The High Cost of Being Poor

Now let’s scale this up. Cars. In many places, having a car isn’t

optional. It’s the gateway to employment. A financially stable person buys a reliable

used car. Maybe a few years old. Reasonable mileage. Low interest rate.

That car runs for years with basic maintenance. Someone without savings and with

damaged credit ends up at a buy-here-pay-here lot. They’re sold a car worth four thousand

dollars for double that amount. The interest rate is predatory. The payments stretch

on forever. By the time the loan is paid off, they’ve spent fifteen thousand dollars

on a vehicle that barely survived the term. And when it breaks down,