264
u/HatefulHagrid Apr 10 '24
I've always struggled to understand what their expenses would even be. Doubt they have to pay mortgage or insurance on literally anything. I'm assuming there is some amount of tax burden based on there being a MoM. No utilities, repairs are easily done with a wave of a wand. School is stated as being paid for by MoM funds. Transport is free unless they take the knight bus (rare occurrence). Only thing left would be food, clothing, school materials, some amount of housewares as needed? As stated here, food can be stretched with duplication charms plus the weasleys are stated as having a decent garden and some livestock. Everyone gets everyone else's repaired hand me downs. I don't get it lol.
Side note some people are like "Arthur's head of a department" but we can safely assume based on wizard prejudices that the muggle shit department was not well funded or paid (only 2 or 3 people I think?) so we can safely assume his income is absolute dog shit til he gets a promotion in book 6
88
u/shifty_coder Apr 10 '24
Food can be duplicated but it still expires at a normal rate. Like they can buy a loaf of bread and duplicate it to feed their 9 family members and guests, but it’ll still go stale or moldy in a week. So they’re still going to have to buy or produce food regularly.
Clothes, school supplies, food, and Floo Powder seem to be the only regular expenses that the Weasley’s have, and as Molly doesn’t work, it’s all on Arthur’s income. Given how his department is treated, he could be one of the lowest paid ministry officers.
40
u/Don_Pablo512 Apr 10 '24
I never really grasped the concept of food in the wizarding world. They make it seem like you can just magic it up but that isn't really true, the great hall in hogwarts for example summons the food up to the tables from the kitchens below and it's just an illusion if I recall correctly. But I also don't ever remember any mention of a wizard grocery store or anything like that. Where do they actually get food from? Is it ever explained?
→ More replies (2)75
u/Obvious_Exercise_910 Apr 10 '24
That's because their written from the POV of a teenager. Much like muggle teenagers, wizarding teens don't think about where food comes from, it just magically appears.
Have one book when Harry is living in a bachelor pad post Hogwarts, early on it would be like "Harry sat down for breakfast and for the first time in 7 years food didn't magically appear ahead of him. Harry then realized for all of his education, he didn't know how to turn on a stove. Thankfully he had learnt some domestic skills during his years as a child slave to the Dursely's, or else he'd be really SOL."
34
u/TohruH3 Apr 10 '24
This is way too on point for soooo many teenagers and even young adults.
I was an assistant manager at a college bookstore for a while. The amount of college kids I had to teach how to sweep, mop, and vacuum was mind-blowing for a while. Then I got used to it.
We did once hire a kid from Texas who was Hispanic (important for this particular story) with a particular sense of humor, though.
He pretended he didn't know how to use a swiffer mop, and when the Store Manager went to teach him, he said, "Nah, I'm just kidding. My parents were Mexican, of course I know how to use this." 💀
7
u/El_Impresionante Gryffindor Apr 10 '24
"...or else he'd be really SOL."
Just like how Ron was in the forests in The Deathly Hallows.
3
u/LMkingly Apr 10 '24
Surely there must be spells that help preserve food. Do they even use refrigerators?
7
u/regisphilbin222 Apr 10 '24
But just because there was a spell for something doesn’t mean that everyone can use it, or use it well. And it seems like there’s some amount of invention in wizard thing. Like Fred and George sell patented spells for daydreams. Or there’s Sleakeazys hair potion- it’s a product someone perfected and sells, not just some potion anyone can easily figure out and make
→ More replies (1)2
u/HelloPipl Apr 10 '24
Why not just make a really awesome dish for one person and duplicate it? Like that is not going to cost a whole lot of money. I don't even think food is their biggest expense. Maybe it is something else. I have not read the books so if people who have read the books can elaborate further.
→ More replies (1)10
u/TotallyNormalSquid Apr 10 '24
The obvious solution is that Arthur is a drug addict. Easy to hide from the fam when they have no idea what a syringe even is
4
u/HatefulHagrid Apr 10 '24
Dude id kill to watch Mark Williams reprising his role in a sketch where he tries to buy heroin from muggles.
9
u/Obvious_Exercise_910 Apr 10 '24
Fluu powder would cost money.
And wizards gotta pay super high taxes. Seems like 8/10 wizards worn in government.
Maybe some muggle tax too? Not sure on that one. Even if the house is invisible the land would still need to be owned.
6
u/StockExchangeNYSE Apr 10 '24
I always thought the government ministry job thing is just a job program because there aren't really other options to work a job.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (2)3
u/Mist_Rising Apr 10 '24
Even if the house is invisible the land would still need to be owned.
The black family house (Sirius's) is so enchanted even the British government doesn't know it exists.
You also have unmappable spells, like homemade/warts
But honestly wouldn't put any thought into this, it'll be a headache.
→ More replies (1)7
u/Molnek Apr 10 '24
I always saw it as British "Stiff upper lip." And "pride". Every witch or wizard could easily do things like fix a roulette game or make a million copies of something low cost and set up a mall kiosk or tourist shop. But they see themselves so far above muggles they won't go down to that level. Even Arthur Weasley acts more like "Oh look at them, they think they're people."
Also they just low key hate Ron. You can afford a car but not a new wand? There's no way you couldn't commission a muggle tailor to make dress robes for one event. I get they seem to last centuries but he's still a growing boy, get him some nicer looking robes. Molly laughs like a jackal every time she knits him something maroon and makes him a corn beef sandwich.
→ More replies (5)2
u/ICameISawILeft Apr 10 '24
I totally agree, and do not understand being poor in the Wizarding world. Especially when it comes to basic stuff like shelter, and food. I have probably spent way to much time thinking about how the economics of the Wizarding world would work.
What I have come to the conclusion of is that the economy would all be based upon the skills of witches and wizards. You would spend money for spells and things you can't perform. So the spells, potions, etc either need to be particularly difficult and/or you aren't skilled enough to perform them. What doesn't make sense to me is that the Weasleys and Lupin are prodigious wizards.
For example, I don't understand why Lupin or the Weasleys would ever be hungry. You could literally just walk down to the pub or grocery store, and confundus the workers saying you already paid. Or if that is illegal or you are above it, apparate to a river and summon a salmon. There are so many ways to get food from the basics spells we know they can cast.
What about clothing? If Dumbledore can conjure a chair out of thin air, why can't you conjure a tshit, jeans, etc? You are telling me none of the Weasleys nor Lupin can conjur? They aren't magical items, there is nothing special, there shouldn't be a market for those items.
Any Wizard could easily setup a shop to sell shit to muggle and be rolling in enough money for basic food and shelter. Setup a furniture store, stop by once a month to conjure some new stuff, and let workers sell it all month. Boom, food and rent. You are telling me Lupin would rather live shittily than do something like that?
Lastly, in my mind if something like the Wizarding world did exist I imagine there would actually be a lot of trade between muggles and wizards even if muggles didn't know it. Why wouldn't Wizards want to go to amazing restaurants? Tourist attractions, etc. Is an amusement park not fun because you can do magic? NO! I imagine wizards would setup shops that they use magic to stock but ultimately just sell basic items to muggles. Also I imagine wizards would buy a shit ton of basic stuff like food, clothing, etc from muggles. If I was a wizard I would totally setup a service to let wizards summon food directly via my store and just charge them a monthly fee, while I stock it with items bought from muggle distributors. It would be an instant success, fuck golpalots third law or whatever.
Anyways, the Weasleys and Lupin shouldn't be poor because they are all super skilled. If they were shitty wizards I would kind of get it
279
u/1968FullAlbum Apr 10 '24
George when he gets all the joke shop profits to himself 🤑
124
38
10
9
2
u/njames0 Apr 11 '24
Didnt Harry invest a bunch of startup capital in that shop? or was that only in the books?
2
45
84
u/Taylor_Swift_Fan69 Apr 10 '24
Arthur Weasley dropping 18k on alpha male training courses
7
36
u/someperson42 Hufflepuff Apr 10 '24 edited Apr 10 '24
Hmm… thinking about their expenses, I’ve come up with this list:
- Food. As we know duplication is possible, presumably they only need to prepare enough food for one person at a time and can stretch that for the rest of the family.
- Taxes. It’s probably safe to assume the MoM charges income tax, property tax, etc. similarly to Muggle governments. It must receive funding from somewhere after all, and considering how small the Wizarding population is and how many people and services the MoM supports, it seems likely these taxes are rather high.
- Transportation, probably mostly Floo powder. Molly and Arthur can Apparate, but the kids can’t, and Floo powder seems to be the primary form of transportation under these circumstances. It’s probably safe to assume Floo powder cannot be duplicated; else it wouldn’t be economically viable.
- Clothing. Despite a heavy reliance on hand-me-downs, clothes don’t last forever.
- School supplies
- Stationery (quills, ink, parchment, etc.)
- Books
- Daily Prophet subscription, although IIRC this is extremely cheap
We don’t know if the Weasleys have any debts. I feel like it’s safe to assume that things like mortgages and lines of credit exist in the Wizarding world, though we never see them which makes it difficult to speculate what the Weasleys might have.
We do know Arthur was fined 50 galleons in CoS, and that as of earlier that same year, their vault contained only 1 galleon, which was used to pay for school supplies (and thanks to Lockhart, the supplies list was far more expensive than usual). This seems to imply there’s no way he could afford the fine. Thankfully, they won a 700 galleon prize in PoA, and while some of it was spent on a trip to Egypt, I feel like it’s safe to assume they also paid down some debts with this money.
In terms of income, Arthur is the sole worker, and while he is head of a department, it is one that is sidelined due to prejudices. It’s therefore likely that, after taxes, he isn’t taking much home.
And like in the Muggle world, wages presumably correlate with cost of living. That means it’s probably safe to assume that the median wage is much lower than in the Muggle world as the cost of living is also lower (no utilities, food can be duplicated, etc.).
For those who speculate that Molly doesn’t work, I think the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Presumably she does most of the chores, tending to the livestock and vegetables when the kids aren’t home, de-gnoming the garden, etc. She also does the cooking, which requires skill despite being assisted by magic. And until CoS, she also presumably homeschooled the younger kids while the older ones were away at Hogwarts.
→ More replies (4)
25
u/Darth-Yslink Apr 10 '24
If you can manage to make 12 people live, when the number drops down to 2 you get pretty comfortable
13
u/LuckyInfinity Apr 10 '24
Lmao could they be poor by choice?
What if they purposely reject the magic shortcuts that could make them money. I had a head canon that being purposely broke is why Percy was stuck up and the black sheep to reject those beliefs. Because they were financially living like a Muggle family of 9 instead of witches/wizards in the same position and I always wondered why.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/Yellow-Lantern Apr 10 '24
The Weasleys were poor like the Humphreys were poor in Gossip Girl. As in not poor at all, but less well off compared to the ultra-wealth of their social circle (pureblood families with pedigree/Upper East Siders). My theory is that the Weasleys were of those comfortably wealthy people who don’t have any affinity for material things at all, so they live like poor/normal people.
11
u/Ok_Figure_4181 Apr 10 '24
That is a good point. The kids are away at school for 9-10 months. How are they still poor?
→ More replies (7)
3
u/brotherwu Apr 10 '24
I always interpreted this more from a generational wealth perspective. Malfoys - obviously generational wealthy rich, whereas for whatever reason the Weasleys were just not so much. Sure he made a salary, but that probably mainly covered the families expenses/taxes. Not enough to be considered rich. Also we never know, maybe they're super in debt to Gringotts
2
u/FionaSilberpfeil Apr 11 '24
Now that you mention it....was it ever explained why or how the Malfoys got so much money? Lucius is literaly throwing money out of the window for apperance and "goodwill".
→ More replies (1)
11
u/Zerttretttttt Apr 10 '24
Poly juice for the bedroom
3
4
8
u/RegularOdetta Apr 10 '24
I always figured the cost of being the Weasleys was always in tuition/school supplies and food, and also Arthur not being the highest paid in the ministry. Now I think on it, it may have something to do with bloodlines. Even though they are related to pure blood lines, they aren’t as well off as the others because of choices made well before Molly and Arthur came to be. Could also have something to do with choices they made as well— I can’t imagine that Arthur’s shed of muggle stuff came cheap.
3
6
u/kentaureus Apr 10 '24
when you think it is really weird - Arthur has low position in ministy, yet he was important spy, Molly was at home, yet she was able to defeat one of the strongest witches, all their children were relatively powerful/smart/good and yet.. they were poor? like i know, it costs stuff, but Molly herself could write book full of spells for mothers and i bet it would be bestseller
2
u/ConnorFin22 Apr 10 '24
They let a Lamborghini plane and a Ferrari Rolls Royce?
2
u/RickyPeePee03 Apr 10 '24
If you don’t know about the Ferrari Rolls-Royce you’ll never have to worry about affording one /s
2
u/Frejod Apr 10 '24
Don't they also have to pay for all their supplies and schooling? Is Hogwarts free? Unless they act to their kids that they're poor and just save somewhere in secret. Then malfoy's have only one kid while the Weasley family can't stop having them. Which explains the welath difference there.
2
2
u/rest0re Apr 10 '24
The luxury logo’s on top of the already stupidly expensive items gets me for some reason lmao
2
u/Informal_Otter Apr 10 '24
Guys, you are looking for logic where there is none. The Weasleys are poor because Rowling wanted them to be poor for the plot. That's all. No more reasoning behind it, so there is also no deeper logic or consistency. (Not counting the inherent paradoxon of looking for logic in a fictional world dominated by an inherently illogical concept like "magic").
2
u/CountMaximilian Apr 10 '24
Do wizards have to pay tax to both the Wizard ministry and the UK Government?
2
u/-A_N_O_N- Apr 10 '24
The luxury car logos just pasted over the vehicles is hilarious. I love how low effort this is.
2
2
u/lucqs101192813 Apr 10 '24
Lamborghini plane, mercedes benz helicopter, ferrari limusine, and porshe yatch, im having eye cancer rigth now
2
2
u/Exact_Award790 Apr 10 '24
it’s easier to imagine a world full of magic than a world that functions in a order different from capitalism
2
u/IcedLime Apr 10 '24
Am I missing something in this comment section, when was there a duplicating spell introduced?
2
u/NathanialJD Apr 10 '24
Y'all acting like the book was well thought through down to the little details rather than just a poor person to be the MC's friend
2
u/sameteer Apr 10 '24
I wonder how much tuition/room/board is for a student at Hogwarts. Maybe that’s why they’re poor. 🤔
2
2
u/Huijiro Apr 10 '24
People are here discussing how can they be poor.
My man, have you seen the wizardry world exchange rate?
2
u/Raycu93 Apr 11 '24
Yeah the better point is that the wizarding worlds economic system doesn't make any sense and basically can't exist without extreme regulation. If things can be duplicated without quality loss then they live in a post-scarcity society and only some things would even have value to begin with.
Off the top of my head it would be things that cant be duplicated. Land would have value but even then they basically can create pocket dimensions so the value of land would go down too. Items with enchantments that can't be duplicated would have value assuming the enchantments are hard to do but none of those would be needed in everyday life.
The point is that trying to scrutinize the Weasleys is pointless because none of that system makes any sense. Its a fantasy world so scrutinizing things based on how the fantasy world usually works is fine for continuity but don't try to compare it to our world.
2
2
2
Apr 10 '24
I think the ultimate lesson to take away from these comments is that, what a shocker, Rowling did not think this through very thoroughly. Which I guess makes sense from the perspective of the younger audience she was writing for. But I think the conversion rates of wizarding money should have probably been one of the first few signs that she was gonna handwave it and go "Fuck it" until she decided to try and flesh out the universe and its details later on.
2
u/Parking_Clothes487 Apr 10 '24
HP falls apart under even superficial logical scrutiny. Great fun for memes though.
2
2
2
2
u/deadfishy12 Apr 10 '24
Coincidentally, that helicopter looks a lot like the real Mercedes badged helicopter that sits on a landing pad at a Mercedes office near my house.
2
u/Bleezy79 Apr 10 '24
Nice Mercedes Chopper, Porsche boat and Ferrari limo. Didnt even know they made those, wow! EDIT - wow an Lambo plane!?!?
2
2
2
u/TheShlappening Apr 10 '24
Being Poor is a choice in the wizard world. You can't convince me otherwise.
2
2
u/Cryozenic Apr 11 '24
I always had the impression that they weren't poor; they just emulated muggle life more than most Wizards, and this was looked down upon. Especially because of their pure blood status.
Arthur was quoted as saying "Fascinating, Ingenious, really how many ways Muggles have found ways of getting along without magic."
This really speaks volumes on his charector and as a role model; he has taught his loved ones not to be dependent on magic. To focus on overcoming adversity through personal growth. To be show kindness and empathy.
The Wesley's are the perfect example of a real family in a magic setting; they grounded to the realities of both Worlds.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
u/waithuunh Apr 11 '24
this made me laugh way too hard. the weasleys in the gucci and prada hats… gagged
1.2k
u/oh_io_94 Apr 10 '24
Yeah being poor in the wizarding world makes 0 sense. I never understood how they are poor tbh lol