I went into this thinking, “hey, I’m white and poor — what’s the difference?” But now I completely get that racism is leading people to make money choices that aren’t in their best interests. As for me, I refuse to buy a new car, designer clothes or to have my nails done — but my background supports that. I honestly think Black people are far more pressured to try to maintain appearances. (I’ve seen it in certain poor whites, too. I had a relative that blew every penny he touched but never paid his bills — even a huge settlement was spent on meaningless, showy stuff immediately.) Your advice is sound for anyone of any color. I used to listen to Michelle Singletary’s “Color of Money” on NPR. She knew her stuff, too.