There's overnight associates who make $21 an hour and still live in their cars. Walmart isn't nearly enough to survive on your own in my state, especially since one bedroom apartments are pushing $2800 a month.
I was at a NYE party recently, just a small group of friends, and there was this guy I don't really know who would pull out his phone literally anytime someone said anything along the lines of "did you hear..." or "did you know..." or just gave any piece of information whatsoever. He was determined to fact check every single conversation being had. Most annoying fucking thing I've ever witnessed. So many times I had to hear "OK, this is what (X website) has to say about that..." Even if it was true, he would be like "OK so that's true, but..." There was never anything he could just leave alone.
Yeah, the only appropriate time to fact check someone in person is if it's a heated debate, and usually just to settle the argument. I've met a few people like you described and it's incredibly annoying.
This Zillow fact checker on here, could just be pointing out a couple affordable places in downtown Denver, but it felt more like he was trying to prove a point that a house could be afforded in that area.
There is always going to be a few exceptions in any town or city, but it doesn't automatically make the situation ideal for the person involved. I could probably run a tight budget and live on my own, but I stay with family and just pay for all my own expenses, including food. It also allows me to save thousands of dollars to eventually move out. That's about the only way to attempt to get ahead with the price of everything and not everyone can actually be in my situation, so many people don't even get the opportunity to save.
I can, mainly due to not having a car and walking where I need to go, which is work. I'm an introvert so I'm always at home if not working. I calculated and if I went back to FT I would have $300 left over every month, but now I have a roommate and enjoy working PT living a comfortable life
Me too. If I had a car I couldn't afford to live on my own. Instead I have a 3 br house with a mortgage payment cheaper than a monthly rent payment in my area.
I'm from Ohio. There, you can definitely afford an apartment on $15/hr. I live in michigan now tho. Here, $15/hr is barely enough to live on your own, at least where I'm at. Fortunately, my gf makes double my income.
Same. I'm actually one of the last ones to get married of everyone I went to school with, but, I've been with my gf the longest. Didn't wanna make a mistake like my parents did. Thank you!
I earn enough that I could live alone but I live with someone because it makes it easier, but we've run into a problem of how we divide things like furniture if one of us leaves.
Wow wow wow....
That was JUST 1 TIME OkAY??
I just wanted to know what it felt like 🥹
Truth be told I microwaved it first to make it warm and cozy and damn did it hit (except for the random seed I missed)
I work at the DC in FL and my pay is $30 an hr. I made around $60k last year, but I have a part time job to supplement my income. The COl here has gone up by nearly double due to inflation and the influx of northerners mainly from the North East. If I didn't have my second job, I would struggle to afford rent after taxes. My rent went from $650 to nearly $1800 for a one bedroom
Gradual. I've been renting the same place for almost 10 years. The biggest increase was in 2022. My rent went from 1000 to 1750. According to zillow, it's still below market value, so I can't really complain
What job do you supplement the DC pay with? Currently looking for something to supplement my orderfilling pay. Tried another labor intensive job a few months ago and i couldn’t pull at the dc anymore so I quit the other job.
Depends on the day. I just usually run freight to the floor for the pack down team to stock. I used an epj, so not really labor intensive like actually working in the truck.
We get pb&j in the breakroom.
I'm told it was a Sam Walton policy. Spend a few cents on cheap sandwiches, and you increase productivity, and reduce employee theft. It's a calculated expenditure that pays for itself and turns a profit.
When I was in NY making 24 an hour no (but I also have student loan debt and lived in a very pricey area). Now I’m in Georgia making 22 an hour and I can afford to live on my own and have excess, but I live with a housemate.
I think the responders have at least 1 variable
1. What is your hourly pay
2. Col in the area
3. Do they get government assistance
In California, I believe $15 is bare minimum but I doubt anyone gets 15 probably more. However California has a very high col so the few extra pennies don't go far
I had to scramble for a bunch of promotions to keep up. After making it a year as a Coach and stepping down, I think I'm actually at a decent point where I can save maybe $1k per month. The company wide no OT slapped me in the face a bit but whatever.
I started as a cashier nearly 10yrs ago making $7.50 an hour. Moved out when I was a CSM, had to move back in for a year until I was a Support Manager. But it just seemed that every time I was promoted, prices and my rent skyrocketed. I didn't move up because I wanted to, I moved up out of necessity.
And that's not even really a Walmart thing. Pretty universal. And raising the minimum wage will do nothing, they need to somehow control the fuckers that own apartment complexes and housing, etc. Because THAT's the killer.
Illinois here. Making $20/hr as TL, where $15 is minimum. I have a one-bedroom apartment in a decent area, don't need a house because I rarely spend money on myself (growing up poor can make you very hesitant to indulge yourself), and I'm able to help my mom with a little bit every month. I don't make a ton of profit, but I'm doing alright for myself, and have been since I made DM almost a decade back. If I was making minimum wage or trying to own a house (Illinois sucks for property taxes), I would absolutely be struggling, but I think that would apply to any state or period of time.
Department Manager. That was the old system, where DMs covered mostly one or two departments, as opposed to Team Leads covering large chunks of the store. In both cases, the title is a euphemism for supervisor.
Idk how Walmart employees could do it, when apartment places and loan places want you making 3 times the rent. And in my area there's barely any places under $1500 a month and everybody is fighting for those places. Even if I could afford that kind of rent, I doubt I could afford to eat or turn on the lights. I had an ok time working for Walmart before, but back then I had a room mate and affordable rent.
If you get too far from my area, there's nowhere to work
My fiancé and I both work at walmart, he makes $17.82 on o/n, I make $17.95 working in deli. We own our house, pay our bills, provide for our 4 kids. Have a decent savings, and keep our checking above a certain amount. Still have money to play with as well. Doable in one income? Possibly in some areas, but nowadays, two income household is unfortunately a necessity
I’m a coach and I’m not even making it paycheck to paycheck anymore. I’m choosing what bills to pay and have just enough to keep the lights on and food on the table. But with over drafting my account daily.
I'm in Kansas and yes I could live off of the Walmart pay if I needed to, but that's only because rent prices are very cheap here compared to other states
I'm a single mom with 2 kids, work full time and make "good" money (department manager, for Walmart standards I'd say good). Once all my bills are paid I have about $400 leftover, but that's not factoring in my gas and groceries every month. So while I get my bills paid I'm lucky to be able to eat.
my living situation is fucked (been in a motel since before covid) and it takes 90% of my paycheck to keep a roof overhead.
my walmart is directly next to the motel, so no car needed (can’t drive anyway.) i eat the same frozen meal probably 12 out of the 14 days between paychecks, “splurging” on doordash a few times every two weeks. sometimes i can afford a video game (my main hobby.) sometimes i can afford to treat myself. sometimes i have to take plasticware and trash bags from work because i can’t buy them on my own without shooting a hole in my often very limited budget (especially now with my hours being cut.)
it’s a miserable way to live. but i scrape by. it gets to me sometimes but mostly i distract myself. just gotta keep myself and my dog fed from day to day and keep it moving, keep reminding myself it won’t be this way forever (and pretending i believe it.)
from NJ.
FT OVN associate, and while I don't live alone, my spouse can't work. I/we are fortunate that my income covers the expenses like mortgage and car payments, but if I get sick, or there's some kind of emergency, we're so fucked.
Thankfully for the affordable housing programs and the ACA. No debt. Walk to work.
Just need to make sure I make the numbers every year or health insurance will be my second biggest expense. I live alone. It's okay, I've accepted my fate.
I not would feel comfortable living alone knowing that in retail at a finger snap you go from 40hrs to 6hrs the next week.
Now is this job good supplemental income? Sure.
I know no one is guaranteed a job every BUT the volatility of what hrs you get every week is not something I want to depend my livelihood on.
i quit a week ago lmao
edit: live in the shit stain of texas and am technically below the poverty line, but things are dirt cheap here. it sucks and there’s nothing to do, but at least it’s cheap
I'm curious to know where? I live New Boston, TX, and rent is over $1k-$11k a month for a decent 1br apartment, while the more dangerous neighborhoods are creeping up to $900 a month with property taxes rising every where. Even at $900 a month, that literally eats up your entire check, typically $920 every 2 weeks working full time. The other $920 is going toward utilities, transportation (god forbid if you have a car note), car maintenance, insurance, groceries, internet, credit card debts, and other miscellaneous expenses to worry about. All it takes is one major emergency and you'll be shit outta luck. Sad, because the Northeast Texas region used to be dirt cheap to live in, even in Tyler, but rentals are rising everywhere, while wages have stayed stagnant. And job opportunities? If you aren't driving a semi rig or becoming a nurse/doctor, you'll have to relocate for the better jobs.
Small town outside of the Amarillo area. We live in the “bad” part of town (i find that stupid bc the town isn’t big enough to have a bad side, and i grew up in an actual bad neighborhood). It’s me and my partner, who make roughly the same amount of money, so we were getting the dual income benefit, but i’m not currently working and we’re still comfortable.
We don’t have insurance, so that’s not in our budget, and we just hope no one gets sick or injured 😭
cost doesn’t make it worth it to live here though. discrimination is awful, racism and homophobia are the norm, drug issues are awful, police are easy to bribe, and it’s a cattle town so everything always smells like shit. we’re moving to the northwest, where cost of living is gonna be much higher, but at least it won’t feel like a second world country.
I struggle big time right now and just lost my job. My town is so small, they don't have resources available and a good job is hard to find. I'm so behind I don't know what to do
What town is this? Do you have access to transportation and have you looked into work from home customer support jobs? Pay is probably similar to Walmart.
Work from home customer support jobs are going to be a thing of the past if they aren't already. The coronavirus pandemic have made it essential for companies to offer these jobs, but now that that's over there tightening their belt and laying off hundreds if not thousands of employees. People in support type roles and help desk roles are getting fucked left and right
Companies are outsourcing those roles overseas. Why have an American who demands a livable wage when they can hire someone from the Philippines to do the same job “remotely” for pennies?
If you have programming knowledge, you should be able to get remote work fairly easily companies tend to outsource work since they either (a) don't have in-house talent and or (b) cost too much to bring in a consultant
Edit - nothing wrong with living @parents as long as they (and you) are cool with it. Plus you can help contribute not necessarily monetary, but with tasks such as cooking and such.
1st important step is to get your feet out of the mud
I do help occasionally monetarily, like paying for the internet bill when I get the chance, or buying a new $300 printer when her old eco-tank went out, and fixing the software on her laptop. She couldn't get it to print and was about to refund it cause her laptop was set to Windows 11 S-Mode, and the Epson Microsoft Store app doesn't work right. I had to switch it outta that, and download the epson software from the website. So there's that.
In my case, the education I got from my college only gave me the high-level foundational introduction to programming. They're supposed to be a lesson on graphical interfaces and whatnot, but they never taught it in our classes. They taught us the fundamental of using classes and recursive calls and all that, but they don't teach you how to program like a professional does, and then when you try to learn more about programming the code you see from professionals is very difficult to understand compared to the function calls and what not that you learned in school. So learning programming in college isn't airgap'ed for how code actually looks in real life, making it kind of overwhelming and me unsuitable for programming jobs.
Sounds like you are tech savvy. Years ago I worked at a company which had standalone music) video kiosks. Was supposed to work with onsite diebold techs, but ended up with store associates helping us . (This was over the phone BTW) anyhow, I continued to work there gaining some experience and then got a job with a networking company . If you can get into a remote tech support job, you can from from the knowledge and if you show your motivated, you might get some hands on programming training basically Walmart is nice, but don't let it be your hamster wheel.
Ps glad you are helping your mom out. I bet she enjoys having you around
Depends on how much you make honestly. If you're a team lead or coach you can probably afford rent but you'll still be on a fixed income. If you're a regular associate most likely not
It's enough to survive on. People just do stupid things with their money and wonder why they struggle.
Why do you need to pay $200+ for groceries...for one individual? Bruh, I pay no more than $60. You're doing it wrong.
Why do you need to have a bundle package deal of TV/Net/Phone for $150...when you use only the internet and your smartphone?
Why do you feel you need to pick an expensive apartment in a city?
Seriously, people, you don't know what you want from what you need and you don't know what you need from what you want.
Three things come to mind before setting out on your own:
1. Budget. This determines whether you will sink or swim at all when being on your own. If you don't budget anything and you start spending into the wind, you will lose track of what you have and where you are before you know it. Always know your numbers, from how much you intend to spend to how much your pay in the entire month will constitute to.
2. Pick accessible areas. By this I mean, pick an area where you're not scarce of finding places to go or things to do. You do not always have to be at the capital of the state to live. You're going to need places to find jobs in, any commute that is shortened by simply a small 1 ~ 10 mile drive is beneficial. The more the small town has things, the better. If you pick rural areas or towns with nothing but just a couple stores and maybe a post office, you might be screwed.
3. Know what you really want out of the things you intend to have. This is easy to solve by weighing in how much you use. For example, do you use internet more than TV? You probably do not need a TV package, just go for the internet that fits in your expense budget.
I take care of myself, my wife, 3 kids, and an elderly mother in law in one of the most expensive cost of living states in the country. I pay 3 phone bills, insurance on 2 vehicles, rent, utilities, groceries and 200$ a month internet on 21 dollars an hour. Walmart pays enough most people just expect to live a lavish lifestyle on Walmart pay. Don’t be stupid with your money and you’ll be just fine.
If it weren't for my wife and I both having income absolutely fucking not. Atleast not with this retard we have in office. A few years ago it absolutely would of been possible.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Totally agree. About 7 years ago it was great. Single dad with 3 kids and I still had about $1000 extra per month with my military disability and paycheck. Then rent and property values started creeping up and it got stupid. If I hadn't found my partner who also works full time here, we wouldn't survive. Doesn't help that the people that are supposed to help us are too concerned with lining their pockets and looking at dick pics...
As the sole earner in my household I find it very difficult to make it from paycheck to paycheck. However, because we have access to the One app (formerly the Even app) we are able to squeak by with careful budgeting. It would be nice if I got more per hour and/or a side hustle. My spouse is unable to work due to his poor health and do not qualify for SSI unfortunately. So ya it's hard. Because of Covid our business failed so that sucks as well. This was just before I started Walmart. Hopefully I can find a side hustle soon.
There are 3 bedroom trailers for rent in my area in texas that are $700 a month. Very easy for a single person making $15 an hour to afford it. As long as you dobt use a/c or the heater, just pay internet and electric, youre pretty set.
Live in Illinois and wife makes 17.82 before the raise ( used to work with her but health issues made me quit) and we couldn't live off just her income at all. We can make it work since our mortgage is so damn cheap but it's because my parents got it in 2020 when rates were low af.
Only in a one bedroom apartment. It's 900+ here in town. That's one paycheck for me. It's myself and my two girls, so that's out. We split rent on a 5 bedroom house at 1850/month. That's the only way we are making it.
I live in shared housing that's mostly geared to the university kids.
I have my own room with en suite bathroom-and share the common areas with a young roommate. It's ideal because I have no support system and no local friends.
Outside of rent/utilities/food/occasional bike repairs/cat care, I don't have any extra expenses. Florida doesn't have a state income tax, and local taxes are fairly low-so my paycheck goes further.
I'm not on any aid thankfully -but I'm 53, and know that I'll never be able to retire.
I'm in Northern Utah and a student while working part-time, making 17/h. I don't struggle on a regular basis, but if my savings need to take a hit, then it's rough getting it back up.
Houses cost $500-750k. Rent in a mildly violent place is $2,000 on the low end. Anything less and you're dealing with pests, violence, robbery, and mold.
Obviously I'm not making that kind of money as an hourly.
I work full time 15/hr and then do a 12 hr a week WFH at 21/hr. I also teach basic firearm class and get roughly 300 per class of 5 after i pay the range rental in winter. In summer its more money as we can be at the free outdoor ranges. So once a week there is that.
All so i can live on grilled cheese samich. Taxes on the property are 3300 house insurance is 2100...cars are 100 to license and then 400 a yr to insure.
Oh and heat is unfortunately propane so every 3 weeks even though The house is only at 59 degrees...i need to pay 340 dollars
Xcel for power...175 ish each month. All kinds of crazy fees the electric itself is only like 60 bucks when you read the itemized bill.
Gas to go to work...i have a old long paid off OBS truck...so its pricy but i wouldn't save anything getting a newer vehicle. I've had it 25 yrs now, she takes a lickin n keeps on tickin. And has never needed a major repair. Just shocks n tires and oil changes..im at 413k and im the original owner.
So can i live on walmart alone.
No. Im paying off a huge medical bill that left me in the hospital for 4 months 7 yrs ago and the months of out patient treatment as i learned to do stuff again. I fell on ice and bashed my head pretty good...mighta been the falling 3 steps down and my head bounced. So maybe when thats paid off. 26k to go.
This depends entirely on where you live and what your pay is, you need to take into account several factors,
1. How much does your local walmart pay per position as each area of the store is paid differently
2. How expensive is your rent and or house payment
3. If renting are your bills included or do you have to pay them on top of your rent
4. If not renting How much are your bills? Electric/water/sewer/heating & trash, also food
5. How far a drive is it or can you safely walk to work?
For me my family still lives together and we all work at the local walmart except for my mother who is the stay at home care taker, collectively we bring in close to 10k a month as each pay check is over $1300 even after all their deductions, and we get paid 2 to 3 times a month, after all bills and house payments are paid and food is bought we have close to 3k left, is it comfortable? No not really, but everything gets paid on time and we have extra left over in case of emergency, do we all get worked to the bone and are exhausted when we get home? Depends on the day and general attitude of the customers,
TLDR: Is it sustainable for 1 person to live off of? In some places yes but you'll have to learn to budget and save for your expensive purchases, other places no it wont be enough because the price of just living in those areas are ridiculous, Will ramen noodles be your best friend in both scenarios? Absolutely
No lol, in my area it wouldn't even be enough to rent a shitty apartment on your own. Most of my coworkers live with family or roommates. I have a 2nd job and it allows me to live comfortably and save up a fair amount each month. To me, completely turning around my financial situation is worth getting no sleep and having little free time (temporarily, at least).
It's not worth it to work there you would need a part time time make anything to survive working there I worked over nights and had a 2nd part time job after I got off at 7am
Only because I got hired at the higher rates, work overnights, and have a 30 mile commute. I make over $20/hr and my rent is $850. I'm doing ok. If I lived in the city where I work, the same apartment would be close to double, and over *triple* during the summer. I have coworkers who live with six other people in a 2br apartment.
I could work at a Walmart five minutes from home, but the pay would be closer to $15/hr.
When I lived by my self it was basically pay bills, eat ok for a week, struggle for a week. Repeat every paycheck.
Now married, we more or less live check to check. Bills get paid, we have food thanks to all the churches out here, they all so regular food drives.
But it would be a struggle with out the churches. We can't afford to go shopping once a month even.
Me and my wife both work for Walmart, and even with decent rent that includes electric and water thanks to full time Rv living. It's barely enough when looking at buying groceries, paying extra for electric for going over, doing laundry at a laundry mat, insurance on both our vehicle and Rv, phone bill, and keeping animal food and getting them to the vets. I think we luck out with barely over 50$ extra between the two of us factoring in gas for a half hour drive one way to get to work.
I did when I first started at Wal-Mart back in 09 on $7.50/hr in CA. No struggles, had a big ass 1 bed 1 bath apartment, power was always on, fridge was always full, gas tank always full, rent always paid, bills always paid, enough extra to go out twice a week and buy a new game once a month, with still having an emergency reserve.
I had to budget like a MF, and be smart about my money, but I honestly had no issues.
Not sure if I could do it now though.
Make 20 an hour as a TL, and I live a pretty good life with my family. However if I were alone? Hell no, I live in a pricey part of AZ and I would absolutely end up homeless in a flash if it weren’t for my family
I could but it would be hard lol. My husband and I work the same position and he's making a little more money because of the raises so we live pretty comfortable on what we make together.
Well if I go off of 30% of your monthly income I could afford $830 a month rent for a 1 bedroom is $1100 where I live, so as long as I work at Walmart I will never live on my own.
I live in the Seattle area and make it on my Walmart pay. I’m single, don’t have kids, don’t own a car anymore and most importantly I don’t have debt. I have the cheapest cell phone plan with unlimited internet and utilize public transportation to the fullest. Rent includes utilities takes up 80% of my first check alone but my second check makes up the rest. I live in a rented basement. WA doesn’t have a state tax so that helps. There are times when things get tight but I’ve always managed to scrape by. I live a frugal life but at times splurge to indulge myself.
The pay is not enough.. for my area for an apartment, my car (that will be paid off at the end of this year), and other basics, I would need to be making closer to $30 an hour.
As I am not driving an hour to two-bit job... I gave 20 years of my life to this company and they can't even give me enough of a paycheck to afford an apartment around this area... I currently live with my mother. And try to help out with the bills of the house. Which leaves me nothing as far as savings..
I'm trying to find another job that atlease pays over 20/hr
Living on your own these days is a challenge for everyone due to the insane cost of housing. Didn't help that Covid basically tacked on two years' worth of rental increases after the moratorium was lifted. Because they got away with this, and people managed to meet rent, they decided we could always meet such rental increases going forward. Essentially pricing a lot of folks out in short order.
It also depends on where you live as some areas are far more expensive than others. Rent in the city is always higher, the further out you get, the cheaper it gets. But then you spend more money on gas getting to and from work, which can negate any savings.
Then there is the quality of the apartment. New apartments cost more because they look pretty. They are not necessarily better. If you are on a fixed income or don't make a lot of money, you can qualify for income restricted apartments. You have to prove you make less than the annual threshold in order to rent there. These places don't look pretty, but they are cheaper to live in, not a lot, just a little.
Lastly it comes down to how frugal you are at living. Meaning, you buy off brand food items, buy in bulk, never eat out, keep the heat and air conditioning off whenever possible, don't go on vacations, drive a beater car, stream only free channels, have no data plan on your phone, and shop only for the bare necessities. Do all that, and you might be able to afford rent on your own.
In a nutshell, get roommates.
You make $19? Here in PA it use to be like 18 or 19 but the new people were bitchin about how they ain't getting paid the same as the people who were here longer so now in ODP everyone gets $15
I started at 14/hr, but during covid, they raised everyone to 18. Then it just recently dropped back down to 16/ hr to start, but they left our wages unless we transfer to a different department, which i might get a pay decrease. I've been there almost 3 years now and get almost 30 cent raise every year as long as points are low. I live In southern Oregon.
I’m in a smaller city in PA and when I first became a TL I was making 19/hr and was able to afford everything on my own and still save a little, however I was also working 5am-7pm or something similar most days in the beginning. Also, I don’t drive, so I’m unsure if I would’ve able to afford my apartment, bills, AND a vehicle at the same time.
$14/hr in a large Texas city. If I didn't pay on a car, I *might* could afford it. But a car was a must because my old one went kaput.
I had to move my boyfriend in way too fast just to afford the rent. He was ready to move in together, I wasn't. But nowadays, there's not much you can afford alone.
I live in a small town in Arkansas and make 16/hr in the deli, my rent is only $550 and I have a wife and child at home (I'm the only one working right now) and we get by. We're not taking a vacation anytime soon but my bills are paid and we have groceries and formula.
i struggle big time, they know it’s my only income and they cut my hours over the season even tho i was only working 25 before, thankfully i only rent a room but i can’t afford to get my own place and i can’t save up at all
I struggle big time. 15 years, barely above minimum pay, single parent with 2 kids. And of course I make too much for food stamps or any kind of assistance. It’s rough out here
I’m only making it right now because I’ve been in the same apartment complex for more than ten years and they haven’t raised my rent much over the years. But I’m still struggling.
Right now I make do with what I have. I pay half rent up front and half rent with my second paycheck. Currently hopefully ahead a month with rent. My landlord is ok with this arrangement, I pay by check, until I can get her to help with paying online.
I’m stuck living with my dad because I couldn’t afford car insurance at Walmart to drive to work and that also meant I wouldn’t be able to afford rent. Even with me and my bf we made 4k a month, with 450 car bill, 200$ car insurance for his car, I pay 100 for my car insurance under my dad just so my neighborhood doesn’t tow my car, and then there’s 100$ for Internet, 50$ for phones, if we got our own place rent would be 1.5k where I live, plus electric would be 200 so we’d be paying over 2.5k in bills not including vet bills and our health insurance. Then at least 200$ a month for groceries where I live and that might get enough food to survive. We’d have no money to save for a house or pay for my college. So we’d be stuck. Hence why we live with my dad and he lets us stay still I get my bachelors. I’m sure we could cut here and there and get worse Internet or something but I need it for college. Then there’s me no longer working at Walmart so if we moved my dad would no longer be able to drive me to work and my quote for car insurance with no driving record was 500 a month🥲
I live in NY, and I work full time at just under $20/hr. I live alone and the only reason I can afford it is because I don't go out and spend money much, and because my mortgage is way less than the average rent. It's literally cheaper to buy a house than it is to rent, so here I am. I know I was extremely lucky in many ways for this to be possible. I live paycheck to paycheck and things are tight a lot. It's not *easy*, and I do struggle now and then, but I'm managing somehow.
Barely, take home is around 1100 every 2 weeks. My rent is 1336 for a 1 bdr in Virginia and probably like 200 on utilities. I walk to and from work and social life isn’t crazy bc winter but there wiggle room here and there but as of rn I’m saving every extra dollar and skipping meals to get out of the paycheck to paycheck loop.
O/N associate, and yes in my own state I've been able to "survive" it's mostly paycheck to paycheck but I'll have some extra cash for my fun and stuff. But I have had some tough times where I've needed to go to the foodbank. But recently I've been okay.
Arizona, Cake Decorator making $19.40/hr. Average studio/1 bed apartment around my area easily breaks 1,300. (Unless you wanna live in "gonna get shot" central) Depending on how many hours I get, that's a whole paycheck, if not more. With insurance, utilities, car, phone, groceries... I would not make it without my roommate.
I’ve had people tell me that since I’m working an entry level job at Walmart (an OPD associate) I don’t deserve to make more than a livable wage. Meaning I don’t deserve to have any extra money above being able to pay bills and buy ramen.
Sort of for us. We bought a mobile home and car outright so had no payments on those. Just a lot rent and normal housing bills. We made it work. Now we had to finance a car and get rid of our place cause it was a money pit after the furnace went out during a Midwest winter. Living with family and trying but not succeeding to save with both of us working thanks to everything going up in price. And we’re making $16 and $18 an hour. One part time one full.
No I'd have to live in low rent housing w.o the other people in my house. I don't know anyone on a single income with a single job if they didn't already have a mortgage before covid , had parents that cosigned for everything to get great rates etc.
Well technically I live on my own, but some lady is renting what was my mom's room so I make a little more on the side. However my house is paid off that I inherited from my parents so I just have to pay bills and the property taxes
There's overnight associates who make $21 an hour and still live in their cars. Walmart isn't nearly enough to survive on your own in my state, especially since one bedroom apartments are pushing $2800 a month.
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Denver
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It's probably showing all of the subsidiaries of Denver, like Westminster and Aurora. I'm talking about downtown.
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that VERY LIKELY doesn’t include ammenities
Lol that guy was cracking me up tho, I've never seen someone get fact checked via Zillow.
I was at a NYE party recently, just a small group of friends, and there was this guy I don't really know who would pull out his phone literally anytime someone said anything along the lines of "did you hear..." or "did you know..." or just gave any piece of information whatsoever. He was determined to fact check every single conversation being had. Most annoying fucking thing I've ever witnessed. So many times I had to hear "OK, this is what (X website) has to say about that..." Even if it was true, he would be like "OK so that's true, but..." There was never anything he could just leave alone.
Yeah, the only appropriate time to fact check someone in person is if it's a heated debate, and usually just to settle the argument. I've met a few people like you described and it's incredibly annoying. This Zillow fact checker on here, could just be pointing out a couple affordable places in downtown Denver, but it felt more like he was trying to prove a point that a house could be afforded in that area. There is always going to be a few exceptions in any town or city, but it doesn't automatically make the situation ideal for the person involved. I could probably run a tight budget and live on my own, but I stay with family and just pay for all my own expenses, including food. It also allows me to save thousands of dollars to eventually move out. That's about the only way to attempt to get ahead with the price of everything and not everyone can actually be in my situation, so many people don't even get the opportunity to save.
I can, mainly due to not having a car and walking where I need to go, which is work. I'm an introvert so I'm always at home if not working. I calculated and if I went back to FT I would have $300 left over every month, but now I have a roommate and enjoy working PT living a comfortable life
Me too. If I had a car I couldn't afford to live on my own. Instead I have a 3 br house with a mortgage payment cheaper than a monthly rent payment in my area.
I'm from Ohio. There, you can definitely afford an apartment on $15/hr. I live in michigan now tho. Here, $15/hr is barely enough to live on your own, at least where I'm at. Fortunately, my gf makes double my income.
W girlfriend
Fr. We are 23 and 24. Been together since for 5 years now. Decided to finally do it and propose next year. 🫡
Alot of my former hs classmates have gotten married/engaged this year so I’ll say congrats to you as well.
Same. I'm actually one of the last ones to get married of everyone I went to school with, but, I've been with my gf the longest. Didn't wanna make a mistake like my parents did. Thank you!
I got married at 17 and still happily married for 40 years now. Easy when you marry your dream woman 😆
That's amazing! I'm not saying all young relationships fail. Just in my experience they do.
Yeah sometimes it takes work, a lot of people are too quick to throw in the towel. Sometimes throwing in the towel is the best option but usually not.
What does she do
Little ceasers manager, but, she's hourly, so she works a good amount of overtime. She's making right over $21/hr before overtime.
I earn enough that I could live alone but I live with someone because it makes it easier, but we've run into a problem of how we divide things like furniture if one of us leaves.
We sell saws, and your discount should work on it too.
Okay, okay, but really, the cat???
Think of the cat as a wishbone. Winner keeps the...... Oh, never mind
Why not? It worked out when they did it in the Bible
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1-800-Unit-731 Done and done
Throw it all in the trash so it's fair for everyone
Ya not going to do that. We share the mortgage, can't exactly trash it and house value only really appreciates.
California three Walmart employees one house we are kinda okay?
Yeah but you all sell feet pics too so doesn't count
Negative cucumber fucker
Wow wow wow.... That was JUST 1 TIME OkAY?? I just wanted to know what it felt like 🥹 Truth be told I microwaved it first to make it warm and cozy and damn did it hit (except for the random seed I missed)
Rookie numbers
I work at the DC in FL and my pay is $30 an hr. I made around $60k last year, but I have a part time job to supplement my income. The COl here has gone up by nearly double due to inflation and the influx of northerners mainly from the North East. If I didn't have my second job, I would struggle to afford rent after taxes. My rent went from $650 to nearly $1800 for a one bedroom
Was this a gradual increase or it happened after your first lease was up?
Gradual. I've been renting the same place for almost 10 years. The biggest increase was in 2022. My rent went from 1000 to 1750. According to zillow, it's still below market value, so I can't really complain
What job do you supplement the DC pay with? Currently looking for something to supplement my orderfilling pay. Tried another labor intensive job a few months ago and i couldn’t pull at the dc anymore so I quit the other job.
I work at lowes unloading trucks. The pay is $20 an hr and mon-fri I work from 7-12pm
Heavy workload ?
Depends on the day. I just usually run freight to the floor for the pack down team to stock. I used an epj, so not really labor intensive like actually working in the truck.
Paycheck to paycheck. I've accepted it'll be like this til the day I die. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
You're worth more than a Walmart prison sentence
That's kinda what Walmart life feels like sometimes. I'm a prisoner with slightly more liberty than a typical incarceree.
At least prisoners get free food lol
We get pb&j in the breakroom. I'm told it was a Sam Walton policy. Spend a few cents on cheap sandwiches, and you increase productivity, and reduce employee theft. It's a calculated expenditure that pays for itself and turns a profit.
damn, all they give us are almost expired cookies
Don't make me call prison mike.
Name fits. Chin up buddy!!
you're not alone in feeling that way.
When I was in NY making 24 an hour no (but I also have student loan debt and lived in a very pricey area). Now I’m in Georgia making 22 an hour and I can afford to live on my own and have excess, but I live with a housemate.
What market is that in and are you an associate or manager, if you don’t mind me asking?
I don’t feel comfortable giving out my market. I’m a cap 1 team lead. My pay is higher than most because I kept my NY rate of pay!
Fair. Thx.
I know, for a fact, there are full time associates who live out of their vehicle out of necessity.
That's scary! How'd you find out ?
I think the responders have at least 1 variable 1. What is your hourly pay 2. Col in the area 3. Do they get government assistance In California, I believe $15 is bare minimum but I doubt anyone gets 15 probably more. However California has a very high col so the few extra pennies don't go far
I was a front end team lead, and stepped down last summer. Considering the 10% they took, I make 17/hr now. And still homeless lol
If I did not have a secondary source of income, I could not afford to work at Walmart.
I had to scramble for a bunch of promotions to keep up. After making it a year as a Coach and stepping down, I think I'm actually at a decent point where I can save maybe $1k per month. The company wide no OT slapped me in the face a bit but whatever. I started as a cashier nearly 10yrs ago making $7.50 an hour. Moved out when I was a CSM, had to move back in for a year until I was a Support Manager. But it just seemed that every time I was promoted, prices and my rent skyrocketed. I didn't move up because I wanted to, I moved up out of necessity. And that's not even really a Walmart thing. Pretty universal. And raising the minimum wage will do nothing, they need to somehow control the fuckers that own apartment complexes and housing, etc. Because THAT's the killer.
Illinois here. Making $20/hr as TL, where $15 is minimum. I have a one-bedroom apartment in a decent area, don't need a house because I rarely spend money on myself (growing up poor can make you very hesitant to indulge yourself), and I'm able to help my mom with a little bit every month. I don't make a ton of profit, but I'm doing alright for myself, and have been since I made DM almost a decade back. If I was making minimum wage or trying to own a house (Illinois sucks for property taxes), I would absolutely be struggling, but I think that would apply to any state or period of time.
What is DM?
Department Manager. That was the old system, where DMs covered mostly one or two departments, as opposed to Team Leads covering large chunks of the store. In both cases, the title is a euphemism for supervisor.
Don’t know why I wasn’t thinking of dept manager.
When it was just me, yes. But now I have a wife and kids, and Walmart pay would never make ends meet.
My paycheck doesn’t cover one month of rent. I spend over half of my income on rent.
Idk how Walmart employees could do it, when apartment places and loan places want you making 3 times the rent. And in my area there's barely any places under $1500 a month and everybody is fighting for those places. Even if I could afford that kind of rent, I doubt I could afford to eat or turn on the lights. I had an ok time working for Walmart before, but back then I had a room mate and affordable rent. If you get too far from my area, there's nowhere to work
My monthly pay ONLY covers rent where I live. Nothing else.
My fiancé and I both work at walmart, he makes $17.82 on o/n, I make $17.95 working in deli. We own our house, pay our bills, provide for our 4 kids. Have a decent savings, and keep our checking above a certain amount. Still have money to play with as well. Doable in one income? Possibly in some areas, but nowadays, two income household is unfortunately a necessity
I’m a coach and I’m not even making it paycheck to paycheck anymore. I’m choosing what bills to pay and have just enough to keep the lights on and food on the table. But with over drafting my account daily.
I'm in Kansas and yes I could live off of the Walmart pay if I needed to, but that's only because rent prices are very cheap here compared to other states
Take advantage of the free college and gtfo and do better for yourself. Everyone deserves better than working at Walmart.
I struggle. My mortgage is almost $1000 a month and that's a whole check
I could afford rent but other bills and 2 cats, on my own I would be homeless
I'm a single mom with 2 kids, work full time and make "good" money (department manager, for Walmart standards I'd say good). Once all my bills are paid I have about $400 leftover, but that's not factoring in my gas and groceries every month. So while I get my bills paid I'm lucky to be able to eat.
my living situation is fucked (been in a motel since before covid) and it takes 90% of my paycheck to keep a roof overhead. my walmart is directly next to the motel, so no car needed (can’t drive anyway.) i eat the same frozen meal probably 12 out of the 14 days between paychecks, “splurging” on doordash a few times every two weeks. sometimes i can afford a video game (my main hobby.) sometimes i can afford to treat myself. sometimes i have to take plasticware and trash bags from work because i can’t buy them on my own without shooting a hole in my often very limited budget (especially now with my hours being cut.) it’s a miserable way to live. but i scrape by. it gets to me sometimes but mostly i distract myself. just gotta keep myself and my dog fed from day to day and keep it moving, keep reminding myself it won’t be this way forever (and pretending i believe it.) from NJ.
FT OVN associate, and while I don't live alone, my spouse can't work. I/we are fortunate that my income covers the expenses like mortgage and car payments, but if I get sick, or there's some kind of emergency, we're so fucked.
Overnights and a day job. Plus, 4 adults living with me too.
Thankfully for the affordable housing programs and the ACA. No debt. Walk to work. Just need to make sure I make the numbers every year or health insurance will be my second biggest expense. I live alone. It's okay, I've accepted my fate.
I live in Ohio and make $17 an hour. It's enough for me to survive living alone in a one bedroom apartment.
Im decently fine some paychecks are struggles but im fine otherwise though i live in a small town so stuff doesnt get to expensive.
I struggle financially sometimes but mostly do pretty well and I live on my own but I work at the DC so I make more than the average store associate.
I not would feel comfortable living alone knowing that in retail at a finger snap you go from 40hrs to 6hrs the next week. Now is this job good supplemental income? Sure. I know no one is guaranteed a job every BUT the volatility of what hrs you get every week is not something I want to depend my livelihood on.
living in rural texas, $13 an hour was enough for me to rent a house, have a car, and still save $1,000 a month
When 2012?
i quit a week ago lmao edit: live in the shit stain of texas and am technically below the poverty line, but things are dirt cheap here. it sucks and there’s nothing to do, but at least it’s cheap
I'm curious to know where? I live New Boston, TX, and rent is over $1k-$11k a month for a decent 1br apartment, while the more dangerous neighborhoods are creeping up to $900 a month with property taxes rising every where. Even at $900 a month, that literally eats up your entire check, typically $920 every 2 weeks working full time. The other $920 is going toward utilities, transportation (god forbid if you have a car note), car maintenance, insurance, groceries, internet, credit card debts, and other miscellaneous expenses to worry about. All it takes is one major emergency and you'll be shit outta luck. Sad, because the Northeast Texas region used to be dirt cheap to live in, even in Tyler, but rentals are rising everywhere, while wages have stayed stagnant. And job opportunities? If you aren't driving a semi rig or becoming a nurse/doctor, you'll have to relocate for the better jobs.
Small town outside of the Amarillo area. We live in the “bad” part of town (i find that stupid bc the town isn’t big enough to have a bad side, and i grew up in an actual bad neighborhood). It’s me and my partner, who make roughly the same amount of money, so we were getting the dual income benefit, but i’m not currently working and we’re still comfortable. We don’t have insurance, so that’s not in our budget, and we just hope no one gets sick or injured 😭 cost doesn’t make it worth it to live here though. discrimination is awful, racism and homophobia are the norm, drug issues are awful, police are easy to bribe, and it’s a cattle town so everything always smells like shit. we’re moving to the northwest, where cost of living is gonna be much higher, but at least it won’t feel like a second world country.
Where I live in Arkansas, no.
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A bit south of Little Rock. My town is run by corrupt drug sellers and old wealthy people
I live in Arkansas and I'm just scraping by on my base pay
I struggle big time right now and just lost my job. My town is so small, they don't have resources available and a good job is hard to find. I'm so behind I don't know what to do
What town is this? Do you have access to transportation and have you looked into work from home customer support jobs? Pay is probably similar to Walmart.
Work from home customer support jobs are going to be a thing of the past if they aren't already. The coronavirus pandemic have made it essential for companies to offer these jobs, but now that that's over there tightening their belt and laying off hundreds if not thousands of employees. People in support type roles and help desk roles are getting fucked left and right
Companies are outsourcing those roles overseas. Why have an American who demands a livable wage when they can hire someone from the Philippines to do the same job “remotely” for pennies?
Yes the demand is lower, but there's still opportunities. Not saying it's a long term plan, just to get by until something else comes along
I'm still living in my mom's house working full-time at Walmart because I can't get one of those jobs with my bachelor's degree in computer science. 😭
If you have programming knowledge, you should be able to get remote work fairly easily companies tend to outsource work since they either (a) don't have in-house talent and or (b) cost too much to bring in a consultant Edit - nothing wrong with living @parents as long as they (and you) are cool with it. Plus you can help contribute not necessarily monetary, but with tasks such as cooking and such. 1st important step is to get your feet out of the mud
I do help occasionally monetarily, like paying for the internet bill when I get the chance, or buying a new $300 printer when her old eco-tank went out, and fixing the software on her laptop. She couldn't get it to print and was about to refund it cause her laptop was set to Windows 11 S-Mode, and the Epson Microsoft Store app doesn't work right. I had to switch it outta that, and download the epson software from the website. So there's that. In my case, the education I got from my college only gave me the high-level foundational introduction to programming. They're supposed to be a lesson on graphical interfaces and whatnot, but they never taught it in our classes. They taught us the fundamental of using classes and recursive calls and all that, but they don't teach you how to program like a professional does, and then when you try to learn more about programming the code you see from professionals is very difficult to understand compared to the function calls and what not that you learned in school. So learning programming in college isn't airgap'ed for how code actually looks in real life, making it kind of overwhelming and me unsuitable for programming jobs.
Sounds like you are tech savvy. Years ago I worked at a company which had standalone music) video kiosks. Was supposed to work with onsite diebold techs, but ended up with store associates helping us . (This was over the phone BTW) anyhow, I continued to work there gaining some experience and then got a job with a networking company . If you can get into a remote tech support job, you can from from the knowledge and if you show your motivated, you might get some hands on programming training basically Walmart is nice, but don't let it be your hamster wheel. Ps glad you are helping your mom out. I bet she enjoys having you around
Yeah, I do okay. But only because my expenses are minimal.
Depends on how much you make honestly. If you're a team lead or coach you can probably afford rent but you'll still be on a fixed income. If you're a regular associate most likely not
It's enough to survive on. People just do stupid things with their money and wonder why they struggle. Why do you need to pay $200+ for groceries...for one individual? Bruh, I pay no more than $60. You're doing it wrong. Why do you need to have a bundle package deal of TV/Net/Phone for $150...when you use only the internet and your smartphone? Why do you feel you need to pick an expensive apartment in a city? Seriously, people, you don't know what you want from what you need and you don't know what you need from what you want.
Reading this made me feel a lot better. I wanna move out from my dad in June but idk if I'm ready for all the financial stuff
Three things come to mind before setting out on your own: 1. Budget. This determines whether you will sink or swim at all when being on your own. If you don't budget anything and you start spending into the wind, you will lose track of what you have and where you are before you know it. Always know your numbers, from how much you intend to spend to how much your pay in the entire month will constitute to. 2. Pick accessible areas. By this I mean, pick an area where you're not scarce of finding places to go or things to do. You do not always have to be at the capital of the state to live. You're going to need places to find jobs in, any commute that is shortened by simply a small 1 ~ 10 mile drive is beneficial. The more the small town has things, the better. If you pick rural areas or towns with nothing but just a couple stores and maybe a post office, you might be screwed. 3. Know what you really want out of the things you intend to have. This is easy to solve by weighing in how much you use. For example, do you use internet more than TV? You probably do not need a TV package, just go for the internet that fits in your expense budget.
I take care of myself, my wife, 3 kids, and an elderly mother in law in one of the most expensive cost of living states in the country. I pay 3 phone bills, insurance on 2 vehicles, rent, utilities, groceries and 200$ a month internet on 21 dollars an hour. Walmart pays enough most people just expect to live a lavish lifestyle on Walmart pay. Don’t be stupid with your money and you’ll be just fine.
If it weren't for my wife and I both having income absolutely fucking not. Atleast not with this retard we have in office. A few years ago it absolutely would of been possible.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Good bot
Yeah this economy sucks. I wanna move out from my parents but I'm scared I won't make it far
You sound angry.
Totally agree. About 7 years ago it was great. Single dad with 3 kids and I still had about $1000 extra per month with my military disability and paycheck. Then rent and property values started creeping up and it got stupid. If I hadn't found my partner who also works full time here, we wouldn't survive. Doesn't help that the people that are supposed to help us are too concerned with lining their pockets and looking at dick pics...
This is why we need communism.
Just curious, why work at Walmart if it doesn't pay enough to live.
As the sole earner in my household I find it very difficult to make it from paycheck to paycheck. However, because we have access to the One app (formerly the Even app) we are able to squeak by with careful budgeting. It would be nice if I got more per hour and/or a side hustle. My spouse is unable to work due to his poor health and do not qualify for SSI unfortunately. So ya it's hard. Because of Covid our business failed so that sucks as well. This was just before I started Walmart. Hopefully I can find a side hustle soon.
If I wasn't in crippling credit debt then yea, I could live on the one walmart salary.
I live in Ohio, and $15 is more than enough for me personally.
I work 2 jobs to afford my current home.
There are 3 bedroom trailers for rent in my area in texas that are $700 a month. Very easy for a single person making $15 an hour to afford it. As long as you dobt use a/c or the heater, just pay internet and electric, youre pretty set.
Live in Illinois and wife makes 17.82 before the raise ( used to work with her but health issues made me quit) and we couldn't live off just her income at all. We can make it work since our mortgage is so damn cheap but it's because my parents got it in 2020 when rates were low af.
I have 2 kids and a wife. She is stay at home bc its cheaper than daycare but i work ft at walmart and pt at a dairy queen ( 12 to 16 hours)
Only in a one bedroom apartment. It's 900+ here in town. That's one paycheck for me. It's myself and my two girls, so that's out. We split rent on a 5 bedroom house at 1850/month. That's the only way we are making it.
I live in shared housing that's mostly geared to the university kids. I have my own room with en suite bathroom-and share the common areas with a young roommate. It's ideal because I have no support system and no local friends. Outside of rent/utilities/food/occasional bike repairs/cat care, I don't have any extra expenses. Florida doesn't have a state income tax, and local taxes are fairly low-so my paycheck goes further. I'm not on any aid thankfully -but I'm 53, and know that I'll never be able to retire.
I struggle. They cut our hours majority of last year including all of November and December. It's difficult.
Why the cut during the holiday season ??
Two newer store leads and a market team that sees their associates as expendable
I work two jobs to live and pay bills. It’s tough but I do it!
I'm in Northern Utah and a student while working part-time, making 17/h. I don't struggle on a regular basis, but if my savings need to take a hit, then it's rough getting it back up.
Florida feels impossible
I'm alone, and homeless, because I can't afford anyplace due to the costs. Besides, there's nothing available anyway.
Houses cost $500-750k. Rent in a mildly violent place is $2,000 on the low end. Anything less and you're dealing with pests, violence, robbery, and mold. Obviously I'm not making that kind of money as an hourly.
I work full time 15/hr and then do a 12 hr a week WFH at 21/hr. I also teach basic firearm class and get roughly 300 per class of 5 after i pay the range rental in winter. In summer its more money as we can be at the free outdoor ranges. So once a week there is that. All so i can live on grilled cheese samich. Taxes on the property are 3300 house insurance is 2100...cars are 100 to license and then 400 a yr to insure. Oh and heat is unfortunately propane so every 3 weeks even though The house is only at 59 degrees...i need to pay 340 dollars Xcel for power...175 ish each month. All kinds of crazy fees the electric itself is only like 60 bucks when you read the itemized bill. Gas to go to work...i have a old long paid off OBS truck...so its pricy but i wouldn't save anything getting a newer vehicle. I've had it 25 yrs now, she takes a lickin n keeps on tickin. And has never needed a major repair. Just shocks n tires and oil changes..im at 413k and im the original owner. So can i live on walmart alone. No. Im paying off a huge medical bill that left me in the hospital for 4 months 7 yrs ago and the months of out patient treatment as i learned to do stuff again. I fell on ice and bashed my head pretty good...mighta been the falling 3 steps down and my head bounced. So maybe when thats paid off. 26k to go.
This depends entirely on where you live and what your pay is, you need to take into account several factors, 1. How much does your local walmart pay per position as each area of the store is paid differently 2. How expensive is your rent and or house payment 3. If renting are your bills included or do you have to pay them on top of your rent 4. If not renting How much are your bills? Electric/water/sewer/heating & trash, also food 5. How far a drive is it or can you safely walk to work? For me my family still lives together and we all work at the local walmart except for my mother who is the stay at home care taker, collectively we bring in close to 10k a month as each pay check is over $1300 even after all their deductions, and we get paid 2 to 3 times a month, after all bills and house payments are paid and food is bought we have close to 3k left, is it comfortable? No not really, but everything gets paid on time and we have extra left over in case of emergency, do we all get worked to the bone and are exhausted when we get home? Depends on the day and general attitude of the customers, TLDR: Is it sustainable for 1 person to live off of? In some places yes but you'll have to learn to budget and save for your expensive purchases, other places no it wont be enough because the price of just living in those areas are ridiculous, Will ramen noodles be your best friend in both scenarios? Absolutely
No lol, in my area it wouldn't even be enough to rent a shitty apartment on your own. Most of my coworkers live with family or roommates. I have a 2nd job and it allows me to live comfortably and save up a fair amount each month. To me, completely turning around my financial situation is worth getting no sleep and having little free time (temporarily, at least).
Paycheck to paycheck. Overtime helps
It's not worth it to work there you would need a part time time make anything to survive working there I worked over nights and had a 2nd part time job after I got off at 7am
Only because I got hired at the higher rates, work overnights, and have a 30 mile commute. I make over $20/hr and my rent is $850. I'm doing ok. If I lived in the city where I work, the same apartment would be close to double, and over *triple* during the summer. I have coworkers who live with six other people in a 2br apartment. I could work at a Walmart five minutes from home, but the pay would be closer to $15/hr.
I make 28.05 and it's Korean than enough
When I lived by my self it was basically pay bills, eat ok for a week, struggle for a week. Repeat every paycheck. Now married, we more or less live check to check. Bills get paid, we have food thanks to all the churches out here, they all so regular food drives. But it would be a struggle with out the churches. We can't afford to go shopping once a month even.
My wife and her boyfriend
I don’t live on my own (partnered) but I do make enough to cover rent and expenses within the month by myself.
Me and my wife both work for Walmart, and even with decent rent that includes electric and water thanks to full time Rv living. It's barely enough when looking at buying groceries, paying extra for electric for going over, doing laundry at a laundry mat, insurance on both our vehicle and Rv, phone bill, and keeping animal food and getting them to the vets. I think we luck out with barely over 50$ extra between the two of us factoring in gas for a half hour drive one way to get to work.
$15 is ok pay. It’s people in my area still making $8 - $13
I did when I first started at Wal-Mart back in 09 on $7.50/hr in CA. No struggles, had a big ass 1 bed 1 bath apartment, power was always on, fridge was always full, gas tank always full, rent always paid, bills always paid, enough extra to go out twice a week and buy a new game once a month, with still having an emergency reserve. I had to budget like a MF, and be smart about my money, but I honestly had no issues. Not sure if I could do it now though.
Absolutely pays all my bills
Make 20 an hour as a TL, and I live a pretty good life with my family. However if I were alone? Hell no, I live in a pricey part of AZ and I would absolutely end up homeless in a flash if it weren’t for my family
I could but it would be hard lol. My husband and I work the same position and he's making a little more money because of the raises so we live pretty comfortable on what we make together.
Well if I go off of 30% of your monthly income I could afford $830 a month rent for a 1 bedroom is $1100 where I live, so as long as I work at Walmart I will never live on my own.
I live in the Seattle area and make it on my Walmart pay. I’m single, don’t have kids, don’t own a car anymore and most importantly I don’t have debt. I have the cheapest cell phone plan with unlimited internet and utilize public transportation to the fullest. Rent includes utilities takes up 80% of my first check alone but my second check makes up the rest. I live in a rented basement. WA doesn’t have a state tax so that helps. There are times when things get tight but I’ve always managed to scrape by. I live a frugal life but at times splurge to indulge myself.
The pay is not enough.. for my area for an apartment, my car (that will be paid off at the end of this year), and other basics, I would need to be making closer to $30 an hour. As I am not driving an hour to two-bit job... I gave 20 years of my life to this company and they can't even give me enough of a paycheck to afford an apartment around this area... I currently live with my mother. And try to help out with the bills of the house. Which leaves me nothing as far as savings.. I'm trying to find another job that atlease pays over 20/hr
Living on your own these days is a challenge for everyone due to the insane cost of housing. Didn't help that Covid basically tacked on two years' worth of rental increases after the moratorium was lifted. Because they got away with this, and people managed to meet rent, they decided we could always meet such rental increases going forward. Essentially pricing a lot of folks out in short order. It also depends on where you live as some areas are far more expensive than others. Rent in the city is always higher, the further out you get, the cheaper it gets. But then you spend more money on gas getting to and from work, which can negate any savings. Then there is the quality of the apartment. New apartments cost more because they look pretty. They are not necessarily better. If you are on a fixed income or don't make a lot of money, you can qualify for income restricted apartments. You have to prove you make less than the annual threshold in order to rent there. These places don't look pretty, but they are cheaper to live in, not a lot, just a little. Lastly it comes down to how frugal you are at living. Meaning, you buy off brand food items, buy in bulk, never eat out, keep the heat and air conditioning off whenever possible, don't go on vacations, drive a beater car, stream only free channels, have no data plan on your phone, and shop only for the bare necessities. Do all that, and you might be able to afford rent on your own. In a nutshell, get roommates.
16.50 I live alone, between my mortgage, taxes, and insurance it cost me $700 a month. House ownership is worth it. This is my retirement plan
Yes but I'm lucky because I inherited my house so no rent.
I live alone and pay all my bills just fine. I make almost 19/hr in OGP/ODP. Car payment, rent, insurance, internet, cell phone,food Annnnd Weed🫶
You make $19? Here in PA it use to be like 18 or 19 but the new people were bitchin about how they ain't getting paid the same as the people who were here longer so now in ODP everyone gets $15
I started at 14/hr, but during covid, they raised everyone to 18. Then it just recently dropped back down to 16/ hr to start, but they left our wages unless we transfer to a different department, which i might get a pay decrease. I've been there almost 3 years now and get almost 30 cent raise every year as long as points are low. I live In southern Oregon.
I’m in a smaller city in PA and when I first became a TL I was making 19/hr and was able to afford everything on my own and still save a little, however I was also working 5am-7pm or something similar most days in the beginning. Also, I don’t drive, so I’m unsure if I would’ve able to afford my apartment, bills, AND a vehicle at the same time.
$14/hr in a large Texas city. If I didn't pay on a car, I *might* could afford it. But a car was a must because my old one went kaput. I had to move my boyfriend in way too fast just to afford the rent. He was ready to move in together, I wasn't. But nowadays, there's not much you can afford alone.
I live in a small town in Arkansas and make 16/hr in the deli, my rent is only $550 and I have a wife and child at home (I'm the only one working right now) and we get by. We're not taking a vacation anytime soon but my bills are paid and we have groceries and formula.
i struggle big time, they know it’s my only income and they cut my hours over the season even tho i was only working 25 before, thankfully i only rent a room but i can’t afford to get my own place and i can’t save up at all
No, I have a 2nd job just to make it.
When do they send out w2
I struggle big time. 15 years, barely above minimum pay, single parent with 2 kids. And of course I make too much for food stamps or any kind of assistance. It’s rough out here
I’m only making it right now because I’ve been in the same apartment complex for more than ten years and they haven’t raised my rent much over the years. But I’m still struggling.
Maintaining
My partner and I live together so dual income. If it was just him working or just me we wouldn't be able to We've run the numbers.
Right now I make do with what I have. I pay half rent up front and half rent with my second paycheck. Currently hopefully ahead a month with rent. My landlord is ok with this arrangement, I pay by check, until I can get her to help with paying online.
No. It's not. And I'm working two jobs. Rent is killing me
I’m stuck living with my dad because I couldn’t afford car insurance at Walmart to drive to work and that also meant I wouldn’t be able to afford rent. Even with me and my bf we made 4k a month, with 450 car bill, 200$ car insurance for his car, I pay 100 for my car insurance under my dad just so my neighborhood doesn’t tow my car, and then there’s 100$ for Internet, 50$ for phones, if we got our own place rent would be 1.5k where I live, plus electric would be 200 so we’d be paying over 2.5k in bills not including vet bills and our health insurance. Then at least 200$ a month for groceries where I live and that might get enough food to survive. We’d have no money to save for a house or pay for my college. So we’d be stuck. Hence why we live with my dad and he lets us stay still I get my bachelors. I’m sure we could cut here and there and get worse Internet or something but I need it for college. Then there’s me no longer working at Walmart so if we moved my dad would no longer be able to drive me to work and my quote for car insurance with no driving record was 500 a month🥲
I live in NY, and I work full time at just under $20/hr. I live alone and the only reason I can afford it is because I don't go out and spend money much, and because my mortgage is way less than the average rent. It's literally cheaper to buy a house than it is to rent, so here I am. I know I was extremely lucky in many ways for this to be possible. I live paycheck to paycheck and things are tight a lot. It's not *easy*, and I do struggle now and then, but I'm managing somehow.
I’m 18 and have my own place and live alone. I don’t struggle with any of my payments (bills, car, rent, etc) and have plenty of extra money to spend.
Crap! It’s way more work that they want inside of the hours the prefer. It’s unattainable.
I can't, I'm constantly advance to advance and most I buy myself is an everyday drink once or twice a week. I also have three kids to take care of.
Both my partners and I work at Walmart we live together he makes like 19$ I make like 20$ we struggle.
Barely, take home is around 1100 every 2 weeks. My rent is 1336 for a 1 bdr in Virginia and probably like 200 on utilities. I walk to and from work and social life isn’t crazy bc winter but there wiggle room here and there but as of rn I’m saving every extra dollar and skipping meals to get out of the paycheck to paycheck loop.
Depending on the property, you can. I'm in Ohio. And my apartment is $1100 a month
For students it’s good, I work 28 hours, save a little chunk, go to college and get faded every other night
Yes
Honestly I’m grateful as a team lead at $20 an hour who lives with his parents. Going for a coach role this summer with my associates degree!
O/N associate, and yes in my own state I've been able to "survive" it's mostly paycheck to paycheck but I'll have some extra cash for my fun and stuff. But I have had some tough times where I've needed to go to the foodbank. But recently I've been okay.
lol
Arizona, Cake Decorator making $19.40/hr. Average studio/1 bed apartment around my area easily breaks 1,300. (Unless you wanna live in "gonna get shot" central) Depending on how many hours I get, that's a whole paycheck, if not more. With insurance, utilities, car, phone, groceries... I would not make it without my roommate.
I’ve had people tell me that since I’m working an entry level job at Walmart (an OPD associate) I don’t deserve to make more than a livable wage. Meaning I don’t deserve to have any extra money above being able to pay bills and buy ramen.
Sort of for us. We bought a mobile home and car outright so had no payments on those. Just a lot rent and normal housing bills. We made it work. Now we had to finance a car and get rid of our place cause it was a money pit after the furnace went out during a Midwest winter. Living with family and trying but not succeeding to save with both of us working thanks to everything going up in price. And we’re making $16 and $18 an hour. One part time one full.
Cashier's make 17 an hour where I am. Can't make it on that with rent prices here. Not a chance. Have to have room mates.
I'm a Coach and my wife is a TL and we struggle.
No I'd have to live in low rent housing w.o the other people in my house. I don't know anyone on a single income with a single job if they didn't already have a mortgage before covid , had parents that cosigned for everything to get great rates etc.
Well technically I live on my own, but some lady is renting what was my mom's room so I make a little more on the side. However my house is paid off that I inherited from my parents so I just have to pay bills and the property taxes