As a counter to this, I highly recommend Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714275/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
The summary, from Amazon:
Adam Shepard graduated from college feeling disillusioned by the apathy around him and was then incensed after reading Barbara Ehrenreich's famous work Nickel and Dimed—a book that gave him a feeling of hopelessness about the working class in America. He set out to disprove Ehrenreich's theory—the notion that those who start at the bottom stay at the bottom—by making something out of nothing to achieve the American Dream.
Shepard's plan was simple. With a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back, and $25 in cash, and restricted from using his contacts or college education, he headed out for Charleston, South Carolina, a randomly selected city with one objective: to work his way out of homelessness and into a life that would give him the opportunity for success. His goal was to have, after one year, $2,500, a working automobile, and a furnished apartment.
Its been a while since I've read Ehrenreich's book but am curious - which decisions of hers did you find irrational?
I will say that a fundamental flaw in Nickel and Dimed, (and most likely in Shepard's book as well) - is that she ultimately had a choice. Many people in these situations have no choice. Many of them have children. Many of them have no college education to fall back on. I count myself among the lucky.
which decisions of hers did you find irrational?
As someone who lives on about $750/month [1], both the game and the book seemed not to notice major ways to save money like having a lot of housemates, commuting by bus, combining proteins, and thrift stores.
Being poor definitely sucks, but the book and game imply it is impossible, which it clearly is not.
[1] this doesn't include taxes and health insurance, which are deducted from my paycheque, but if I were making only $750/month I would have free health care from MA and negative taxes (EITC)
This saves money, but it's actually pretty small compared to other ways to be more frugal. So I probably shouldn't have brought it up.
He makes the point that knowing he could quit at any time (and carrying an emergency credit card, never used) would be a disincentive to working hard. If he did not have a safety net, he would probably work harder. Instead, he takes many hard day-labor jobs.
In less than 10 months, he moves from a homeless shelter in a town where he knows no one to an apartment with one roommate. He goes from $25 to owning his own truck and savings of almost $5000.
If he did the same but tutoring a small group of randomly chosen people from the jobless line who were nonetheless motivated to achieve then I think he'd be on to something.
Now just to find some way to buy the book ...
Library.