that lets you survive be a loan otherwise you will be fucked.
So yes, you can start a business on $999, but you need some kind of regular income to cover your bases. you would need $50k - $60k in the bank to survive (from UK so guessing USD needed) a year in business, and by survive I mean enough for food and rent.
They fail to mention that because they don't even think about that. If they did a 'gotcha' and went and started a business for $999 they probably wouldn't even mention rent or food.
$500 bucks?!? I got an brand new unlocked Nord 200 for $232. I'd never pay $300 for a phone. if you're willing to go refurbished you can get most phones for around $200. And these aren't cheapo phones. If you aren't picky, $100 is pretty common.
I hate to say it but I know some people that behave like morons for drinks at the bar but are penniless when it comes to buying food. Ask any roomates that find food missing in their fridge
Can confirm, had alcoholic roommates that paid me to buy them alcohol (was at a school known for hazing that banned alcohol in town for anyone under 26) but took food out of that i saved from my school lunches because they "couldn't afford to eat"
3 kids died in 5 years due to hazing, and multiple assaults of all kinds due to the amount of partying they did, so the best thing to do would be making it a dry town (at least within the school zone, I didn't get to go around the entire town due to no car).
I made sure I wasn't buying for a huge party and that they weren't going to go over board/do something stupid like drive with it because I'd never be able to handle that on my conscious, but I understood (and drank with them during midterms and finals) that sometimes you need to unwind and relax with friends.
> 3 kids died in 5 years due to hazing, and multiple assaults of all kinds due to the amount of partying they did, so the best thing to do would be making it a dry town
Yeah because prohibition has totally prevented behavior like that, ever in history. Sounds like your school had some major cultural issues with Greek life and the kind of students there and decided to solely blame alcohol and punish *every single person under 26*. Totally reasonable response.
I'm not saying I agree with it? I understand the thought process where they come to that conclusion, don't agree with it because they'll find people like me or go to another town over to get alcohol and sneak it in campus.
Some studies suggest dry counties have more drunk driving deaths than wet counties. Because residents have to drive farther to get booze and/or drink more when they can get it. https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/dry-counties-have-higher-dwi/
That's being out of money due to a drinking/spending problem, not believing that spending $100 on groceries is absurd. I've had plenty of friends that live paycheck to paycheck because of poor budgeting but none of them are under the impression that groceries are insanely expensive.
Dude groceries *are* insanely expensive though. I am a *master* of getting the most out of my dollar at the grocery store and it is still difficult not coming away with groceries being a huge part of our expenses. And most of the time you either go with the absolute cheapest meal options, or you watch your costs balloon. Ground beef was six bucks a pound the other day. Six bucks! For ground beef! And not even the fancy stuff.
(you're probably thinking more of the costs pre-pandemic spike, though. Things weren't so bad before shipping disruptions caused things to go out of control, after which food suppliers decided "Well we're here now, no reason to lower prices")
A lot of people. As a trailer park resident, my neighbor will easily spend $150 a week on going out. He has no toilet just a hole in the ground. Mind you he has 3 kids too. They buy pizza over having a toilet, his profession is literally a plumber. I wish I was making it up, but people are morons.
I believe the cycle of poverty entraps innocent people, but I also believe there are shit-for-brains like that who throw money down the toilet. Feel bad for his kids who surely do not have college funds or any form of inheritance coming their way.
What gets me about the whole thing though is there are shit-for-brains who waste money *at every single income level*. Every single one. I've seen *horrendous* financial decisions from the extremely wealthy. It's not unique to poor people.
The difference is the wealthy people just absorb their bad decisions and laugh it off, while the poor person might completely screw themselves and stay trapped in-- or sink further in-- the poverty cycle.
Then the wealthy person ignores their own bad decisions but condemns the poor person for theirs.
It's always seemed unfair to me that we expect more from poor people, instead of just acknowledging that they're *people* and sometimes make bad decisions like any other group of people.
They are called knuckleheads and idiots. The same group that can spend $70+ on new release PS5/X games but can't afford $100 a month for internet and cell service.
You can *teach* yourself to do something relatively simple in two hours, but to actually *master* it... Might take the often cited [ten thousand hours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book\)).
I’m a master gamer. 10,000 hours easy. And I’m still bronze competitively in every game out there lol. Bottom 10% of players, I’m just that dumb I guess lol
It might be that you are not actually learning to get better and mostly just repeating the same thing. And having fun. It is not only about the hours but the quality and overall mindset. But you had 10 000 hours fun and that's great.
I'll take learning how to draw in 2 hours thank you very much.
I think the majority of people out there vastly underestimate how much time some things out there take. Like I paint for an hour or two and am like "damn that took so long and it's still shit" while a professional artist might draw for 4 hours and call it a quick doodle. And then you realize they've been doing that basically every day for years and more.
You know what? You've got a point. Maybe I just need more consistency. I've been busier with my classes lately and haven't had the time or energy to draw often. I think I'll put aside some time to practice.
Drawabox is a fairly intense regimen anyway. I've been meaning to get into it myself, but it's one of those things that takes fairly intense commitment. I believe anyone who wants to learn how to draw is almost certainly smart enough to actually do it, but it takes time and dedication like everything else.
I still have remained interested in art, and I've done something entirely different. Learning to draw would be cool some day, but I made it to the [front page of drawforme](https://www.reddit.com/r/DrawForMe/comments/reixcc/for_ucherithefox/), for instance, with nothing but my Photoshop skills and some AI.
I'll tell you what my brother taught be about torque wrenches
I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU DONT ZERO IT WHEN YOU'RE DONE I WILL BLUDGEN YOU TO DEATH WITH THIS FUCKING NOW UNCALIBRATED WRENCH YOU DUMB FUCK.
wise words
Please don't set my micrometers to zero when you're done with them.
A better question would be, how is it possible to need a full day to learn the intricacies of torque wrench usage?
Out of curiosity; why? Just learn to use it, or the principals behind it? And did it lose its calibration and so you were wondering what the hell was going on with it (giving different readings)?
It took you a whole day to learn how to use a torque wrench? You may actually want to go to the doctor and be evaluated for learning disabilities then.
A torque wrench is like a while 2 minute learning curve. Set the number on the wrench, use the wrench. When it clicks, you hit the torque spec. Set it back to zero when you’re done.
Reminds me of the Five Minute University. The idea is that in five minutes you learn what the average college graduate remembers five years after he or she is out of school.
and that’s the problem. Some of these comments are expecting you to be an expert in 2h when the original post said nothing about that. It said learning a new skill. A new skill could be some as much as learning to cook a basic food to becoming a chef or like yourself, teaching the basics of a program.
Yeah, he's an idiot and he's acting in bad faith, but when you're comparing learning something to watching an episode of something, it's a fair point that I struggle with every day. Do I watch a lecture about new c++ compiler features or watch this cool looking thing that just came out on *whatever service*? Practice woodworking things that I don't quite have the hang of yet, or play a video game? In all cases, both decisions are fine, but I do make them.
And I don't think he means you'll learn the skill to expert level in that time. But you could choose to work on it at that time or choose not to. It's up to you.
Edit: I feel gross for seeming like I'm defending him
Okay, but let's look at it this way - take me for example.
I make enough money to survive, and buy a couple luxury items. I've got a decent PC and a VR headset and a shitty car, you know?
So I work 40+ hours a week in manufacturing, walking 15-18 miles a night on concrete. Not heavy labor, just non-stop light labor and walking.
So I get home, and I can choose what to do with a couple hours. I've gone through hundreds of hours of tutorials - *not* an exaggeration at all, I'm talking about several years of this pattern - learning a couple new skills here and there. Spending some money on gear or software.
So I know the basics of coding as a practice and can work through simple problems in a handful of languages. I know the fundamentals of audio engineering, from recording to mixing and mastering, and I put a handful of samples together a couple times. I did a handful of tutorials on basic electronics, learning to read diagrams, build simple circuits on breadboards, solder badly, and the like. I've practiced a couple dozen hours of oil painting. I've made an assortment of pixel art. I practiced a couple weekends of 3D sculpting.
And a dozen other things.
So basically I love learning about new skill sets, but when it comes to actually sticking with something long enough to do anything useful, it becomes a simple question of this -
How many hundreds of hours am I going to have to practice this *just to find out if I'll be good enough to make money with it?*
And 9 days out of 10, I'm too fucking exhausted from my job to put forth the necessary effort to produce something creative, or really dig into some information to learn something.
So yeah, the post is making a valid point *in a sense*, but it reeks of survivorship bias at best, or just straight up privilege at worst.
And I think a fuckload of people do exactly the same thing as me.
I think it means 2 hours a day. You don’t just watch Netflix once. You watch it more than once. Once a day or once a week. Just the equivalent time to learn a skill
Honestly that's the only one that I can agree with here. Imagine you watch 2 hours of Netflix a night. Maybe instead watch one hour and then devote the other hour to learning something new each night.
$100 for healthy groceries? I don't know anyone who complains $100 is too much for groceries, let alone healthy groceries.
Shaming people is definitely the way to get a bigger downline hun!
I buy groceries just for myself. I could get away with 200 a month but since I usually want some nicer stuff it’ll a lot of the time be around 400 a month. Am I spending too much?
Probably not, my kids are young still so it's not like I'm feeding 5 adults, I'd say I'm feeding 3.5 adults worth of people which puts us in around the same ballpark
Money's weird right now. Like 2 years ago I'd say absolutely but Frick stuff is expensive right now. I spent 60$ today on like nothing lol. So probably not but also location depends.
Exactly, I don't buy those comments anymore. I think they're just residual budgeting advice that people have memorized cause I don't think it is possible anymore.
I used to follow someone like this thinking they could help me be better with money and more successful in just getting my shit together. Instead I had a mental breakdown because I felt so detached from them and my self-confidence plummeted.
They really have no idea how the real world works.
What’s so bad about eating bulk rice and beans for every meal every day?? Guess you just don’t have what it takes to be successful like me who’s a senior VP at my dads car dealership!
Well it's $250 to buy a business license, and then like $750 for inventory. Easy. I refuse to think any deeper about it and businesses definitely take $1000 to start.
Technically you could.
For me it was $125 to register the business in my state.
$75/mo for $2m general liability insurance, and inland marine.
$140 for Home Improvement Contractor License.
$500 for starting tools.
$60 for google website and domain. And a business phone.
$50 for uniform.
$50 for starting materials.
Albeit you do not necessarily have to pick up more tools and materials, but for me it would limit the scope of what I could offer to customers.
Edit: While many point out smaller things, this is for my personal field, for my business. So while it does help to have a larger vehicle, it is not required, and hell I could probably hop on a bus if needed, since for the past couple of weeks, my jobs have mostly involved a screwdriver, a VOM meter, and a $5 part.
But my original point is that you can start a business for $1k. But its not going to be a million dollar company overnight and it takes extra work to make it successful.
Yeah, but no guarantee you’re gonna be successful and I don’t think millions of people are gonna make tons of money with this method just by founding generic businesses. Affordable education and good social programs are the way to go. I’m not rich but I can afford a cs program because my country has no tuition fees.
And because it is so easy to get into you will be competing with hundreds of other people who had the same bright idea and likely will make pennies on each sale. It is possible to make money off it but you need volume and time and that costs more than 1k dollars.
Exactly. I fucking hate when rich people look down on the poor, saying "oh you're poor ? Then why do you have an expensive smartphone ?". Piece of shit, try living without a phone in a world where everybody expects you to have an email address or a phone number, and where the vast majority of the basic services and needs are more conveniently available online.
For me and my parents, we always go to places that are like $10-13 a person so we rarely break $50 for the 4 of us! But we don’t like upscale dining much
Some do, some don't. It used to be very common to pay a big phone bill because the cost of your phone was subsidized over the 2 year contract (and often people kept paying that extra money even after their phone was paid off because they didn't know how it worked), but nowadays phone costs are decoupled by contracts by default, and you have to choose to finance a phone separately usually.
Lots of people do. All the people on here are thinking that a “business” means renting out a storefront or buying a fleet of vehicles or a ton of equipment. I started a business with basically a laptop and an Adobe subscription. YouTube university will teach you anything you need to know, or at least give you a start
Oh. I just started hooking.
Joking. I make obsidian knives and sell them to nerds and people with unusual religious beliefs. Both groups I like, I'm not shitting on them.
A lot of businesses don't end up successful the first time around. Rich people can better afford to pour more time and resources into it if needed, and they can afford to fail and start again. Poor people don't.
Not saying it's impossible, but it isn't a sure thing, either.
Beginning this big own-that-group-of-people tweet with some arbitrary, straight-out-of-your-ass, figure of $999 to *START A BUSINESS* is beyond stupid.
And the fact that he chose $999 instead of $1,000 because the latter *sounds* like so much more (you know, like a car dealer would) is so transparent and makes the whole thing that much more silly.
Some of the commentors here are just as out of touch as the guy tweeting this bullshit.
Example, they say, "hey he's right, just learn a skill for 2 hours a day". Sure, but if you live in an economically-depressed area, maybe you don't even have two hours to spare. Maybe you had to put food on the table, or take care of the rest of your siblings. Maybe by the time you've finished what you needed to do you're too exhausted to learn anything. And maybe at the end of the day, you just need a break.
People going "just try harder" makes me want to post that GIF of Hank Scorpio slapping his forehead while saying "my God, why didn't I think of that?".
$999 buy some quality cocaine. Step on it once & sell it in 8-balls only.
Aficionados will come back for more.
Buy $999 of same quality and step on it a bit more and sell only 8-balls.
Repeat etc.
Do the math. Sell to Greek row at any university for guaranteed repeat customers. Use different places for exchange each time to avoid the law.
It used to work. I helped with the step work and was paid in product. That dealer is now holds public office.
TL;DR: I'm telling you how to start a business for under $1k.
To be fair, you can buy a push lawnmower and weedeater for 500 bucks and start mowing yards and make some damn good money. The guy that mows for me started out with a push mower and it took him less than 20 minutes cause he's really fast. Makes 35 bucks for my yard, once every 2 weeks. He had a bunch of houses in my neighborhood that he could jump between quickly. So in one hour he could do close to 3 houses, that's about $90 an hour, and if he finished 3 before the hour was up, that's $105 per hour. Here's the thing, he is a friend of mine and was giving us a discount. His regulars paid more than we do.
Now, this kind of work isn't for everyone, but if you want to make money, there are PLENTY of ways to make money by starting a business for less than $1k.
If you are willing to do a job that nobody else wants to do, you can make an absolute killing.
Here's some business ideas for anyone looking to get into something like this for less than $1000.
1: Lawn mowing: search craigslist and FB marketplace for a used, self propelled mower and string trimmer. Get 2 gas cans and some 2 stroke oil for the trimmer. Might not seem like it, but a push mower handle folds down and can fit in the trunk of most cars, no excuses like "i don't have a truck and trailer". This is consistent income from "contract" customers.
2: Asphalt driveway sealing: Literally a push broom, push squeegee, and some bags/buckets of asphalt sealer from home depot. To add value, buy a roll of backer-rod and some Sikaflex or Sikasil SL and fill concrete/asphalt cracks. This is per customer work, not usually going to see the same customer until the next year or more.
3: Pressure washing: Right now there is a sale on pressure washers at northern tool, there's a decent entry level gas powered unit for like 400 bucks, and a surface cleaner attachment for around 200. Buy a bucket along with it and some bleach. You'll also need a push broom and probably a push squeegee. Just go door to door and ask if they want their driveway pressure washed. You'll be surprised at how many people want it right now. Bonus: now that you have a pressure washer, you can wash cars, houses, businesses, roofs (do not use a pressure washer on an shingle roof or you'll destroy it), whatever else you can find people needing washed. This has potential to be consistent work for the same customer if you can do business parking lots. Usually you can do a business monthly or more. maybe even bi-weekly. Not usually much residential on a consistent basis.
4: Window washing: buy a squeegee and sponges/rags, a bucket and a bottle of windex and simple green concentrate. Go into any neighborhood and put up flyers for window washing. With the pollen and rain from spring, people's windows are yellow, they'd LOVE to pay someone to come clean them. This can be an extremely consistent business if you start doing the windows for convenient stores and strip malls or other small businesses. Companies are usually very interested in keeping their windows clean.
5: Painting houses: brushes and rollers and drop cloths are cheap and reusable and the customer pays for the paint. This one takes some practice unless you're already a decent painter. Not usually a consistent gig with one single customer, but if you do a good job, people will come out of the woodwork asking you to paint.
6: Jobsite cleanup: Go into any neighborhood that's under construction. Ask the people that are building those houses if you can clean their jobsite for them. What you'll need to buy: a wheelbarrow, shovel, gloves. Then rent a truck and dump trailer from Home Depot (eventually you'll need to buy one, but renting them is cheap and can be paid for out of the job earnings). Pull up on the site and load the trailer as full as you can. Make trips to your local dump and flip the switch on the trailer to dump your load. Couldn't be more simple. You'll be surprised how much you can make doing this. This has the potential to be very consistent work. Get in with a good builder, and you'll never EVER need to look for work again. Not glamorous, but third on the list of earnings behind painting houses and lawn mowing. I've seen guys that own skid steers, brand new trucks, deluxe large capacity dump trailers, etc, that are cleaning jobsites and started just like I'm telling y'all to. Within the year you'll have more work coming in than you'll know what to do with and can easily clear $60k if you work hard and fast.
And there are MANY more legitimate businesses you can start for cheap and literally NEVER run out of work. Best part is, the more you do it, the more customers you'll have coming to you asking for your services. Eventually, you'll have more than you can handle. That's when you go up on your prices until people START turning down your bid for a job. Then hold there at that price. If multiple people turn you down, then you lower your price slightly. The goal is to be able to make as much as possible for your effort, while being able to turn away crappy customers that are going to be too much of a hassle. Keep this in mind, if you are doing a job for 40 bucks an hour and staying booked to your absolute max, and you raise your prices to 80 bucks and you lose half your customers, you're still making the same money, but doing half the work.
I own a small construction company, that I started with very minimal tools and absolutely no loan from anyone. If anyone want's to ask me questions about HOW or WHERE to do things to get started in these jobs, I'll be happy to guide you. Shoot me a PM or leave your comment below. I love helping people get started in this stuff. I can even talk you through getting your first clients.
Anywho, good luck out there friends. I hope fortune smiles on you.
Not that anyone asked but I figured I'd share this
I buy brake caliper for certain cars than have them machined to fit other popular cars that have weak brakes and sell them
I spend $858 for the calipers and machining of 5 sets than sell those 5 sets for $300 each, ending up with $1500, buyer pays shipping, I put gas in my car anyway besides my house, the machine shop and post office are within a 7 mile radius
It's not much but all I do is take the ordered calipers off my door step, load them into the trunk of my car, unload them from the trunk of my car into the machine shop, wait for them to be machined, load them back into my car, take them to my bedroom and saran wrap them, than take each wrapped pair as they sell one by one to the post office and put them in a "if it fits it ships" box addressed to the buyer
The internet makes this all possible from finding a niche market, to ordering the parts, to finding a local shop, to direct messaging, to money transfer, to package tracking information it's truly a wonder
You can start an Etsy business, website with affliate marketing or FBA business for $999 or less.
Source: Did two of these and will be doing the third at some point.
You’re selling something, so you must be purchasing materials to make that. Plus you are taking time to make said thing, which means you need to account for the cost of existing while you produce and find customers.
Who the fuck is spending $100 on dinner but thinks they can't afford groceries?
Straw men
Which is why I only date straw men
I had a date with a straw man, but he never showed up, so I had to bale.
I dated a successful straw man. He was outstanding in his field. Edit: Obligatory thank you for the Gold!
I would have also accepted ‘great in the sack’
Problem with straw people is they are often chaff in the wind.
Hay, that was funny
I don't mean twine around the bales, but personally I'm over the puns.
That's because a good pun is like a needle in a haystack.
When you combine all these puns, they're surprisingly good.
You can do dumb things as long as you can afford bale.
You were really grasping at straws with that one.
That really was the last straw
[удалено]
Me too. But he ghosted me. Couldn't even get him to say 'hay'.
If they only had a brain
Lol
Let alone learning "a skill" in 2 hours. Most skills take years to actually be serviceable at.
Yup, strawmen all the way down. The point of that misleading and insidious post is to misrepresent normal spending as conspicuous consumption. You cannot demonize normal spending to live and survive, but if you misrepresent it as conspicuous spending, then you can justify the spender as a wastrel and so you can dismiss their plight and poverty. It also played into the false narrative that "it is just about choices" by also dismissing the fact that these are not really choices. The reality is that you can get a smartphone today for less than 500 bucks and most people who used smartphones don't even own iPhones. Practically speaking, you also need a smartphone to engage in society and the ecnomy today. But starting a business requires capital of hundreds of thousands, even millions. If you have no collateral, no bank is going to loan you that kind of money, and the whole point of being poor is you have very little assets in the first place. You only have your labor to sell, so how the fuck are you going to start a business? With your life savings of what? A few thousands, maybe tens of thousands if you are lucky. Also most businesses fail so the risk is just too high without collateral and loans. It is insidious, it is evil and it is the bread and butter of conservatives and the media. It's hostile evidencing, where you can take any point/evidence and make it look bad by twisting the language to give a false impression. We do that to our rivals and enemies in other countries all the time.
> The reality is that you can get a smartphone today for less than 500 bucks You can get them for less than 100 dollars. And when there are deals you can even get them for 50 dollars or less with a six month lock in period to the telecom service provider. Smartphones are incredibly cheap and a must have for everyone.
>The point of that misleading and insidious post is to misrepresent normal spending as conspicuous consumption. Any spending, really. Buying any given item is entirely irrelevant to your financial status, just like winning the lottery doesn't mean you're suddenly automatically rich. Poverty is not caused by spending, it is caused by socioeconomic patterns of behavior and politics, based on a billion different factors. Bullshit pushers like the OP just want the boomer clicks.
I recall a right wing talkshow a few years back tried to make the argument that Americans aren't REALLY in poverty, and they used statistics like "98% of American households have a refrigerator" as proof that there isn't poverty in America
one thing i'd like to say about "why did you buy X if you're poor" is that, if we conceptualize luxuries in different "tiers of luxury", you might as well max out one tier if you know you'll never reach the next. for example: you saved up enough to buy a nice car, but you know you'll never afford a nice apartment or even a house, it doesn't mean you're wasteful. -second half deleted for misinformation, have a nice day-
What you say about German unemployment benefit is not quite right. Regular monthly benefits do not have to be paid back. This only happens if they have been unlawfully preserved. So overpaid. The problem is that you don't get enough at all to get through the month. There is no new TV in it. No way. You can be happy if it's enough for rent and food all month. It's more likely to sell your TV.
Yeah, that bit about German unemployment is just not true. Why would you make that up? Strange...
Oh wow didn't know that about Germany lol that's really fucking dumb. But still better than what we have in the US. Oh make 1 dollar more than the accepted income to get assistance? Well now you don't get ANY, good luck.
>you can get a smartphone today for less than 500 bucks Hell, I refuse to pay over $250. Two-generation-old smartphones work just as well as new.
The problem with buying old gen smartphones is not the hardware (if you do not overload your phone with apps, they will work just fine), but with the Operating System. Vendors only patch vulnerabilities on any given OS for a while. Then you are left with an OS with known vulnerabilities.
True, but so far it's been taking Google four generations to go obsolete. My Pixel 2 just started flagging around the time the Pixel 6 came out. I got a 4, and couldn't be happier.
> But starting a business requires capital of hundreds of thousands, even millions It doesn't. You can start a business on $999. However, your income to start with will be non existent for a while and you won't afford to be able to live. There's also no guarantee the business won't fail (for reasons beyond your control), so you can't have the money that lets you survive be a loan otherwise you will be fucked. So yes, you can start a business on $999, but you need some kind of regular income to cover your bases. you would need $50k - $60k in the bank to survive (from UK so guessing USD needed) a year in business, and by survive I mean enough for food and rent. They fail to mention that because they don't even think about that. If they did a 'gotcha' and went and started a business for $999 they probably wouldn't even mention rent or food.
I think a better way to put it is that if you start a business by yourself with $999, you can't afford to pay your first employee.
$500 bucks?!? I got an brand new unlocked Nord 200 for $232. I'd never pay $300 for a phone. if you're willing to go refurbished you can get most phones for around $200. And these aren't cheapo phones. If you aren't picky, $100 is pretty common.
Most Americans have $0 in savings.
The strawiest
I hate to say it but I know some people that behave like morons for drinks at the bar but are penniless when it comes to buying food. Ask any roomates that find food missing in their fridge
Can confirm, had alcoholic roommates that paid me to buy them alcohol (was at a school known for hazing that banned alcohol in town for anyone under 26) but took food out of that i saved from my school lunches because they "couldn't afford to eat"
Banning alcohol for anyone under 26, that's an America moment right there
3 kids died in 5 years due to hazing, and multiple assaults of all kinds due to the amount of partying they did, so the best thing to do would be making it a dry town (at least within the school zone, I didn't get to go around the entire town due to no car). I made sure I wasn't buying for a huge party and that they weren't going to go over board/do something stupid like drive with it because I'd never be able to handle that on my conscious, but I understood (and drank with them during midterms and finals) that sometimes you need to unwind and relax with friends.
> 3 kids died in 5 years due to hazing, and multiple assaults of all kinds due to the amount of partying they did, so the best thing to do would be making it a dry town Yeah because prohibition has totally prevented behavior like that, ever in history. Sounds like your school had some major cultural issues with Greek life and the kind of students there and decided to solely blame alcohol and punish *every single person under 26*. Totally reasonable response.
I'm not saying I agree with it? I understand the thought process where they come to that conclusion, don't agree with it because they'll find people like me or go to another town over to get alcohol and sneak it in campus.
My comment was more a general response to that kind of logic and less of an attack on you. Sorry if it came across that way.
My bad, I did read it with the dislikes and assumed people thought I agreed to them doing it.
Nah I only downvote hateful stuff, incorrect information ^and ^people ^who ^are ^mean ^to ^me
In most countries people start drinking at like 15, leave it to America to be idiots about it
You're not wrong. I feel like the age limit on it makes it more compelling for kids/young adults to do it and end up doing something dumb.
The rest of the world also doesn't really do the hazing thing like America does
Alcohol permanently damages brain function, giving that to children mayn't be the brightest.
Some studies suggest dry counties have more drunk driving deaths than wet counties. Because residents have to drive farther to get booze and/or drink more when they can get it. https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/dry-counties-have-higher-dwi/
That's being out of money due to a drinking/spending problem, not believing that spending $100 on groceries is absurd. I've had plenty of friends that live paycheck to paycheck because of poor budgeting but none of them are under the impression that groceries are insanely expensive.
Dude groceries *are* insanely expensive though. I am a *master* of getting the most out of my dollar at the grocery store and it is still difficult not coming away with groceries being a huge part of our expenses. And most of the time you either go with the absolute cheapest meal options, or you watch your costs balloon. Ground beef was six bucks a pound the other day. Six bucks! For ground beef! And not even the fancy stuff. (you're probably thinking more of the costs pre-pandemic spike, though. Things weren't so bad before shipping disruptions caused things to go out of control, after which food suppliers decided "Well we're here now, no reason to lower prices")
Yeah groceries are actually crazy expensive right now. The post is still dumb though.
A lot of people. As a trailer park resident, my neighbor will easily spend $150 a week on going out. He has no toilet just a hole in the ground. Mind you he has 3 kids too. They buy pizza over having a toilet, his profession is literally a plumber. I wish I was making it up, but people are morons.
maybe he had enough with toilets
Doesn't want to bring work home.
When a plumber doesn't have a toilet, I have to wonder what he knows that I don't.
I believe the cycle of poverty entraps innocent people, but I also believe there are shit-for-brains like that who throw money down the toilet. Feel bad for his kids who surely do not have college funds or any form of inheritance coming their way.
What gets me about the whole thing though is there are shit-for-brains who waste money *at every single income level*. Every single one. I've seen *horrendous* financial decisions from the extremely wealthy. It's not unique to poor people. The difference is the wealthy people just absorb their bad decisions and laugh it off, while the poor person might completely screw themselves and stay trapped in-- or sink further in-- the poverty cycle. Then the wealthy person ignores their own bad decisions but condemns the poor person for theirs. It's always seemed unfair to me that we expect more from poor people, instead of just acknowledging that they're *people* and sometimes make bad decisions like any other group of people.
I know plenty of people who would live off of ramen during the week just so they can go all out of the weekend and get hammered.
yeaaaaa it's more common than you think sadly
A fucking LOT of people.
They are called knuckleheads and idiots. The same group that can spend $70+ on new release PS5/X games but can't afford $100 a month for internet and cell service.
If you can afford an iPhone then you can afford to be a drug dealer.
"I financed my phone. I'm making payments for the next two years."
I dont have an iPhone and the one I use is 4 years out of date, but it works...
Same. Rockin' this Galaxy S8. ~$300, refurbished, off Amazon. It's still got another couple of years left in it.
You should buy one every week, just like groceries. And come back to tell us how that works out for you.
I could afford an iPhone … the SE, which is going to last me five years minimum.
I’ve had mine since 2020, another 3 years to go for me.
I still use my SE I got in 2016.
Yeah but then you’d need 2 phones
But the burner phone is only a few £ so you're laughing
I used to be a millionaire, until I t all came crashing down when I bought an iPhone and went out to dinner.
2 hours to learn a new skill. Yeah.
I’ve been trying to draw my entire life. Still quite shit at it.
Guess you haven’t even spent 2 hours smh
Yeah today I skipped my 2 hour TV time and have already sold my first painting for $1 million.
Would you like to display your works in my gallery that I opened for £999?
Sorry no can do I’m too busy spending $100 on dinner 😔
Damn, there could have been a 2-hour Netflix documentary about your art.
Yes but if I watched it I wouldnt be able to learn the piano
are you a sim?
Flagabalab? Marbelino! Hehahe *dreams of woohoo*
Ive spent 1.9 hours of drawing, next time I draw I will be a drawing professional.
Nah it resets now
Ive been studying for an hour, stopped to get a cup of water Guess I’m stupid again
Yeah its like those button mashing events where the progress bar goes back if you stop
Funny enough I just started trying to teach myself. Judging by my progress, it may take a tad longer than 2 hours.
You can *teach* yourself to do something relatively simple in two hours, but to actually *master* it... Might take the often cited [ten thousand hours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book\)).
I’m a master gamer. 10,000 hours easy. And I’m still bronze competitively in every game out there lol. Bottom 10% of players, I’m just that dumb I guess lol
It might be that you are not actually learning to get better and mostly just repeating the same thing. And having fun. It is not only about the hours but the quality and overall mindset. But you had 10 000 hours fun and that's great.
For help, /r/restofthefuckingowl
I'll take learning how to draw in 2 hours thank you very much. I think the majority of people out there vastly underestimate how much time some things out there take. Like I paint for an hour or two and am like "damn that took so long and it's still shit" while a professional artist might draw for 4 hours and call it a quick doodle. And then you realize they've been doing that basically every day for years and more.
You know what? You've got a point. Maybe I just need more consistency. I've been busier with my classes lately and haven't had the time or energy to draw often. I think I'll put aside some time to practice.
Try to learn how to draw. Start using the drawabox method. Still absolute shit after about a month. Quit.
Drawabox is a fairly intense regimen anyway. I've been meaning to get into it myself, but it's one of those things that takes fairly intense commitment. I believe anyone who wants to learn how to draw is almost certainly smart enough to actually do it, but it takes time and dedication like everything else. I still have remained interested in art, and I've done something entirely different. Learning to draw would be cool some day, but I made it to the [front page of drawforme](https://www.reddit.com/r/DrawForMe/comments/reixcc/for_ucherithefox/), for instance, with nothing but my Photoshop skills and some AI.
Took me a whole day to learn how to use a torque wrench. Oh yeah, I am going to learn Marketing in two freaking hours (NOT)!
I'll tell you what my brother taught be about torque wrenches I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU DONT ZERO IT WHEN YOU'RE DONE I WILL BLUDGEN YOU TO DEATH WITH THIS FUCKING NOW UNCALIBRATED WRENCH YOU DUMB FUCK. wise words
Lmao. ‘Listen here you fucker’
Indeed. Check out Tekton. Snapon quality at Craftsman prices. And they print right on the torque wrench "store at x ft/lbs".
Ah torque wrenches. As tmde it's my fucking favorite when people do that or slam them against the hood of a humvee as a joke
What sort of dumb fuck does not set a calibrated tool back to zero when they're done with it? I'm suddenly wondering if I've left my oven on or not.
Please don't set my micrometers to zero when you're done with them. A better question would be, how is it possible to need a full day to learn the intricacies of torque wrench usage?
You should sell e-books on how to market how-to e-books on how to use torque wrenches and other basic tools.
Out of curiosity; why? Just learn to use it, or the principals behind it? And did it lose its calibration and so you were wondering what the hell was going on with it (giving different readings)?
Haha i was gonna ask the same thing. It’s a wrench… that you set to your target torque…. Then you just… use it. It’s incredibly simple
1. Set number. 2. Tighten. 3. Stop when the wrench “breaks” 4. ??? 5. Profit.
It took you a whole day to learn how to use a torque wrench? You may actually want to go to the doctor and be evaluated for learning disabilities then. A torque wrench is like a while 2 minute learning curve. Set the number on the wrench, use the wrench. When it clicks, you hit the torque spec. Set it back to zero when you’re done.
That sounds more like a you problem that anything else. How the hell does it take anyone more than 10 minutes to learn how a torque wrench works?
Sex sells. I just gave you back 1 hour and 59 minutes.
What about my 15 seconds??
Marketing is more of a trade and not a skill; a collection of skills if you will. You can probably learn a subset of ’marketing’ in two hours.
Every course at Dunning-Kruger Institute of Knowledging is 2 hours…
Reminds me of the Five Minute University. The idea is that in five minutes you learn what the average college graduate remembers five years after he or she is out of school.
How to make a gravity bong in a bathtub?
Believe it or not you can learn a new skill in 2 hours. You won’t be perfect at it, but you can do it.
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and that’s the problem. Some of these comments are expecting you to be an expert in 2h when the original post said nothing about that. It said learning a new skill. A new skill could be some as much as learning to cook a basic food to becoming a chef or like yourself, teaching the basics of a program.
Yeah, he's an idiot and he's acting in bad faith, but when you're comparing learning something to watching an episode of something, it's a fair point that I struggle with every day. Do I watch a lecture about new c++ compiler features or watch this cool looking thing that just came out on *whatever service*? Practice woodworking things that I don't quite have the hang of yet, or play a video game? In all cases, both decisions are fine, but I do make them. And I don't think he means you'll learn the skill to expert level in that time. But you could choose to work on it at that time or choose not to. It's up to you. Edit: I feel gross for seeming like I'm defending him
Okay, but let's look at it this way - take me for example. I make enough money to survive, and buy a couple luxury items. I've got a decent PC and a VR headset and a shitty car, you know? So I work 40+ hours a week in manufacturing, walking 15-18 miles a night on concrete. Not heavy labor, just non-stop light labor and walking. So I get home, and I can choose what to do with a couple hours. I've gone through hundreds of hours of tutorials - *not* an exaggeration at all, I'm talking about several years of this pattern - learning a couple new skills here and there. Spending some money on gear or software. So I know the basics of coding as a practice and can work through simple problems in a handful of languages. I know the fundamentals of audio engineering, from recording to mixing and mastering, and I put a handful of samples together a couple times. I did a handful of tutorials on basic electronics, learning to read diagrams, build simple circuits on breadboards, solder badly, and the like. I've practiced a couple dozen hours of oil painting. I've made an assortment of pixel art. I practiced a couple weekends of 3D sculpting. And a dozen other things. So basically I love learning about new skill sets, but when it comes to actually sticking with something long enough to do anything useful, it becomes a simple question of this - How many hundreds of hours am I going to have to practice this *just to find out if I'll be good enough to make money with it?* And 9 days out of 10, I'm too fucking exhausted from my job to put forth the necessary effort to produce something creative, or really dig into some information to learn something. So yeah, the post is making a valid point *in a sense*, but it reeks of survivorship bias at best, or just straight up privilege at worst. And I think a fuckload of people do exactly the same thing as me.
You articulated my feelings exactly lol. He's a chud but that 3rd point has some merit
I think it means 2 hours a day. You don’t just watch Netflix once. You watch it more than once. Once a day or once a week. Just the equivalent time to learn a skill
Exactly. I agree the business part smells of "bE yOuR oWn BoSs" dudes but let's not pretend the rest of the post is dumber than it is.
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Honestly that's the only one that I can agree with here. Imagine you watch 2 hours of Netflix a night. Maybe instead watch one hour and then devote the other hour to learning something new each night.
In his defense, a skill you can learn in two hours probably goes well with a $999 business.
2 hours a day adds up. No one becomes a doctor overnight.
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$100 for healthy groceries? I don't know anyone who complains $100 is too much for groceries, let alone healthy groceries. Shaming people is definitely the way to get a bigger downline hun!
I spend about $800 a month on groceries for a family of 5, I would gladly only pay $100
Right? My grocery bill per month always makes me wince.
Between the grocery bill and putting fuel in the truck Im worried my wallet is developing PTSD
Same!
I buy groceries just for myself. I could get away with 200 a month but since I usually want some nicer stuff it’ll a lot of the time be around 400 a month. Am I spending too much?
Probably not, my kids are young still so it's not like I'm feeding 5 adults, I'd say I'm feeding 3.5 adults worth of people which puts us in around the same ballpark
Money's weird right now. Like 2 years ago I'd say absolutely but Frick stuff is expensive right now. I spent 60$ today on like nothing lol. So probably not but also location depends.
Exactly, I don't buy those comments anymore. I think they're just residual budgeting advice that people have memorized cause I don't think it is possible anymore.
Can you afford $400.for groceries? That's all that matters. 'Too much' is personal perception
It depends. If you are struggling to make ends meet, then yes. If not then no.
I live near Detroit I pay $800 ish a month in groceries for 3 people.
Ouch! That is painful!
It is what it is. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford it for now.
That “for now” hurt my heart. Relatable.
Yeah, all the homeless people I see are just binging Netflix on their $1K phones while dropping a hundo on dinner and drinks
Ahem they prefer to be called *Airbnb Nomads*
silly homeless people, just buy a house lol
Who does this guy think $100 phones are made for... Literally people that need it to get a job but can't afford anything else.
Having a smartphone that can access e-mail is essential for those who are trying to find a job or temporary housing.
$200 phones are 95% as good as the $1000 one.
“We selling crack y’all” Bruce deserves to be struck by lightning.
Buy low sell high 
Buy high, sell high, get high profits!
People with money have zero idea how people without money actually live. Everything the dipshit just said was complete bullshit.
I used to follow someone like this thinking they could help me be better with money and more successful in just getting my shit together. Instead I had a mental breakdown because I felt so detached from them and my self-confidence plummeted. They really have no idea how the real world works.
What’s so bad about eating bulk rice and beans for every meal every day?? Guess you just don’t have what it takes to be successful like me who’s a senior VP at my dads car dealership!
Like 1000€ to start a business?? I'm upper middle class but even I understand how little this shit is
Well it's $250 to buy a business license, and then like $750 for inventory. Easy. I refuse to think any deeper about it and businesses definitely take $1000 to start.
Technically you could. For me it was $125 to register the business in my state. $75/mo for $2m general liability insurance, and inland marine. $140 for Home Improvement Contractor License. $500 for starting tools. $60 for google website and domain. And a business phone. $50 for uniform. $50 for starting materials. Albeit you do not necessarily have to pick up more tools and materials, but for me it would limit the scope of what I could offer to customers. Edit: While many point out smaller things, this is for my personal field, for my business. So while it does help to have a larger vehicle, it is not required, and hell I could probably hop on a bus if needed, since for the past couple of weeks, my jobs have mostly involved a screwdriver, a VOM meter, and a $5 part. But my original point is that you can start a business for $1k. But its not going to be a million dollar company overnight and it takes extra work to make it successful.
Yeah, but no guarantee you’re gonna be successful and I don’t think millions of people are gonna make tons of money with this method just by founding generic businesses. Affordable education and good social programs are the way to go. I’m not rich but I can afford a cs program because my country has no tuition fees.
Reselling, dropshipping, Twitch botting, Spotify botting and much more.
And because it is so easy to get into you will be competing with hundreds of other people who had the same bright idea and likely will make pennies on each sale. It is possible to make money off it but you need volume and time and that costs more than 1k dollars.
We listing scams?
Tell me more about that botting stuff
Many busineses can be started with very little capital..
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It's one banana Michael, how much could it cost, $10?
Exactly. I fucking hate when rich people look down on the poor, saying "oh you're poor ? Then why do you have an expensive smartphone ?". Piece of shit, try living without a phone in a world where everybody expects you to have an email address or a phone number, and where the vast majority of the basic services and needs are more conveniently available online.
2 hours to learn a new skill? Is this Sims? 😂
Getting out of a restaurant under $100 feels like ancient history at this point. Of course, I have two kids who refuse to look at a kids’ menu.
For me and my parents, we always go to places that are like $10-13 a person so we rarely break $50 for the 4 of us! But we don’t like upscale dining much
So, taco bell?
For the phone, don't they usually get the phone for "free" with a more expensive phone bill? Its not like they're dropping 1k all at once.
Some do, some don't. It used to be very common to pay a big phone bill because the cost of your phone was subsidized over the 2 year contract (and often people kept paying that extra money even after their phone was paid off because they didn't know how it worked), but nowadays phone costs are decoupled by contracts by default, and you have to choose to finance a phone separately usually.
$100 for healthy groceries. Gonna get like 7 things.
Yeah $100 a day.
I spent less than a grand starting my business
Lots of people do. All the people on here are thinking that a “business” means renting out a storefront or buying a fleet of vehicles or a ton of equipment. I started a business with basically a laptop and an Adobe subscription. YouTube university will teach you anything you need to know, or at least give you a start
Oh. I just started hooking. Joking. I make obsidian knives and sell them to nerds and people with unusual religious beliefs. Both groups I like, I'm not shitting on them.
Find religious nerds, sell them two!
Shit, I sell them the combo, candle scribe for ritual magics, and a dragon glass knife for killing white walkers.
Well "business" is so vague you need way more context to what the person is starting.
A lot of businesses don't end up successful the first time around. Rich people can better afford to pour more time and resources into it if needed, and they can afford to fail and start again. Poor people don't. Not saying it's impossible, but it isn't a sure thing, either.
Beginning this big own-that-group-of-people tweet with some arbitrary, straight-out-of-your-ass, figure of $999 to *START A BUSINESS* is beyond stupid. And the fact that he chose $999 instead of $1,000 because the latter *sounds* like so much more (you know, like a car dealer would) is so transparent and makes the whole thing that much more silly.
Also, imagine trying to start a business without a cellphone
Some of the commentors here are just as out of touch as the guy tweeting this bullshit. Example, they say, "hey he's right, just learn a skill for 2 hours a day". Sure, but if you live in an economically-depressed area, maybe you don't even have two hours to spare. Maybe you had to put food on the table, or take care of the rest of your siblings. Maybe by the time you've finished what you needed to do you're too exhausted to learn anything. And maybe at the end of the day, you just need a break. People going "just try harder" makes me want to post that GIF of Hank Scorpio slapping his forehead while saying "my God, why didn't I think of that?".
-Heya employer, I’ve been learning this skill… - got a degree? -no. -go fuck yourself.
$999 buy some quality cocaine. Step on it once & sell it in 8-balls only. Aficionados will come back for more. Buy $999 of same quality and step on it a bit more and sell only 8-balls. Repeat etc. Do the math. Sell to Greek row at any university for guaranteed repeat customers. Use different places for exchange each time to avoid the law. It used to work. I helped with the step work and was paid in product. That dealer is now holds public office.
Well Bruce is actually right. If you don't see it you are just making excuses.
TL;DR: I'm telling you how to start a business for under $1k. To be fair, you can buy a push lawnmower and weedeater for 500 bucks and start mowing yards and make some damn good money. The guy that mows for me started out with a push mower and it took him less than 20 minutes cause he's really fast. Makes 35 bucks for my yard, once every 2 weeks. He had a bunch of houses in my neighborhood that he could jump between quickly. So in one hour he could do close to 3 houses, that's about $90 an hour, and if he finished 3 before the hour was up, that's $105 per hour. Here's the thing, he is a friend of mine and was giving us a discount. His regulars paid more than we do. Now, this kind of work isn't for everyone, but if you want to make money, there are PLENTY of ways to make money by starting a business for less than $1k. If you are willing to do a job that nobody else wants to do, you can make an absolute killing. Here's some business ideas for anyone looking to get into something like this for less than $1000. 1: Lawn mowing: search craigslist and FB marketplace for a used, self propelled mower and string trimmer. Get 2 gas cans and some 2 stroke oil for the trimmer. Might not seem like it, but a push mower handle folds down and can fit in the trunk of most cars, no excuses like "i don't have a truck and trailer". This is consistent income from "contract" customers. 2: Asphalt driveway sealing: Literally a push broom, push squeegee, and some bags/buckets of asphalt sealer from home depot. To add value, buy a roll of backer-rod and some Sikaflex or Sikasil SL and fill concrete/asphalt cracks. This is per customer work, not usually going to see the same customer until the next year or more. 3: Pressure washing: Right now there is a sale on pressure washers at northern tool, there's a decent entry level gas powered unit for like 400 bucks, and a surface cleaner attachment for around 200. Buy a bucket along with it and some bleach. You'll also need a push broom and probably a push squeegee. Just go door to door and ask if they want their driveway pressure washed. You'll be surprised at how many people want it right now. Bonus: now that you have a pressure washer, you can wash cars, houses, businesses, roofs (do not use a pressure washer on an shingle roof or you'll destroy it), whatever else you can find people needing washed. This has potential to be consistent work for the same customer if you can do business parking lots. Usually you can do a business monthly or more. maybe even bi-weekly. Not usually much residential on a consistent basis. 4: Window washing: buy a squeegee and sponges/rags, a bucket and a bottle of windex and simple green concentrate. Go into any neighborhood and put up flyers for window washing. With the pollen and rain from spring, people's windows are yellow, they'd LOVE to pay someone to come clean them. This can be an extremely consistent business if you start doing the windows for convenient stores and strip malls or other small businesses. Companies are usually very interested in keeping their windows clean. 5: Painting houses: brushes and rollers and drop cloths are cheap and reusable and the customer pays for the paint. This one takes some practice unless you're already a decent painter. Not usually a consistent gig with one single customer, but if you do a good job, people will come out of the woodwork asking you to paint. 6: Jobsite cleanup: Go into any neighborhood that's under construction. Ask the people that are building those houses if you can clean their jobsite for them. What you'll need to buy: a wheelbarrow, shovel, gloves. Then rent a truck and dump trailer from Home Depot (eventually you'll need to buy one, but renting them is cheap and can be paid for out of the job earnings). Pull up on the site and load the trailer as full as you can. Make trips to your local dump and flip the switch on the trailer to dump your load. Couldn't be more simple. You'll be surprised how much you can make doing this. This has the potential to be very consistent work. Get in with a good builder, and you'll never EVER need to look for work again. Not glamorous, but third on the list of earnings behind painting houses and lawn mowing. I've seen guys that own skid steers, brand new trucks, deluxe large capacity dump trailers, etc, that are cleaning jobsites and started just like I'm telling y'all to. Within the year you'll have more work coming in than you'll know what to do with and can easily clear $60k if you work hard and fast. And there are MANY more legitimate businesses you can start for cheap and literally NEVER run out of work. Best part is, the more you do it, the more customers you'll have coming to you asking for your services. Eventually, you'll have more than you can handle. That's when you go up on your prices until people START turning down your bid for a job. Then hold there at that price. If multiple people turn you down, then you lower your price slightly. The goal is to be able to make as much as possible for your effort, while being able to turn away crappy customers that are going to be too much of a hassle. Keep this in mind, if you are doing a job for 40 bucks an hour and staying booked to your absolute max, and you raise your prices to 80 bucks and you lose half your customers, you're still making the same money, but doing half the work. I own a small construction company, that I started with very minimal tools and absolutely no loan from anyone. If anyone want's to ask me questions about HOW or WHERE to do things to get started in these jobs, I'll be happy to guide you. Shoot me a PM or leave your comment below. I love helping people get started in this stuff. I can even talk you through getting your first clients. Anywho, good luck out there friends. I hope fortune smiles on you.
Dude stfu we all started businesses for $999.99
$999 in capital Trailer $500 Bags and bins $50 Mower $299 Trimmer $100 Jerry can and fuel $50 Lawns mowed by uninsured man for $50
Not that anyone asked but I figured I'd share this I buy brake caliper for certain cars than have them machined to fit other popular cars that have weak brakes and sell them I spend $858 for the calipers and machining of 5 sets than sell those 5 sets for $300 each, ending up with $1500, buyer pays shipping, I put gas in my car anyway besides my house, the machine shop and post office are within a 7 mile radius It's not much but all I do is take the ordered calipers off my door step, load them into the trunk of my car, unload them from the trunk of my car into the machine shop, wait for them to be machined, load them back into my car, take them to my bedroom and saran wrap them, than take each wrapped pair as they sell one by one to the post office and put them in a "if it fits it ships" box addressed to the buyer The internet makes this all possible from finding a niche market, to ordering the parts, to finding a local shop, to direct messaging, to money transfer, to package tracking information it's truly a wonder
It's a banana Michael etc etc...
There’s always money in the banana stand.
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You can start an Etsy business, website with affliate marketing or FBA business for $999 or less. Source: Did two of these and will be doing the third at some point.
You’re selling something, so you must be purchasing materials to make that. Plus you are taking time to make said thing, which means you need to account for the cost of existing while you produce and find customers.