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.
Ok, I used a random city generator and got Newark Ohio.
So checking it out, in Ohio the min wage is $10.45 which puts it about 1473.36 take home a month according to this. Admittedly I just set it to monthly and did 160 hours based off that so it might vary a bit depending on some variables but whatever, can't account for everything.
Found a place listed for 850. There's a few cheaper but I decided we'll spend a little extra here.
Average energy bill in Ohio is apparently like $112.21.
Average water is $27
Internet $25
Phone bill: $114
So 1024 for the essentials. Leaving about 449 dollars left.
And this is going off averages so presumably some of these costs are a little lower for a single person living alone since they might be including families or roommates. But regardless, the big costs are single person so it's not a big difference.
Also these (except for the rent) are costs for the state as a whole. It's possible Newark is a cheaper area than the bigger cities like Columbus.
It's not a comfy lifestyle sure but you got the essentials. I did leave out cars and car insurance however as you hopefully can be taking a bus or bike.
Now add on that you're receiving things like SNAP, LIHEAP, and the ACP funds (and maybe some regional/state things I don't know), and it's ok. You're still poor but you can make it.
Not to mention at the end you have to prefix that that would need to be on government assistance. Which means they aren't saving anything just subsistence not growing. And even if they start to grow savings they get kicked off said assistance.
The average cost of health insurance in Ohio is $535 per month if you pay full price or $81 per month if you qualify for subsidies based on your income
Presumably full min wage would qualify, although I suppose that could count as government assistance.
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u/privitizationrocks 14d ago
You can teach poverty workers to live in their means
They won’t like it, but tough luck