That’s the neat thing, it isn’t for us.
My boss makes a dollar, I make a dime,
This rhyme comes from a different time,
My boss makes a dollar, I make a cent,
That’s why I can no longer afford rent.
Huh, I always thought a dime was $0.01 when I heard the original rhyme
Young people just don’t understand saving, and how your options expand after saving even just a little bit. Use this post as an example - if you put that $100-130 away every month, in about 6 months you can afford a gun. This gives you a lot more opportunities.
I was about to get pissed. Now I’m cheering.
Back in my day I could go to the corner store and get chips and a soda and a magazine and whatever I wanted. Now they have security cameras.
Minimum wage is not supposed to maintain the expenses of an adult! Stop being lazy and act your age, leave that comfy minimum wage job, actually learn a trade like carpentry or something and build a device to separate heads from the rest of the body.
fire is universal
Young people just don’t understand saving
Young people don’t have any income. How can they understand savings?
if you put that $100-130 away every month, in about 6 months you can afford a gun
And another six months before you can afford bullets.
Isn’t minimum wage also half that?
Yup. This is why we were trying to get it increased to 15 back in fucking 2011.
Today we need it to be nearly double that.
And any positions that are paying minimum wage aren’t hiring full time for those positions, that means more than one job which increases transportation costs and reduces free time.
And they do that so they don’t have to provide health insurance, which means the employee will have to pay for their own and thats expensive. Highly predatory.
This is a reason I feel like public health care should be a bipartisan issue. Business people should love not having to do health insurance for employees.
It stops their employees from quitting to start companies to compete with them though. It’s too expensive to start your own company if you need to provide health insurance.
I have had plenty of full time minimum wage jobs. Also had a few zero hour contracts which absolutely suck in comparison.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25, something like 20 states don’t pay a higher wage.
… and many are paid much, much less than that, like working prisoners, making less than a dollar an hour.
… and also many farm workers are paid much, much less than federal “minimum”.
Millions of people. The more you look, the more people you will find making laughable wages.
Most jobs in my area pay $11-$13. It isn’t $7, but it isn’t $15 either. Also, who can manage transportation on $300? I spend that much in fuel. This meme paints WAY too easy of a picture. Life is much harder than that in most of the US. I see people from developing nations saying Americans are spoiled because they’re so rich, but what they think is rich is absolutely destitute poor here. You’ll likely be homeless and hungry if all you earn is $30k/year.
You’re welcome to post the calculus for your area. It is overly simple, but the point is correct. The economics are atrocious.
how is it sustainable? it’s not. and that’s by design. American politicians and billionaires want it this way. they want the divide. the more poor you are the more likely you are to serve them. slavery never disappeared from the US. the ‘American dream’ has been dead for decades.
If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you. Lyndon B. Johnson
It works for poor versus rich too. Convince their depressed earnings are due to immigrants, etc. and they’ll attack them and (not us rich folks). It’s a redirection by the rich.
It also wasn’t sustainable 20 years ago.
Millennials in their 40s are finally reaching the level of income/financial freedom as a genX did in their late 20s.
And some of GenX got part of the Boomer economy where they practically handed you a job for simply asking and things were affordable.
the more poor you are the more likely you are to serve them
I am getting tired of waiting for people to realize what’s in the post and finally take up to pitchforks. That’s not rocket science, come on
Where is rent 1200? Maybe with 2 roomates.
That’s a reasonable figure for a big chunk of the Midwest. I currently pay around that much for a 2 bedroom apartment.
Eureka CA $1200 for a 2 bed 1 bath single family home
…but you live in Eureka
I had an apartment that was 1200 a month in Southeast Michigan a few years ago. It was the cheapest two-bedroom around because it was pretty poorly maintained.
A decade ago, $1200 was a three bedroom house in my neighborhood. Today, it’s $1400 for a studio apartment, and $3k for the same house.
Again, 10 year difference.
I forget how bad the inflation is. I had that place in 2023-2024 so not quite a decade, but I’m sure things have gotten worse since then.
I never understood landlords like that. Maintenance isn’t too difficult or too expensive barring pretty extraordinary circumstances.
Put in like $200-$300 a month worth of maintenance and you could eventually charge $400-$500 a month more in rent.
Maintenance isn’t too difficult or too expensive
Are you joking? Getting quality contractors (or doing it yourself) is quite a bit of work and often quite expensive. It’s exponentially worse if other people are tearing your shit up because they don’t care about other people’s stuff.
You shouldn’t take this as ‘don’t buy your own home’, but I can’t fathom where you thought properly maintaining a home isn’t difficult or expensive. Go lookup prices on how expensive installing a new roof, AC, kitchen cabinets, or flooring is. And those are only some big-ticket items.
Just bought my 30 year old home last year. Have made quite a few upgrades so far because it was necessary but as far as “general” maintenance goes it’s been pretty negligible. Of course replacing a roof is a shit ton of money but when you only need a new one every 30 years that $20,000 bill can be spread across 360 months for a total of $55 a month. You just need to be knowledgable enough to know what the maintenance costs and account for it ahead of time not last minute after you have already been greedy and spent all the money you collected the past 30 years.
Theyd rather not do extra work and just charge slightly less.
austin tx reporting in, there’s advertisements up near me about the amazing deal of $1100/mo for a 1bed apartment.
Wow, when I lived there, it was $700 just to rent a room in someone else’s house
Southeast US in the smaller cities (rent is cheaper for a reason though…).
this is sustainable because we let them do it to us
I wish my bills were that low.
no kidding. that’s my average water/trash bill. I guess the lights don’t need to say on.
Minimum wage isn’t $15 an hour.
Minimum Wage isn’t even livable!
Uses DOUBLE the minimum wage and it STILL isn’t livable
Rent isn’t $1200/mo either.
All of these numbers are years out of date
When I graduated college in 2004 I rented a 1 bedroom shit box for $1200. I can’t imagine how bad it is for renters today. Also, fuck “land lords.”
It is in some parts of the country, to be fair. But the minority for sure.
It’s higher than $15 in most places
Literally five seconds to find. Now count how many places are over 15.
god look at florida. NU UHHH $15 minimim wage is socialism… we’re gonna set it to $14
Only five states have minimum wage above 15. Only 8 total are at 15 or higher. According to this: https://wagebystate.com/minimum-wage/
And most major metro areas have their own minimum wage separate from the state.
Jesus, just stop typing.
You’re been wrong at every turn because you’re the shining example the embodiment of the dunning-kruger effect. So confidently incorrect even with literal research at your fingertips that you refuse to use.
It’s embarrassing.
Listen, I don’t give a fuck about what the rural hicks make. Where most people live, in cities, the minimum wage is significantly higher.
Further, virtually nobody makes minimum wage anyway. Fewer than 1%.
You attempted to move the goalposts twice in a single comment, impressive.
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Nope. currently, 67 counties and cities do: https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/inventory-of-us-city-and-county-minimum-wage-ordinances/
And half the population lives in what are considered “rural” areas.
Edit: I guess that last part isn’t true anymore. Only 20%.
How many?
Which ones?
You couldn’t be more wrong. I make less than I made 25 years ago, and I’m not even close to minimum. Jobs around me mostly hire at $11-12. Maybe $16 if you’re a welder or something.
Lmao fucking what. McDonald’s starts at $18.
McDonalds isn’t the minimum.
McDonalds starts higher than the minimum, because even they know the minimum is too low.McDonald’s is literally right at the bottom. “Doesn’t even compete with fast food” is a bar in hell.
It is indeed
And the minimum is still even lower than thatSorry I was actually wrong.
McDonald’s starts at $19.29. Because that’s the minimum wage where I am.
Just gonna leave this here. Federal Minimum Wage
Minimum wage here in Alberta, Canada remains $15/hr. CAD and hasn’t changed since 2018. That’s eight years. Absolutely insane now that I’ve looked it up, fuck me. And of course the UCP will never do anything that might help a struggling person.
Federal minimum is still $7.25
Whoever wrote the meme lives in a blue state that increased it, and will never think to care about any of the permanent underclass of flyover morlocks in other states.
… Who keep voting in people who make no secret of actively wanting to make their lives worse because they promise to hurt the outsiders of constantly varying form.
Stupid does as stupid is.
Also a lot of people who can’t afford to move
There are also non-idiots in these states. It’s much more of a urban/rural divide. Please save us…
Also a result of unfettered corruption and indoctrination
I am helpless to do anything other than offer my well wishes and suggest you arm yourself, as is your country’s custom. I fear it’s going to get a lot worse yet.
And in the state of Wyoming, you can actually have a minimum wage below the federal minimum, of a mighty $5.15/hour. I don’t know how common it it, as I think a business can’t get away with it if they receive any federal funding, but it is technically legal for them to pay you less than $7.25/hour in some circumstances, aside from the lower wage for tipped workers.
And $15/hr is roughly twice the Federal minimum wage.
Are these prices from 1999? Where in the US can you get anywhere close to these rates? Certainly not near any major city.
Great Lakes rust belt. Okay well maybe rent is actually $2200 and utilities are $450, but the others aren’t too far off if you put in the work to find deals. So maybe those figures were circa 2009. That only leaves you what, $1k in debt each month with zero spending money? Not so bad for one of the most affordable major urbanized regions, right? /s
I’m in a major city with lots of tech companies and getting unaffordable every year. Having said that, utilities, phone, and internet are doable, BUT with caveats:
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You can still find a $1200 1-BR apartment, but it might not be in a great area in the city. So I agree this is not ideal even though it’s possible.
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You can spend less than $100 on electricity and water in a 1-bedroom apartment because the utility provider is regulated. Once you get out of their coverage (outside city limits), it gets expensive pretty quick. My monthly bill back when I was living in an apartment was around $60-$70.
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Fiber internet (500 Mbps) can be as low as $30-$45. You just have to keep calling every renewal either to ask for a promo rate, or threaten to switch so they offer to get you back to the introductory price. I hate that it has to be like this, but it’s possible.
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A pre-paid carrier like Mint or US Mobile can cost as low as $15 a month, but you’ll have limited data. If you don’t really need much internet while out and about, then it won’t really be much of an issue.
Transportation is definitely the problem, and $300 a month won’t cut it. Public transpo barely exists and you’ll likely have a car payment and insurance, which will eat up your monthly budget. And yeah, $350 for food isn’t enough anymore.
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This isn’t in any way a defence of low wages, but phone, internet, and food can all be had for cheaper depending on location, and if public transportation or close walking proximity to resources and employment are available, that can be significantly less too.
That still leaves too little extra to do any activities that cost money, survive an emergency situation, or save for retirement.
Hampton Roads, VA. I’m in Newport News. $1375 for a two bedroom apartment, although water/sewer is nearly $200/mo and electric is around that as well. We’re barely scraping by.
I live in a suburb of a large city. These might be higher since it’s me, gf, and kid. Rent with all included fees: 1850
Utilities(basically just electric): 200-400 per month depending on weather
Phone : 40 per month(had to buy phone out of pocket first)
Food: 400-600 recently with only groceries no eating out
Transportation(gas for car): 100 minimum
Car insurance: 275 (no tickets, 1 accident 4 years ago but I was found 0% at fault)
Car payment: 350 (paid off next month)
Total(check my math I did it in my head) 3250 per month for essentials
I live in a decent sized city in the US and I would say the only thing low might be transportation. Rent here can be lower, so they would offset.
Well… It’s not sustainable for the person making $15 an hour, but it’s certainly is for the person paying that person $15 an hour and I think that those are the only people that we should be caring about.
Listen you got to work 6 days a week and go to church on Sundays. That’s how it’s supposed to work. That extra 20-30 bucks you get at the end of the month, collection plate.
Then you can die quietly at 55 and somebody can take your place.
/S obviously.
That’s not 10% of your income. Pass Go and go straight to hell.
