TAKODA Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 The only downside would be having to touch that thing . . . Um ~ NO! You forgot the fact that your at that establishment in the first place! Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 The only downside would be having to touch that thing . . . Um ~ NO! You forgot the fact that your at that establishment in the first place! Which is a human tragedy in and of itself. Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Back to the minimum wage issue, some Congressional Democrats are doing some sort of #livethewage campaign for a week, where they live within the confines of a current minimum wage budget for a week. Dem Rep. Jan Schakowsky scores a bit of an own goal. Link to comment
TAKODA Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Back to the minimum wage issue, some Congressional Democrats are doing some sort of #livethewage campaign for a week, where they live within the confines of a current minimum wage budget for a week. Dem Rep. Jan Schakowsky scores a bit of an own goal. Wow, I must be missing something when looking at that menu as that is probably better than I eat! Link to comment
knapplc Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Here's the menu: In Nebraska, we have the same minimum wage as the Feds, $7.25/hour. Presuming a 40-hour work week, that's $290 a week. Presuming this is for a single person, and a light eater, I'll take a stab at some of these numbers. I do the shopping at my house, and I can rattle off prices for all of these things pretty easy. I'm guessing we're going to need lettuce for the salad, and to give it some color we'll buy some carrots, but nothing else. You're going to have to go with the cheapest store-bought salad dressing, like generic Ranch, because Good Seasons Italian packets are a rip-off, plus you'll have to buy Presuming we're buying chicken breast on sale at Sam's, you're going to need 3lb for that menu, at $1.92/lb that's $5.76 - which is the single most expensive purchase on your menu here. Presuming you're getting cheap cereal, and also presuming you're buying milk here (on sale, one gallon only). Ramen is $.25 per packet these days which is a RIPOFF. Back in my college days it was always 10/$1.00. I buy expensive bread, so presuming your loaf here is the cheap stuff, I'm guessing it's about $2. We're only getting a dozen eggs, which seems light for this menu, but that's the price I know, and two dozen would be overkill. Presuming we're making the Egg Salad (otherwise we'd be getting more ingredients than we have on the menu, and that ramps up), and we're only using egg & mayo. Presuming we're buying the Tuna Salad because buying individual tuna & sundry ingredients for this isn't cheap - but also presuming light eater, so only 1/2 lb eaten over a couple days. Presuming the chicken sandwich is chicken breast, mayo & bread (mustard would cost more, and we're not buying pickles, tomatoes, bacon or cheese, and we're not putting our dinner lettuce on this). Presuming you buy no other beverages than milk (and you consume very little each meal. Anyway, presuming all that, I got a grocery bill of $50.92. I'll admit I guessed on the cost of sweet potato (I hate them) and said 2/$.80 = $1.60. So, just about $50, or 1/6th of your income for that menu. Feel free to discuss my numbers. I'd post the spreadsheet but I have to leave RIGHT NOW. Back in a while. Link to comment
Junior Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Back to the minimum wage issue, some Congressional Democrats are doing some sort of #livethewage campaign for a week, where they live within the confines of a current minimum wage budget for a week. Dem Rep. Jan Schakowsky scores a bit of an own goal. So food only... what about transportation? Clothing? Rent? Single person with no kids? Link to comment
TAKODA Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Here's the menu: In Nebraska, we have the same minimum wage as the Feds, $7.25/hour. Presuming a 40-hour work week, that's $290 a week. Presuming this is for a single person, and a light eater, I'll take a stab at some of these numbers. I do the shopping at my house, and I can rattle off prices for all of these things pretty easy. I'm guessing we're going to need lettuce for the salad, and to give it some color we'll buy some carrots, but nothing else. You're going to have to go with the cheapest store-bought salad dressing, like generic Ranch, because Good Seasons Italian packets are a rip-off, plus you'll have to buy Presuming we're buying chicken breast on sale at Sam's, you're going to need 3lb for that menu, at $1.92/lb that's $5.76 - which is the single most expensive purchase on your menu here. Presuming you're getting cheap cereal, and also presuming you're buying milk here (on sale, one gallon only). Ramen is $.25 per packet these days which is a RIPOFF. Back in my college days it was always 10/$1.00. I buy expensive bread, so presuming your loaf here is the cheap stuff, I'm guessing it's about $2. We're only getting a dozen eggs, which seems light for this menu, but that's the price I know, and two dozen would be overkill. Presuming we're making the Egg Salad (otherwise we'd be getting more ingredients than we have on the menu, and that ramps up), and we're only using egg & mayo. Presuming we're buying the Tuna Salad because buying individual tuna & sundry ingredients for this isn't cheap - but also presuming light eater, so only 1/2 lb eaten over a couple days. Presuming the chicken sandwich is chicken breast, mayo & bread (mustard would cost more, and we're not buying pickles, tomatoes, bacon or cheese, and we're not putting our dinner lettuce on this). Presuming you buy no other beverages than milk (and you consume very little each meal. Anyway, presuming all that, I got a grocery bill of $50.92. I'll admit I guessed on the cost of sweet potato (I hate them) and said 2/$.80 = $1.60. So, just about $50, or 1/6th of your income for that menu. Feel free to discuss my numbers. I'd post the spreadsheet but I have to leave RIGHT NOW. Back in a while. I do a lot of my families shopping as well Knapp and this looks pretty fair. The details (number of meals this will make is unknown) thus for a family of 3 or 4, this will go up dramatically. Heck I bet I spend more than 60 dollars every time I go to the store and that happens 2 - 3 times a week. Friggin Milk is $4.40 a gallon now and my kids go through 5 gallons a week. Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 So food only... what about transportation? Clothing? Rent? Single person with no kids? Transportation - StarTran in Lincoln offers 31 day low income bus passes for $8. Clothing - It's hard to set parameters on what's needed, but there's plenty of perfectly good clothing at Goodwill etc, for $5-10. Speaking personally, my wardrobe now is pretty much exactly what it was 1-2 years ago, a few Christmas and birthday presents aside. Rent - The Lincoln Housing Authority has 1 BR apartments available for $350-$400/mo. Alternatively/additionally, roommates are always an option. So, assuming 21.75 working days a month x 8 hours x $7.25 = $1261.50 a month in gross pay, you'll get to take home around $1065 of that. Taking what we've discussed: Rent: 400 Clothing: 25 Food: 200 Transportation: 8 Utilities: 100 Total: 733 That leaves you with ~$330 a month for incidentals, a cell phone, cable, a car, your portion of employer-sponsored health insurance. There's a reason most critiques of the minimum wage involve the "single mom with kids" scenario. Of course those critiques neglect to mention the government support available for such a situation. Link to comment
TAKODA Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 So food only... what about transportation? Clothing? Rent? Single person with no kids? Transportation - StarTran in Lincoln offers 31 day low income bus passes for $8. Clothing - It's hard to set parameters on what's needed, but there's plenty of perfectly good clothing at Goodwill etc, for $5-10. Speaking personally, my wardrobe now is pretty much exactly what it was 1-2 years ago, a few Christmas and birthday presents aside. Rent - The Lincoln Housing Authority has 1 BR apartments available for $350-$400/mo. Alternatively/additionally, roommates are always an option. So, assuming 21.75 working days a month x 8 hours x $7.25 = $1261.50 a month in gross pay, you'll get to take home around $1065 of that. Taking what we've discussed: Rent: 400 Clothing: 25 Food: 200 Transportation: 8 Utilities: 100 Total: 733 That leaves you with ~$330 a month for incidentals, a cell phone, cable, a car, your portion of employer-sponsored health insurance. There's a reason most critiques of the minimum wage involve the "single mom with kids" scenario. Of course those critiques neglect to mention the government support available for such a situation. Nah, utilities no way 100 (phone, elec, nat gas) Clothing, meh, a t shirt cost you that much Rent and food probably Ok, not sure about bus cost or how well they get you close to destinations of work place. Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 So food only... what about transportation? Clothing? Rent? Single person with no kids? Transportation - StarTran in Lincoln offers 31 day low income bus passes for $8. Clothing - It's hard to set parameters on what's needed, but there's plenty of perfectly good clothing at Goodwill etc, for $5-10. Speaking personally, my wardrobe now is pretty much exactly what it was 1-2 years ago, a few Christmas and birthday presents aside. Rent - The Lincoln Housing Authority has 1 BR apartments available for $350-$400/mo. Alternatively/additionally, roommates are always an option. So, assuming 21.75 working days a month x 8 hours x $7.25 = $1261.50 a month in gross pay, you'll get to take home around $1065 of that. Taking what we've discussed: Rent: 400 Clothing: 25 Food: 200 Transportation: 8 Utilities: 100 Total: 733 That leaves you with ~$330 a month for incidentals, a cell phone, cable, a car, your portion of employer-sponsored health insurance. There's a reason most critiques of the minimum wage involve the "single mom with kids" scenario. Of course those critiques neglect to mention the government support available for such a situation. Nah, utilities no way 100 (phone, elec, nat gas) Clothing, meh, a t shirt cost you that much Rent and food probably Ok, not sure about bus cost or how well they get you close to destinations of work place. I didn't include phone in utilities, I included it in other, and prepaid cell phones are available for a low price. Landlines are far from a necessity anymore, I don't have one. I paid about $175 last month for water, electric and gas, and I live in a free standing house, not a 600 square foot apartment. $100 is a reasonable estimate. Again, consignment stores are far cheaper for clothes, and someone who's working at McDonalds or Walmart doesn't exactly need an expensive wardrobe. StarTran's service through Lincoln is exceptional, particularly in areas where minimum wage jobs would abound. As for the pricing, I provided a link taking you straight to StarTran's pricing page. Link to comment
carlfense Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 Those poor people are living like kings, I tell ya. Link to comment
Junior Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Those poor people are living like kings, I tell ya. Remember what Fox said? Poor people even have refrigerators. What the hell are they complaining about? http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/07/22/fox-cites-ownership-of-appliances-to-downplay-h/148574 Link to comment
Junior Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 So food only... what about transportation? Clothing? Rent? Single person with no kids? Transportation - StarTran in Lincoln offers 31 day low income bus passes for $8. Clothing - It's hard to set parameters on what's needed, but there's plenty of perfectly good clothing at Goodwill etc, for $5-10. Speaking personally, my wardrobe now is pretty much exactly what it was 1-2 years ago, a few Christmas and birthday presents aside. Rent - The Lincoln Housing Authority has 1 BR apartments available for $350-$400/mo. Alternatively/additionally, roommates are always an option. So, assuming 21.75 working days a month x 8 hours x $7.25 = $1261.50 a month in gross pay, you'll get to take home around $1065 of that. Taking what we've discussed: Rent: 400 Clothing: 25 Food: 200 Transportation: 8 Utilities: 100 Total: 733 That leaves you with ~$330 a month for incidentals, a cell phone, cable, a car, your portion of employer-sponsored health insurance. There's a reason most critiques of the minimum wage involve the "single mom with kids" scenario. Of course those critiques neglect to mention the government support available for such a situation. Nah, utilities no way 100 (phone, elec, nat gas) Clothing, meh, a t shirt cost you that much Rent and food probably Ok, not sure about bus cost or how well they get you close to destinations of work place. I didn't include phone in utilities, I included it in other, and prepaid cell phones are available for a low price. Landlines are far from a necessity anymore, I don't have one. I paid about $175 last month for water, electric and gas, and I live in a free standing house, not a 600 square foot apartment. $100 is a reasonable estimate. Again, consignment stores are far cheaper for clothes, and someone who's working at McDonalds or Walmart doesn't exactly need an expensive wardrobe. StarTran's service through Lincoln is exceptional, particularly in areas where minimum wage jobs would abound. As for the pricing, I provided a link taking you straight to StarTran's pricing page. It may work in Lincoln. But again you are assuming a single person and not a person with a family, because that is what suits your needs. What happens if you need daycare so you can go work your minimum wage job?? I currently spend $162 a week on daycare. And that is only for 2 days per week! Additionally, Lincoln isn't Chicago, Denver, or Seattle. Edit: Earlier you mention the "government support" for the "single mom with kids scenario", yet you neglect to recognize the irony of the right wing here. These are the EXACT programs that the right wants to cut so that they can lower taxes to mostly benefit the wealthy, whilst maintaining a lower minimum wage, again, to mostly benefit the wealthy. Do you understand the conflicting stance being taken? 4 Link to comment
TAKODA Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Exactly Junior, I mentioned (a few post up) the fact that this outline was based on a single individual but you brought a lot of facets not mentioned up to this point. Many people (like you said) are saddled to a day care and although they work, they are basically handing over a majority of their pay checks weekly just so they can do the same thing next week. They eat, sh*t, sleep and do it all over again daily (survive). What they have in discretionary funds does not amount to more than being able to buy a pizza for their family once in a while. +1 to you Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 It may work in Lincoln. But again you are assuming a single person and not a person with a family, because that is what suits your needs. What happens if you need daycare so you can go work your minimum wage job?? I currently spend $162 a week on daycare. And that is only for 2 days per week! Additionally, Lincoln isn't Chicago, Denver, or Seattle. Edit: Earlier you mention the "government support" for the "single mom with kids scenario", yet you neglect to recognize the irony of the right wing here. These are the EXACT programs that the right wants to cut so that they can lower taxes to mostly benefit the wealthy, whilst maintaining a lower minimum wage, again, to mostly benefit the wealthy. Do you understand the conflicting stance being taken? Then it is your job to demonstrate where and why it won't work, instead of complaining about how Lincoln might just be a particularly good place to be poor. Child care subsides are available in Nebraska for low income families. Your last point is a straw man. I'm arguing against a minimum wage hike, I haven't said in this conversation or anywhere else that I want assistance to the poor gutted. That being said, your logical quandary still works for this conversation. You have implicitly admitted that a minimum wage income is doable for a single person and that a minimum wage income + government benefits is doable for a single person with kids, and yet support a minimum wage hike anyway - why? So really, your argument boils down to: I support hiking the minimum wage by nearly 50% because although it is currently not necessary, it will be after the right wing (no names or proposals given) shreds the safety net. Link to comment
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