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From 19-23, I lived off of crap jobs. I worked at a restaurant for a while and made just over minimum wage. Well, it's hard to really say how much I made...some days/weeks, I made less...sometimes, we'd be super busy or I'd have generous customers, and I'd make well over minimum wage. It all evened out to just over, though.
I rented a cheap, tiny one-bedroom apartment that was kind of on the line between the "ghetto" and "dangerous" area of town and a slightly nicer area. My apartment complex in particular was not dangerous, but shootings and such did happen one street over -- in both directions -- quite often. I did get robbed once when I was walking home from work, and my car did get broken into a couple of times. (Yes, I had a car. Yes, I walked to work. More on that in a minute.)
My rent was $435 a month. Electric was normally $80-$100 (it was an old building, and even though the apartment was small, it was expensive to heat and cool...especially in our 100-degree summers...even when I kept the thermostat at 78-80 in the summer. Every now and then, I was just SO hot from being in a hot kitchen and then walking home in the heat that I'd turn it down to like 76, even though I probably shouldn't have..) I had to have water/garbage/sewer through the city, and even though I conserved water (I couldn't take a long shower if I wanted to...the water heater didn't last long enough...and I didn't have a washing machine in my apartment), that bill was usually $75 a month.
I paid cash for the car that I had at the time -- $500 -- when I had a really good week and got some good tips. I was going to pay my rent a week early to get ahead -- I was always in fear that I wouldn't be able to pay my rent on time because I was so dependent on tips, and things could slow down randomly -- but I really did need a car, and someone was selling a newerish model, halfway decent car (for me, at the time) for cheap, so I jumped on it. It took me months to gather up the money to get the tags, put insurance on it, etc. Once I did, I had those expenses to deal with, but at least I was able to get around...I don't really live in an area that is walking-friendly, although my job was a relatively short walk away. In the meantime, saving up the cash to get tags and whatnot was tough because when I needed a ride somewhere, I had to pay $5-10 each way for it to be worth the person's time...and I felt like such a "bum," which I hated.
I ate cheap...we couldn't eat free at the restaurant that I worked at, but we could get a slight discount if the boss was in a good mood that day. I worked with a girl who had a couple of kids and a pretty tough life...she'd go in the kitchen and eat uneaten food off of customers' plates if it didn't look touched. :/ Looking back, I didn't eat much back then. I'd get a slice of pizza (usually $2 for customers, but sometimes I'd only have to pay $1) for lunch, and I'd sometimes make a salad or something to take home for a couple of bucks. Every now and then, if someone ordered a takeout order and didn't pick it up or if the kitchen made something wrong, the owner would let one of us have it, which was like Christmas.
Buying groceries wasn't easy; our area has improved its public transportation somewhat since then, but at the time, the stops were pretty far away and only ran on certain schedules that got in the way of my work schedules. I would walk to the Rite-Aid, which was the only place anywhere close by that sold food, but food was pricey there...as much as I love to cook, I'd buy things like ramen noodles, canned soup, sandwich stuff. The convenience store near my house sold chicken wings and potato wedges pretty cheap, so sometimes I'd just get that instead of walking to Rite-Aid.
I got in trouble once with my boss because my work pants and work shoes (we were required to wear our own black pants and black shoes) both had holes in them. My work pants were coming apart at the seams on the insides of my thighs, but all of this happened really quickly, and I hadn't been able to replace them. My shoes (dollar store Crocs-type) had had holes in the bottom of them for a long time, but I didn't really think about customers being able to see it when I was walking away. My feet would always hurt, and my socks would get wet when I walked home if it'd been raining, but it was the only black pair of shoes I had. I had to make a payment arrangement with my electric company so that I could buy new pants and shoes because I'd lose my job if I didn't. I really didn't have clothes to wear when I got off work...I remember having two pairs of pajama pants and a couple of older T-shirts that I'd bought from Wal-Mart. I had jeans that had holes around the pockets and in the thighs. The only shoes I had were a pair of moccasin-style slippers, other than my holey "work shoes." I mostly just wore work clothes, then changed into PJ's as soon as I got home. This was when many girls my age were getting their hair done, buying the best and most expensive makeup, buying cute outfits and going out on the town all the time. I did "treat" myself to cheap makeup -- Wet N Wild, E.L.F. -- here and there and always felt guilty, holding 2 or 3 $1-each items in my hand and debating like crazy about which one to put back.
Yes, it's possible to "make it" off of minimum wage. I did, and I didn't get any help from the government, from family or anybody. It was not easy. It was stressful. I live in an area with a relatively low cost of living. I lived in a semi-dangerous area. I lived in a tiny and old apartment. I was willing and physically capable of walking to work, the convenience store, Rite-Aid. I can't imagine living that way in the long-term, at all. And although I think it would be doable for someone who is already "set up" (already has a paid-for car, maybe even a paid-for house), I don't see how it would be possible for someone to live that way with children without a lot of help from the government. Maybe for a couple of months or something, but definitely not in the long term.
And then what happened at age 23? Don't stop mid-story!
We are retired living on $19,000 a year. Living quite well and have a fico credit score of 833. We drive a used car and almost have our house paid off.
A lot of minimum wage workers work shifts of indeterminate length, such as in restaurants or fast food. Because a restaurant's daily activity cannot be known in advance, employees are scheduled on the basis of high expectations and then sent home early on days when actual customer traffic is lower.
Which means these employees MIGHT be scheduled for 40 hours without actually being able to work or get paid for 40 hours. When I delivered pizzas I worked 48 hours one very busy week - it was too busy to send me home - and after that my boss made sure I never ever got close to 40 hours again, because he had to enser to corporate suits and hated to pay overtime.
In larger cities a public transit monthly pass would cost more than $75 (here it is $100 and there is a senior/disabled discount but no low income discount) and in smaller cities probably less than $75.
Wow. I've not pondered the specifics. That really makes it rough but it makes sense for the employer
about never knowing how many hours you'll get
My job expects me to have an open schedule too
The above circumstance but it is a bit rare due to limited housing.
Most here need a vehicle and that is the real expense, getting to and from, work.
Perhaps in the NY Metro...
But if it is "just about right" then the tenants need to earn that amount every week.
The couple in the example clearly do not.
Then they'll need to increase their income to make it "affordable"... right?
There are a lot of places outside the NY Metro area that a pair of $12/hr jobs could afford that pair to rent
an apartment or even a house AND and cover it all, the utilities too, for that weekly net paycheck. LINK
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnoliaThunder
I think that a lot of people in our country -- and indeed perhaps on this thread -- have no real idea what it's like to struggle to survive, so much so that there is no time or energy left to even THINK about how to get ahead or out of the current situation. Just even a little empathy would be nice.
Agree. I read this book a while back and it changed my thoughts on the matter.
Switched shifts with someone. It is only 8:10am and my client is already asleep! wow I have the entire night to list items online.
With eye disablilities and other disabilities, thank God the idea of multitasking while being on the clock came to light to increase my min wage job. So much downtime anyhow employer doesn't care as long as work is done.
And I sleep better here on call than at my home where it is not temp controlled. Bed is just as comfortable too.
Maybe getting paid to sleep knowing I am also getting ahead in life maybe.....helps peace of mind.
We are retired living on $19,000 a year. Living quite well and have a fico credit score of 833. We drive a used car and almost have our house paid off.
Let me guess, $500/mo mortgage payment?
"I've paid more to rent a large studio apartment than my next door neighbor paid to own a 3BR house."
Wow. I've not pondered the specifics. That really makes it rough but it makes sense for the employer
about never knowing how many hours you'll get
My job expects me to have an open schedule too
The above circumstance but it is a bit rare due to limited housing.
Most here need a vehicle and that is the real expense, getting to and from, work.
My son had the "You'll never get enough hours to get benefits." job. They kept promising and telling him he had been recommended for promotion.
I paid for medical visits, tires, and some other necessary things. I have no idea what he would have done. Not much money in the bank and very little credit.
His old truck is down for repairs. He took Uber to work and walked home. It's about 6 miles, and he has a psychically demanding job. Since he does most of his own repairs, I'm not sure how this is going to play out.
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