Advice: how to live on $7.70/hour

[The Real JW]

Brought to you by McDonald's (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/emma-brockes-blog/2013/jul/18/mcdonalds-budgeting-menu-employees)!

http://i.imgur.com/YNxmmhY.jpg

You only need to work 2 jobs, 80 hours a week and find $20/mo health insurance in America! Good luck!

[DukeDelonte13]

20 dollar a month health insurance!!!!!! Where do i sign up? I'm paying 100 a month for crap insurance and i'm in perfect health.

[Nanners]

i see that gasoline and food are completely absent from this budget

[Zan Tabak]

80 hours a week?? Is that all !?

[OldSkoolball#52]

Brought to you by McDonald's (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/emma-brockes-blog/2013/jul/18/mcdonalds-budgeting-menu-employees)!

http://i.imgur.com/YNxmmhY.jpg

You only need to work 2 jobs, 80 hours a week and find $20/mo health insurance in America! Good luck!


Why dont you just live at home until youre making more than 7.70 per hour?

Not an option? What about taking out a loan and living in a dorm until you get a degree enabling you to make more than 7.70 an hour?

Have a child, cant live in a dorm? Why dont you move in with the person you had a child with and potentially double your household income?



I guess the question is, why are a grown adult making $7.70/hr and spending your precious free time on the internet complaining about it?


You know two hundred years ago, the richest king on earth didnt have a a phone, a car, a microwave, a television, a hot water faucet. Why arnt you thankful for the fact that even as a los income person you probably have access to all of these? Why do you feel you are entitled to X amount of money? Why are t you lookin in the mirror? Why is it societies fault to drag you forward? Why shouldnt your choices determine your consequences?


People who make threads like this are either < 20 years old, or simply pathetic losers.

[The Real JW]

Why dont you just live at home until youre making more than 7.70 per hour?

Not an option? What about taking out a loan and living in a dorm until you get a degree enabling you to make more than 7.70 an hour?

Have a child, cant live in a dorm? Why dont you move in with the person you had a child with and potentially double your household income?



I guess the question is, why are a grown adult making $7.70/hr and spending your precious free time on the internet complaining about it?


You know two hundred years ago, the richest king on earth didnt have a a phone, a car, a microwave, a television, a hot water faucet. Why arnt you thankful for the fact that even as a los income person you probably have access to all of these? Why do you feel you are entitled to X amount of money? Why are t you lookin in the mirror? Why is it societies fault to drag you forward? Why shouldnt your choices determine your consequences?


People who make threads like this are either < 20 years old, or simply pathetic losers.

lol

[OldSkoolball#52]

i see that gasoline and food are completely absent from this budget


Did cities across America shut downtheir public transportation and food assistance programs? I didnt hear about that! Would have thought thered be more news coverage for something that significant!

Bc Im SURE you wouldnt make baseless complaints just to look smart and cool (which youre not, remotely.)

Right??

[JohnnySic]

Find a better paying job, and/or take on a second job.

[dude77]

talk about a shitty existence

[Nanners]

Did cities across America shut downtheir public transportation and food assistance programs? I didnt hear about that! Would have thought thered be more news coverage for something that significant!

Bc Im SURE you wouldnt make baseless complaints just to look smart and cool (which youre not, remotely.)

Right??

funny you mention food assistance programs, right now members of the govt are attempting to completely destroy food assistance programs. they might exist now, but if certain powerful interests get their way food assistance will disappear soon.

so you are saying someone working 80 hours a week should be forced to rely on food stamps and public transportation to meet their basic needs? btw public transportation is not free.

[CeltsGarlic]

damn you guys pay 300$ for insurances and car payment? Talk about expensive...

[Kblaze8855]

I made less than 6 dollars an hour working at Kmart in the 90s. But that was long ago. I do know people making 8.50 and dont get full time hours who live on their own though.

Its not as impossible as its made out to be. Especially when you get like 210 a month in food stamps. It can be done without foodstamps once you have a car paid off.

But so many people on that level of pay will throw money away on drugs and 120 a month phone plans they end up not being able to make it on their own.

Properly done....its hard NOT to be able to get by in america. You just have little hope of doing more than continuing to exist.

[GOBB]

Where exactly is rent at for $600?


damn you guys pay 300$ for insurances and car payment? Talk about expensive...

In what sh!tty town do you live in where the $ sign comes after the amount?

[knickballer]

I made less than 6 dollars an hour working at Kmart in the 90s. But that was long ago. I do know people making 8.50 and dont get full time hours who live on their own though.

Its not as impossible as its made out to be. Especially when you get like 210 a month in food stamps. It can be done without foodstamps once you have a car paid off.

But so many people on that level of pay will throw money away on drugs and 120 a month phone plans they end up not being able to make it on their own.

Properly done....its hard NOT to be able to get by in america. You just have little hope of doing more than continuing to exist.

It depends on where you live.

If you are living in the NY metro area it's going to be impossible. If you live in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin(or any middle of nowhere place) then it's probably not that difficult. Probably can get something for like $400 month. You would have to work like 50 hours a month to pay the rent.. Even without all the welfare it's extremely doable.

But if you have kids or dependents you can throw that idea away.

[GOBB]

It depends on where you live.

If you are living in the NY metro area it's going to be impossible. If you live in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin(or any middle of nowhere place) then it's probably not that difficult. Probably can get something for like $400 month. You would have to work like 50 hours a month to pay the rent.. Even without all the welfare it's extremely doable.

But if you have kids or dependents you can throw that idea away.

He lives in the country. Where dirt roads are more common then sidewalks. Where driving down a road there arent many light poles. Lightning bugs and crickets are in abundance. Old ass Chevy's are parked in drive ways and have become "benches" for people to sit on, play cards and drink 40's. You can buy a house cheaper than Bobcats season tickets.

[CeltsGarlic]

In what sh!tty town do you live in where the $ sign comes after the amount?

and thats the important part?

I think a cheap insurance is a great business idea, but I would need some vary powerful backup.

[StocktonFan]

the rent may be for a single room. i'd be paying $166 per month for health insurance if it wasn't for my work....

[OhNoTimNoSho]

Just work 150 hour weeks and dont eat and its pretty easy.

[Jailblazers7]

the rent may be for a single room. i'd be paying $166 per month for health insurance if it wasn't for my work....

It depends where you live. You can get a 1 BR apartment in Pittsburgh for around $600. It won't be a very nice place but that price would give you acceptable living conditions just outside the city limits.

[CeltsGarlic]

Im working 30 h a day to make a living yo

[HarryCallahan]

OP is Canadian
Link is English
Everyone is discussing how it works in the US...

I don't really think any sensible conclusions will come of this.

[StocktonFan]

Canadian Federal tax rates for 2013
15% on the first $43,561 of taxable income, +
22% on the next $43,562 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income over $43,561 up to $87,123), +
26% on the next $47,931 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income over $87,123 up to $135,054), +
29% of taxable income over $135,054.

:facepalm

[GOBB]

This is really the only reasonable post in this thread. First off you can get cheaper housing than 600 $ a month almost anywhere in the US. Youd probably have to have room mates a lot of places but its easily possible and I know people who do it. You wouldnt even need 60 hours a week on 7.50 to live off of with government assistance. Youd probably get shit healthcare but the numbers there are really bullshit. People in the US as a whole really just feel entitled. The amount of people I know who complqin about not having enough money to get by but go out and spend frivolously constantly is pathetic.

Are you talkin about college students? Whats with the roomates and less than $600 a month talk. :confusedshrug:

You cant find that in my area. You'd have to move to the city in a bad area. Meaning high crime, violence, drugs. And the building you choose will be one that isnt appealing. Loud music, pests the unwelcome kind not because you are filthy but because there are tenants who are.

Maybe you're generally speaking of a certain age range or whatever. Show me places under $600 in NYC. You cant survive off minimum wage in certain places in this country. Just a fact of life.

[RidonKs]

Why dont you just live at home until youre making more than 7.70 per hour?

Not an option? What about taking out a loan and living in a dorm until you get a degree enabling you to make more than 7.70 an hour?

Have a child, cant live in a dorm? Why dont you move in with the person you had a child with and potentially double your household income?

You know two hundred years ago, the richest king on earth didnt have a a phone, a car, a microwave, a television, a hot water faucet. Why arnt you thankful for the fact that even as a los income person you probably have access to all of these?
:facepalm


there's a reason for the fast food strikes going on in your major cities. the backdrop for this is wealth inequality that's skyrocketed to inconceivable levels, paired with a minimum wage that hasn't just failed to keep up with inflation in terms of purchasing power but has actually decreased in real terms. it'd have to be well over $10/h to be on par with 30/40 years ago. this is going on at the same time the financial sector is devastating the world economy, traders are pulling in millions, and executives are making 10x that. if all you can derive from those facts is a bunch of crap about appreciating our cell phones and moving in with our exes, you're naive and/or salty as fk.

blaze summed it up nicely. of course you can survive on america's pitiful minimum wage. you can also survive without any income at all. and none of us could survive if we were tossed back into the stone age. none of that comes close to the point.

if you're forced to stretch yourself thin just to meet basic survival needs, you aren't developing, growing as a person, learning new skills, taking pride in your work, creating. you're just a worn out desperate consuming machine. you're essentially dehumanized and as a result, you're likely never to do anything worth shit.

now a $3 raise in the minimum wage wouldn't change that state of affairs. people are still renting out their time to survive. but it makes it easier and, just speaking in terms of probability, fewer people fall through the cracks (which takes weight off the social safety net). it's also just smart economic policy as a stimulant to demand. the short term repercussions might be hard to swallow, layoffs and such, but there are measures that can be taken to mitigate the cons and enhance the pros. they should be pursued for, in my mind anyway, pretty fking obvious like staring everybody in the face type reasons.

[tpols]

Are you talkin about college students? Whats with the roomates and less than $600 a month talk. :confusedshrug:

You cant find that in my area. You'd have to move to the city in a bad area. Meaning high crime, violence, drugs. And the building you choose will be one that isnt appealing. Loud music, pests the unwelcome kind not because you are filthy but because there are tenants who are.

Maybe you're generally speaking of a certain age range or whatever. Show me places under $600 in NYC. You cant survive off minimum wage in certain places in this country. Just a fact of life.
If you go to any town/small city in the tristate area you can find apartments for 600 dollar range. You can split up a house or half a house anyway you like and pay much less. Ive lived in NJ houses for 450ish a month that werent in the ghetto at all.

[GOBB]

Theres a reason I said almost anywhere, and even in NY you could split a place with 1 or 2 people and get down to at least 600 $. Of course its going to be a shit area though. If youre that poor you should be living in a shit area to save money.
You dont have to be a college student to have roommates obviously.

Stop putting the damn $ sign after the amount.

!!!Hi

^^^the equivalent of what you're doing. :rant


I'm not for roommates unless its temporary. I need space. Privacy. Also you cant save that much living off $7.70 an hour. It'll take a long time before you have enough to move and upgrade. I just dont see how people do it honestly. It can be done but you really cant enjoy life outside of scratching and clawing to survive. You're one bad financial situation from being screwed. Something as simple as an apartment fire could really f*ck you in the ass. Check this poster out...


I live on $8.25 and it fvcking sucks. Just enough to survive and get my little smoke on

Granted he could save some money by cutting back his smoking habit. But how long do you think he maintain living off $8.25 before he jumps off the nearest bridge, jumps onto train tracks or cut his wheel into on coming traffic? :oldlol:

[GOBB]

:facepalm


there's a reason for the fast food strikes going on in your major cities. the backdrop for this is wealth inequality that's skyrocketed to inconceivable levels, paired with a minimum wage that hasn't just failed to keep up with inflation in terms of purchasing power but has actually decreased in real terms. it'd have to be well over $10/h to be on par with 30/40 years ago. this is going on at the same time the financial sector is devastating the world economy, traders are pulling in millions, and executives are making 10x that. if all you can derive from those facts is a bunch of crap about appreciating our cell phones and moving in with our exes, you're naive and/or salty as fk.

blaze summed it up nicely. of course you can survive on america's pitiful minimum wage. you can also survive without any income at all. and none of us could survive if we were tossed back into the stone age. none of that comes close to the point.

if you're forced to stretch yourself thin just to meet basic survival needs, you aren't developing, growing as a person, learning new skills, taking pride in your work, creating. you're just a worn out desperate consuming machine. you're essentially dehumanized and as a result, you're likely never to do anything worth shit.

now a $3 raise in the minimum wage wouldn't change that state of affairs. people are still renting out their time to survive. but it makes it easier and, just speaking in terms of probability, fewer people fall through the cracks (which takes weight off the social safety net). it's also just smart economic policy as a stimulant to demand. the short term repercussions might be hard to swallow, layoffs and such, but there are measures that can be taken to mitigate the cons and enhance the pros. they should be pursued for, in my mind anyway, pretty fking obvious like staring everybody in the face type reasons.

Great points. Totally agree.

[tpols]

if you're forced to stretch yourself thin just to meet basic survival needs, you aren't developing, growing as a person, learning new skills, taking pride in your work, creating.
Thats how 95% of the people on this planet live though.. just doing enough to survive. Thats how 100% of the animal kingdom lives.. just to survive. Were the lucky one percent of all life that gets to go outside those boundaries.

[iamgine]

i see that gasoline and food are completely absent from this budget
Electric car + working at McDonalds means you don't need gasoline and food money!

[OldSkoolball#52]

blaze summed it up nicely. of course you can survive on america's pitiful minimum wage. you can also survive without any income at all. and none of us could survive if we were tossed back into the stone age. none of that comes close to the point.

if you're forced to stretch yourself thin just to meet basic survival needs, you aren't developing, growing as a person, learning new skills, taking pride in your work, creating. you're just a worn out desperate consuming machine. you're essentially dehumanized and as a result, you're likely never to do anything worth shit.

now a $3 raise in the minimum wage wouldn't change that state of affairs. people are still renting out their time to survive. but it makes it easier and, just speaking in terms of probability, fewer people fall through the cracks (which takes weight off the social safety net). it's also just smart economic policy as a stimulant to demand. the short term repercussions might be hard to swallow, layoffs and such, but there are measures that can be taken to mitigate the cons and enhance the pros. they should be pursued for, in my mind anyway, pretty fking obvious like staring everybody in the face type reasons.


Wait a minute, why does the government have to automatically give people a raise? You realize you can EARN raises at every job, correct? You realize people often negotiate their pay when they take a job, based on the skills they have? Why should the government step in and take away work place performance incentive? You realize when things like that happen, there's less money for raises and promotions for the people who've earned it. Not to mention prices go up for the consumer. All so that you can feel happy you're padding the pockets of EVERYONE (in other words, pre-emptively taking from those destined to earn it, and giving it over to those who are just cruising and dont even care)

It is not the fault of traditional Americans that more people are shitting out illegitimate kids who statistically are far less likely to develop the adjustment, skills, habits, values etc. to attain productive careers. Liberals all wanna shit on Christians for promoting "antiquated family values" and look what it's gotten America. Maybe if instead of patting yourself on the back everytime you spend three hours on the internet showing off to everyone how you've figured out the bible isn't historically accurate, you could understand that it is VERY IMPORTANT that people take care of their children, and you'd realize that teen pregnancy, child neglect, absentee fathers etc. are having a major impact on the ECONOMY, which you only seem to want to blame big corporate America for. You don't have the stomache to address those issues becuase they largely center on minorities. Uh oh! Someone might play the race card! Run and hide, you scared little f@ggot. Becuase you are a coward. You can only blame the theoretical "man" or the "coprorations" the "system" etc., you DONT HAVE THE TESTICLES to turn to Bill or Sharon or Tyquan or Ramon or Sharqiua and say, "hi, excuse me, but you're doing it wrong"


Once again, why is it that people like you, and other people in this thread ONLY complain about the system, and NEVER about individual habits? I mean never ever. You are a complete enabler, a total apologist, one giant mommy-complex babysitter.

Time to push "your kids" (i.e. the world you feel responsible for feeding with other peoples money with your arm-chair robin hood ideology) out into the water and letting the ones who've prepared go ahead and swim. Stop being such a f@ggot, woman.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Funny thing about the fringe loony tunes is that they're all so proud of themselves for being atheist. Personally I am agnostic, but I don't need to use it or argue about it in order to feel intellectually superior. I can do that with my arguments. The average talking-point sheep on the far left has to use it in his arsenal of "hey look at me, i'm with the smart crowd!"

But the funny thing is, these far left cartoon characters are constantly championing evolution, darwin, "natural selection", they even use things like genetic variance when talking about homosexuals (which is true), but the funny thing is they never have the guts to allow even a shred of it in society to make things smoother. They always have to stop rush hour traffic in order to let a caterpillar cross the road. But why? They don't believe in a definitive moral code. If you believe in the big bang and human creation from elements made in supernovae, then there is no objective right or wrong. What's with all the "WE HAVE TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGE, THE PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING!!!!!!!" If I talk about Jesus teaching this or that, you pelt me with copies of Origin of Species and claim I'm irrational hypocrite.

You don't seem to realize that the left is JUST as hypocritical if not more so than the far right. Let's say every person in America needed x to survive, and we agreed to make sure everyone had it no matter their circumstance. Now let's say someone is born who needs x,y, and z. Ok, ok, it costs a lot of our budget, but we're the party of nice guys, we're gonna do it. Now let's say hypothetically the equivalent of a resource black hole is born, just by chance, a little baby who needs so much medical care it requires the entire national GDP. Do you do it? Of course YOU do, becuase you're an idealistic f@g who gets off feeling self righteous with other peoples money. You don't have any fortitude. You can't dig your feet in for a principle, becuase you don't hvae any logical ones. The left wing mantra is "keep saying yes, no matter what!" It's not one that can be followed through logical excercises to feasible endings. But yet, they love it, because it makes them FEEL moral, and that's all they want. Something to feel like they excel it, moral superiority. Even though their actual "principles" shift with the wind and reflect only a desperate desire to feel like the nicest guy in the room, not any sort of actual sound basis of reason.




edit: and by the way, I am NOT suggesting a complete dog eat dog society. But with social assistance SHOULD come the expectation of social responsibility. And the left doesn't want that. They want the handouts, so they can brag about how smart and progressive they are for sitting at their computer chair and saying this person should have some of that persons money, but once again they DO NOT HAVE THE MALE ORGANS that give you the confidence to then turn to the recipient and say "now look, you better live up to a specific standard if you're depending on this assistance". If you force people to do that, eventually most of them will get off the assistance. Liberals don't want that. The politicians don't want that because there goes their voting base. The sheep that make up the base don't want that because there goes their entire identity as being the voice for the powerless, if nobody is powerless then what are you left with? A bunch of smelly liberal losers whose entire identity centered around the moral superiority of arbitrating redistribution. If everyone else excels, they're pretty much left at the bottom, with no other pillars of personality to stand on. Most of these kids who run to the far left are basically just looking for an image, because they have no confidence or sense of their individual self.

[RidonKs]

this is starface yea?



You realize you can EARN raises at every job, correct? You realize people often negotiate their pay when they take a job, based on the skills they have? Why should the government step in and take away work place performance incentive?
you're conflating different things you bonehead. all over the map. raising minimum wage by a couple of bucks (and in turn improving the lives of MILLIONS) all of a sudden washes away any remnants of meritocracy? you live in a fantasy world. that wouldn't happen.

and no, you can't "earn raises at every job". in fact the vast majority of minimum wage jobs raise wages purely based on longevity. and the raises are totally measly, shit like 15 cents every six months. so in order for a minimum wage earner to have the same purchasing power as his equivalent from the 1970s, he'd have to work the same job for 5-10 years. that's retarded.


Liberals all wanna shit on Christians for promoting "antiquated family values" and look what it's gotten America. Maybe if instead of patting yourself on the back everytime you spend three hours on the internet showing off to everyone how you've figured out the bible isn't historically accurate, you could understand that it is VERY IMPORTANT that people take care of their children, and you'd realize that teen pregnancy, child neglect, absentee fathers etc. are having a major impact on the ECONOMY
you're so divorced from reality its insane and really quite sad for a guy that obviously has some capacity to contemplate this shit. pay attention to what's going on in your country. about half a dozen states are passing legislation to raise standards for abortion clinics to absurd levels, essentially forcing them to close. abortion is trickly on a moral level admittedly. but on a pragmatic level, you wanna talk about popping out kids with no support system at the same time as christian values? the pretense to justify those bills ARE christian values. agree with them or not, the inevitable effect is a surplus of newborns born to parents that can't support them.


Now let's say hypothetically the equivalent of a resource black hole is born, just by chance, a little baby who needs so much medical care it requires the entire national GDP. Do you do it? Of course YOU do, becuase you're an idealistic f@g who gets off feeling self righteous with other peoples money.
again, totally divorced from reality. its like you're living on another planet. your only avenue is an absurd hypothetical to hammer home yet another redundancy.

respond to my point. wealth is more concentrated today than it ever has been since the birth of either of our countries. minimum wage in the richest country in the world hasn't even kept up with inflation. forget ideology.... i take it you have no problem with that?




You can only blame the theoretical "man" or the "coprorations" the "system" etc., you DONT HAVE THE TESTICLES to turn to Bill or Sharon or Tyquan or Ramon or Sharqiua and say, "hi, excuse me, but you're doing it wrong"

Once again, why is it that people like you, and other people in this thread ONLY complain about the system, and NEVER about individual habits? I mean never ever. You are a complete enabler, a total apologist, one giant mommy-complex babysitter.
this is an interesting point until you take about 15 seconds to think it through. then you realize it's unsubstantiated rhetoric with no basis. what can i do about bill and sharon and ramon? go around, tap them on the shoulder, and tell them they suck? loads of people suck. loads of people fail. and if you've ever spent an authentic minute trying to understand another human being, you'd know full well that strangers walking up to them and shouting "YOU ARENT DOING IT RIGHT" does nothing. in fact it makes the situation worse.

its someone's support system that, besides their own character and will power, is most responsible for their well being. that's why if i have a friend who's i dunno addicted to something or popping out one kid after another or leaching off their parents, depending on the relationship i hve with them, i'll give them the blunt truth and tell them they have to own their problems and quit blaming everything else.... because IM their support system. thats in spite of the fact that there ARE other factors outside their control influencing their life. but it doesn't matter, when it comes to changing, the onus is on the individual because thats the only way anything happens. a support system enables (i know you think thats a bad word but it really isnt) that change. i've talked about this with you before, people dont just change in a vacuum with the flick of a light switch. for 99% of people, it takes a lot more than determination and discipline.

but that's personal life. in a classroom or at a public hearing or on a messageboard, it's totally a useless waste of time to bitch and moan about empty stereotypes you've never met. it's actually useful to pay attention to the system in which people live and criticize it for its shortcomings.... because as a citizen and a political agent, i'm actually responsible for that system in some small way. and you can support shit in all sorts of other ways, voting with your wallet by supporting local business, social enterprise... supporting important initiatives in civil society that are attempting to influence both public and private sectors. etc

and all of that has a profound holistic effect on the very support systems necessary to promote changes to individual lifestyles. you're skipping all the important steps and just yelling at people. i have no idea why, you've never come across as that short sighted, and yet here you are. transfixed with the contrarian position that people are too "understanding" and "tolerant". wtf does that accomplish?

shit. all. you wanna talk about MY moral superiority? gimme a break dude

[CeltsGarlic]

Lithuania has very high suicide rate.our minimum wage is crazy low and a lot of people live by it. Go figure.

[outbreak]

people are forgetting that the world is not black and white. Do you think every person working minimum wage to survive in this economy is some loser who dropped out of high school and never got an education?

A lot of people get forced into shitty situations and forced into that kind of existence. I've known smart people who have bad things out of their control happen and have been forced to take jobs like this just to survive and provide some support for their families. In Australia we aren't losing jobs like you guys are but from what I understand quite a few people go to college now and still can't find any work that even uses their qualifications. Some don't want to work but no matter what you do they won't change and will keep bumming by but that isn't all those people.

How can people say oh if you have bad wages live with your family or move in with your partner if you have a kid? In a lot of situations people do not have families or are single parents. Just because you live in a nice neighbourhood with a nice job you assume people living is shitty areas with shitty jobs are there because it's their own fault? In some cases it just comes down to luck that you didn't end up like that either.

I knew a girl who's family kicked her out when she was 16 and she had nothing and had to leave school just to take a job to survive, is it her fault she now has no qualifications and is stuck working crappy jobs until she finds a guy who can support her?

Should a country be paying people with no skills more? Maybe not but they should be doing something to help educate and improve their existence.

Some people shouldn't be having kids, your right, but is it the kids fault that their born into that situation with no alternatives?

Oldskoolball your posts sound like their coming from someone who is very closed minded and hasn't really seen enough of the world to comment. There's no black and white answers to topics like these.

[HarryCallahan]

I'm not for roommates unless its temporary. I need space. Privacy. Also you cant save that much living off $7.70 an hour. It'll take a long time before you have enough to move and upgrade. I just dont see how people do it honestly. It can be done but you really cant enjoy life outside of scratching and clawing to survive. You're one bad financial situation from being screwed. Something as simple as an apartment fire could really f*ck you in the ass. Check this poster out...


Granted he could save some money by cutting back his smoking habit. But how long do you think he maintain living off $8.25 before he jumps off the nearest bridge, jumps onto train tracks or cut his wheel into on coming traffic? :oldlol:


You must be of a particularly soft composition if you'd end your life for having to live with a room-mate or for not making enough money.

Aren't you a USPS worker too? Damn son, I think we all know how this ends. Just make sure that if you're gonna kill yourself do it outside.

[HarryCallahan]

you're conflating different things you bonehead. all over the map. raising inimum wage by a couple of bucks (and in turn improving the lives of MILLIONS) all of a sudden washes away any remnants of meritocracy? you live in a fantasy world. that wouldn't happen.

and no, you can't "earn raises at every job". in fact the vast majority of minimum wage jobs raise wages purely based on longevity. and the raises are totally measly, shit like 15 cents every six months. so in order for a minimum wage earner to have the same purchasing power as his equivalent from the 1970s, he'd have to work the same job for 5-10 years. that's retarded.


You're a smart guy Ridonks, so why don't you understand that raising the minimum wage would necessarily result in much higher unemployment.
Raising the minimum wage, against steady; budgets, profit margins and profit motives would only result in firings, because the company that is paying the workers still needs to find a way to satisfy their board of directors and personal greed.

Not to mention the most adversely affected would be racial minorities, the poor and the uneducated.

[HarryCallahan]

it's not that easy. you can't just get rid of those people because you need the dirty work to be done. companies will find a way to save the money another way trust me.

but obviously you don't want the minimum wage too high because you don't want to encourage laziness...

I just feel like working one job HAS TO be enough...

Depends on what that job is...

Being a dog-walker or baby-sitter shouldn't earn many people enough to live on.

The main problem I have with minimum wage is that it discourages service jobs that aren't absolutely necessary, but are still nice, like gas pump attendants, cinema ushers etc. These are a great way for people who are too old/young to work 40/hr weeks to subsidise their income, but it is absolutely not worth $8.00hr you are forced to pay them, so these jobs are made redundant.

[D-Wade316]

For the past few weeks, my family has been living in $3-4/day. Our situation is so shitty right now. My father has yet to find a job. An outside support said he'd send money 8-9 days from now. My student organization will be having our acquiantance party tomorrow and I don't even have enough for ride fare. I had to take special exams, because we paid late for tuition and had to promise because we only paid partial. I haven't gone to the gym this week. My family is living in bare existence. I don't know when this would end but I hope it ends sooner.

And oldskoolball52 is an idiot. The system is the root cause of many individual problems. Some people are just unlucky to be born in some shithole.

[ALBballer]

Living off of $7.70/hour is difficult but:

1) Unless you live in an area where there is no public transportation you shouldn't be driving.

2) Cable+Phone=$100? Neither are necessities, I pay $30/month for my phone service and I make considerably more. I have been thinking of cutting my cable for a while.

3)Health insurance at $20 is a joke btw lol.

4) If you are making $7.70 you probably should be sharing a place to save costs.

With that said, I'm against raising minimum wage as are most economists. But at the same time if these companies are not paying their workers more then the state will end up paying for food, medical, and other welfare for these employees.

At the same time you hear that welfare recipients make than your median income family:

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2012/12/08/money-spent-on-welfare-recipients-exceeds-average-u-s-income-10673

So I'm not sure where I stand on this issue...

[Nanners]

this is starface yea?




yeah. pretty pathetic.

[Nanners]

the single largest group of food stamp recipients is not unemployed people, it is walmart employees.

we need to start making these welfare queens pay, and by welfare queens i mean the organizations like walmart that rely on welfare from the taxpayers to subsidize their employees wages. i am sick and tired of watching my taxes get used to subsidize the operations of the largest retailer in the world. walmart could easily afford to pay their employees, the shareholders would just have to give up a little bit of their dividends. every time the govt gets a food stamp claim from a wal-mart employee, walmart should pay be paying a penalty to the taxpayers.

[RidonKs]

You're a smart guy Ridonks, so why don't you understand that raising the minimum wage would necessarily result in much higher unemployment.
Raising the minimum wage, against steady; budgets, profit margins and profit motives would only result in firings, because the company that is paying the workers still needs to find a way to satisfy their board of directors and personal greed.
goddamn it. just accidentally deleted a big post in response to this documenting some evidence that runs counter to your point.

basically that argument, seems to me anyway, is a myth. it comes straight out of the textbooks and, like much of the econ profession, it isn't born out by the empirical evidence -- of which there is plenty. furthermore there are interesting theoretical holes that have been poked through the standard model you quoted, claims that it fails to account for certain details that are central to the way the labour market functions, and therefore how it might react. basically your hypothesis is arguable and most evidence rejects it.

of course there will be an immediate impact on employment. but most of the evidence shows a negligible effect, in some cases positive, in others negative. heres a graph (http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/minwg_elas.png) from a recent meta-analysis of all studies done on regional min wage hikes, you see the spike in and around 0? that represents impact on unemployment. a few outliers but nothing statistically significant.

and most importantly, that immediate shock to the job market, minor though it appears to be according to the schmitt study i referred to, isn't actually necessary. the important policy to implement is indexing the min wage to inflation, cpi, or some combination of overall purchasing power. obama includes a mechanism like that in his plan to hike the wage up to $9 and even romney, running counter to almost the entire republican establishment, came out in favour of an index. thats because its GOOD for business. the current system where theres a hike only once public, executive, and congressional all have enough initiative to force one through, is wildly unpredictable and even worse it comes in big chunks. tying it down removes the issue and also allows the wage to adjust predictably and gradually.

[tpols]

the single largest group of food stamp recipients is not unemployed people, it is walmart employees.

we need to start making these welfare queens pay, and by welfare queens i mean the organizations like walmart that rely on welfare from the taxpayers to subsidize their employees wages. i am sick and tired of watching my taxes get used to subsidize the operations of the largest retailer in the world. walmart could easily afford to pay their employees, the shareholders would just have to give up a little bit of their dividends. every time the govt gets a food stamp claim from a wal-mart employee, walmart should pay be paying a penalty to the taxpayers.
Especially a company like Walmart.. who penny pinches at every level. Treat their suppliers like shit, employees like shit, and then hang fake simlies on everything.:facepalm


Such a scumbag business.. 1% of their company makes 99% of the money

[GOBB]

You must be of a particularly soft composition if you'd end your life for having to live with a room-mate or for not making enough money.

Aren't you a USPS worker too? Damn son, I think we all know how this ends. Just make sure that if you're gonna kill yourself do it outside.

Yeah postal employees make minimum wage :rolleyes:

What a fail attempt at a post. Give it another shot.

[StocktonFan]

Lithuania has very high suicide rate.our minimum wage is crazy low and a lot of people live by it. Go figure.

It's a huge shit hole, thats why the best thing about that place is the airlines that takes one the fck away from it.

BTW, McDonalds offers medical health insurance - which is why the cost is so low... honestly, that alone saves one over 2k a year. Not sure if its 20 a month, but my mom who works in a hospital pays 40/month so it may be possible.

[unbreakable]

Why dont you just live at home until youre making more than 7.70 per hour?

Not an option? What about taking out a loan and living in a dorm until you get a degree enabling you to make more than 7.70 an hour?

Have a child, cant live in a dorm? Why dont you move in with the person you had a child with and potentially double your household income?



I guess the question is, why are a grown adult making $7.70/hr and spending your precious free time on the internet complaining about it?


You know two hundred years ago, the richest king on earth didnt have a a phone, a car, a microwave, a television, a hot water faucet. Why arnt you thankful for the fact that even as a los income person you probably have access to all of these? Why do you feel you are entitled to X amount of money? Why are t you lookin in the mirror? Why is it societies fault to drag you forward? Why shouldnt your choices determine your consequences?


People who make threads like this are either < 20 years old, or simply pathetic losers.


youve never worked minimum wage, bitch
:coleman:

[HarryCallahan]

Yeah postal employees make minimum wage :rolleyes:

What a fail attempt at a post. Give it another shot.

HA! I never said you made minimum wage, I was referencing the trend of USPS workers "going postal." Fuggin suicidal moroon.

[Orlando Magic]

For the past few weeks, my family has been living in $3-4/day. Our situation is so shitty right now. My father has yet to find a job. An outside support said he'd send money 8-9 days from now. My student organization will be having our acquiantance party tomorrow and I don't even have enough for ride fare. I had to take special exams, because we paid late for tuition and had to promise because we only paid partial. I haven't gone to the gym this week. My family is living in bare existence. I don't know when this would end but I hope it ends sooner.

And oldskoolball52 is an idiot. The system is the root cause of many individual problems. Some people are just unlucky to be born in some shithole.

Unless you are posting this from a library you need to stfu about bare existence... and even still just stfu.

A person that makes 10k usd a year is richer than something like 80 percent of the planet. Go live in Africa and get back to me about bare existence you entitled little shit.

[Orlando Magic]

Btw I bought an 80k house making $10 an hour and I made it work. It's called not having stuff you WANT right away. I make significantly more now because I bust my ass and have been promoted 4 times.

Cell phone...internet...cable... a car(gasp...I know that's hard to accept)... going to the movies... WANTS... not NEEDS.

Want entertainment? Get a basketball and go the **** outside.

Even having kids is a WANT.

Guess the **** what? Life isn't fair and no matter how hard we try it never will be.

[GOBB]

Btw I bought an 80k house making $10 an hour and I made it work. It's called not having stuff you WANT right away. I make significantly more now because I bust my ass and have been promoted 4 times.

Cell phone...internet...cable... a car(gasp...I know that's hard to accept)... going to the movies... WANTS... not NEEDS.

Want entertainment? Get a basketball and go the **** outside.

Even having kids is a WANT.

Guess the **** what? Life isn't fair and no matter how hard we try it never will be.

How long were you living at your moms house stacking up $$$$$$?

[GOBB]

HA! I never said you made minimum wage, I was referencing the trend of USPS workers "going postal." Fuggin suicidal moroon.

What trend is that? Why dont you enlighten the board to this. Or admit you're trying hard at a funny and failing. Simply by using the "go postal" bit. The irony you are calling someone a moron using your retarded logic.

[UtahJazzFan88]

How long were you living at your moms house stacking up $$$$$$?

I was thinking the same thing. I make $10.10 an hour right now so I'm wondering how he did it. lol

[GOBB]

I was thinking the same thing. I make $10.10 an hour right now so I'm wondering how he did it. lol

He's clearly leaving out key parts of his life.

[hookul]

I was thinking the same thing. I make $10.10 an hour right now so I'm wondering how he did it. lol

depends on his needs. If he works 60h a week x 4 thats 2400USD a months. Let's say 400 for a place to live, 200 for food, 200 for fun stuff and 200 for healthcare or similiar necessities, you'd still have 1400 a month to save. That's almost 17000 USD a year to save. If you invest this at a reasonable rate with 3% on average, you only need to save up for about 5 years and you can completely pay a 80K home withou needing mortage.

[Rasheed1]

If you make $10 an hour.. maybe you could get an 80K home.. But you would need pristine credit, I also dont see how you would get the mortgage once the bank sees you only make $10 an hour :lol They'd laugh..

But lets say you make settlement anyway... thats gonna cost you 8, 9 thousand right off the bat... then you would have to be pretty skilled (or lucky) at negotiating with the bank to not to get a mortgage where rates arent rising every month.. or you would have to keep refinancing..

And after all that, you still would be 'house poor'..

going rate for houses around here is at least 120k.. Maybe its different somewhere else :confusedshrug:

I wont say its impossible, but you would need help at multiple points in the process and after all that? the wisdom of it all would is hard to see..

What is your investment (in your home) gonna be when you go to sell your home? Its seems better to just rent if you only make $10 an hour... Cost of living is such that I would most banks wouldnt give you a mortgage

[DeuceWallaces]

I was thinking the same thing. I make $10.10 an hour right now so I'm wondering how he did it. lol

His father supports him. He's a complete loser with no job, no education, no career, and can't support himself well into his 20's.

He is the worst welfare case; totally incapable of being an adult, likely pays little to no taxes, and is a complete drain on society.

[GOBB]

His father supports him. He's a complete loser with no job, no education, no career, and can't support himself well into his 20's.

He is the worst welfare case; totally incapable of being an adult, likely pays little to no taxes, and is a complete drain on society.

:roll: Damn dude that was harrrrrsh. I dont think that was starface that posted. Thats Shogon Ramel aka Bowl Cut guy.

[GOBB]

Where did you buy a house for 80k at?


If you make $10 an hour.. maybe you could get an 80K home.. But you would need pristine credit, I also dont see how you would get the mortgage once the bank sees you only make $10 an hour :lol They'd laugh..

But lets say you make settlement anyway... thats gonna cost you 8, 9 thousand right off the bat... then you would have to be pretty skilled (or lucky) at negotiating with the bank to not to get a mortgage where rates arent rising every month.. or you would have to keep refinancing..

And after all that, you still would be 'house poor'..

going rate for houses around here is at least 120k.. Maybe its different somewhere else :confusedshrug:

I wont say its impossible, but you would need help at multiple points in the process and after all that? the wisdom of it all would is hard to see..

What is your investment (in your home) gonna be when you go to sell your home? Its seems better to just rent if you only make $10 an hour... Cost of living is such that I would most banks wouldnt give you a mortgage

Totally agree with this especially bold.

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

for real tho who the fukk started the rumour that gobb was a mailman? :lol

damn say something enough times apparently it becomes true.

[Rasheed1]

depends on his needs. If he works 60h a week x 4 thats 2400USD a months. Let's say 400 for a place to live, 200 for food, 200 for fun stuff and 200 for healthcare or similiar necessities, you'd still have 1400 a month to save. That's almost 17000 USD a year to save. If you invest this at a reasonable rate with 3% on average, you only need to save up for about 5 years and you can completely pay a 80K home withou needing mortage.


you arent accounting for taxes.. $10 is gross pay... not net.. its unrealistic to think he is gonna work under the table for 5 years and then go slap 80K down in cash for a home :oldlol: there would be red flags poppin up everywhere... even a drug dealer who would have that kind of money would use their girl or mother's name on the house to avoid problems with the bank..

Also I have no idea where you can live for $400 a month. What are you your bills?

Do you have a car? a note on it? or is it some hooptie? Even if you are taking public you will incur costs.. what is your transportation costs? Electric? Heat? water? these things cost money..

[GOBB]

you arent accounting for taxes.. $10 is gross pay... not net.. its unrealistic to think he is gonna work under the table for 5 years and then go slap 80K down in cash for a home :oldlol: there would be red flags poppin up everywhere... even a drug dealer who would have that kind of money would use their girl or mother's name on the house to avoid problems with the bank..

Also I have no idea where you can live for $400 a month. What are you your bills?

Do you have a car? a note on it? or is it some hooptie? Even if you are taking public you will incur costs.. what is your transportation costs? Electric? Heat? water? these things cost money..

Taxes, maintaining the home, possible school loans? possible car note?

[tpols]

you arent accounting for taxes.. $10 is gross pay... not net.. its unrealistic to think he is gonna work under the table for 5 years and then go slap 80K down in cash for a home :oldlol: there would be red flags poppin up everywhere... even a drug dealer who would have that kind of money would use their girl or mother's name on the house to avoid problems with the bank..

Also I have no idea where you can live for $400 a month. What are you your bills?

Do you have a car? a note on it? or is it some hooptie? Even if you are taking public you will incur costs.. what is your transportation costs? Electric? Heat? water? these things cost money..
Even if it was under the table.. you can put the money in bank accounts little by little as you make it. You can invest accumulated savings and potentially turn it into signifigantly more.. who would save all their cash physically?

What if the guy is 30 and has been working for 12+ yrs?

80k house is really something to brag about?? In central nj a small ranch is easy 300..80k is a little more than trailer park

[Rasheed1]

Even if it was under the table.. you can put the money in bank accounts little by little as you make it. You can invest accumulated savings and potentially turn it into signifigantly more.. who would save all their cash physically?

the problem is when you go to purchase the home and you work with the bank? they wanna see your credit and earnings (your financial history).. If you work under the table, you arent paying any taxes so you wont have a work history.. If you dont have a work history, then you are in trouble because the bank (and then the IRS) starts to wonder where are you getting this money from...

Even if I am putting in small intervals of money into the bank? I would assume it has to be regular intervals.. The bank will want to know where this money is coming from.




What if the guy is 30 and has been working for 12+ yrs?

if it is above board? then he is paying taxes on his money.. If not then he has to figure out a way to do it without the bank finding out how he makes his doe.


80k house is really something to brag about?? In central nj a small ranch is easy 300..80k is a little more than trailer park

you are right, 80K isnt gonna get you much, but it is enough that the bank knows people dont just pay it all in one shot :lol

and you have to display your financial history (and credit) during the process of buying a home.

[HarryCallahan]

What trend is that? Why dont you enlighten the board to this. Or admit you're trying hard at a funny and failing. Simply by using the "go postal" bit. The irony you are calling someone a moron using your retarded logic.

Re-read that paragraph, because the syntax is messed up.

Are you telling me you're a long term USPS employee and you haven't heard of mail-men killing their co-workers and themselves?

[hookul]

you arent accounting for taxes.. $10 is gross pay... not net.. its unrealistic to think he is gonna work under the table for 5 years and then go slap 80K down in cash for a home :oldlol: there would be red flags poppin up everywhere... even a drug dealer who would have that kind of money would use their girl or mother's name on the house to avoid problems with the bank..

Also I have no idea where you can live for $400 a month. What are you your bills?

Do you have a car? a note on it? or is it some hooptie? Even if you are taking public you will incur costs.. what is your transportation costs? Electric? Heat? water? these things cost money..

Ok, I agree about the taxes part but I would assume at that income level they are not that dramatic. Depending on where you live, I think finding a plae to live for 400USD is very much feasible. Hell, if one can find places like this in New York:
http://www.easyroommate.com/bronxdale-roommate/2-rooms-available/H121208101759505/2012120810175939248
and Chicago:
http://www.easyroommate.com/humboldt-park-roommate/looking-for-a-roommate/H13051720157801/2013051720150762288

and that was only after 10 sec of googling, I would assume if you live in a more "normal" town and not one of the metropolis areas that this owuld b feasible.

About the "red flags popping up" I don't agree at all. I mentioned that this would be a guy who then for 5 years straight paid and invested at his local bank over 1000US every month. Why should anyone become supsicious of this?

[Rasheed1]

Ok, I agree about the taxes part but I would assume at that income level they are not that dramatic.

When I was only pulling $1100 a check? I was coming home with $980 after taxes.. I dont feel like trying to figure out the math for $10 an hour..

And you are also assuming that wherever he works will allow him to work 60 hours a week for 5 years straight... I dont know too many bosses who will allow those type of hours for too long.. Cant say it is impossible, but it is not probable



Depending on where you live, I think finding a plae to live for 400USD is very much feasible. Hell, if one can find places like this in New York:
http://www.easyroommate.com/bronxdale-roommate/2-rooms-available/H121208101759505/2012120810175939248
and Chicago:
http://www.easyroommate.com/humboldt-park-roommate/looking-for-a-roommate/H13051720157801/2013051720150762288

and that was only after 10 sec of googling, I would assume if you live in a more "normal" town and not one of the metropolis areas that this owuld b feasible.

If you live in a room for $500 dollars a month (utilities included) that would seem cheap, but if you do the math, it isnt.. A room? $500 a month? Whoever is renting you that room is making a killing..

but anyway, lets say you get the room you pay $500 a month and you pay whatever your transportation costs would be for work and back.. whether gas up or take public trans, its gonna at least cost you $40 a week (at the very least). you have to go extremely cheap on your phone and no entertainment (maybe you can have cable or internet, but definitely not both...especially not if comcast is your carrier).



About the "red flags popping up" I don't agree at all. I mentioned that this would be a guy who then for 5 years straight paid and invested at his local bank over 1000US every month. Why should anyone become supsicious of this?

there wouldnt be any suspicion if you work above board and pay your taxes and keep a pristine credit rating... But you still would have alot of trouble getting a bank to approve a loan for for you.. Your income is simply too low.

You could try and and save up 80K and buy the house outright, but that is kind of unrealistic because your plan would have to be flawless with no accounting for any unforseen issues that will incur further costs.

If you keep short term investments, you could stay on top of your money enough to earn something, but it wouldnt be too much. Long term investments could help, but they could also screw you out of better rates should they change you would be already locked in.

Like I said, it is possible, but it would very tough and not really practical..

It would be much easier to get yourself a spouse and combine your income. Then a bank would be more inclined to give you a mortgage and you might even be able to afford something better than a 80K home (which around here amounts to basically a row home in one of the worst neighborhoods the city has to offer)


but its not impossible

[Sicknote]

I make 1600 every 2 weeks and only see 1100 after taxes. I miss the $8 an hour days when I'd have 40 bucks taken out of my paycheck lol

[ALBballer]

Buying a 80k house isn't that hard. If you get a 30 year mortgage and assuming you get interest rates that are around 3-4% and put down a 20% down payment, your monthly payment is $270-$310. Add in taxes and insurance and it's less than the rent amount McDonalds budgeted for lol.

Say you get one of those FHA loans where all you are required to put down is 3% or so and the monthly payment for 30 years and 3.5%, the monthly payment is $382. 40 hours a week x $10 x 4 weeks = $1600 a month before taxes. Generally mortagers require your house payment to be no more than 33% of your income or so. So it's possible even then.

As for the prices, depends on location. Where I live you ain't buying a house for $80k though you could get an ok condo in a decent area. 1.5 hours up from me, my cousins bought a really nice 2 story house built a few years ago for $140k. Not bad. Minimum wage in an area like this is doable especially if there is more than one income.

With that said minimum wage sucks. But let us be honest, raise it by say $3 and $10 an hour or whatever it is still sucks. I made $6 off the books when I was 15 and made over $12 working at a bank when I was 19. So take that for what it's worth because I never had to live on minimum wage.

[Orlando Magic]

I live in Florida... 15 minutes from the beaches...half hour from cocoa beach.

I ended up only having to give like 2300 in cash to get the loan done and yes my credit was pristine and the one thing I did do was get my car paid off before I moved out but I would have gladly driven a clunker or not had a car had it meant having my own place.

I bought back in 2008 after the big part of the collapse but will before the bottom... my interest rate is like 6 or 6.25... payment has fluctuated between like 650 and 800 based on taxes and insurance... 30 years...

It's doable. You just have to be willing to sacrifice entertainment and certain food until you are in a better position.. Most people aren't willing to do either, let alone both.

7.70 is really tough alone but if you took a roommate for a few years while you got a better job or more pay...doable.

[InfiniteBaskets]

i see that gasoline and food are completely absent from this budget


Did cities across America shut downtheir public transportation and food assistance programs? I didnt hear about that! Would have thought thered be more news coverage for something that significant!

Bc Im SURE you wouldnt make baseless complaints just to look smart and cool (which youre not, remotely.)

Right??

To be fair, the budget outlined in the OP mentioned making $100/mo car insurance payments and $150/mo car insurance payments. Would be quite the waste if you were paying all that money towards a car, just to take public transportation.

Although there are a dozen other things I can find wrong with that outlined budget.