05/10/2026
Someone earning $2,750 a month shouldn't have to feel guilty about spending $12 on Hulu.
Rent: $1,350
Groceries: $420
Utilities: $240
Car payment or transit: $280
Insurance: $180
That's $2,470 spent. They have $280 left for everything else — phone bill, gas if they drive, clothing, medical copays, toiletries, literally everything.
Then they want one small thing — a streaming service, a coffee, a book — and everyone's suddenly a financial expert lecturing them about discipline.
The $12 isn't the problem. The problem is $1,350 rent on a $2,750 income. The problem is $420 groceries for one person. The problem is that working full-time leaves you $280 away from disaster.
You don't fix that by eliminating someone's one small pleasure.
You fix it by making housing affordable, paying people enough to actually live, and acknowledging that poor people deserve the same small joys everyone else gets..