ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Mental Mindsets: Broke vs. Poor

Updated on March 20, 2013
WebIWeave profile image

I grew up in a small community in Northwest Arkansas. My life is a busy balance of family and friends, work and play, good times and bad.

A mindset is a way of thinking.

You are probably thinking to yourself – what is the difference?  Broke or poor . . . either way, you are still out of money.  Most people have had to tighten their budgets during the rough times that the economy has had in recent years.  Just about everyone is living paycheck to paycheck and most of us have found ourselves out of money between paydays.    The difference is how you view your situation and how you deal with the situation.  

All Gone . . .

The Broke Mindset

A person with a broke mentality is able to pay their bills on time but may not have much money left over after the bills are paid.  This person is actually quite smart when it comes to budgeting their money.  This person will figure out which bills need to be paid with certain paychecks so that each bill is paid on time and they may have a little extra money left over for fun stuff.  The person with a broke mentality realizes that they may not have the money to buy a certain item with the current paycheck, but they will get it with the next paycheck.  Times may be rough at the moment but they will get better.  This type of person may complain every once in a while about how tough they are having it, but overall they keep a fairly positive attitude and they are willing to work toward a better future.

Poor You . . .

The Poor Mindset

A person with the poor mentality is also living paycheck to paycheck.  This is the type of person who loudly complains about not having money for the fun stuff.   A person with a poor mentality will complain about not making enough money at their job but they are not willing to look for a better job or take on a second job in order to live the lifestyle that they want. 

This person may claim to be living on a budget, but they tend to be impulsive when they go shopping.  The person will a poor mentality has been known to spend a large amount of money on stuff like toys for the kids, movies, music, alcohol, drugs, or junk food.  A person with the poor mentality may or may not pay their bills on time.  If the person over spends on stuff that is not necessary, then a bill or two will have to wait until the next paycheck . . . which means a bill or two that should have been paid with that next paycheck will have to wait until the next paycheck. 

This is a vicious cycle to get into because you will be adding late charges onto the bills that you already are having a hard time paying.  If you are late paying a bill for a couple months in a row, the company is likely to start adding more deposit fees to each month’s bill to ensure that they will get some money out of you to cover your last bills if you decide to try to skip out on the bills.    It is common for the person with the poor mentality to find places to rent where the utilities are covered with the rent.  

Change Your Mindset!

The Conclusion

The true difference in the broke mindset and the poor mindset is having a positive or negative attitude. The negative attitude of the poor mindset is stuck in the rut of “I ain’t got enough money” and “never will have anything”, whereas the positive attitude of the broke mindset is “I may not have enough right now but I will have soon”.

While it is a good idea to stick with a budget or at least spend your money wisely, having a positive attitude is the key to getting ahead. It is possible to change your mindset, but it does take hard work and a willingness to change.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)