You’re Not Poor—You’re Playing by the Rules is a sharp, unsparing examination of the modern financial myths that keep millions stuck in cycles of spending, debt, and scarcity—despite working harder, earning more, and following every piece of advice handed down by schools, parents, banks, and media.

From the illusion of budgeting as control to the toxic grind of hustle culture, from the glamorization of gig work to the false promise of homeownership, this book dismantles the economic scripts we’ve been taught to perform. It doesn’t just critique the system—it reveals how the system lives inside us: in our habits, identities, and unexamined beliefs about money, work, and success.

Drawing from history, psychology, behavioral economics, and cultural analysis, You’re Not Poor—You’re Playing by the Rules exposes the hidden architecture of financial codependence—subscription models, lifestyle creep, medical debt, credit score morality—and the ways we’re silently coerced into self-policing, overworking, and overspending in a rigged economy.

This is not a guide to saving pennies or manifesting wealth. It’s a dismantling. An unlearning. A survival manual for those who have done everything “right” and still feel like they’re drowning.

If you've ever wondered why every raise disappears, why budgeting never delivers freedom, or why middle-class aesthetics mask economic fragility, this book will give you language, clarity, and something far more dangerous: perspective.

It’s not about escaping poverty. It’s about escaping the performance of prosperity.