If any of these things applies to you:

• one or more cars
• you’re overweight
• one or more televisions
• you live in house or an apartment
• you have heat in the winter
• air conditioning in the summer
• a credit card or credit account
• one or more pets
• a mobile phone
• two or more years of college

then you are neither poor nor impoverished. By the standards that the rest of the world has, all of those things are luxuries and you are, in fact, wealthy. If you have three or more, you are well-off. If you have all of them and then some, then good for you.

Look, I’ve been below that arbitrary poverty line — nearly 20 years ago. We accepted public assistance for our family, but only after much discussion and begging from extended family. There was a point in my past where I was not only jobless but also homeless and ended up squatting in a few parks and forests.

I’ve worked jobs at minimum wage and in some pretty unsafe environments. That’s the way it goes. I didn’t like it, so I worked harder and dragged myself out.

Don’t like your pay at your current job? Work harder to get noticed then negotiate a pay raise.

Don’t like the job you have now? Spend your time away from work looking for a better one.

Unhappy with the amount of debt you have? Stop incurring more debt and pay off what you’ve racked up. Would also help to understand some basics about personal finance (like “don’t spend more than you earn”)

Don’t like where you live? Find somewhere else.

You do it. Nobody can do it for you.