I grew up around a lot of poor people and I saw much of the same.
I wish this article broke down the "food" and "clothing" categories into the specific products they are purchasing.
A little anecdata:
These families would buy brand-name sneakers and jeans for their kids, whichever brand was popular that year, whereas I was on year two of home-sewn or no-brand cheap jeans. I'd go visit friends and see boxes of brand-name Lucky Charms, Apple Jacks, etc, and be envious versus the bulk oatmeal I choked down every morning. Their mothers were getting their "nails did" regularly whilst mine had perpetual dishwater hands.
My parents didn't make much money, but they knew how to spend it wisely. Other poor families, not so much.
Another anecdata:
My father-in-law grew up absolutely dirt poor (far far worse than my parents), but did reasonably well for himself over time. He still has significant debt and inability to manage his money because he has to buy luxury goods regularly as some sort of compensatory mechanism to ensure that other people would never see him to be poor.
At the end of the day, when I look at poor people's spending habits, I see the same thing you do: they are hooked on unnecessary spending. I suspect there is something in the human psyche that makes poor people try to compensate for it by spending to not appear poor, thus exacerbating the cycle.
Consider that some of those appearances aren't just for social circles but for job status. As someone in startup software (now remote!) my wardrobe choices are far broader than someone working in service who may be expected to wear and use the products they're selling.
I wish this article broke down the "food" and "clothing" categories into the specific products they are purchasing.
A little anecdata:
These families would buy brand-name sneakers and jeans for their kids, whichever brand was popular that year, whereas I was on year two of home-sewn or no-brand cheap jeans. I'd go visit friends and see boxes of brand-name Lucky Charms, Apple Jacks, etc, and be envious versus the bulk oatmeal I choked down every morning. Their mothers were getting their "nails did" regularly whilst mine had perpetual dishwater hands.
My parents didn't make much money, but they knew how to spend it wisely. Other poor families, not so much.
Another anecdata:
My father-in-law grew up absolutely dirt poor (far far worse than my parents), but did reasonably well for himself over time. He still has significant debt and inability to manage his money because he has to buy luxury goods regularly as some sort of compensatory mechanism to ensure that other people would never see him to be poor.
At the end of the day, when I look at poor people's spending habits, I see the same thing you do: they are hooked on unnecessary spending. I suspect there is something in the human psyche that makes poor people try to compensate for it by spending to not appear poor, thus exacerbating the cycle.
It's a largely self-inflicted problem.