The poor are punished twice over for being poor. The first (and most obvious) way is that they do not have enough money to acquire the consumer goods that make life easier and confer social status. The poor can't afford "nice things"; that much is implied in the very definition of poverty.

But there is a subtler way in which the poor suffer. Those without a lot of money tend to pay more for necessities, too. Some examples:

• The poor are always on the losing end of the law of economies of scale: they frequently buy small amounts of everything, because they can't save up to buy more at once. Since smaller packages cost more per unit than larger packages, the poor hemorrhage money with every single grocery bill.
• Someone who cannot afford to buy a home will need to pay rent, preventing herself from building up equity. Someone who never has enough cash on hand to pay even a low monthly rent may be forced to find a landlord who accepts weekly payments, which of course adds up to much more in the long run.
• People who cannot afford cars or who can't pay for gas are restricted to shopping in the areas near their homes. Practically, this often means buying overpriced, packaged food from convenience stores rather than fresh food from grocery stores. And of course bus tickets cost more per trip than expensive monthly passes.
• Since they do not have a cushion to protect them from emergencies and sudden expenditures, the poor have to borrow more often, and thus much of their already-limited money is spent on interest payments. On top of that, the poor find borrowing money difficult and expensive. When they do default, they are hit with punitive fees.

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