>But what is always overlooked, is that the poor man doesn't have the flexibility of spending to afford to invest better quality purchases, because the money needs to be applied to other problems in their lives.

You are overlooking debt / credit.

This is a fun "boots theory" bit from Terry Pratchets discworld. I don't know where it started but discworld is where I first read it described this way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

> wealth inequality has gotten so out of hand that people are forced to buy the cheaper products.

Other people having more money does not result in higher prices for the rest, i.e. it does not cause inflation.

For example, when I was a boy steak was a rare luxury. Today, a steak dinner costs less than a TV dinner or a bag of Doritos.

This might be true once in the past but even the "quality" brands are garbage today. It's all being made from the same factories with the same materials, with the same business magnates forcing worse quality at higher costs.

idk if this is useful info but at least in my case i tend towards cheaper items because

1. i dont want to worry about them getting damaged or lost or stolen

2. my preferences will likely change in a couple years

3. i may not want the item as much as i think i do

i've owned a very expensive watch (many thousands of dollars) and i find myself almost never wearing it, both bc the style isnt exactly what im into these days, but i also worry about banging it on anything or the smallest scratches. it's nice to wear a cheaper watch (only a few hundred dollars in value) and just sort of not care about it.

i've had my handful of "buy it for life" purchases and i'm struggling to think of literally any item like that i've purchased that i still use

"It's expensive af to be poor" - unknown source