Being "broke" can mean so many different things to different people can't it? But I think if well known people talk - or write - about being broke, in any public foram, then they should actually be long(ish) term broke. Therefore no Sky TV, or Netflix, etc but needing to go to a food bank at least twice a month, no going out to the pub unless for a very rare special occassion, no takeaways - again unless saved up for a special occasion, and obviously they couldn't afford to have a car, or take taxis...
Thank goodness I have been lucky enough to never be that broke, but I have spent many years when my children were younger, penny pinching, and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Baked beans on toast, with a little grated cheese was at one time our dinners twice a week, but that was fine, and it usually meant that I could stretch to us having a cheap chicken roast dinner on Sunday, with left overs on Monday night.
So when people like Liz talk about being broke, but with buying Jo Malone's candles as necessities, it does tend to annoy me quite a lot. I have no problem with living in a country where people who work hard, and maybe study hard, have a good standard of living, but I must admit that I hate it when people who have worked very hard for almost all their adult lives, sometimes doing the jobs most of us would hate doing, and yet never get paid their true worth, and live - if they are 'lucky' - just above the poverty line.