I need to get something off my chest, and it might make you uncomfortable at first. But if you stick with me, I think it'll make you feel seen in a way most personal finance content doesn't.
There's this pervasive narrative that people who are broke stay broke because they make bad decisions. Because they're not disciplined. Because they don't want it badly enough.
And I'm here to tell you that's mostly GARBAGE.
I've been broke. Like, choosing-between-groceries-and-gas broke. And the reason I stayed there for longer than I needed to wasn't because I was lazy or dumb or bad with money.
It was because being broke is expensive. And the systems we live in are designed to keep you there.
The Poverty Tax Is Real
Let me explain what I mean by "being broke is expensive."
When you're broke, you can't buy in bulk even though it's cheaper per unit. You pay overdraft fees because you're living on the edge. You pay higher interest rates because your credit is bad (often because you were broke).
You pay late fees because you're juggling which bill to pay this week. You pay for expensive short-term solutions because you can't afford the cheaper long-term ones.
You can't buy the quality boots that last five years. You buy the cheap ones that fall apart in six months, so you end up buying boots over and over.
You can't afford the security deposit and first month's rent on a better, cheaper apartment. So you stay in the expensive month-to-month spot that eats your income.
You can't afford preventive healthcare. So small problems become big, expensive emergencies.
Every single day, you're paying extra just for the crime of not having enough money. And then people wonder why you can't "just save."
The Mental Load of Being Broke
One of the parts nobody wants to talk about: the cognitive cost.
When you're broke, part of your brain is always doing math. Always calculating. "If I buy this, can I still afford that? If this bill hits before payday, will I overdraft? If my kid needs something for school, what do I cut?"
That mental load is exhausting. And it takes up space that could be used for planning, learning, or making strategic decisions.
Studies actually show this. Financial stress literally reduces your cognitive capacity. It's not that broke people make worse decisions because they're less smart—it's that the constant stress of being broke makes it harder to make good decisions.
You're not operating at full capacity because you can't. Your brain is too busy running survival calculations.
The System Isn't Built for Escape. It Never was. Sadly.
The system is designed with trap doors.
You start building a little savings, then your car breaks down. You're one emergency away from zero, always.
You get a raise, and suddenly you make "too much" for the assistance that was helping you survive, but not enough to actually be okay without it.
You want to go back to school or learn a new skill, but you can't afford to take time off work, and you're too exhausted after your shift to study.
The pathway out requires resources—time, energy, money—that you don't have because you're broke.
It's not a personal failing. It's a structural problem.
So How Do You Actually Get Out?
I'm not going to lie to you and say it's easy. It's not. But it is possible, and it starts with rejecting the narrative that you're stuck because of something you're doing wrong.
First: Stop blaming yourself for systemic problems.
You didn't create an economy where wages haven't kept up with cost of living. You didn't design a healthcare system that bankrupts people. You didn't build a world where education costs a fortune and jobs don't pay enough.
You're doing your best in a system that's rigged. Acknowledge that.
Second: Look for the small cracks in the system.
There are programs, resources, and strategies that can help—but they're often hidden or hard to access. Community resources. Nonprofit financial counseling. Sliding scale services. Payment plans. Negotiating bills.
You shouldn't have to hunt for these things, but they exist. And using them isn't shameful, it's strategic.
Third: Focus on increasing the gap, even by a little.
You need space between what comes in and what goes out. Even $20 of breathing room changes things.
That might mean cutting something. It might mean earning more. It might mean both. But the goal isn't to make huge leaps, it's to create a crack of daylight where right now there's none.
Fourth: Protect any progress you make.
When you get that tax refund, that bonus, that gift—your first instinct might be to catch up on everything you've been behind on. I get it.
But consider putting even a piece of it somewhere safe. Because the next emergency is coming, and if you have nothing saved, you'll go backward again.
YOU'RE NOT THE PROBLEM !!
If you're broke and you feel like you're stuck in quicksand, you're not imagining it. The system is designed to keep you there.
But you're not powerless. You're just working with a much harder set of circumstances than the people writing the "just save 20% of your income" advice.
Give yourself some grace. Stop comparing your financial journey to people who started three steps ahead.
And know this: getting out of broke isn't about becoming a different person. It's about finding the tiny cracks, the small advantages, the little bits of leverage—and using them.
You're not staying broke because you're broken.
You're staying broke because the game is rigged.
But that doesn't mean you can't win.
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