Overcoming Poverty

Poverty is often defined as a shortage of finances that are otherwise necessary to uphold a comfortable lifestyle. Overcoming poverty requires improvement to multiple aspects of your financial and personal well being through a handful of methods.

The first thing you should do to overcome poverty is to avoid bad spending habits. Take responsibility for cutting bad spending habits from your life that would otherwise contribute to poverty. This can include excessive dining out or a large and unnecessary cell phone and television plan. Unnecessary spending means spending money on things that you do not need. You should also avoid buying things at full price which you would find at a discount in thrift stores or with coupons or on sale. Betting on lottery tickets should also be thwarted. Studies indicate that the poor will spend twice as much money on lottery tickets as those who are above the poverty line because they are attempting to change their circumstances via chance. Statically this bet rarely pays off.

Take advantage of government welfare programs. Welfare programs of this type are a great stepping stone to overcoming the issue of poverty. The funds can be used t help advance your financial situation while offsetting your own living expenses. The application can be done through local, state, and national government offices and will help pay for things like rent and utility, loans and grants for education, food, and healthcare.

Increase your income. Ending poverty is going to require you to have a steady stream of money coming in that will allow you to save for and invest in the future as well as cover your current monthly financial obligations. You can use some of the following strategies to try and increase your income in this way:

Advancement of job. Ask for a raise at the job you currently have or try to get a better paying position at your current level of employment. Get a second job. Take a part time job during your free time. This can help you with temporary means to overcome poverty while you try and get a more permanent and full time gig. Find some side work. If you have some kind of skill or talent, you can probably use it to generate some kind of income to get out of poverty. You could babysit, cook meals for people, clean houses, mow peoples lawns, or even do painting or handyman services for some extra money. Find some alternatives to occupational income. Sell some of your items at a yard sale, maybe list some items that you have to sell on auction websites like Ebay. Donate blood or participate in medical research. These are all ways to increase your outside-work income.