Minimun wage?

[Minnesota!]

$7.25 in Mn

 

[disneydance]

$8.67 here in Washington State I get payed that but I'm a teen so I can afford to live off of that since parents pay for nearly everything... But even for extra's I want I have to think it through and how I'm going to pay things like that.

 

[LisaR]

I think people could live on a LOT less than they do if they only bought want they need, not what they want.

My mom lives quite comfortably on her $13,000 a year social security. But her lifestyle before retiring is the reason. She always has done everything in cash, even big ticket items like the house and car. Of course, houses were a LOT cheaper 51 years ago when she and my dad bought her current house. Her last car blew an engine when it was 27 years old, and she was MAD it didn't last longer. And it was a PINTO!.
Her largest expense is her supplemental health insurance, $4,800 a year.
So it CAN be done.

Gotta go with the others on this one. It may be fine for a single, retired, elderly person that has paid off their home and car but someone raising a family would have a tough time.

Like your mom, my mom also lives on about the same amount of money. Her condo is paid off and all outside maintenance is covered by her association fees which are $150 a month. All of us kids do as much as humanly possible for her when we visit so she doesn't have to hire much out. I painted two of her rooms the last time I was there and my sister did two other rooms.

My DH and I plan to follow in our parent's footsteps and have everything paid off by the time we retire. With the kids gone and everything paid off, we will be able to live on considerably less money than we do now. However, no way in hell we could survive on $13,000 a year or even doubling that since there are two adults to $26,000 with two kids, a mortgage, retirement savings and college only two years away for our oldest.

 

[ZachnElli]

I'm pretty sure it's $7.25 here too. But I do know that several fast food places do pay $10-12 an hour here. Panda Express pays $10 to start, at least that is what they advertise and I had a sis in law get a part time job at Burger King for $12 an hour.

 

[Planogirl]

It's $7.25 in Texas. We just had an In & Out open and everyone was so shocked that they were paying $10 an hour to start. That is an excellent rate in this area.

 

[shaylyn]

$8.50 an hour where I live. DD19 makes just over this at her job. She gets 2 paychecks a month, usually right around $400 each after taxes & social security are taken out. (she works anywhere from 25-35 hours a week) While it's not a lot, if she gets a roommate or 2 to split living expenses, she will be able to move out and live on her own with it.

 

[GinnyEmma]

It's $7.25 in Texas. We just had an In & Out open and everyone was so shocked that they were paying $10 an hour to start. That is an excellent rate in this area.

And they take care of their employees. Many work there for years and years. I miss in and out. (Not to work, but to feast. The only fastfood I liked.)

I think people think they need far more than they do. People think they need what they see when they see it, as opposed to my mom's generation which might have wanted what they saw, saved and purchased.

 

[tvguy]

depends on how you define "need". You could exist off of peanut butter, crackers and water but that is not what I would describe as life.
.

LOL. My mom's birthday was last week. One of the casinos in Reno sent her a coupon for a free gamblers special bus ticket, a free hotel room, and $50 food credit. She passed on the hotel room, but went up for the day. Had her free bus trip, her free eggs benedit for breakfast, a NY Steak for lunch, and Prime Rib for dinner. All free.

So, no peanut butter for her. However, peanut butter may not be the best example, we go through a lot in my household, and peanut butter is darn EXPENSIVE. A lot of cuts of meat are cheaper.

And yes, she did all the things everyone is talking about. Put a kid through private college (me) by herself (my dad died when I was 9), bought a house, cars, bought me a car, took vacations.

 

[mrodgers]

$10/hour minimum wage? Ha! $10-12 around here is starting wage for a "real" job. Union jobs typically are in the $16-18 and good union jobs are $20+.

A guy at work was talking about one of the places around us hiring. He said they pay "really well" at $18. After 15 years, I'm barely above $20 and my wife is part time at $11 and we can barely stay afloat raising a family.

They tell us our raises at 2% is the cost of living increase. Ha! That's $800 for the year and doesn't even cover the increase in heating cost let alone medical insurance increases, gas, food, taxes, electric, and everything else. Just heat alone increased about $1000 for this past winter.

$7.25/hour minimum here in PA, and that's all you're going to see in a fast food joint or grocery store. Then you'll see a nickel raise every year.

 

[happygirl]

7.25

 

[aprilgail2]

I think people could live on a LOT less than they do if they only bought want they need, not what they want.

My mom lives quite comfortably on her $13,000 a year social security. But her lifestyle before retiring is the reason. She always has done everything in cash, even big ticket items like the house and car. Of course, houses were a LOT cheaper 51 years ago when she and my dad bought her current house. Her last car blew an engine when it was 27 years old, and she was MAD it didn't last longer. And it was a PINTO!.
Her largest expense is her supplemental health insurance, $4,800 a year.
So it CAN be done.

She can afford to eat and pay property taxes on 13,000 a year?? Property taxes here would eat up 3/4 of that money right off the top!

 

[GinnyEmma]

She can afford to eat and pay property taxes on 13,000 a year?? Property taxes here would eat up 3/4 of that money right off the top!

It depends where you live. Here you pay less for property tax after a certain age. Mom makes less than this per year and gets by, owning a nice 3 bedroom ranch. She isn't wasteful, but isn't destitute, either. She has a nice little newer honda, so no car payments.

 

[SandrA9810]

Well there are also property tax breaks for those over the age of 65. As well as places like Florida, there's the homestead exemption. Which off the top deducts $25,000 from the property value and calculates from there. There's other reasons and exemptions to increase that amount.

Of course, state to state and city to city will vary the amount a person pays.

 

[Christine]

Here in VA it seems to be about $7.25 per hour. Terrible wage for parts of Virginia being right outside DC.

As for living off Social Security. My grandmother did it many years ago but in order to do so, she had to apply/live in Section 8 housing. She also did not drive (so no car expenses) and basically had no other expenses but her own food and rent.

 

[luvsJack]

LOL. My mom's birthday was last week. One of the casinos in Reno sent her a coupon for a free gamblers special bus ticket, a free hotel room, and $50 food credit. She passed on the hotel room, but went up for the day. Had her free bus trip, her free eggs benedit for breakfast, a NY Steak for lunch, and Prime Rib for dinner. All free.

So, no peanut butter for her. However, peanut butter may not be the best example, we go through a lot in my household, and peanut butter is darn EXPENSIVE. A lot of cuts of meat are cheaper.

And yes, she did all the things everyone is talking about. Put a kid through private college (me) by herself (my dad died when I was 9), bought a house, cars, bought me a car, took vacations.

So, you are saying that she did all of that on $13000 a year?

And the free meals at the casino are hardly something you can say is actually feeding her. That is 3 meals and all comped by the casino.

 

[dhardawa]

I'm in Indiana where minimum wage is $7.25. People making that qualify for a ton of assistance. The problem is the people making about $9.25 because all the government assistance starts dropping off. At one point in my life (thank goodness not now) I was at a point where if I made $1000 less a year, I would have $5000 more a month in my pocket. We were really struggling.

 

[Luv'sTink]

LOL. My mom's birthday was last week. One of the casinos in Reno sent her a coupon for a free gamblers special bus ticket, a free hotel room, and $50 food credit. She passed on the hotel room, but went up for the day. Had her free bus trip, her free eggs benedit for breakfast, a NY Steak for lunch, and Prime Rib for dinner. All free.

So, no peanut butter for her. However, peanut butter may not be the best example, we go through a lot in my household, and peanut butter is darn EXPENSIVE. A lot of cuts of meat are cheaper.

And yes, she did all the things everyone is talking about. Put a kid through private college (me) by herself (my dad died when I was 9), bought a house, cars, bought me a car, took vacations.

Didn't she receive SSI for you, since your father passed when you were 9? She should have had a second income.

 

[aprilgail2]

Well there are also property tax breaks for those over the age of 65. As well as places like Florida, there's the homestead exemption. Which off the top deducts $25,000 from the property value and calculates from there. There's other reasons and exemptions to increase that amount.

Of course, state to state and city to city will vary the amount a person pays.

They have property tax breaks for seniors here to but even with the breaks they are paying over 6,000 a year.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I think people could live on a LOT less than they do if they only bought want they need, not what they want.

My mom lives quite comfortably on her $13,000 a year social security. But her lifestyle before retiring is the reason. She always has done everything in cash, even big ticket items like the house and car. Of course, houses were a LOT cheaper 51 years ago when she and my dad bought her current house. Her last car blew an engine when it was 27 years old, and she was MAD it didn't last longer. And it was a PINTO!.
Her largest expense is her supplemental health insurance, $4,800 a year.
So it CAN be done.

It's great that she owns her home. Most minimum wage earners don't, and won't on that pay scale. Also, I believe your mom isn't paying any income tax on that $13,000, so that's her net income? Someone earning minimum wage pays state and federal income taxes, and social security & Medicare. And rent. Yes, I'm sure your mom pays property taxes; on the other hand, while sure, she's technically a single parent now, she's not raising/supporting children on that small income.

And while it's absolutely NONE of our business, it's entirely possible she has savings, investments, retirement/pension, life insurance, annuity, help from her children, or any combination of these. Most single parents earning minimum wage don't have alternatives.

 

[AnnieEMT]

$8.00 here in Massachusetts...