Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

[cercis]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

Tish, it's been voted down every time it's come up. The current congress and president have said they will not approve an increase as that would hurt small business (their belief, not mine as the evidence doesn't support that there is a detrimental effect to small businesses).

[JoyJoy]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

Mortgage payments $1,202.00, property taxes, house insurance, yadda yadda yadda....good idea though.

[abowers]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

Not possible:

$415 Rent for 1/2 of a 1 BR apartment
$260 Car Payment
$123 Student Loans
----------
$798
+$100/month car insurance
$45/month gas for car
+120/month my share of groceries
--------
$1063

This is the necessary things right now. Not including the cell phone bill and cable I'm paying for, and the electric bill.
Might be possible (a stretch) if I were still in Western NY, but not in central NJ.

Then again if I only made $5.15/hour I might qualify for some sort of public assistance (i.e. food stamps, low income housing... etc)

[acezz4e_tish]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

we need another democrat back in office! lol

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

You can combine your $5.15 and your husbands $5.15 I always thought that married people had it somewhat easier because they have two paychecks instead of just one. That allows for $1780.00 a month is that workable?

In that case I already do, except I don't work, DH just makes double that 5.15 (which btw is not minimum wage around here, it is higher) Anyway I couldn't in this house if I had to pay childcare, but I don't .

[gavinmccallister]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

That is awesome Princess Perky, you make the challenge. See how many of your friends can make the challenge.

[abowers]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

If "married", or combining my boyfriend's 5.15 and my 5.15 it might work, since we live together.

Not possible:

$830 Rent for 1 BR apartment
$260 Car Payment
$123 Student Loans
----------
$1213
+$180/month car insurance for 2 drivers
+$75/month gas for 2 cars
+240/month groceries
+$30/month electric bill
--------
$1738


That's just under the previously calculated $1780/month.
This does not include the cell phone bill and cable I'm paying for.
If we ditched cable, and cell phones, it could work, but not sure if that's enough money for a landline phone. If we ate less healthy and cut out a lot of the fruits and veggies we eat, we'd have a little more money on that budget.

[acezz4e_tish]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

have u thought of growing some of your own, you can start small, and with the cost of produce, outrageous as much as gas is, even one or two grown will save you that much. it dont seem like much, but i save the seeds of my peppers i bought. right now there around 4 dollars a pound, if i grow 2 of them thats four dollars i saved alone. i search for moral mushrooms, those grow in michigan big time! they are around 16 a pound for my brother to order as a chef, so when i have those, i think of what they would of cost me, and right now a pack of button shrooms cost 4 dollars, so i at the least save that. my daughter grows her watermellons, they love it. it is so fascinating to them to watch grow til they can eat them up. you got dirt in your yard, and you can use an egg carton to start them. try it and see what you would save on your faves, a coffee jar works gr8 for a group of green onions. your cell phones are they on a contract? have you thought about the prepaids? my cable is my outrageous bill, i just got new bill today in fact and its up another 2 dollars! im so ready for the new radio shack! im goin antenna! i have the wall jacks for cable in my house, and with a spliter in the rooms, ill be using it for radio and tv. im lucky about channels where i live. im 1-3 hrs from alot of major cities in different states. st louis is farthest, 3 hrs, memphis, paducha, jonesboro, branson, cape, murphyburough, all less then 2 hrs away, i will actually have about 40+ channels with an antenna. then ill just have my internet left of that bill. which will cut my 112 dollar bill to 50. the antennah and rotor will pay for itself in three months. i have movies galore, so they wont feel like they missing anything but noggin. which i buy laurie breckner stuff for them. im sure noggin has some tapes i could pick up cheap. i still buy tapes, so id really be dropping 62 dollars, i already still buy tapes/discs, so ill just keep myself to my norm on buying them. i know everyone ive seen post about it loves netflix or blockbuster online, but for me giving it back is the thing, for 21.28 i get four discs from movie gallery and never give them back. they have a buy 2 get 2 and thats for all stuff for sale, including games. games are higher tho, but they have a large selection of 14.95, so for about 33 with tax, id get four games as well for ps2. look over each option and do the math. you dont have to keep something and it cost you arm and leg, you could do some extra research and find a few dollars here and there. since ive joined here, ive seen so many post so many useful things. post threads for what you want to save on specifically, and im sure others will share with you on that. everyone here is always very helpful.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

Thanks Gavin, somehow I doubt any of my friends would want to!

[Ima saver]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

When I moved to this area in 1984 the only job I could get was as a waitress and we got paid $2.01 an hour and minimum wage was $3.15. Now 22 years later, minimum wage is $5.15 and a waitress still only makes $2.13 an hour. That is just not fair.Most people in this area don't tip correctly either. My husband pays $18 an hour and he cannot find anybody that wants to work.

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

Ok since RENT or mortgage payments is what is having everybody say "NO WAY" how about living off the "Nationwide Minimum Wage" (which is 5.15 someplaces like cali are higher)
How about living off 5.15/hr and not think about Rent/Mortgage - What seems to be an average of what that comes out to is just under $800/month. So with everything else you pay to live, can you live off 800/month (not thinking about rent/mortgage)??? just an idea...

[abowers]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

I would grow my own vegetables except that for my last year of college I was in an apartment. Then I lived at home for a month in between my Rochester apartment and moving to New Jersey, where I am again in an apartment, without a yard. We used to grow vegetables for the fun of it when I was younger (Pumpkins, Asparagus, Tomatoes, Carrots, Chives, etc)


We tried just using our antenna for the first 4 months of living here, except all we get with the antenna alone (and some interesting contraptions my boyfriend tried to get better reception) we only get a local PBS. on two different channels. When I was in Rochester, I just used the antenna and I got all the network channels and more. Because we are now in Princeton, the nearest TV stations are based out of NYC and Philadelphia, both 50 miles away. So we are now paying $50/month, which is the cheapest cable package, at the only company we can currently order from. We might ditch it for a little while when spring/summer comes and we're spending more time outside- we'll see.

Ima-- I'm surprised your husband can't find younger workers to work for him at $18/hour. Where is Blairsville -- is that near Atlanta?

I'm working for a measly $10.25/hour right now as a college graduate, but it's a steady 40 hours a week, it's close to the apartment, and I get benefits. Not a long term thing anyway as I'm planning on starting up my master's degree program this summer/fall. It's hard to find jobs that pay much more on short term notice, without a longer commitment, or more education. I was able to find this job and start it exactly one month after moving here (and I was really hurting for money as my last paycheck in Rochester was 2 months before my first paycheck from my current job).

Enough rambling for now.

[34saving]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

abowers -- If you really only want the basic network channels call your cable company and ask for/press for/almost demand BASIC BASIC cable. Our cable company would tell you that it doesn't exist . . .but it does . . .at $8.90 a month. Maybe yours has basic basic too, but they're just not telling you.

[ender513]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

This thred got me thinking about a recent newspaper article. It was about the federal minimum wage, and how at it's all time high (accounting for inflation) it was at about $9/hr back in the 60s.

I wish I could find the article to post it, but no luck on the newspaper's website.

I find it amazing how low the minimum wage is. I mean, yeah, maybe you could live off it, but should you really have too. Most of us certainly couldn't afford to put much in savings.

The article went on to cover some of the arguments for not raising the minimum wage. The two big arguments have been that the average person on minimum wage is very young (generally people argue that it's just teenagers or young adults earning minimum wage) and that businesses wouldn't be able to afford to pay people more.

As far as age, just looking at demographics shows this isn't true. Most people earning minimum wage are not in the teenager/young adult demographic.

As far as businesses being able to afford it . . . they could afford $9, why not bump it up just a bit? There was a massive study about hiring and unemployment in relation to state minimum wage. They found that states with a higher minimum wage actually had lower unemployment. The general consensus of people who study such things, is that a lift in the minimum wage will not stall hiring (as long as you don't make a very large increase).

Okay, this was kind of a rant, but this thread just got me thinking

[BCHGRL]

Re: Challenge::Live on $5.15 an hour::

This would cover only about 1/2 my mortgage and that is it. However, this is a good strategy to budget during retirement (if your home is paid off and you do not have any other substantial debts.)