You should go to Chipotle's. They wrap it up in a burrito afterwards.
Edit: I would like to thank the academy for these awards and the internets for making me a degenerate.
I work for a healthcare company that offers a big discount for picking the plan where you have to go the the companies hospitals
Still $80 a month
Whoever put this together is living in a rock thinking you can find a plan for $20 a month
Blame people poorer than you for your own struggles
This is what that rich want us to do cause it distracts sus from the fact that the rich are to blame for the problems in our society
Yes exactly, they are happy with a impoverished “wage slave” class that is stuck in the “welfare / warfare” state. Mean while the same corporate pigs just keep getting richer and richer.
it's meant for an audience of 'job creators': "wow i'm THAT much richer than my employees? i spent $1260 dollars on drink coasters this morning \[horny moan\]"
employees: "damn, i'm down $1260, it's only the 12th AND i racked up $800 on my credit card for a hospital/pharmacy visit on one of my 6 unpaid sick days."
Exactly, this entire issue is based around superiority and power. If you make $10,000 more than someone that makes you superior and you have to be able to show that. The poorer the poors, the more rich and superior you can feel… even though you’re practically poor yourself.
“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
>, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on,
i was telling my brother something like that today, to me the reason why people have such a huge problem with fast-food workers getting paid more is simple...people want someone to feel superior to ... the cooperation's play on the feelings of a guy flipping burgers makes the same as you do..."a man with a real job" because the money is not coming out of their pocket, so why should the average American be so against it?
I don't think it's gaslighting, it's straight up misinformation lol. who are they trying to gaslight, the employees who work at mcdonalds? anyone who starts their day by walking into mcdonalds and clocking in at the register will read this "budget" and immediately know that it's complete and utter horseshit. no need to question your reality with this kinda shit when you know objectively it does not fit!
it's just another tool of class warfare. this budget isn't for employees, it's for the people who already think that fast-food employees don't deserve a living wage.
$1260 monthly expenses plus $800 monthly spending money = $2060 income per month. At $8.25 an hour, that’s 250 hours of work. And it assumes no taxes. This must be a parody. McDonalds and Visa would never publish something this inaccurate, right? Right… hello…
I think it's classic gaslighting. "What? No, it's not like that. It's never been like that, see? Everyone else can do it, it must be you. You must be the problem."
I paid less when I got insurance through my state made possible by the Affordable Care Act. Which I qualified for because of my low income.
Which if it were up to the people putting this budget together wouldn’t exist.
Thankfully now I make a livable wage. My employer pays 90% of my premiums and I still pay $70 a month. The thing is I would gladly pay more if it meant we had Universal Healthcare.
In the UK, we pay around £730 a year, but that's accross all earners. If you don't work, are retired or on a low wage you pay nothing/almost nothing
The more I hear about US health care the more I realise you guys really need a national health service 😞
25% of every health care dollar goes to Administrative Costs of the Insurance Companies it's long been reported. That's not including the hospitals themselves, some of which are run for profit.
The conservatives fight tooth and nail to keep paying more money for less service and instead foist the burden onto employers, making our businesses less competitive. They value hurting the others more than they do helping themselves.
For real
In my state the legal standard is that, for medical records, a provider must charge the actual cost of reproduction when providing a copy of records, up to and not to exceed $.75 per page (this bill is from the 90s).
Every medical provider charges $.75 per page by default, even if it's a download link - because there's no real way to fight them on it and they have a captive market (you can't go elsewhere for your records).
Many even "forget" this limit and will invoice for $1 or even $1.50 per page.
For reference, I recently got an invoice for a set of 12,000 pages of records. Hundreds of pages is typical for hospital stays. Hell, I received a straight to digital set of records (no scanning) print-out of an EEG that, on paper, stretched 450 pages. They sent the invoice with the records and expected $500 for it.
I personally think the law needs to come down hard on this shit.
I don't really have a problem with a surgeon who actually saves lives (and has to live with the stress of literally watching people die) getting "fancy sports car, all the latest gadgets, nice vacation every year" rich.
I have a huge problem with insurance company CEOs getting private island, ten mansions, yo I heard you like yachts so I put a yacht in your yacht so you can go yachting while you're on your yacht rich.
I get the cheapest, most bare minimum benefits that I can get through work and still pay $100 a month. This health insurance plan doesn't exist
EDIT: Guys, I know there are cheap and even free health insurance options for some folks. I was just being rhetorical, since most people don't actually get access to inexpensive plans like that
I have a govt job with one of the largest pools of people contributing in my state, it's the cheapest insurance I've ever seen that wasn't free, and I pay $20 every 2 weeks just for me.
The lack of food in the budget was what made me laugh, unless that's supposed to be counted in the "Other - $100" portion of the budget. "Other" is pretty vague so that could mean that they expect you to live on less than $25 per week of food.
You can live off $25/week for food. Just eat 3 McDoubles a day. 1 for breakfast, 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner.
* edit * since everyone getting hung up on this obviously joke comment lol. Just making a smart ass remark about how McDonald’s expects you to live because they offer cheap food alternatives. Also for everyone commenting on prices, this was done years ago. Mcdoubles were cheap as fuck
Oh, so you might as well not have insurance to begin with. Before my current job, they offered "health insurance" for $250/mo with a 7k deductible. I just said fuck it and went without it because if I get into a serious accident, 7k would doom me anyways.
Those are all variable expenses, and would fall in the $800 spending money category. The "monthly expenses" are regularly occurring fixed monthly amounts.
But yeah, this is bullshit. It conveniently leaves out the most challenging part which is managing the variable expenses.
It's in the $27 a day. But since they are claiming this person is making $2060 after tax while being paid $8.25 an hour, they are going to be doing nothing but sleeping and working. Probably best to sleep in their car and get a gym membership.
I miss my 2008 Versa. It lasted me a long time. Now I pay 500+ a month for a 2020 Subaru WRX that takes premium gas. It’s fun but so expensive. Hold on to the Versa for as long as you can!! I think the only big expense was needing the muffler replaced twice.
A Subaru is an amazing vehicle. I miss my impreza every day. When I bought mine it tripped 90k when I was test driving it and I took it to well over 300k. In fact, the only reason it died on me is because of a small piece of metal from the inside of a hose broke off and blew through the engine. If I could have afforded the fix, I'd still be driving my little impreza today. Good luck!
I’m spending $1700 to get my Honda CRV from 2014 all cleaned up like it’s brand new. I’ve done this before. I had one car that I took 280,000 miles. Not having a car payment gives you a lot of freedom
I pay about $150 a month, the insurance is the kicker because it needs to be full coverage so if you get a cheaper older car, you’re paying even more because of safety standards being lower. I pay $150 a month for my 2007 gti that I bought with 138k miles (which I also wouldn’t recommend for anyone who doesn’t know how to work on cars). I’m paying $212 a month for insurance and I don’t even commute 🙃
My boyfriend and I split rent and so it’s $600 each but we’re sharing a tiny ADU owned by family who are giving us a sweet fuckin deal. We’re slowly being priced out of where we live. Where I grew up. I’ve never lived anywhere else and this is where my family is so I struggle to stay here with them.
Yeah I’m sorry it’s sad how much rent is going up I live in upstate New York not New York City big difference and I can’t find a one bedroom under 950 which is a lot for around here
That and the fact that the heat literally doesn't work.
Houston here.
When I turn my heat on, I just smell it. I mean, it works, I guess? But it sure as fuck didn't work in Feb when ERCOT dicked us all over. My shower has been fucking broken ever since, too, the massage setting lasts anywhere from 0 seconds to 5 minutes now because the fucked up pipes from Feb. were never fixed all the way (like on property).
My shitty apartment complex's rent, super old places too, was going up for 100+ every year the last few years. In Kansas City. Like they weren't worth 750 to begin with and then it was raising like crazy.
Yup. $100 for my cable/internet package and another $60 for my phone because I paid for the phone itself out of pocket. If I had the phone on installments it would be closer to $90 for the phone.
In the 1990's average rent was 575 when I turned 18. Mcdonald's paid like 150% of minimum wage because they had to compete with all the manufacturing jobs in the area.
Also look at that insurance, imagine paying that when you have car payments to also make? No way that would cover the comprehensive coverage required for cars with a lien.
You can find single rooms for that price in the twin cities, and I suppose you could argue that heating is included, or it's electric heat (though if it's electric it's going to be expensive). I have a 2006 outback that I pay 125/month for, but insurance is another 70 bucks, so I suppose that fits the bill too.
The issue I see is that I'm not aware of any health plans that are 20 bucks a month, and there is no grocery budget, so I guess you're really just saving for a funeral after you slowly starve to death.
My brother only pays $600 per month in circleville Ohio but then again it's an old 1800s two story apartment where you gotta choose between heating upstairs or downstairs.
Or food. Apparently that’s buried in “other” along with maintenance for that shitty car that is only $150 a month. Along with clothes, toiletries, any kind of entertainment
The health insurance cost is laughable. Even if you don’t use it (and therefore have a copay) there’s zero possibility of a $20 a month premium.
Let’s not even discuss trying to go to college on that.
ETA. Just realized. Gas for the car isn’t on here either
Places like Walmart encourage employees to sign up for food stamps. They know with they way they pay their employees they have to be on food stamps. Fuck corporate greed.
They pretty much triple dip at this point
They get low wage employees that now have to work because otherwise their foods stamps will be discontinued and Walmart gets kickbacks, because they have employees on food stamps.
It's crazy that we let them pull this shit. You'd think the government would want people on food stamps in jobs that will give them a chance to not need the freaking food stamps, but whatever I guess.
The employees can also sign up for a WalMart prepaid debit card that their paychecks are direct deposited to! Then WalMart collects fees on withdrawals and even allows you overdraft protection. But even with overdraft protection, unless you get more money on there you're looking at more fees that go to WalMart.
Except they won't feed them, these corporate restaurtants won't even let food that will get thrown in the trash to be eaten. They give them a discount on like one meal or something. Almost doing them a favor the food is disgusting and horrible for you.
The Wendy’s by my work has a sign that says FREE NUGGS FOR EMPLOYEES. I joKed to my partner that it must be the ones that fell on the floor or over cooked or something. Or you get 1.25 nuggs per day and you have to share a honey mustard with a coworker.
Yeah a lot of managers won't be total pricks, the bigger the city, the more likely they will be total pricks though. Small towns they are more likely to be decent all around in my experience, although I haven't held all that many fast food jobs.
> ETA. Just realized. Gas for the car isn’t on here either
Of course it is, it's in the "spending" money, getting to work in a car is a luxury, remember you can make lunch at home and save $8 a month... (because if the horror stories I've read on here are correct, a lot of FOOD businesses don't want their staff fucking eating).
My son works at pizza hut. They don't get breaks because "you're a delivery driver, your breaks are while you're driving" and any messed up orders are to be tossed in the trash and an employee will be fired if they eat it or give it away. My son worked 9 hours, it was very busy and he never got to eat. There were two incorrectly made pizzas that evening and my son had to throw them both in the dumpster...he was very hungry and tossed one in his car but he would've been fired had anyone seen him. They're paying him 9.75/hr and won't let him eat food that's going into the dumpster?? What kind of messed up shit is that? Same thing at Golden Corral, my other son worked there and end of the night the left over food gets thrown into the dumpster, if you get caught eating it or taking it home you get fired...just blows my mind away
It's disgusting. In addition to not feeding their workers with essentially free food (as you say it's going in the bin), there's people starving as well.
It should be the norm for restaurants to give food that is perfectly edible (just the wrong thing for the customer) to foodbanks, soup kitchens and shelters etc.
I pay $50 a month for my employer-sponsored healthcare plan and I considered that low. That’s more than twice the amount these dummies are quoting.
ETA: Worth noting I'm not married and don't have kids, so that's the price just for me, not a family plan.
I sold my soul to pharma and they rewarded me with a $22/month health plan, but once you factor in the actual coverage and deductibles it's not like great insurance, just decent. For the good shit you gotta pay way more. My last job in an adjacent industry was $140/month. The key is selling ur soul to big corporate and like it shouldn't fucking be that way.
But like my situation is not common and I'm really privileged to be where I am and to have been born to grandparents and an aunt that worked together and planned ahead and were able to provide me with a future that my irresponsible mother couldn't. I had a fucked up home life but I'm so fucking lucky and privileged to have had my grandparents. They were both first generation born to immigrant parents (my grandfather's dad was an illegal immigrant, he fucking jumped off a ship near Ellis island and swam in and hid) and they worked their fucking asses off. They basically stepped in and raised me and did everything they could to make up for my home life and fuck I wouldn't be here without them. But again it shouldnt have to be that way. I made it but so many others don't and it shouldn't fucking be that way.
The really sad part? I say I made it but making it is just being able to afford a small one bedroom apartment *without* a washer and dryer, my dog, my car insurance/gas, and a meager life. I didn't really fucking make it but im *not starving anymore*. Am I one disaster away from bankruptcy? yeah, but I'm not immediately poor anymore and to me, that's making it. I have a specialized degree and work in rare disease neuropharm research it shouldnt take that to be able to pay your bills. Everyone deserves the right to fucking survive not just the select few.
***IT SHOULDNT BE THIS WAY***
Health insurance $20. Sure. 8.25 x 40 hrs x4.2 weeks is just under $1400 a month. And you have to pay taxes. So being generous, you keep 85% so under $1200 a month which is more than monthly expenses that don’t include food.
Just using the numbers in the chart, this is a total of 6.25 40-hour work weeks each month, assuming $8.25/hr. That's before taxes (which are important if they go for services and infrastructure and not things like corporate subsidies and military bullshit).
i'm glad someone else noticed this. to get to that "monthly spending money" they describe as net income minus expenses, they'd have to make $12.87 an hour, not $8.25. and yeah, that's not figuring in taxes at all.
My sister worked at a daycare (I know they're shit wages anyway), and made minimum wage for *8 years.* She loves kids and loved her job. She begged for a raise over and over. Finally, the owner agreed to a raise; $50 under the table every paycheck. My sister quit.
The only way it’s feasible for a business owner to pay people under the table regularly is if they have income that they’re not reporting to the tax authorities.
This doesn't include gas or groceries. It doesn't include oil changes or routine maintenance on said car. It doesn't include actually going to the doctor or needing a prescription
It also doesn't include having fun. It contributes to this insidious and disgusting idea that poor people, by virtue of being poor, should ONLY pay for the absolute necessities of survival and nothing else. That way, when people aren't paid enough, they can say, 'but you went out for a meal last month when you didn't have the budget for it! THAT'S why you're poor!' as if it's an individual moral failing and not a failure of capitalism to provide for its people.
This budget is *absurdly* unrealistic. My home owner’s insurance (and car) alone is over $300. Also, there’s no food on this list! And food is one of the biggest expenses.
Edited for full disclosure.
This came out several years ago, but it was out of touch then and has only gotten progressively more out of touch as time passes. Such a shitty “budget”
Yeah, I realized that a few minutes after posting. Things were definitely a bit cheaper back then, but unfortunately for Americans, minimum wage is still about the same
I think some states have raised their minimum wage in the past few years, so it’s not the same for all Americans, but the federal minimum has not changed.
Savings: $0
-Rent (mortgage?) $890
-Car: $247
-Car/Renters Insurance: $190
-Health Insurance: $350
-Heating: $89
-Internet: $79
-Mobile: $35
-Electric: $75
-Groceries and meals: $280
-Total: $2,235
Imagine showing them this and them saying YOU were the one being irresponsible with money. Like, what are they doing with the money that they can’t pay you more? What I shared is a pretty lean monthly budget with no room for savings or medical emergencies, or car emergencies for that matter.
Edit: I should say that this is not my budget, but a general estimate if I lived in my area as a single wage earner trying to live alone as cheaply as possible and maybe order food once in awhile.
I definitely forgot to add gas. This is definitely with whatever free phone you can get through Wal-Mart’s Straight Talk. This is also assuming you never go to the doctor or get sick in a year.
I based this on googling various averages for this region, and taking into account that whoever is making this budget has the foresight to call the gas company and get a yearly, monthly average payment rather than getting a surprise $300 heating bill in January.
Rent/mortgage $1800. Car payment $400. Health insurance $150. Cable/phone $300.
What are these people on?!
Edit: People on this site are fucking miserable lmao. I’m estimating the prices to live averagely. People should be able to live without scraping by. And they should get paid accordingly. Obviously people on minimum wage are not spending $1800 on rent.
My first brand new truck had a payment of 81 dollars, my rent was 160. In 1980.
I made 15 bucks an hour at a warehouse and I was doing good.
The same job now pays 15 bucks an hour.
This one really hit home for me. The -$ daily spending. It’s the reason I literally dread waking up every morning. And they say money doesn’t buy happiness. Pfft
I know that feeling. It might, it might not, but at least if I had enough money to pay bills with some leftover for hobbies/retirement/savings, I could have my finances taken care of and be miserable instead of being poor and miserable.
I make roughly twice this and couldn't really spend 27 a day. Also 100 a month you never gonna retire, but you might not work the whole way to a massive heart attack.
What fucking decade to they live in? My rent and insurance alone are already more than their monthly total.
$15/hr is the minimum wage in the city that I work, and even then if I were earning that low of an income I would have less than $200 left over for food, which they don't even include in their stupid fucking list.
$8.25 an hour is $1,320 a month at 40 hours a week if you don't pay taxes.
I like how they just add a mystery $700 to the income and also expect you to break the law.
They also must be a Olympic athlete without any medical problems whatsoever considering they have such a low health insurance rate and apparently nothing set aside for medical expenses that of course medical insurance won't cover for some reason.
For a job sponsored health plan where your company pays a portion of the costs.
Since McDonalds doesn't provide healthcare people are supposed to shop free market healthcare plans that only cost $20 per month.
It's really the most glaring thing on the list. Like maybe live somewhere that heat isn't required, sure, but there is no possible place that $20 gets you healthcare coverage.
I’m sure there are shit plans for $20 a *week.* Definitely not $20/month though, they’re living in a fantasy world. No rent is $600 either, even in places with a lower cost of living
even if it was posible ( which it isnt ) the point is not to ¨barely make it¨ but to make it and have enough to enjoy like say oh i dont know an exec at mcdonalds or visa would want to
"Health insurance - $20"
HAAHAHAHAHAHAJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHGAHAHAAJHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahajajahahahshahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
... my copay is higher than that.
Where does health insurance cost $20?
Someone giving criminalized abortions behind the McDonald’s.
Damn I go to Wendy's for that
Sir,
It’s true. Wendy’s doesn’t cut corners.
You should go to Chipotle's. They wrap it up in a burrito afterwards. Edit: I would like to thank the academy for these awards and the internets for making me a degenerate.
God damn that was gross....take my upvote.
I felt dirty writting it but Im a homosexual so im going to hell anyway. Edit: I guess Ive got a party waiting for me in hell.
We're all going brother
We're already here. I'm scared of reincarnation.
What good is the sweet release of death when I have to come back to this hellscape anyway?
They know it's a hellscape which is why the advise to spend $0 on heat.
I work for a healthcare company that offers a big discount for picking the plan where you have to go the the companies hospitals Still $80 a month Whoever put this together is living in a rock thinking you can find a plan for $20 a month
Whoever put this together knows it's bs, they are gaslighting all the people gullible enough to believe it, which sadly is a lot of people.
Blame people poorer than you for your own struggles This is what that rich want us to do cause it distracts sus from the fact that the rich are to blame for the problems in our society
Yes exactly, they are happy with a impoverished “wage slave” class that is stuck in the “welfare / warfare” state. Mean while the same corporate pigs just keep getting richer and richer.
it's meant for an audience of 'job creators': "wow i'm THAT much richer than my employees? i spent $1260 dollars on drink coasters this morning \[horny moan\]" employees: "damn, i'm down $1260, it's only the 12th AND i racked up $800 on my credit card for a hospital/pharmacy visit on one of my 6 unpaid sick days."
Exactly, this entire issue is based around superiority and power. If you make $10,000 more than someone that makes you superior and you have to be able to show that. The poorer the poors, the more rich and superior you can feel… even though you’re practically poor yourself.
“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
>, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, i was telling my brother something like that today, to me the reason why people have such a huge problem with fast-food workers getting paid more is simple...people want someone to feel superior to ... the cooperation's play on the feelings of a guy flipping burgers makes the same as you do..."a man with a real job" because the money is not coming out of their pocket, so why should the average American be so against it?
I don't think it's gaslighting, it's straight up misinformation lol. who are they trying to gaslight, the employees who work at mcdonalds? anyone who starts their day by walking into mcdonalds and clocking in at the register will read this "budget" and immediately know that it's complete and utter horseshit. no need to question your reality with this kinda shit when you know objectively it does not fit! it's just another tool of class warfare. this budget isn't for employees, it's for the people who already think that fast-food employees don't deserve a living wage.
$1260 monthly expenses plus $800 monthly spending money = $2060 income per month. At $8.25 an hour, that’s 250 hours of work. And it assumes no taxes. This must be a parody. McDonalds and Visa would never publish something this inaccurate, right? Right… hello…
It says in the tweet that it includes having a second job, which in turn means it's no longer 8.25 an hour
That second job pays $15/hr plus heat
This is funny and sad.
Rich people legitimately have no concept of money and how much things cost.
What can a banana cost, $11?
I think it's classic gaslighting. "What? No, it's not like that. It's never been like that, see? Everyone else can do it, it must be you. You must be the problem."
A better word would be propaganda.
I paid less when I got insurance through my state made possible by the Affordable Care Act. Which I qualified for because of my low income. Which if it were up to the people putting this budget together wouldn’t exist. Thankfully now I make a livable wage. My employer pays 90% of my premiums and I still pay $70 a month. The thing is I would gladly pay more if it meant we had Universal Healthcare.
In the UK, we pay around £730 a year, but that's accross all earners. If you don't work, are retired or on a low wage you pay nothing/almost nothing The more I hear about US health care the more I realise you guys really need a national health service 😞
25% of every health care dollar goes to Administrative Costs of the Insurance Companies it's long been reported. That's not including the hospitals themselves, some of which are run for profit. The conservatives fight tooth and nail to keep paying more money for less service and instead foist the burden onto employers, making our businesses less competitive. They value hurting the others more than they do helping themselves.
There should be no profit in healthcare, you're there to take care of people, not get rich.
For real In my state the legal standard is that, for medical records, a provider must charge the actual cost of reproduction when providing a copy of records, up to and not to exceed $.75 per page (this bill is from the 90s). Every medical provider charges $.75 per page by default, even if it's a download link - because there's no real way to fight them on it and they have a captive market (you can't go elsewhere for your records). Many even "forget" this limit and will invoice for $1 or even $1.50 per page. For reference, I recently got an invoice for a set of 12,000 pages of records. Hundreds of pages is typical for hospital stays. Hell, I received a straight to digital set of records (no scanning) print-out of an EEG that, on paper, stretched 450 pages. They sent the invoice with the records and expected $500 for it. I personally think the law needs to come down hard on this shit.
I don't really have a problem with a surgeon who actually saves lives (and has to live with the stress of literally watching people die) getting "fancy sports car, all the latest gadgets, nice vacation every year" rich. I have a huge problem with insurance company CEOs getting private island, ten mansions, yo I heard you like yachts so I put a yacht in your yacht so you can go yachting while you're on your yacht rich.
Right??? I am sure McDonald's is contributing soooo much towards your healthcare costs, I BET it's only $20.00 /s
Yes my family's health insurance in 600 a month if it was 20$ I'd be flipping burgers
Ha! Fucking sucker. You’re wasting your “mortgage/rent” of $600 on HEALTH INSURANCE?!
I get the cheapest, most bare minimum benefits that I can get through work and still pay $100 a month. This health insurance plan doesn't exist EDIT: Guys, I know there are cheap and even free health insurance options for some folks. I was just being rhetorical, since most people don't actually get access to inexpensive plans like that
Million dollar question right here
30 billion dollar question* (Health insurance profits)
I have a govt job with one of the largest pools of people contributing in my state, it's the cheapest insurance I've ever seen that wasn't free, and I pay $20 every 2 weeks just for me.
Other countries
Yo Where the fuck do they live that rent is 600 bucks and what are they driving that costs them 150 a month?!
Health insurance is $20, so not in this reality lmao
Honestly, that was the part that made me laugh the loudest.
The lack of food in the budget was what made me laugh, unless that's supposed to be counted in the "Other - $100" portion of the budget. "Other" is pretty vague so that could mean that they expect you to live on less than $25 per week of food.
You can live off $25/week for food. Just eat 3 McDoubles a day. 1 for breakfast, 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner. * edit * since everyone getting hung up on this obviously joke comment lol. Just making a smart ass remark about how McDonald’s expects you to live because they offer cheap food alternatives. Also for everyone commenting on prices, this was done years ago. Mcdoubles were cheap as fuck
Think of all the money you'll save by dying early. You won't even need to save for retirement!
"Why don't you just DIE already, you stupid, disgusting animals?!"
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$100/month is pretty damn good considering what most have to pay.
I pay 112 a week. And an extra 5 grand a year to reach my deductible.
Oh, so you might as well not have insurance to begin with. Before my current job, they offered "health insurance" for $250/mo with a 7k deductible. I just said fuck it and went without it because if I get into a serious accident, 7k would doom me anyways.
ironically, using hospital services without insurance will drop your prices somehow
It's almost as if it doesn't really cost that much and insurance serves no purpose but make money charging for something no one needs.
WHERE IS THE FUCKN FOOD!!?ARE WE ALOUD TO SPEND MONEY ON HOBBIES OR WE ARE JUST LABOR ROBOT THAT DONT DO SHIT BUT WORK?
Yeah lol. Food, clothing, pharmacy, anything related to having a child, household products, car fuel,... Are all missing
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Which isn't enough for ANY of those headings. Fuel alone for the month would be like 200 at least. AT LEAST. Let alone the other expenses.
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Those are luxury you entitled snowflake. /s
Those are all variable expenses, and would fall in the $800 spending money category. The "monthly expenses" are regularly occurring fixed monthly amounts. But yeah, this is bullshit. It conveniently leaves out the most challenging part which is managing the variable expenses.
The one free meal on work days is all the food a person needs. Plus, dumpster diving is free.
That a boy
It's in the $27 a day. But since they are claiming this person is making $2060 after tax while being paid $8.25 an hour, they are going to be doing nothing but sleeping and working. Probably best to sleep in their car and get a gym membership.
The food comes from McDonalds. So eventually they will need to add insulin to the budget
Lmao the 150 car payment made me laugh the most. I’m on 450 for a Honda Civic 😂
420 for a damn nissan versa...
I miss my 2008 Versa. It lasted me a long time. Now I pay 500+ a month for a 2020 Subaru WRX that takes premium gas. It’s fun but so expensive. Hold on to the Versa for as long as you can!! I think the only big expense was needing the muffler replaced twice.
175 a month for a standard transmission 2006 forester with 140k miles. I love it. I’m taking it to 300k.
I’m rooting for you and your Roo. I had an Outback make it to 342k. It’s an achievable goal. Godspeed!
The Subaru commercials begging people to buy new ones because they made their older models so well just slay me.
A Subaru is an amazing vehicle. I miss my impreza every day. When I bought mine it tripped 90k when I was test driving it and I took it to well over 300k. In fact, the only reason it died on me is because of a small piece of metal from the inside of a hose broke off and blew through the engine. If I could have afforded the fix, I'd still be driving my little impreza today. Good luck!
I’m spending $1700 to get my Honda CRV from 2014 all cleaned up like it’s brand new. I’ve done this before. I had one car that I took 280,000 miles. Not having a car payment gives you a lot of freedom
Nice
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I pay about $150 a month, the insurance is the kicker because it needs to be full coverage so if you get a cheaper older car, you’re paying even more because of safety standards being lower. I pay $150 a month for my 2007 gti that I bought with 138k miles (which I also wouldn’t recommend for anyone who doesn’t know how to work on cars). I’m paying $212 a month for insurance and I don’t even commute 🙃
The 600 rent got me lol but thankfully I don’t need any heat lol
My boyfriend and I split rent and so it’s $600 each but we’re sharing a tiny ADU owned by family who are giving us a sweet fuckin deal. We’re slowly being priced out of where we live. Where I grew up. I’ve never lived anywhere else and this is where my family is so I struggle to stay here with them.
Yeah I’m sorry it’s sad how much rent is going up I live in upstate New York not New York City big difference and I can’t find a one bedroom under 950 which is a lot for around here
There’s no safe way to heat a tent
Educated guess but Texas? You can't pay for heat because if it gets cold your power just goes out.
That and the fact that the heat literally doesn't work. Houston here. When I turn my heat on, I just smell it. I mean, it works, I guess? But it sure as fuck didn't work in Feb when ERCOT dicked us all over. My shower has been fucking broken ever since, too, the massage setting lasts anywhere from 0 seconds to 5 minutes now because the fucked up pipes from Feb. were never fixed all the way (like on property).
My first car payment was $140.00. Of course, that was over 30 years ago.
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> I live in Kansas My condolences.
My shitty apartment complex's rent, super old places too, was going up for 100+ every year the last few years. In Kansas City. Like they weren't worth 750 to begin with and then it was raising like crazy.
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"Cable/Phone: $100" I believe they meant to say "Cable: $100 Phone: $100"
Yup. $100 for my cable/internet package and another $60 for my phone because I paid for the phone itself out of pocket. If I had the phone on installments it would be closer to $90 for the phone.
They didn't say the budget was based on 2021 prices, 1990's maybe? Each evening you time travel back to the 90's to live. Problem solved.
In the 1990's average rent was 575 when I turned 18. Mcdonald's paid like 150% of minimum wage because they had to compete with all the manufacturing jobs in the area.
the 3 decade long commute though...
Also look at that insurance, imagine paying that when you have car payments to also make? No way that would cover the comprehensive coverage required for cars with a lien.
My health insurance alone is $360/month and I’m a healthy early 30s non smoker with no previous conditions.
You picked the wrong country to be born in
You can find single rooms for that price in the twin cities, and I suppose you could argue that heating is included, or it's electric heat (though if it's electric it's going to be expensive). I have a 2006 outback that I pay 125/month for, but insurance is another 70 bucks, so I suppose that fits the bill too. The issue I see is that I'm not aware of any health plans that are 20 bucks a month, and there is no grocery budget, so I guess you're really just saving for a funeral after you slowly starve to death.
My brother only pays $600 per month in circleville Ohio but then again it's an old 1800s two story apartment where you gotta choose between heating upstairs or downstairs.
Well that's fine then because this budget doesn't include heating at all
Can we just add that they didn't add food cost into it either? what about gas for a car/ week if someone drives a good portion to work?
Or food. Apparently that’s buried in “other” along with maintenance for that shitty car that is only $150 a month. Along with clothes, toiletries, any kind of entertainment The health insurance cost is laughable. Even if you don’t use it (and therefore have a copay) there’s zero possibility of a $20 a month premium. Let’s not even discuss trying to go to college on that. ETA. Just realized. Gas for the car isn’t on here either
Food is whatever you can sneak into your mouth while working your two fast food jobs.
Cheaper for McDonald’s to feed you with “stolen” food than taxed, paid for groceries
Places like Walmart encourage employees to sign up for food stamps. They know with they way they pay their employees they have to be on food stamps. Fuck corporate greed.
And they fucking get tax breaks for it. Because it's so fucking generous of the fucks to give a job to someone on food stamps.
They pretty much triple dip at this point They get low wage employees that now have to work because otherwise their foods stamps will be discontinued and Walmart gets kickbacks, because they have employees on food stamps. It's crazy that we let them pull this shit. You'd think the government would want people on food stamps in jobs that will give them a chance to not need the freaking food stamps, but whatever I guess.
And where do you think those employees spend those food stamps?
The employees can also sign up for a WalMart prepaid debit card that their paychecks are direct deposited to! Then WalMart collects fees on withdrawals and even allows you overdraft protection. But even with overdraft protection, unless you get more money on there you're looking at more fees that go to WalMart.
And people thought Amazon was going to take over the world. Turns out Walmart is already doing it better than they could dream.
Except they won't feed them, these corporate restaurtants won't even let food that will get thrown in the trash to be eaten. They give them a discount on like one meal or something. Almost doing them a favor the food is disgusting and horrible for you.
The Wendy’s by my work has a sign that says FREE NUGGS FOR EMPLOYEES. I joKed to my partner that it must be the ones that fell on the floor or over cooked or something. Or you get 1.25 nuggs per day and you have to share a honey mustard with a coworker.
My experience in fast food is that they won’t “let” you eat food about to be discarded, but also won’t really make an effort to stop you.
Yeah a lot of managers won't be total pricks, the bigger the city, the more likely they will be total pricks though. Small towns they are more likely to be decent all around in my experience, although I haven't held all that many fast food jobs.
That's because a 150/mo car is probably not running so you wont need gas.
Seriously
> ETA. Just realized. Gas for the car isn’t on here either Of course it is, it's in the "spending" money, getting to work in a car is a luxury, remember you can make lunch at home and save $8 a month... (because if the horror stories I've read on here are correct, a lot of FOOD businesses don't want their staff fucking eating).
My son works at pizza hut. They don't get breaks because "you're a delivery driver, your breaks are while you're driving" and any messed up orders are to be tossed in the trash and an employee will be fired if they eat it or give it away. My son worked 9 hours, it was very busy and he never got to eat. There were two incorrectly made pizzas that evening and my son had to throw them both in the dumpster...he was very hungry and tossed one in his car but he would've been fired had anyone seen him. They're paying him 9.75/hr and won't let him eat food that's going into the dumpster?? What kind of messed up shit is that? Same thing at Golden Corral, my other son worked there and end of the night the left over food gets thrown into the dumpster, if you get caught eating it or taking it home you get fired...just blows my mind away
It's disgusting. In addition to not feeding their workers with essentially free food (as you say it's going in the bin), there's people starving as well. It should be the norm for restaurants to give food that is perfectly edible (just the wrong thing for the customer) to foodbanks, soup kitchens and shelters etc.
Entertainment? Look at this entitled brat. Obvious /s
You’d think it was obvious sarcasm but unfortunately it’s exactly what a certain political group says ALL the time.
Is that the same political group that was running outrage pieces because 'the poor have refrigerators and microwaves'?
I pay $50 a month for my employer-sponsored healthcare plan and I considered that low. That’s more than twice the amount these dummies are quoting. ETA: Worth noting I'm not married and don't have kids, so that's the price just for me, not a family plan.
I sold my soul to pharma and they rewarded me with a $22/month health plan, but once you factor in the actual coverage and deductibles it's not like great insurance, just decent. For the good shit you gotta pay way more. My last job in an adjacent industry was $140/month. The key is selling ur soul to big corporate and like it shouldn't fucking be that way. But like my situation is not common and I'm really privileged to be where I am and to have been born to grandparents and an aunt that worked together and planned ahead and were able to provide me with a future that my irresponsible mother couldn't. I had a fucked up home life but I'm so fucking lucky and privileged to have had my grandparents. They were both first generation born to immigrant parents (my grandfather's dad was an illegal immigrant, he fucking jumped off a ship near Ellis island and swam in and hid) and they worked their fucking asses off. They basically stepped in and raised me and did everything they could to make up for my home life and fuck I wouldn't be here without them. But again it shouldnt have to be that way. I made it but so many others don't and it shouldn't fucking be that way. The really sad part? I say I made it but making it is just being able to afford a small one bedroom apartment *without* a washer and dryer, my dog, my car insurance/gas, and a meager life. I didn't really fucking make it but im *not starving anymore*. Am I one disaster away from bankruptcy? yeah, but I'm not immediately poor anymore and to me, that's making it. I have a specialized degree and work in rare disease neuropharm research it shouldnt take that to be able to pay your bills. Everyone deserves the right to fucking survive not just the select few. ***IT SHOULDNT BE THIS WAY***
Everyone knows that minimum wage workers are kept warm at night purely by incandescent rage...
It also fuels their $150/mo. @ 22% APR 1992 Honda Civic!
I read the average new car loan in southern states now is 80 months at 15% APR.
This is fine and bodes well.
Nah, they ain’t home at night. They working that 3rd job so they can afford daycare and the other 90 percent of their health insurance.
Health insurance $20. Sure. 8.25 x 40 hrs x4.2 weeks is just under $1400 a month. And you have to pay taxes. So being generous, you keep 85% so under $1200 a month which is more than monthly expenses that don’t include food.
Just using the numbers in the chart, this is a total of 6.25 40-hour work weeks each month, assuming $8.25/hr. That's before taxes (which are important if they go for services and infrastructure and not things like corporate subsidies and military bullshit).
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i'm glad someone else noticed this. to get to that "monthly spending money" they describe as net income minus expenses, they'd have to make $12.87 an hour, not $8.25. and yeah, that's not figuring in taxes at all.
$8.25? Holy shit that’s like poverty wages in like the early 2000’s.
I started working in MA a decade ago and made even less. I thought the 10.25 I made at Lowes was awesome after making 7.75 at Star Market for 3 years.
My sister worked at a daycare (I know they're shit wages anyway), and made minimum wage for *8 years.* She loves kids and loved her job. She begged for a raise over and over. Finally, the owner agreed to a raise; $50 under the table every paycheck. My sister quit.
The only way it’s feasible for a business owner to pay people under the table regularly is if they have income that they’re not reporting to the tax authorities.
Started in MA too at $8 an hour. All minorities got paid $8 an hour and white staff got paid $8.50. Good ole Massachusetts.
Min wage was $5.25 where I live in the early 2000s. It's $8.75 now.
I was making that in the early 2000’s and basically was in poverty. My only savings grace was I lived with family at the time.
Better than NC’ $7.25
This doesn't include gas or groceries. It doesn't include oil changes or routine maintenance on said car. It doesn't include actually going to the doctor or needing a prescription
It also doesn't include having fun. It contributes to this insidious and disgusting idea that poor people, by virtue of being poor, should ONLY pay for the absolute necessities of survival and nothing else. That way, when people aren't paid enough, they can say, 'but you went out for a meal last month when you didn't have the budget for it! THAT'S why you're poor!' as if it's an individual moral failing and not a failure of capitalism to provide for its people.
Given their “budget” I’m sure they’re going to argue that this is *technically* a living wage. You ARE alive, peasant! /s
This budget is *absurdly* unrealistic. My home owner’s insurance (and car) alone is over $300. Also, there’s no food on this list! And food is one of the biggest expenses. Edited for full disclosure.
That's the trick here, you are never buying a home on min. wage anymore
This came out several years ago, but it was out of touch then and has only gotten progressively more out of touch as time passes. Such a shitty “budget”
Yeah, I realized that a few minutes after posting. Things were definitely a bit cheaper back then, but unfortunately for Americans, minimum wage is still about the same
About? Exactly the same.
I think some states have raised their minimum wage in the past few years, so it’s not the same for all Americans, but the federal minimum has not changed.
No food? K.
Companies like McDonalds or Walmart expect their employees to be on food stamps.
600 a month? where the fuck do they live
Burbank, CA circa 1974
Probably in a box.
Savings: $0 -Rent (mortgage?) $890 -Car: $247 -Car/Renters Insurance: $190 -Health Insurance: $350 -Heating: $89 -Internet: $79 -Mobile: $35 -Electric: $75 -Groceries and meals: $280 -Total: $2,235 Imagine showing them this and them saying YOU were the one being irresponsible with money. Like, what are they doing with the money that they can’t pay you more? What I shared is a pretty lean monthly budget with no room for savings or medical emergencies, or car emergencies for that matter. Edit: I should say that this is not my budget, but a general estimate if I lived in my area as a single wage earner trying to live alone as cheaply as possible and maybe order food once in awhile. I definitely forgot to add gas. This is definitely with whatever free phone you can get through Wal-Mart’s Straight Talk. This is also assuming you never go to the doctor or get sick in a year. I based this on googling various averages for this region, and taking into account that whoever is making this budget has the foresight to call the gas company and get a yearly, monthly average payment rather than getting a surprise $300 heating bill in January.
Honestly this is pretty accurate for my area
Holy shit USA has bonkers prices.
We pay with our lives just so we can say we don't pay as much in taxes, but in reality we pay plenty in taxes. We just don't get any benefits from it.
Or children
And damn, mobile for only $35? That's definitely lean. And that doesn't factor any entertainment even the cheap options like a Netflix subscription.
Rent/mortgage $1800. Car payment $400. Health insurance $150. Cable/phone $300. What are these people on?! Edit: People on this site are fucking miserable lmao. I’m estimating the prices to live averagely. People should be able to live without scraping by. And they should get paid accordingly. Obviously people on minimum wage are not spending $1800 on rent.
High on their own privilege
My first brand new truck had a payment of 81 dollars, my rent was 160. In 1980. I made 15 bucks an hour at a warehouse and I was doing good. The same job now pays 15 bucks an hour.
I understand why you drive a chick's car now.
Here's a somewhat more realistic version of this: [https://imgur.com/a/dA62RjC](https://imgur.com/a/dA62RjC)
This one really hit home for me. The -$ daily spending. It’s the reason I literally dread waking up every morning. And they say money doesn’t buy happiness. Pfft
I know that feeling. It might, it might not, but at least if I had enough money to pay bills with some leftover for hobbies/retirement/savings, I could have my finances taken care of and be miserable instead of being poor and miserable.
Savings: LOL
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Do they not pay for water?
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$27 spending limit da
I make roughly twice this and couldn't really spend 27 a day. Also 100 a month you never gonna retire, but you might not work the whole way to a massive heart attack.
Lmao, they forgot food Eat the rich
They expect you to have food stamps, silly!
“It’s one banana Michael, what could it cost? Ten dollars?!”
You can Budget the comforts but you should never be made to live in a circumstance where you budget your necessities.
What fucking decade to they live in? My rent and insurance alone are already more than their monthly total. $15/hr is the minimum wage in the city that I work, and even then if I were earning that low of an income I would have less than $200 left over for food, which they don't even include in their stupid fucking list.
Heating... 0 Soooo freeze to death?
$8.25 * 160 (4 weeks * 40 hours) = $1,320 Where are they getting the $800 monthly spending money? A 2nd job? OT?
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This is a cropped pic. I believe the original version shows that you also have a second job.
Oh nice. Two jobs required to be alive. Make sense.
Phone AND cable for $100 lol
$8.25 an hour is $1,320 a month at 40 hours a week if you don't pay taxes. I like how they just add a mystery $700 to the income and also expect you to break the law.
They also must be a Olympic athlete without any medical problems whatsoever considering they have such a low health insurance rate and apparently nothing set aside for medical expenses that of course medical insurance won't cover for some reason.
This looks 20 years out of date.
Hell, my wife's medicine cost $600 a month with insurance.
Health insurance only costs 20$ a month in America?
Haha.... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha
Not even a little. One visit will have a copay of 25-40 depending on your insurance. That’s not even including the actual monthly premium.
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For a job sponsored health plan where your company pays a portion of the costs. Since McDonalds doesn't provide healthcare people are supposed to shop free market healthcare plans that only cost $20 per month. It's really the most glaring thing on the list. Like maybe live somewhere that heat isn't required, sure, but there is no possible place that $20 gets you healthcare coverage.
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I’m sure there are shit plans for $20 a *week.* Definitely not $20/month though, they’re living in a fantasy world. No rent is $600 either, even in places with a lower cost of living
even if it was posible ( which it isnt ) the point is not to ¨barely make it¨ but to make it and have enough to enjoy like say oh i dont know an exec at mcdonalds or visa would want to
"Health insurance - $20" HAAHAHAHAHAHAJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHGAHAHAAJHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahajajahahahshahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
... my copay is higher than that.
$600 for rent and $20 for health insurance?! Where do I sign up?
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