• LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

How do you survive on minimum wage?

this is the way i see it here......

I either work minum wage someplace and never own my own place... Due to the high prices of homes here... or move someplace else where i can at least buy a small house for like 40-60 grand.... and pay like 1 grand max on taxes...

Here where i live in NJ... homes are like 200k at the least ... and you better expect to pay atleast 4-6 grand a year on taxes for that cheap of a house.....
 
I am not working at the moment, living off savings. Just started going back to school [1 more year left +++] and I will probably get some sort of job after I start to get used to being back in school. Unless I find something that I am REALLY interested in and decide to continue schooling. I dont really want a job tell you the truth. I have purposely avoided joining the work force for a long time but eventually I will not have a choice, or will I? Or just find a cush job.

I live outside Chicago it is semi expensive depending on how you want to live. The city is the city and I have no urge to deal with living downtown. I constantly have to remind myself that I am lucky to be financially ok and its ok that I am 33 and back in school. I could be married with kids pulling my hair out but I am not. I could be strung out on dope but I am not. Sometimes it is hard to have motivation to succeed in this society is that what I really want? I am sure that view will change when I am married.

OK done rambling nonsense.

Peace,
Seedless
 
Over the past 7 years, I have lived pretty much everywhere from the minimum wage scenario to all the big expenses being taken care of for me, and to be quite honest, both ends of the spectrum have their pluses and minuses. Back on the minimum wage end, I was forced to live with my parents (which is a big deal - they abused the shit out of me my whole life), and it was quite uncomfortable - I was paying almost $600 a month for insurance (and that's way cheaper than out of pocket for me). But I lived close to work (Qdoba), gas was still cheap, and I always ate at work and at home. I very rarely went out, and I certainly didn't have money for weed (sad, sad, crying face!), but I had damn near zero responsibility and lazed around as much as I wanted, when I wasn't at work, of course. I transitioned from that to moving out and working 80 hours a week at two jobs (six days a week or 13 days then one day off, not at Qdoba anymore, thank god, lol), and believe it or not, that was the happiest I've been in years. I had extremely little stress in my life, and I controlled every aspect of it. My rent was only around $600 for a pretty big place near my day job, and even with my expensive insurance payments, I was finally able to save up a little cash, and I put a buttload into my IRA. Now that I'm back in school, my parents cover my tuition and rent (I have a bit of scholarship money, but it's not much), but honestly, I'm more stressed out and pissed off at the world than ever. It's hard to make money because I can't ever have a "normal" job because of the intense amount of schoolwork and needing weird time off for exams and all that (and even though my parents pay rent and tuition, I still take care of everything else, so I need to make *something*). I have been extremely fortunate in that I have been a good saver all my life so I've had a little cushion and lucky that my parents are covering a big chunk of the expenses, so I will be graduating debt free. Honestly, the graduating debt free thing feels amazing. It's just another thing I won't have to worry about in this job market - two of my friends with a biochem degree (what I'm getting) from my university haven't found shit for jobs and are working at completely unrelated places.

Really, a lot of it is a function of what you're most comfortable with. If you're young, single, and healthy, it's really not that hard to live on minimum wage. Yeah, it's not real fancy, and you're not going to have nice things or go nice places, but you can still have a fun time of life. I know I did.

(This was all in Milwaukee or Madison, WI. My parents were in the North Shore (mke), I lived in Wauwatosa (mke) when I moved out, and I currently live on the UW campus in Madison.)
 
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I'm here on public-access wifi; at a grocery store, even. Bought a bagel to stay here the morning. 31 bagels a month is cheaper than the cheapest internet packages available. And it was closer to only 12 bagels last month or so.

I'm eating tums instead of milk, but only for like another week. I'm happy, and will be super happy once I can afford veggies and milk again. I dunno; I think it's possible in most places. Good luck. Although I think I might try climbing above minimum soon.
 
i live at the jersey shore and still living with my mom. i make 12 a hour and work anywhere from 30 to 45 hours a week and i still cant afford living here. ive been tryin to save to move to PA but it seems like that's never gonna happen. u kno what i just got my taxes and i might have enough. but i dont see how anyone can live on min wage, unless u work like 60 hours a week
 
You think people with minimum wage have health insurance? Hah.

Also, most people working for minimum wage don't have car insurance.

$700 on rent and utilities is also unaffordable. If you live on minimum wage, you share your living space with roommates or family and hopefully only pay $150-400/mo.

$150 for food?!?!? How can yous urvive on that??

I always spend as much food as rent...
 
I cook all my own food... I don't think I could have a healthy vegetarian diet for $150/month.
 
My guide to saving money or living of little money.

Pay rent.
buy box of migoreng noodles.

PROFIT!!! prob not so good for the body though...
 
Best move somewhere where rent is between 300-500 for an apartment, apply for LINK card $100 or more in free groceries...if u in the city take public transport
 
You guys need to learn survival skills. That's all the money system is, control of everything. Right now I have just over $2, like maybe a dollar more in change. I have no job, I just lost my last one, after being fucked around for a month business closed and they opened up, and then fucked me over. And to mention it is winter time, I have no family to spare me a dime. Of course I am waiting back for temp jobs. But who cares, minimum wage or just above it full time is more than enough. Also to mention insurance bill coming in 10 days, and behind on fines. Its easy to survive on minimum wage, getting a job makes it easier to survive, but yet they want you to depend on money for survival. But who likes minimum wage, I'd like to get raises every day, but its just not going to happen, and thus you adjust. Don't know what to tell ya, I basically bent over backwards to have my last job, being the biggest slave ever for minimum wage. And oh yeah, to mention Im thousands in debt to the hospitals, I have parents causing me to have even worse credit. Well good luck surviving on minimum wage.
 
coolio, milk in the lower 48 is only 2 dollars a gallon, instead of 3 dollars a gallon here. Cheese is more than 50% cheaper.

You can't be a vegetarian on minimum wage, it's not possible. That's a trade-off, yep.

it's true. I don't even take the bus on minimum wage. I walk. I walk 2 to 4 miles a day and I'm happy.

Also, I have shared my bed with another guy before in a hotel. And the next day I shared it with his girlfriend, heh. I'm not gay and it didn't feel gay until he spooned me. But I spooned him. We were asleep so it wasn't gay.
 
i think that you've been blowing the FB commentators' minds. ;)

Fill in this blank:
_________ derived foods tend to be cheaper than meat and meat products. ;)
Going veggo doesn't meaning turning to more processed food.
 
^^
Yeah. Meat is actually the most expensive thing. Being a vegetarian is cheaper than eating meat as long as you're actually eating vegetables. Ie, you buy fresh vegetables and pasta and rice and shit and then you cook them into a meal.
 
Costco! me and the missus are both in school/grad school, and are earning squat. We buy frozen meat and veggies in bulk, and thaw and cook when needed.

We party by going out to free club nights, and prefunking in our car before going in to avoid paying ridiculously high drink costs.

Also, for going out to eat, we find restaurants that have happy hour food menus and go during those times for cheaper eats.
 
Dude, I get like all my money from my family. I think when you are in school (I'm in college too) it's not really "mooching".... school is like your full time job. I look at it like this... being able to devote your full attention to school enables you to get good grades and get a degree, which in turn will land you a better job- then you can truely be independent.

agreed %)
 
I get at least 400 a paycheck, with overtime, up to 700 a paycheck.

So 800 a month.

That affords me rent at the nastiest crack hotel in town for a month. I have to steal my food from stores or work. You'll have diarhea constantly, because only the disgusting processed food is small enough to fit in your pockets. I can go to the chinsese restaurant next door when they close and they'll feed me and random homeless leftovers. But only on my days off, 'cuz I'm a closer at a fast food place.

BUT, since I'm a closer, I get overtime. So I'd usually have 200 dollars to spare. Eating out of the trash is actually funny when you're buzzing on some bottom-shelf whiskey. TRASH FIGHT!

Anyways, if I split the cost of the crack-hotel with a buddy from work, we both have 400 dollars extra, so we don't have to steal or eat from the trash unless we want to. If you don't like sharing a bed, make sure you work separate shifts.

It does get old after a while. So I moved in with my mom for only 300 dollars monthly rent. But survival is natural, you know?
 
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