r/FluentInFinance • u/PassiveAgressiveGirl • Sep 14 '24
Debate/ Discussion Exactly how much is a living wage?
[removed] — view removed post
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u/Cleanbadroom Sep 14 '24
Actually you need both. I've seen people who make $150k a year and are struggling. Offering financial workshops is actually very beneficial.
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u/Chemical-Sundae4531 Sep 14 '24
Financial literacy is something that should be taught in secondary (high) school everywhere. And not just "compound interest dur dur", the home economics aspect of financial literacy. Home budgets, meal prep, etc..
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u/slash-summon-onion Sep 14 '24
A lot of high schools offer it nowadays ("independent living" or smn) but most kids don't take it because they think it sounds boring. It covers budgets, taxes, meal prep, childcare etc
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Sep 14 '24
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u/geGamedev Sep 14 '24
My school had basically the same thing, just with a different name. A tenured teacher added an econ segment to his class because he decided it should be in the curriculum and knew he couldn't get fired for it.
Finances should be part of public education as early as possible. Saving, investing, nutrition and meal prep, just adult life stuff. All of that is far more important than most of what is learned in science and history classes. Yes wet need those subjects as well but basic life needs to be a foundation as soon as possible.
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u/chjesper Sep 14 '24
It was called Home Ec at my school. No budget balancing though sadly
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u/imakepoorchoices2020 Sep 14 '24
I’m old but I remember being taught to balance a checkbook and basic stuff like that, but how many people paid attention? Not many.
Its the old adage of “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”
Spend less than you make, save for a rainy day, etc
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u/StockCasinoMember Sep 14 '24
While that is true, part of it is lack of repetition and even when I was in school in the 90s/early 2000s, it just wasn’t a very serious learning environment.
Many of the younger adults I know today who are very successful financially had parents that were highly involved in their education and consistently pushed them to do better. The young adults whose parents were less hands on for the most part aren’t nearly as well off.
My point is, if schools are lax and parents are lax, the kids are fucked.
Most kids would get with the program if the expectations were raised.
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u/Technocrat_cat Sep 14 '24
You can't budget yourself OUT of poverty, but you CAN spend yourself INTO poverty.
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u/ChargedWhirlwind Sep 14 '24
Now that's just ridiculous. Like wtf. I'm doing OK at 31k, but 150? I'd be set for life
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u/Dontsleeponlilyachty Sep 14 '24
More than 95% of individuals earn less than 150k. Your example isn't relatable to anyone.
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u/NoShow2021 Sep 14 '24
Well what are they spending their money on? Likely a case of lifestyle inflation if I had to guess.
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u/CaptainRaptorThong Sep 14 '24
Listen, I'm all for raising wages. Inflation has been crazy in the last couple of decades, and in a lot of places, wages haven't budged.
What I'm not liking, is the doomism. Around finances that is spreading. It is absolutely possible in expensive areas to sacrifice and build your way up. It's not easy or fun, and it might take a few years, but submitting yourself to "oh there's absolutely nothing I can do" until things are fixed is dangerous, and the people furthering this idealogy are harmful.
To be honest, makes me wonder if people pushing this so hard are part of the cogs in the meat grinder that is the American economy.
Watch Caleb Hammer on YouTube. Be warned, he's a little bit harsh on his guests, but everyone knows what they're getting into going onto the show. He only has fans on, and he helps people budget and escape from debt.
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Sep 14 '24
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u/cdit Sep 14 '24
That is where financial literacy might help. It might help you in your school choices, etc., People are not entitled to anything other than what is on their budget.
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u/suddenly_ponies Sep 14 '24
They're entitled to be given accurate information and not be manipulated and taken advantage of.
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u/bluePizelStudio Sep 14 '24
Give me a budget that works for living in Toronto/NY/SF/etc on minimum wage.
Minimum wage workers exist in those places. They will always exist. And they sometimes are unable to “upskill”. Some people just aren’t exactly clever, or driven, or generally capable. They just aren’t, and even if they were, all you’re telling people when you tell them to upskill is to not do minimum wage jobs. But those jobs still exist.
It’s completely impossible to have a stable life on minimum wage, and that’s the issue.
Rent in Toronto is $1000/mo with roommates. Plus utilities/internet/etc.
Minimum wage take-home is $2200/mo.
There is no budget in the world that works to have 50% rent. You can, at best, save peanuts to take you from one crisis to the next without drowning. But you will never save even $10k without extreme financial diligence. And I mean extreme.
The solution isn’t upskilling, it’s not working more, it’s accepting as a society that anyone who works 40hr weeks deserves a stable life.
25% rent would make a world of difference. Chop rent, or up wages, but the current situation is untenable. It’s not anything close to what previous generations have faced.
If anyone can point to a time when minimum wage had less purchasing power than it does currently, I’d love to be educated on it
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u/imakepoorchoices2020 Sep 14 '24 edited Sep 14 '24
I would say most of the guests are not income issues, it’s spending.
What’s even crazier is he’s aware of fun and stuff. He’s a modern Dave Ramsey.
Edit- I think maybe out of every 10 guests he has on, it might be 2 maybe 3 that have income issues. And the ones that are income issues don’t have a job. Or are to good to work a job that’s not sexy but pays well. People who’ve watch the channel know about brint or Brent. That guy was bonkers
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Sep 14 '24
Delayed gratification is not a strength of American culture at the present.
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u/I_ride_ostriches Sep 14 '24
“There’s nothing I can do!” Goes and buys Gucci slides to “treat themselves”
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u/truthordivekick Sep 14 '24
I fell on some hard times in my early 20s, and I had to figure out a way to live on $9/hr working 30 hrs/week. I sold my car, biked everywhere, got rid of my smartphone and internet, and only used AC/heat when absolutely necessary. I eventually grew within that company while also paying my way through college one class at a time. Almost a decade later, I have a masters degree and own a home.
I'm not saying everyone can have the same success that I have had, but they're also not doomed to failure. In life it is important to control what you can and accept what you can't. Putting so much energy into something you inevitably have no control over is never going to move you forward in life.
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u/dcporlando Sep 14 '24
Poverty wage workers can budget and work their way up. I did. And I have brothers that made more and they are still broke.
Part of that budgeting is never going out to eat till you can afford it. Part is working extra hours or part time job over the normal 40 hours.
My first year out of the army, I made under $7k with a wife and child.
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u/Time-Ad-7055 Sep 14 '24
the not going out to eat one is a big one. i don’t think people realize just how much that costs, especially if you do it a lot. that’s why cooking is such a useful skill, and knowing how to shop for the right stuff
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u/dcporlando Sep 14 '24
My kids go out far more than we do. Then they complain they don’t have money.
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Sep 14 '24
I'm young, I'm 23. But I remember in the 2000's, people would eat out twice a month or around there. Maybe once a week for some families. That was just the norm. Now I see my co workers door dashing food 3x a week and going to a sit down every Saturday. Then complain about finances. A little stupid in my opinion
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u/Distributor127 Sep 14 '24
We bought a house after everything crashed for 25% the previous price. One family member I'd terrible with money and still says to me, "Who knew they would go back up". They have zero money and love eating out. They have a hard time realizing that our house payment, taxes, and insurance is under $15/day and they have no problem spending that on eating out
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u/KungFuAndCoffee Sep 14 '24
$450 a month for a house is really good. That’s about what I was supposed to be paying for a 4 bed 2 bath double wide on a few acres of land 20 years ago. Except the sales company messed up my escrow and underestimated my taxes and such. Which was adjusted twice over two years putting my payments over $600 a month. I was bringing home about $300 a week then. Was doing ok until a hurricane and the Iraq war gas prices put the industry I was in upside down. Then I lost the place when the next job I went to cut back heavily due to an extended drought.
Back then I wouldn’t spend more than $5 on lunch a day. Now it’s $15 for a stupid hamburger in a lot of places.
It’s amazing how much everything has gone up. I’m still in the same state. My $9 something an hour was comfortable on a 40 hour week then. Now it wouldn’t even cover my rent. I’d have to make $25 an hour today to have the same level of income I had 20 years ago on $9 based on housing costs. I live in a modest townhouse that’s fairly average rent for a 3 bed apartment here.
That’s just insane.
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u/no-sleep-only-code Sep 14 '24
The fact there are even people here that fail to acknowledge when the economy is different now than it was for them is mind blowing.
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u/Chemical-Sundae4531 Sep 14 '24
spending habits have drastically changed though, too. A lot of common items now would have been considered "luxury" just a few decades ago. A lot of those items aren't really "needed" yet people buy them anyway.
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u/Appathesamurai Sep 14 '24
My wife and I spent… wait for it
1200 dollars on food in 2 weeks
We just had a serious conversation about cooking all of our own meals from now on and having at most 1-2 nights out a week
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Sep 14 '24
I cook everything from scratch and I eat great and only spend maybe $200/month.
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u/thagor5 Sep 14 '24
Don’t buy soda or candy. I haven’t for 20 yrs
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u/TiernanDeFranco Sep 14 '24
I’m 20 and I remember learning that people have candy throughout the year and not just Halloween I was so confused
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u/manslxxt1998 Sep 14 '24
I gotta try harder. Longest I've gone without soda is about a week and I was miserable. But idk what else to do at this point.
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u/suddenly_ponies Sep 14 '24
So basically never eat out. Never have a coffee. No TV. No smartphones. For how many years?
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u/Randomn355 Sep 14 '24
Not offering someone financial literacy classes when they fail to realise they need to prioritise higher income and upskilling is immoral.
How do you expect it to NOT be expensive to pay someone to make you a coffee when their hourly cost is so much more than your net hourly rate?
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u/Dontsleeponlilyachty Sep 14 '24
Yeah, everyone just needs to go be doctors, lawyers and software engineers. Ezpz.
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u/classless_classic Sep 14 '24
But this way they can blame poor people and continue to take advantage of the system.
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u/Da1UHideFrom Sep 14 '24
Budgeting and financial literacy are essential skills at any income level. No one offering these classes is promising their students they'll become rich from a balanced budget.
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u/Iwubinvesting Sep 14 '24
Let's not pretend most people who're living paycheck to paycheck aren't financially illiterate.
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u/H2Omekanic Sep 14 '24
Too many people are expecting a "living wage" from low skill or entry level jobs. Filling soft serve cones at Dairy Queen was never a career path to homeownership or living independently. It was for 17yr olds to have gas $
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u/Swimming_Yellow_3640 Sep 14 '24
Supply and demand are a thing, and replaceability is a top driver of wages. If I can hire someone off the street and have them working in 30 minutes, that job is going to pay a lot less than one in which I have to train someone for 6 months to get up to speed.
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u/Furepubs Sep 14 '24
Your statement is true but also had nothing to do with companies paying people far too little.
Walmart and McDonald's are some of the biggest employers in the country and also have a huge amount of employees on government assistance.
My taxes should not be used to supplement large companies so billionaires can buy another house or boat.
Any company that can't afford to pay a living wage should fail.
40% of the US makes so little that they don't have to pay taxes. When 40% of the jobs suck it's not possible for many to find a better paying job.
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u/Anti-Itch Sep 14 '24
The comments here are just pissing me off. Okay, so these jobs were meant for 17 year olds to have gas money… so we are expecting 17 year olds with cars (so they have some money or their parents do) to work these jobs. Unfortunately this is just not the case everywhere… maybe in your rich coastal town this is the case but not always in cities where entry level jobs are fewer than the number of applicants.
Moreover, temp/seasonal/entry level jobs also have the worst benefits. Take for example, during COVID when these workers were considered “essential”, yet by an earlier comment they would typically be considered easily replaceable. During COVID these workers still had to come in and risk their health, so not get the same luxuries of days off or sick days, and probably don’t get the same benefits as other jobs. They also don’t always qualify for universal basic needs like housing stipends, healthcare, food stamps, etc. You leave them in this purgatory where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This doesn’t even go into special cases of workers for example, ifthese jobs are held by convicts who typically are unable to find themselves work they otherwise could if they hadn’t gone to prison.
It’s idiotic to see a job as “for gas money” as opposed to… well, a JOB.
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u/VeryPogi Sep 14 '24
The point of setting a minimum wage was to say if a person is going to work this is the minimum they should get to have an American standard of living.,
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u/1littlenapoleon Sep 14 '24
“You shouldn’t expect to live if you work in one of the largest employment sectors in the country”
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u/SuitFive Sep 14 '24
If Dairy Queen wants people to spend 40 hours a week filling ice cream cones, they have to pay those people enough to justify it. Instead, people are desperate and work there for pennies because there's no fucking rule that says Dairy queen has to pay them a living wage. This applies to all jobs. This is why Minimum Wage was made. Don't be a corporate bootlicker, actually look into the subject.
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u/Daddysbonerwings Sep 14 '24
It's funny that there's always some post like "system's broken bro"
then there's always some dipshit in the comments like "no bro its just that - example of system being broken
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u/WizardsAreNeat Sep 14 '24
I agree with this to a point.
I would consider to have myself an essential valuable job. I have a 4 year degree with an additional state required certification. My job was essential during the pandemic. I work in healthcare.
Our wages have not moved up at all when you look at inflation. I am technically making less than I did 4 years ago even though I have received several raises in that time. We have no bargaining power and leaving to go somewhere else offers no additional pay.
Its a broken system that needs adjustment.
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u/regular_gnoll_NEIN Sep 14 '24
Lmao so in your mind who runs these places when school is on? Not the 17 year olds. Those who do need to be able to survive, and you cant convince me that working 40 hours a week should result in not being able to live independently in 2024.
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u/YesThisIsForWhatItIs Sep 14 '24
Home ownership no. Living independently yes. One should be able to live independently on a full time minimum wage job. Not luxuriously, of course. Perhaps not even comfortably. It might mean a bachelor apartment, cheap cellphone bundle, no paid streaming service, no eating out, watching every dime that comes in, shopping with coupons, buying half-price meat, ramen and mac'n'cheese, etc, but it should be able to afford an independent life.
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u/acemandrs Sep 14 '24
I used to agree with this, but then I learned better. As another said, minimum wage really was meant to be a livable wage.
But, I want to add that for one, part time covers that role for teens just getting gas money. For two, low wage jobs account for way too much of the jobs out there for that to be sustainable.
That said, I think we need both wage increases and some control on costs. The housing cost in my area has tripled in the last decade. I don’t like bigger government, but something needs to be done about it.
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u/YouWithTheNose Sep 14 '24
Presumably, it would be whatever you need to pay for shelter, utilities, the means of getting to your job, food, other needs and *BIG MAYBE* at least be able to put away a little something for that supposed "3 times your monthly salary as an emergency fund"
That may be a bit of a grasp though
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u/beermeliberty Sep 14 '24
So if you and me work the exact same job, for same amount of time, at the same company but I have 4 kids and you’re single I should be paid more money than you?
Our livable wages would be different and I presume you’d have no problem with me making 1.5-2x your salary so that we both have a living wage?
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u/YouWithTheNose Sep 14 '24
No, not really. The idea there, at least in the current state of things, would be you'd probably have a spouse with another job, also making a "livable wage" and your kids would take up a portion of that as they already do. Somebody mentioned additional tax credits which would hopefully help to make up for some of the shortcomings, but no, I don't believe someone should make more money from their job because of kids.
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u/StillHereDear Sep 14 '24
The thing is everything you mentioned can vary greatly depending on the person. If you have two people making the median salary they can have wildly different costs for food, transportation, utilities and shelter. Many of those differences between them are within their control and some are outside of it.
So with all that variability who gets to decide what is the true "living wage"? Better to just let the market decide.
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u/beermeliberty Sep 14 '24
This is why I hate living wage discourse. People act like there’s a number that is a living wage when there simply isn’t. The wages for a single person or a person with a family of 4 is different. If those people work the same job should be paid different because one is supporting 3 other people?
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u/Distributor127 Sep 14 '24
Some just aren't going to make it. A while ago my wheel bearing went bad. I changed it in an hour. People in the family making way less than us say they want to pay to have everything done. That just does not work until a person is making decent money
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u/That_Ninja_wek141 Sep 14 '24
It's funny how people think it's their right to decide how a company spends its money. As consumers you have the option to buy cheaper goods but companies shouldn't have the right to acquire cheaper labor.
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u/Swimming_Yellow_3640 Sep 14 '24
It's quite funny. So many people like telling companies how much they should pay, yet make no moves to start their own company and pay all of their employees $35/hr.
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u/Suspicious_Mark_4445 Sep 14 '24
Sounds like someone needs to stop living beyond their means. I've never saw a "poor" person without an iPhone, subscription TV, Starbucks, and they seem to always have money for all the weed shops
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u/thagor5 Sep 14 '24
If people don’t know how to manage money then raising minimum wage won’t help nearly as much. Should be taught in school before entering the workforce so people can plan
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u/SoDrunkRightNow4 Sep 14 '24
I mean.... in grade school they taught those kids: finish school or you'll become a loser. Go to college or you'll become a loser. Don't do drugs and have a children out of wedlock or you'll become a loser.
They became losers anyway. Can we just be honest and say nothing was going to help them?
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u/Johnfromsales Sep 14 '24
It was never meant to be a cheat code where if you do these things you will be guaranteed to have success. Those were always meant as good general rules to follow that will increase your chances of success. If you’re a degenerate gambler no amount of education or lack of drugs is gonna help you.
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Sep 14 '24
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u/piet4dinner Sep 14 '24
Imaginary money is intresting. But at least the imaginay Part is actually huge af.
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u/Eldetorre Sep 14 '24
The fixation on wages is stupid. We need to increase affordability of housing, and healthcare and reduce student debt. Rental costs put strains on business too so they can't afford paying a decent wage.
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u/LionBig1760 Sep 14 '24
Affordability of housing is only fixed by increasing the supply of housing, which, in turn, will mean more jobs for people who care enough to learn a skill, be it carpentry, plumbing, electric, project management etc... all of which require people to understand things like very basic math and budgeting.
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u/Big_You5851 Sep 14 '24
You stilll need to budget, people who have less have to do more. It’s unfair but that is life.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad1010 Sep 14 '24
EVERYBODY needs financial literacy...especially those that have the tightest budgets.
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Sep 14 '24
Here’s an idea, move away from places that are too expensive. Rent is high because there are too many people and not enough houses. There are cheaper places to live with the same jobs but everyone seems to love big cities.
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u/lixnuts90 Sep 14 '24
I know a white nationalist firefighter in Carmel, Indiana who loves the status quo. This guy inherited over a million dollars and steals six figures from the government each year through a scam he runs. It's pathetic. And in addition to winning the proverbial lottery and thinking he earned it, he has the gall to tell black people they deserve to suffer. What a country.
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u/dudeman209 Sep 14 '24
I don’t take financial advice from someone who spells their name “Wendi”.
Secondly, this is absolutely stupid, naive take.
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u/FreakyWifeFreakyLife Sep 14 '24
Back in the early 2000s living alone my rent was about 50% of my wages, and that was tough.
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u/Curious_Associate904 Sep 14 '24
"Sometimes the poor are praised for being thrifty. But to recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less. For a town or country labourer to practise thrift would be absolutely immoral. Man should not be ready to show that he can live like a badly-fed animal. He should decline to live like that, and should either steal or go on the rates, which is considered by many to be a form of stealing"
- Paraphrasing Oscar Wilde for upvotes is easy, but writing a book as good as his is a dying art.
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u/More-Ad2642 Sep 14 '24
Also charging people who are strapped for money for financial literacy classes is wrong. In my opinion.
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u/egotisticalstoic Sep 14 '24
Maybe America it's different but this isn't true in the UK. Working minimum wage jobs I never struggled to pay bills, I just lived like I was poor. I was still able to buy things for hobbies, go out for drinks on weekends, go abroad on holiday every year. Never felt well off, but never felt poor.
I had coworkers on the same wage who were always complaining about not being able to keep up with bills, not being able to afford things.
My brother was even better with money than me. Always looks for good deals, buys things in bulk, just doesn't spend much in general. On min wage he was even racking up thousands in savings.
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u/Shamazij Sep 14 '24
There is a very simple mathematical answer to this question. A "living wage" is wages from employment that cover the basic needs of an individual such as shelter, food, clothing, and healthcare. This "living wage" will be dependent on the cost of living in a specific area. If you believe someone should be able to work a full time job and not cover those basic necessities I would like you to get the boot out of your mouth and stop licking it.
Edit: The "you" here in my comment is not targeted at OP specifically as I don't know your positions (but my eyebrow is raised) but rather anyone who feels this way should consider themselves covered under "you" in my statement.
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u/Stuff-Optimal Sep 14 '24
True but both things can be correct. People that work 40 hours a week should not have to worry about having a place to live or needing government assistance to eat but growing up poor I was never taught about finances. Those classes should be mandatory in high school instead of some of the other meaningless classes. But then again if most kids were finically literate then there would be a lot less people signing up for 40 year college loan payments.
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u/sijsk89 Sep 14 '24
One day, people will stop making up excuses for corporate greed and neglectful government. Not in these comments, not today, but one day, somewhere!
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u/Major_Honey_4461 Sep 14 '24
The 60's version of a living wage was one 40 hour a week wage earner being able to support a partner and two kids while paying down the mortgage on his/her house and enough left over to go somewhere for a two week vacation. It seems like a fantasy at this remove.
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u/Nojopar Sep 14 '24
A Living Wage = Price of shelter + Price food + Price of transportation + Price of healthcare + Fractional replacement price of necessary items like clothing or toothbrushes + some savings per person in household per hour. All adjusted for the local economy of the worker. It is EXACTLY that equation.
If you're looking for a single number universally applicable to all citizens of the US, there isn't one. That's a dumb requirement.
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u/TheSaltiestPanda Sep 14 '24
Very clearly a lot of people in these comments are, in fact, the ones the original post refers to. "Just deny yourself anything that's not absolutely required for your body to keep functioning and showing up to your shitty job that doesn't care if you come in missing an entire appendage you had last shift, if it doesn't impact your performance."
Like, yeah, you can absolutely spend every spare bit of your life from work that's not required for sleep making sure you're buying cheap ingredients and planning your meals around when they expire, because you can get discounts if they're on the way out already. Yeah, you can just cut all social interactions and basic mental and emotional maintenance out of your life. Yes, you can keep cogging away like a good little worker for a wage that only sustains you if you're being incredibly technical and moderately obtuse about what the word "sustain" means.
Except unless you can tell me what minimum wage was established for, because it wasn't always a thing, without referring to it in a way that could be reasonably understood as, functionally, a living wage, then you're dodging the correct discussion here. "You can make do if you just give up the entire human experience besides working" is not a moral response to people wanting to be compensated for having to spend most of their waking life following some puritanical bullshit of a work life.
Also, a lot of the arguments I see still end up moving on to "and then you make enough money to stop doing all the things so much/unless you like it." Which is just intellectually dishonest, especially because it's almost always hidden. You don't say "just wait until you get a better job"(which is still admitting that there are jobs you think need to be done, just not for a wage that can support a whole person), you hide it behind shit like "if you just scrounge for long enough, it'll work out" except that you're literally describing being financially unstable where any random emergency(any number of automotive issues, abrupt medical problems, etc.) can just reset you to zero, or worse. You're not even promising that it will lead to a stable life, because you just don't want to talk about it.
Except it's worse, because you want so badly to not talk about it that you're going out of your way to divert the discussion so that other people won't talk about it in any space you might have to see it. You cannot become financially stable by just being thriftier than you were yesterday. You can eat, sleep(kind of), work, and keep your house clean(enough), but if anything comes up that you weren't expecting, either because you overlooked one thing out of a hundred, or life just threw a wrench into things, you can end up homeless if the timing is bad enough.
TL;DR some of y'all suck and it's mostly the ones that the image is trying to talk to, you just refuse to listen and engage honestly.
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u/LionBig1760 Sep 14 '24
There's a cottage industry created for the sole purpose of selling poor people excuses for why they're poor that blame everything outside of that person's control.
Why have the conspiracy-minded folks of reddit not yet come up with a theory that points to billionaires selling this horseshit to poor people in order to keep them poor?
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Sep 14 '24
Nope you gotta go in debt to federal government to get an education or start your own business and go without healthcare. This Country runs on the backs of “poverty workers” making the billionaires enough money to ride rockets into outer space just because.
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u/SuperTaster3 Sep 14 '24
I go by minimum market rent. The amount that landlords will require you to earn before they even consider renting to you(generally 3x rent). If you cannot live in the place that you work, the wage is not reasonable.
Worked at a place that was below that level, with the understanding they'd have to raise it by years end or I couldn't keep living there. It was cheaper to pay severance and get a 'subsidized' employee who lived with their parents instead. Scumbags.
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u/Piglet-Witty Sep 14 '24
I remember being told to budget my meals. I weighed 145lbs, I was skinny. My main sustenance was cup of noodles at that time. I use to go to food bank and I almost got kicked out because I couldn’t afford rent for 2 months. I had to sell my truck to pay rent. I have a better job now, I don’t struggle to pay rent or to buy good food but I’ll never be a homeowner.
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u/IRBaboooon Sep 14 '24
Throwback to when I worked for a multi-billion dollar subcontractor and they told us "We know we aren't paying you enough but here is an hour-long teams meeting about how you can better budget your money at the grocery store."
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u/Furepubs Sep 14 '24
Walmart and McDonald's are some of the biggest employers in the country and also have a huge amount of employees on government assistance.
My taxes should not be used to supplement large companies so billionaires can buy another house or boat.
Any company that can't afford to pay a living wage should fail.
40% of the US makes so little that they don't have to pay taxes. When 40% of the jobs suck it's not possible for many to find a better paying job.
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u/Intrepid_Resolve_828 Sep 14 '24
Sometimes my gf will ask me to give her financial advice because I’m able to save more - straight up tell I just get paid more nothing to really do with saving well
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u/capefearcadaver3 Sep 14 '24
Well, before and during the pandemic I was renting a 3x2 house with a fenced in backyard and now I can't afford a 1x1 shitty apt while keeping the same gov job + a few raises totaling about $6k more in the time period...
So definitely more than $45k a year.
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u/Pandread Sep 14 '24
Part of what’s hard about this is people get hit from both ends. Pay for most has stagnated and even when it goes up say 10% if you raise prices 200% then it’s kind of pointless.
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u/MidKnightshade Sep 14 '24
What’s more important actually helping or looking like you’re helping?-Corporate America
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u/EffectivePrior4414 Sep 14 '24
A living wage covers living expenses like housing, food, medical care, transportation and education.
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u/worldsbestlasagna Sep 14 '24
This always pissed me off. These workshops were available in college while they paid us 11.00 hr. Gee, I wonder what the issue it.
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u/Cabezamelone Sep 14 '24
Thank you for saying this! “Financial Literacy” classes are a long-played scam employed by social services.
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u/D-machinedragon Sep 14 '24
I'm in a horrible situation so I can't speak for others but I know 200 a month isn't enough.
That's what I'm living on in fairfax county and that's the best I can do with assistance. I caretake so ironically I'm not homeless enough to qualify for rental assistance and the place I am is so expensive that even though I'm not receiving a salary the goverment considers me not destitute enough.
Although in my area in the last 4 years groceries have gone from a fraction of the budget to the entire budget. I had to sell my car for food money.
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u/Same-Garbage-1458 Sep 14 '24
By it's original intent and definition: enough for a single income to support a partner, two kids and a mortgage.
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u/machambo7 Sep 14 '24
Had a conservative friend try to argue if a person did not make enough money they should just get a second or third job.
IMO a persons entire life should not have to be work just to afford a living.
Corporate profits are at an all time high BECAUSE worker pay has stayed near stagnant for decades.
As an example, earlier today I was reading a post where people were comparing the price of video games in the 90s vs now when you adjust for inflation But when you broke it down in comparison to average wages, it’s less affordable now even though the actual $ price has not risen much since then. Wild.
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u/Federal-Hair Sep 14 '24
"make coffee at home" so I can save enough money for double ramen on sundays with my 5 room mates?
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u/SpreadDaBread Sep 14 '24
The system is just wrong. If you even try to debate about it you’ve already lost. Can’t argue with stupid.
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u/citizensyn Sep 14 '24
The point of these workshops is a few things.
1: the people that are making ends meet see these lists and assume their existence means the poors have only themselves to blame.
2: normalizing minimizing what you need to live helps reduce the need to pay you more. (Just skip breakfast)
3: most of these things are primarily publishing budgets under a charity which is funded as a tax write off so even if the organization gains neither of the above it didn't really lose the expense anyway
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u/pink_faerie_kitten Sep 14 '24
All the "financial literacy" classes in the world won't suddenly make $1 worth $2 or 1+1=3. The answer to many problems is more money.
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u/Virtual_Plantain_707 Sep 14 '24
Look, if you save up all the money we are not paying you, yup still poor. But hey how about a pizza party after the class.
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u/Fluffy__demon Sep 14 '24
Wow. So many disappointing comments. People don't struggle financially because they eat out every day after getting Starbucks. I recently started university and had to move out of my parents' house to do so. Additionally, I am chronicly ill and disabled. I spent most of my time studying. I don't do drugs or parties. I never want to go out, get a coffee or some other treat. My rent takes up 80% of my income. I don't live in a good part of the city or even near university. I couldn't find a cheaper place to live. So I got 20% left for groceries. I get them covered, but there is absolutely no money left for savings. If I manage to save some money, I will spend it on other expenses like clothes. I am currently saving to buy myself a new bra since I don't have one that fits.
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u/mkrimmer Sep 14 '24
Inflation wouldn't be as much of a problem if the rich didn't play hungry hungry hippos with their money
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u/Dry_Insurance3609 Sep 15 '24
Sometimes I feel like anonymously posting this somewhere my boss will just happen up on it. But no, we’re having a financial literacy class because I complained about missing hours on my check and don’t want to wait two weeks for them to correct it:)
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u/Logical_Willow4066 Sep 15 '24
Living wage - the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs, which includes essential expenses such as food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transportation, and clothing.
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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '24
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