There is no large grocery store in downtown LA. You either buy from a small store (with the markups!) or you get on the bus or walk until you find a Von's!

A lot of these are legitimate, going to more expensive corner stores, and laundry mats, but some are just bull crap. But being poor doesn't mean you cannot get a bank account or credit card, being irresponsible or not having legal status does.

No, that's not true. Your earnings have a lot to do with your ability to get a credit card. And a lot of banks won't let you open an account without a second ID, such as a credit card.

Sometimes being poor means that your parents don't teach you important things that many others take for granted-like how important credit is, or how careful you need to be with your bank accounts once you have them. Nobody in my family taught me those things and I really screwed up as I got older.

I made the mistake of opening a joint bank account with someone and now I have to pay 10 dollars a month to have my bank account, but I am not allowed to have checks. I seriously wish my mother had taught me to be wary of that, but she didn't teach me much after I moved out at 15.

I live paycheck to paycheck, along with many other people. I dread the day my car needs repairs, never pay the rent on time, and barely pay my electric bill. Maybe you should live like I do before you start to judge others.

Well said. That was me too for a lot of years. I finally got out from under it, you will too.

Those are all financial reasons why the poor pay more to live.

What I never see thrown around is the fact that poor people are less healthy than their middle class cousins. A litre of Pepsi is, after all, cheaper than a litre of milk.

I got a bank account with a state ID and a birth certificate. I don't own a credit card because my debit card also functions as a VISA, and I got an account while I was 18 and working part time at a pizza joint so it can't be too hard.

but water is free, and ice tea is cheaper still. ;)

Fair enough, this is why I wish schools would stress real world lessons rather that put so much focus on things that really are not relevant to your adult life.