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Money
Why ‘Don’t Spend Money You Don’t Have’ Is Dumb Advice
It’s something only privileged people say
Published in
6 min readApr 24, 2023
Most financial advice is dumb. Occasionally some of it is helpful. But plenty of it is harmful, and “Don’t spend money you don’t have” is the worst.
- Yes, I know I’m spurting blood. It’s fine. I’m saving up until I can afford to get stitches.
- There’s no heat in the house, and the baby is crying, but I’m not getting the furnace repaired until I can hand over cash for it. If the baby is so darned concerned about the subzero temps, she can pay for the furnace herself.
- I’m broke and payday isn’t for three more days. So yeah, I’m hungry, but I’m not going into debt for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.
- I didn’t budget for a tree branch to land on my roof. Sucks that rain is pouring into my living room, but I’m saving up. If I get some overtime this week, I’ll probably have enough for a tarp by the weekend.
Sometimes, you need to spend money whether you have it or not.
I’ve said it before: I’ve never in my life been short on money because I blew more than I could afford on a stupid luxury. Never.