How the hell does a single person live on minimum wage?

[HorseShit]

I can't even imagine a single mom living on minimum wage, how the hell does someone even live on $7/hr?

[CaptainHowdy]

How? By stayin' single..

[nation-x]

$6.55 is current minimum wage I believe.

[HorseShit]

Originally Posted by nation-x

$6.55 is current minimum wage I believe.

It varies by state.

[Sly]

Roommates, they don't live with other luxuries, etc. 40 hours a week at seven dollars an hour is probably around $1000-1100 a month after taxes, you can live on that in my area. My brother lives on less.

Not everybody has a car or a fancy TV. It's very tough, but that's why it is the minimum.

[HorseShit]

7*40*4 = 1120

It's more like $900 a month if that after taxes.

[GrouchyAdmin]

I don't know, Justin.

How do you live on minimum wage?

[David!]

You do by having a second minimum wage job...

[candyflip]

Any single mom working and making minimum wage is also probably collecting $700 or so a month in welfare and food stamps.

So to answer your question on how they live. We (the taxpayers) are helping out a little bit.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Justin

7*40*4 = 1120

It's more like $900 a month if that after taxes.

That's for 4 weeks, every month would be different. So somewhere between $900-1000, the same still applies.

[HorseShit]

Originally Posted by Sly

That's for 4 weeks, every month would be different. So somewhere between $900-1000, the same still applies.

What month has 3 weeks?

[IllTestYourGirls]

Min wage has kept them poor. Get rid of min wage and companies would start to compete for low waged workers. But as of right now its price fixed so no need to compete for workers so no need to pay them anything.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Justin

What month has 3 weeks?

What? You said $900 over four weeks. Only one month only has four weeks... every other month gets a couple extra days. Some months you get a fifth paycheck depending on how it is staggered. There are four extra five week paychecks in a year.

[Net Money]

My guess is that a very large percentage of webmasters here make even less that minimum wage if you go by the actual hours...

[HorseShit]

Originally Posted by Net Money

My guess is that a very large percentage of webmasters here make even less that minimum wage if you go by the actual hours...

I'm sure you're right, so many broke losers here.

[grumpy]

right calculation is
7x 40 x 13 / 3 gives you the monthly wager

wage x hours a week x 13 weeks / 3 months

Because a lot of places it's not expensive to live?

In my area, price of living is so cheap I can technically, if I don't drive a car, or have a cellphone or eat out, any of that extra stuff, just pay my bills, I can live off $600/mo.

[woj]

It's very doable, obviously won't be able to afford any luxuries, but it's not THAT hard...

[brassmonkey]

live with family

[SexualDragon]

Kraft dinner

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Any single mom working and making minimum wage is also probably collecting $700 or so a month in welfare and food stamps.

So to answer your question on how they live. We (the taxpayers) are helping out a little bit.

Wait...isn't a percentage of earnings deducted from welfare payouts?

[StuartD]

Once you figure it out, you'll figure out how to live very well on anything you make above that.

[CaptainHowdy]

I only mind the people who are starving to death...

[xmas13]

GFY is filled with negative energy.

[Naughty]

Originally Posted by StuartD

Once you figure it out, you'll figure out how to live very well on anything you make above that.

Bingo...

[sexykat]

The minimum wage here is $8.55

Cant imagine earning less than $25/hr

[J. Falcon]

Originally Posted by PussyMan

You do by having a second minimum wage job...

[fris]

min wage here is like $9 now, its moving to $10 shortly

[GatorB]

Originally Posted by nation-x

$6.55 is current minimum wage I believe.

It goes up to $7.25 on July 24th.

Originally Posted by woj

It's very doable, obviously won't be able to afford any luxuries, but it's not THAT hard...

bullshit. Even where I live where you can get a 1 bedroom apartment for $328 a month and no state income tax it's hard to live on $7.25 an hour.

Let's do math

$7.25 X 40 = $290 per week

$290 X 52 weeks = $15,080 a year

Now no matter what you are geting FICA taxes taken out and you don't get those back. FICA taxes are 7.65%

$15,080 X.9235 = $13,926 after FICA atxes are taken out.

Being single gets you a standard deduction of $5450 and $3500 for your personal exemption.

So $5450 + $3500 = $8950.

$8950 is what you'd get to deduct off your income of $15,080. So $15,080 - $8950 = $6130

$6130 is what you'd have to pay taxes on. Since that would be in the 10% backet that would be $613.

So $13,926( amount left after FICA ) -$613 for income tax = $13,313. I'm not even counting state income taxes.

$13,313/52 weeks = $256 a week to live off of.

Good luck living off of $256 a week. Of course you could a get a 2nd job( inthis economy yeah right ) but remember the first $2000 off that extra income is taxed at a total of 17.65%( FICA and income tax ) everything after that is taxed at 22.65% since you'd be in the 15% tax bracket. So even a 2nd 40 hour job at $7.25 an hour would end up bringing in $11,766 after taxes.

So one could bust their ass working 80 hours a week and only bring home $25k a year after taxes. Which is about $6 an hour after taxes.

[d-null]

you need roommate(s) so that your rent share would only be around $200, and you can easily eat very well for a couple hundred a month if you cook for yourself and shop properly

[spunkmaster]

I know someone who makes about $300 per week before taxes and gets
$1100 from the state for child care, $350 for WIC (diapers and shit), $450 for food and I think about $600 - $800 for her housing allowance. She has two kids so she also gets a state
paid insurance card for her and the kids which covers their health care.


She's about 23 years old and is looking to buy a house for $210,000 at 1% interest
and 50% paid by a federal program for community development.

Poor people in the US are rich compared to most nations !

[$5 submissions]

Recent immigrants do it all the time. Worked 100 years ago, worked during my parents' time, and I'm sure it works now. Here's how my own parents were able to do it when they started out:

1) Live together with other relatives.
2) Share all costs
3) Save 25% to 40% of all income
4) Share transportation/plan out routes
5) Buy food collectively and spread out costs
6) Cook food collectively and pack meals for work
7) Participate in "paluwagan" systems (other cultures use differing terms for this) that involve revolving credit
8) buy assets slowly with savings, reinvest asset income

[HorseShit]

Originally Posted by spunkmaster

I know someone who makes about $300 per week before taxes and gets
$1100 from the state for child care, $350 for WIC (diapers and shit), $450 for food and I think about $600 - $800 for her housing allowance. She has two kids so she also gets a state
paid insurance card for her and the kids which covers their health care.

So because she couldn't keep her legs shut everyone gets to pay her way monthly?

[Diomed]

Good question,

I have no idea.. but have always wondered.

Hell, even if they are bringing home $10 an hour after taxes.. it's still a tight fit.

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Wait...isn't a percentage of earnings deducted from welfare payouts?

Maybe for her, but not for whatever children she might have. And if so, they probably pad the checks to the kids a bit more.

[kane]

It isn't very easy. You have to basically have no debt, live in a cheap place and not have to commute to far to work. You won't have any extras that is for sure.

[Agent 488]

fat loser socially inept virgin webmasters discussing social problems. the world would be a utopia with gfy in charge.

[seeandsee]

Originally Posted by Justin

I can't even imagine a single mom living on minimum wage, how the hell does someone even live on $7/hr?

working two jobs?

[Rochard]

I have a friend of mine who is 100% disabled, and from various sources including some money from the VA, he brings in around $2200. Considering his rent is $900 a month and his car payment is $400 a month, that doesn't leave him much left over. But he gets by.

[SomeCreep]

Originally Posted by Justin

I can't even imagine a single mom living on minimum wage, how the hell does someone even live on $7/hr?

Two words, Top Ramen.

[Drake]

Yeah that's truly eeking out a living.

[GatorB]

Originally Posted by spunkmaster

I know someone who makes about $300 per week before taxes and gets
$1100 from the state for child care, $350 for WIC (diapers and shit), $450 for food and I think about $600 - $800 for her housing allowance. She has two kids so she also gets a state
paid insurance card for her and the kids which covers their health care.

Just to clarify WIC does NOT pay for diapers. It pays for baby formula and SOME foods. the choice is limited to shit that's good for you. For example you can get Cherrios but not stuff like Captain Crunch or any cereal that contains sugar. Milk, eggs, cheese, peanut butter. That kind of stuff is what you can get.

[GatorB]

Originally Posted by seeandsee

working two jobs?

Then when her kids turn out to be juvenile delquints because mom was never home all the neo-cons can bitch about all the money they have t spend on having these kids go through the court ssytem and the cost to incarcerate them. Maybe they shouldn't have quit fighting against livable wages and mom could have been home more.

[kane]

Has anyone here seen the show 30 days? It is done by the guy that did the documentary Super Size Me. Basically they take a person and put them in a situation opposite of what they know for 30 days. For example they sent a guy who is anti-gay and homophobic and a Christian Conservative to live with a gay guy in the Castro for 30 days. It is pretty interesting.

Anyway, the first episode of the show the guy that created it Morgan Spurlock and his girlfriend try to live on minimum wage for 30 days. They get jobs, get a crappy apartment and try to scrape buy. Both of them ended up getting hurt during that time and had to go to the ER and both times it was around $1200 each. They had just started the jobs so they didn't have health insurance yet (90 day probation period). When it was over they were both shocked that anyone could live on that wage these days.

Many will argue that minimum wage jobs are meant for kids in school and older people looking for a part time job, but with the current economy I bet there are a lot of people out there who would jump at a minimum wage job.

[frankie_gunn]

If only we weren't expected to be 9 billion...

[KittyPimp]

The dollar menu is your friend.

[BigRod]

Originally Posted by kane

Many will argue that minimum wage jobs are meant for kids in school and older people looking for a part time job, but with the current economy I bet there are a lot of people out there who would jump at a minimum wage job.

Yeah that is the problem right now, for a kid in school or a retiree with a pension minimum wage isn't that bad. The kids are getting help from mom & dad and the retiree is just there for the health insurance.

I spent the first couple working years of my life on minimum wage, lived with a bunch of people and ate KD daily. It certainly makes the spoils of business more enjoyable when you start at minimum wage!

[pocketkangaroo]

There are parts of the country where you can live dirt cheap. Apartments for a couple hundred bucks and so on. Maybe cheaper if you get a few roommates and split the bills. If you know how to budget money right, you can eat for fairly cheap. I was dirt poor going through college and could find ways to eat well on $10/week. I also believe the person would qualify for Earned Income Credit. It's kind of like welfare for people who work.

I was able to get by making $13,000 a year my last two years of college (mind you that probably went a little bit farther 7 years ago). I had to take out loans for tuition but was able to pay my bills and eat for the most part. Shit would get real tight sometimes if my car broke down or something, but it's do-able. The problem is that people who make minimum wage want to live like they make much more. They want the nice cell phone, nice clothes, and cable TV. Cut out all the luxuries you have and it can be done.

[pocketkangaroo]

Originally Posted by $5 submissions

Recent immigrants do it all the time. Worked 100 years ago, worked during my parents' time, and I'm sure it works now. Here's how my own parents were able to do it when they started out:

1) Live together with other relatives.
2) Share all costs
3) Save 25% to 40% of all income
4) Share transportation/plan out routes
5) Buy food collectively and spread out costs
6) Cook food collectively and pack meals for work
7) Participate in "paluwagan" systems (other cultures use differing terms for this) that involve revolving credit
8) buy assets slowly with savings, reinvest asset income

You're spot on. The Mexicans give a good example for how poorer people should be living. They share places, have no major luxuries like cable, and drive beaters. They'll shop for clothes at Goodwill, garage sales, and discount stores. They also really know how to budget for food. Beans and rice are dirt cheap, plus you can buy a big bag of tortillos for virtually nothing. If you're not into Mexican food, you can make probably 10 PB&Js for $6.

[NickB.]

Originally Posted by GatorB

It goes up to $7.25 on July 24th.



bullshit. Even where I live where you can get a 1 bedroom apartment for $328 a month and no state income tax it's hard to live on $7.25 an hour.

Let's do math

$7.25 X 40 = $290 per week

$290 X 52 weeks = $15,080 a year

Now no matter what you are geting FICA taxes taken out and you don't get those back. FICA taxes are 7.65%

$15,080 X.9235 = $13,926 after FICA atxes are taken out.

Being single gets you a standard deduction of $5450 and $3500 for your personal exemption.

So $5450 + $3500 = $8950.

$8950 is what you'd get to deduct off your income of $15,080. So $15,080 - $8950 = $6130

$6130 is what you'd have to pay taxes on. Since that would be in the 10% backet that would be $613.

So $13,926( amount left after FICA ) -$613 for income tax = $13,313. I'm not even counting state income taxes.

$13,313/52 weeks = $256 a week to live off of.

Good luck living off of $256 a week. Of course you could a get a 2nd job( inthis economy yeah right ) but remember the first $2000 off that extra income is taxed at a total of 17.65%( FICA and income tax ) everything after that is taxed at 22.65% since you'd be in the 15% tax bracket. So even a 2nd 40 hour job at $7.25 an hour would end up bringing in $11,766 after taxes.

So one could bust their ass working 80 hours a week and only bring home $25k a year after taxes. Which is about $6 an hour after taxes.

its terrible