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Old 11-24-2015, 09:07 PM
 
Location: SoCal
20,160 posts, read 12,679,735 times
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They don't. Minimum wage jobs are for teenagers. In fact both of my kids never earned minimum wages, they were always a little bit above minimum wages when they first entered the work force around 15. These are not jobs to stay long term.
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Old 11-24-2015, 10:30 PM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,456,157 times
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I guess it depends on which minimum you are referring...

A family I know recently bought a home here in the Bay Area... they are from the Philippines... Mom and Dad work in a residential care facility... they both are custodians/janitors.

They have adult children that work at McDonalds as does their son-in-law...

Lots of low wage jobs combined was enough to buy a home...

By the way... minimum wage here in Oakland is $12.25 and hour... the family earns over a 100k together... family working together to help each other...

Their fondest wish is for their granddaughters to grow up to be Registered Nurses....
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Old 11-24-2015, 10:35 PM
 
Location: Verde Valley
4,374 posts, read 11,189,051 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107 View Post
saving money through spending cuts has limits . being creative and motivated to increase earnings has no limits .
Agreed!
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Old 11-24-2015, 10:55 PM
 
Location: SoCal
20,160 posts, read 12,679,735 times
Reputation: 16993
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
I guess it depends on which minimum you are referring...

A family I know recently bought a home here in the Bay Area... they are from the Philippines... Mom and Dad work in a residential care facility... they both are custodians/janitors.

They have adult children that work at McDonalds as does their son-in-law...

Lots of low wage jobs combined was enough to buy a home...

By the way... minimum wage here in Oakland is $12.25 and hour... the family earns over a 100k together... family working together to help each other...

Their fondest wish is for their granddaughters to grow up to be Registered Nurses....
If they are expecting to pool resources then it's doable. But most of this type of thread is expecting people to make minimum wage to have their own apartment and such. Give me a break, these jobs are not meant for that. My kid's earnings were for spending money only.
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Old 11-24-2015, 11:17 PM
 
1,006 posts, read 1,504,115 times
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Because you can if you have the willpower to save some of your money.
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Old 11-25-2015, 12:29 AM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,456,157 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NewbieHere View Post
If they are expecting to pool resources then it's doable. But most of this type of thread is expecting people to make minimum wage to have their own apartment and such. Give me a break, these jobs are not meant for that. My kid's earnings were for spending money only.
Different times...

My first W2 job was at age 12 and I earned $50 a week...

Payday was every Friday and $20 went to my parents for room and board, $20 to my savings account about $4 to taxes/withholding and a little over $5 was mine to spend and I used it to buy lunch each work day...

So 40% went to savings and this is something I continue to maintain... living below your means is the best way I know to get a stake to build on...

In high school I worked all four years in the Cafeteria and worked several part time jobs in college... one was weekend manager for a auto parts store and always managed to put money into savings... also was able to buy car parts at cost.

I didn't buy music, go to concerts or similar... I did spend my spare time restoring a 1968 Z28 Camaro that was my pride and joy and sold it to someone that flew cross country to buy it when I needed money to buy my first home...

Things change and most kids are not that motivated by money in the big picture... sure, they will work for a short term goal...

Last edited by Ultrarunner; 11-25-2015 at 12:40 AM..
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Old 11-25-2015, 04:56 AM
 
1,488 posts, read 1,953,931 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt View Post
HowTF would a poor person think rich? Working harder or longer at a menial dead-end job won't make them rich.
Maybe thinking "rich" isn't the best term to use. I prefer the term "thinking to exponentially your future instead of marginally improving the present." Below is a small example from my life to illustrate that point.

Me and my wife both came from a poverty level background. By the time I met her I was already well established, while she was just starting out. Yet, she had the mindset to "think for the future." So when she was starting out 4 years ago, she didn't have a car. She knew I had the money to buy her pretty much any new car she wanted. However, when I told her that the first car she is getting is a 98' Corolla she never complained once. She knew exactly why she was getting that car and how it would be beneficial to us in the future.

Just bought her a brand new car a few weeks ago and going to sell the 98. Bought it for $3300 and worst case scenario is that it will sell for $2700. So basically it literally cost her $150/year to drive for the last few years. That’s the type of mindset that gets you out of poverty. You have to work your way up in steps when your poor:

1. Figuring out how to save when you have very limited income trains the brain to be creative.

2. Saving money when your poor also builds discipline.

3. That creative mindset and discipline will help you to figure out how to get a higher paying job.

4. Having that discipline will insure that you keep saving when you have said higher paying job and a lot more disposable income.

5. Having that creativity/discipline will help you make smart investments with the money you save from the higher paying job.

6. At this point it just becomes second nature and building wealth becomes easy. All you literally have to do is keep repeating step 4 and 5.

We have followed the above formula and it’s never failed us. It’s really that simple.
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Old 11-25-2015, 06:08 AM
 
Location: NC
9,346 posts, read 13,964,446 times
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True, you cannot save your way out of poverty. That idea makes no sense really. However you can have a plan of how to have a better financial life. Don't spend money you do not own. Find a better job or work more hours or work two or more jobs. Work long hours but get enough sleep--stay healthy, eat healthy (unprocessed foods). Be a learner of all things practical, then find a better job.
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Old 11-25-2015, 06:41 AM
 
Location: Jamestown, NY
7,840 posts, read 9,153,766 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD View Post
...unless you lack the intellect to be creative. Then you can only rely on the motivated part.

Poverty in the United States is a string of bad decisions. If you lack the intellect to recover from those bad decisions, it's tough to escape. If you're raised in an environment where your role models all make bad decisions, that makes the problem even worse.

I've written this a number of times but my objection to libertarian politics is that libertarians are smart, motivated people. They project their circumstances on people who aren't smart and who have no environment to obtain the motivation and good decision making element. Society could perhaps address the decision making and motivation part by improving education but there is no solution to the lack of smart problem. Forest Gump in the real world is always going to be bagging groceries or mowing lawns for near-minimum wage. Forest Gump is always going to be making bad decisions.
I agree, and I will add that many times, people's decision making ability is limited by family circumstances, ie not how much money the family has but parental attitudes and behavior. If you are raised in a family where your parents are not only poorly educated but denigrate education, schools, teachers, white collar people (ie, "bosses who don't know sh%%"), etc, the chances of you even graduating high school goes south.

Children raised in dysfunctional households have another set of problems making good decisions, not just economic ones but in relationships as well. Dysfunctionality is NOT just about drug or alcohol use/abuse, either. There are a lot of seemingly "respectable" families that have poisonous private dynamics that can skew children's abilities to be "sensible".

Those are two examples, but there are others, not the least of which is personality. Sometimes getting out of poverty means moving away from "the hood" or taking some other risk like going to community college, and not everybody is brave enough to do that. They'd rather stick with what they know, however bad that is.

That's why while I agree with Mathjak that poverty is really a state of mind, I think it's more complicated that that. We all carry a lot of mental baggage with us, and it's that mental baggage that frequently trips people up as they struggle to improve their lives.
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Old 11-25-2015, 06:44 AM
 
1,006 posts, read 1,504,115 times
Reputation: 922
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses View Post
True, you cannot save your way out of poverty. That idea makes no sense really. However you can have a plan of how to have a better financial life. Don't spend money you do not own. Find a better job or work more hours or work two or more jobs. Work long hours but get enough sleep--stay healthy, eat healthy (unprocessed foods). Be a learner of all things practical, then find a better job.
Again if your committed and always keep a job you can save your way out of it. Some people just don't think it because they give in to consumerism like a fat person gives in to cake. No willpower to rise up out of their situation.
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