Am I Poor?

Sunset on our property- one of our biggest resources

Here's a fun question-- how do you decide if you're poor or not?

I'm not trying to write a Hallmark-y "you're never poor so long as you have family" post. For one thing, that post has already been done to death. If ever a dead horse has been beaten, it's that one.

No, I mean good, old-fashioned, financially poor.

At first blush, it seems like an easy question, and for some people, it's a very obvious one. If you're struggling to consistently have food on the table and/or pay the rent, water, and electric bills, chances are your financial situation isn't too great. If you're involuntarily homeless, you're likely broke. If you live in a neighborhood where there's drugs and violence, you're probably not doing well financially either.

Those are instances where poverty is usually pretty cut and dry.

But from then on out, the question starts to get a little murkier. Many people seem to think that poverty goes beyond those basic needs, but no one can really define it. Even some of the 'basics' aren't considered necessary to some people. There are people who happily and voluntarily live without electricity, plumbing, or a permanent physical address. Some of them even have significant money in the bank.

So what defines being poor? It doesn't seem to be a question purely of money, or even of whether or not you have a stable living arrangement (for example, no one seems to think Harvard students are in real poverty, even though they aren't homeowners, often depend on the goodwill of their parents, and regularly enter more and more into debt). 

I think the answer lies in the resources that you have access to, or stand to have access to, of which money is only one of many. Useful resources can be anything from the education you have to past experience with jobs you've worked, to land that you own or have access to, to goods or items that you have a dependable source of, or even things that you normally throw out in the trash.

 A very valuable resource is the pool of knowledge that you have about how to best utilize other resources, including money.

When you shift the focus from a purely monetary understanding of poverty to a resource based one, it suddenly opens up new possibilities. It also helps clarify why those in true poverty are so often stuck there. It's not only that they don't have money, it's that they don't have other resources at their disposal either (including the knowledge of what to do with money once they get it-- many lottery winners eventually end up back where they started). If we want to help the poor, we need to make more resources and education available to them-- not just money. 

So the answer to financial strain isn't so much generating more income (though in some situations it might be needed) as it is acquiring more resources or learning to better utilize the resources you already have at your disposal. It's more freeing to look at your situation that way-- even if you can't make more money, there may be another resource you can find more of or make better use of. There still may be something that you can do to better your situation, or just to make life a little more interesting.

For example--

- A pile of leftover roof tin and old scrap lumber can be a resource for making a doghouse or a chicken coop.

- Orange peels are a resource for making a cheap all-purpose household cleaner (just soak in vinegar).

- A library is a fantastic resource for learning any number of new skills and ways to better utilize other resources. (Along with the internet, I'd even go so far as to call it a meta resource).

- A sunny yard, or even a balcony, is a resource for growing your own food.

- A few basic handyman skills are a resource towards being able to maintain your home without hiring someone to fix basic problems.

-Knowing how to play an instrument is a resource you can use for entertainment or quality time with those around you.

Resources are anything that you can put to use for the good of your household or your family. Money is just one resource among many-- one of the easiest to use, but only one resource. When you learn to use the other resources around you, you put less strain on your financial resources, and free them up to go further, or to do more than they did previously.

My family has the resources to by and large live the type of life we want to live. We've learned to use resources in sometimes unusual ways, and there are opportunities we miss because our financial resources are often limited, but I would never say that we're poor. We have our needs met, and we're living where we want to live, near who we want to live near by, and we're able to take on most of the projects that we want to. We're even able to save for the future. We're happy, and life is full.

I'm a firm believer that learning to notice and utilize the less obvious resources in your life can help free you up to better live the life you want to live.

Even if you look a little strange while you're doing it.