$290 per week

Can anyone live on $290.oo a week ? I have a friend who has fallen on hard times and has asked DSS for help. First she was required to search for a job and while searching they will give her all kinds of help including rent. So, she found a minimum wage job for 40 hrs. a week. DSS can't help because she makes too much money. If she where to quit/lose her job, she has to wait 90 days to reapply for help. Now I know why there are homeless people. I know, a lot of people abuse the system but the guidlines for someone who is actually trying stinks. Just my rant for the day.

I've got a few friends in the same boat. Most of the time you're better off not working at all until you find a really well paying job.

I could... But different areas, situations, etc etc etc...

But yes... The system works for those that don't, but doesn't for those that do.

Someone who was FIRED here just got unemployment granted last week. All because of a stupid paperwork mistake. So now via unemployment, they're going to make more than 50% of the people in this state make anyways.

Go figure.

I lived on $1000/month for about three years. I actually made about twice that much while working (co-op) but then would have no income whatsoever for 4 months at a time. It's all about the budget and realizing the difference between needs and wants.

Yes, it CAN be done. No, you can't have cable, cell phones, toys, eat out every week, go to the movies..... You have to really scrimp, save and be smart with your money.

Sadly, most Americans have no concept of "Want" and "Need" and what actually fits into each category.

skruffy wrote: I've got a few friends in the same boat. Most of the time you're better off not working at all until you find a really well paying job.

It's true.

After taxes? I have.

Yep it can be done, you eat a lot of beans and rice, PB and J and the like. You don't eat out, like at all. No cable, you CAN have a cell if you have just the super basic plans (you need to have some way to keep in touch with job prospects), you can even have internet if you can live with slow speeds.

You have to cut back on everything, find the cheapest rent you can in a place that is livable, don't go shopping except for the things you actually need like food. Park the car and a bus pass.

cghstang wrote: It's all about the budget and realizing the difference between needs and wants.

And where you live. $1000 a month with get you a rented room in a shared house, enough food for the month, and either a bus pass or gas in an efficient car.

We spend about $110 to keep 3 cars gassed for two people. The bus pass I would need to get to work is $55 every two weeks. Most shared apartments in this area run about $450 or $500. A cheap studio in this area is about $650. Most apartments run about $900-1000. Some of the contractors I work with are from the midwest. Houses that they can buy back home for $100K are selling for close to a million around here. I could make it. But not with my family.

Very true on the location issue.

The Dayton, OH area is a cheap place to live. I had a $400/month 1 bedroom apartment, water and trash paid but not electricity (electric heat).

get (or become) a roommate / house mate, cuts expenses in 1/2.

I could probably even continue with my current living situation minus cable only on $290 a week. I wouldn't eat out as much, but that would be the only REAL change i think. I could keep the cars, keep my apartment, keep the cell phone if i wanted...

It's really all about location.

Would i be able to do it on the north side of Indy? Probably not.

If I cut out cable, internet, telephone, eating out, and buying car parts, I probably would not have any problem with that at all. As it is, I only make about twice that per week, and I can live quite comfortably, even paying two student loans, and a lot of back credit card debt.

Ask any college student. 290 a week is very possible.

For that matter... that's hardly less than i made after taxes when i first started working at this company. That felt like plenty of money at the time.

93celicaGT2 wrote: For that matter... that's hardly less than i made after taxes when i first started working at this company. That felt like plenty of money at the time.

I know what you mean. The more you make, the more you spend.

My first two semester of grad school in 2004 I was getting paid $790 a month before taxes. (It was the minimum you could get, and many stuck to that.) I lived on that for a year. You accept that you cannot have some frivolities in life.

Yeah, location affects greatly. My sister and I have been talking about an upcoming family reunion in southwesterm Mississippi. She made the comment that our cousin there had sold his house to a couple from California, and she wondered about the differences in housing costs. Her house is valued at a little more than 1M in LA. An equivalent in Magnolia was 165,000.00, but sat on 10 acres instead of 90x130'.

Ok, here's my situation. A family of 5 living off about $400 a week before taxes. Do the math. If you REALLY work at it you can do it. The library has free DVD rentals Costco has free samples and you can save stupid money with coupons. Every now and then you can splurge even. My wife just got the big, like 1 pound bad of Dove chocolates for $0.09 each! Yes, nine cents. She saves on average %42 of our grocery bill.
But it does suck, hard.
The worst point is, like Skruffy said, it's best to wait till you have a job that pays what you need or you are screwed. If I took a crap job at walmart I'd be screwed.

John Brown wrote: After taxes? I have.

as John said ... not only have I, but right now, after taxes and savings I live on less... no one but me to provide for , that helps, the house was inherited , that helps... as cold as it's been (the amt of oil used) that doesn't help...

My main point is that the system seems to be geared more to help those that don't work than some one who pounded the pavement and found a job albeit low pay. Around here a small apartment can be found for $350 and of course you need another $350 for security. But get knocked up every year and have lots of kids, it seems the sky is the limit.

Nine years ago I was supporting a family of six on about $260 a week. Luckily I had already bought my house with some help from my dad and the payment was only $400 a month. We heated with a wood stove. Coupons are a life saver in that situation. No cable, no cell phone, no home phone, no play cars, one cheap Toyota Corolla with no A/C. The wife stayed home and raised the kids and I worked. We lived like that for three years and are better people for it. I know the difference between a want and a need. I know better than to borrow money to finance my life. It's not the end of the world.

Park the car and with a really cheap apartment yeah, it could be done and you could make a pretty good life of it.

When I was in school I lived on a lot less than that. Financial aid only paid for education, not life.

Of course, ramen was a meal and jeans and tshirts without holes was dressed up. But I laugh my ass off at all the fools coming out of school $100k+ in debt, and I didnt.

That's not much less than we make right now and we've got a kid, mortgage, internet bill, netflix, and cell phones.

We worked it out and once our credit cards are paid off we could make do with about $1200 a month. As was said though, Dayton, OH is a pretty cheap place to live.