Citations are of course needed, since I find the idea that most poor families have this pot of money anyone in the household can loot kind of bizarre. In the end, can you really blame a poor person for spending $3 on gatorade instead of water? That $2 price difference might amount to 0.1% of their monthly rent. You probably feel a lot happier at the end of the month eating a variety of things versus rice beans and water day in and out until you die, and the overall financial outcomes would probably be the exact same since no one is getting out of poverty through cutting out snacks and tasty things. They get out when their job changes and they are paid substantially more than the difference between buying a sandwich and making your own would be.