When I had absolutely no money in a strange city and only a broken down car, I got two waiting jobs and slept in the car for a week until I had $300 in tips and could move into a rooming house. I spent almost no money until I had enough to fell slightly comfortable.

People in this part of Baltimore seem to have the philosophy "spend it if you have it." With that guiding principle, they are bound to be constantly broke no matter how much is coming in.

I have a handyman from Guatemala (legal resident) who is single and in his 50s. I like and respect him. He is a trained electrician, honest, and does good work most of the time. I pay him $15/hour cash. He recently worked over a week on a big project and I paid him $700 at once. Two days later, he needs more money because that's gone. He called me once at 8AM on a Sunday and asked for half a days' pay. He said he was at a bar and had met a really beautiful woman. I assume she was a prostitute and he was still there from the previous night. I understand he does not have a high salary, but whatever he does have is gone almost immediately.

This kind of thing seems crazy to me. It's not universal, but it's very, very widespread, and any approach to poverty or working class has to take it into account.

My grandfather owned a fence and ironwork company and had the same issue with his employees -- they would get paid on Friday, drink all weekend and ask for an advance on Monday. He hated to turn them down because some of these men had families. His solution was to change payday to Tuesday -- that made it more likely that the money would be used for food and rent.