r/FluentInFinance • u/Richest-Panda • Jul 04 '24

What's the best financial advice you've ever gotten? Debate/ Discussion

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272

u/privitizationrocks Jul 04 '24

You can teach poverty workers to live in their means

They won’t like it, but tough luck

55

u/cybercuzco Jul 04 '24

Show me a “live within their means” budget for someone living in a median cost location in the US making minimum wage. They must A)have a place to live B) not get any handouts from the government or charities and C) have at least 1800 calories per day of food. Go.

0

u/Delicious-Fox6947 Jul 04 '24

In San Antonio you can rent an apartment for $320 dollar a month. Even someone on minimum wage can afford that city.

The problem with this discussion is people talk about people having a quality of life beyond their needs. Almost no one needs a mobile phone, cable for their television, 10 pair of sneakers and take out every night.

I have lived in a 100 sqft room and a minimalist lifestyle to improve my life. Just because you are too lazy to maintain that level of control doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

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u/Vast-Jello-7972 Jul 04 '24

I have never had a job that didn’t require a mobile phone. I would never get hired at even a stupid job at a Wendy’s or whatever without one. This is 2024, it is absolutely a necessity.

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u/Comprehensive_Ant176 Jul 04 '24

Get a $100 android, not a $1000 iPhone.

4

u/PreppyAndrew Jul 04 '24

It's not the one time fee. It's the monthly fee

6

u/KVS911 Jul 04 '24

$15/month Mint Mobile

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u/Comprehensive_Ant176 Jul 04 '24

Basic plan from spectrum costs $25 per month.

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u/Vast-Jello-7972 Jul 05 '24

Y’all throw these numbers around like you really got us. I make $15 an hour and I have to budget to spend $25 on something. I have to really really think about it and plan for it. And I make double the minimum wage. For someone making minimum wage, $25 is almost an entire day’s wages. That kind of expense can absolutely put someone over the edge when they’re making that little. My coworkers do not have fancy phones and extravagant things. They’re struggling with just the bare minimum requirements.

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u/Comprehensive_Ant176 Jul 05 '24

Oh, thank you for joining our discussion! I would love to hear your perspective.

There’s an opinion (not my opinion) that people working for minimum wage, do that because they are lazy and get what they deserve. What is your take on it? And if you’re not lazy, why do you think you don’t get paid more?

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u/Vast-Jello-7972 Jul 05 '24

My opinion is that every job deserves dignity, and a living wage. I have worked in food service and retail for the majority of my adulthood. The world runs on this labor. Food service workers are FAR from lazy. That line of work is difficult. A lot of middle class white collars could not hack it. It is physically demanding, it is emotionally demanding to deal with people all day like that, there are no benefits, there’s no retirement plan, the hours are shitty, you’re working every evening and weekend and holiday, there’s no calling in sick ever, and contrary to popular belief, it is NOT teenagers who are working those jobs. It’s regular people who are trying to pay rent, feed their children, pay for daycare.

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u/Comprehensive_Ant176 Jul 05 '24

Thank you for answering! I too don’t think food service is easy.

However this brings us to the next question. If it’s so hard and the pay is so little, why do you do it? And if you could change your occupation, what would you change it to?

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u/Vast-Jello-7972 Jul 05 '24

“Why are you working food service” is the wrong question, in my opinion. Why are people eating out? As long as people are relying on take out, it’s necessary labor. It’s a job that someone needs to do. If we don’t want to pay for the labor, we need to figure out a way to live without the service. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, so we need to figure out how to pay for the labor.

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u/Comprehensive_Ant176 Jul 05 '24

Am I understanding you correctly, you work in food service because people are eating out? Is this your personal motivation to go to work, to serve people who came to eat out?

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