> For instance, you meet someone who is chronically broke. At first, you empathize and see them as more or less a victim of misfortune. Unseen car repair bills, job losses, etc. But if it's someone you follow over years and get to know, you begin to realize a lot of their problems are self inflicted. For instance, they may get a new job with a big pay raise. But they just adjust their spending up. Some windfall that could turn things around becomes a vacation. And so on.

AND, they are enabled and pushed into this mentality by other, also-not-very-financially-savvy people in their lives. When that once in a lifetime $1,000 windfall comes in, everyone around them tells them "Come on, blow it on a vacation! You shouldn't deny yourself a little luxury if it makes you feel good! You can't just eat ramen every day, here's your chance to live a little!" and suddenly they're back where they started, pre-windfall.

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7speter 2 days ago | parent [-]

1000 dollars for a vacation?

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Brian_K_White 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

It is stupid to fixate on the specific number $1000.

It's just a placeholder for wharever number makes sense in the clearly expressed context. Either substitute $5000 or $10000, or substitute whatever location or demographic you imagined (since none was specified) for some other location or demographic. You can't start in the US and vacation in Venice for $1000, but you absolutely can vacation somewhere else and/or somehow else.

Or, just pretend they said whatever other number you like, because the specific amount was not material to the point they were expressing.

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Jensson 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Covers train tickets and hotel for a week if you don't choose an expensive hotel. For a poor person that is much better than nothing.

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firesteelrain 2 days ago | parent [-]

I just went on business travel with the lowest possible fare and it was more than $1k. Stayed in a cheap hotel too.

And that included zero activities

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IAmBroom 2 days ago | parent [-]

I just went on vacation for two weeks, and it cost me about $100 in gas.

Anecdotes are fun!

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firesteelrain 2 days ago | parent [-]

What is your point? Please add value to the conversation instead of snark

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AnimalMuppet 2 days ago | parent [-]

I thought that the point was quite obvious. Are you sure you're not deliberately trying not to see it? Because if so, re-read your own last sentence.

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firesteelrain a day ago | parent [-]

No it’s not obvious. I was pointing out that it’s not cheap to go on vacation. I think you are the one missing the point. Several points up GP says “1000 to go on vacation?”

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AnimalMuppet a day ago | parent [-]

The conversation was about the expense of going on vacation. You then said that you went on a business trip (not vacation), and that the cheapest fare plus a cheap hotel was more than $1000. They replied that they went on vacation (more relevant than business travel) for $100. That is, they supplied a counter-data-point to your data point.

Then they pointed out that both your data point and theirs were anecdotes (I guess that's what a single data point is), rather than actual data.

So their point was that they have experience that contradicts yours, and that neither their experience nor yours does anything to advance the conversation, because they're both just anecdotes.

As I said, I thought that was very obvious from their post.

So, we're back at Jensson's post from a day ago, with both you and IAmBroom having supplied contradictory anecdotes, and neither having supplied any data. So, do you want to add some data?

	▲	ryandrake 13 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Actually, the conversation was more generally about the mentality of chronically broke people, but as often happens on HN, one reply fixated on a single word (or number in this case), lost the forest for the trees, and derailed the whole topic.
	▲	firesteelrain a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I get that anecdotes aren’t data, but the way it was phrased came off a bit snarky. I’m happy to share my experience without turning this into a debate.

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margalabargala 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I honestly am not sure whether you think $1000 is way too much or way too little for a vacation, and am curious which you thought.

	▲	2 days ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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MisterTea 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It's an example not to be taken literally.