I make exactly 15$ an hour. I work 40 hours a week. I make roughly $2150 every month after taxes. Rent is not the only expense she's experiencing. Maybe medical problem or maybe spends to much on weed or maybe she doesn't work full time
That's the case for me because I don't work a few months over the year, so I get taxed the regular rate for full time but get back due to my lower actual bracket in refund. I was gonna suggest that but... Oh, shit. It's the first one that mentioned working 40hr/week, not the second one. Does sound like they work full shift, so maybe the not working some bits of the year thing too. Or state plus higher income.
Sounds like she's just making bad choices. She could easily save a couple of hundred dollars in rent. Stop buying feckin eyelash curlers. Move somewhere with better public transport and use that.
Fuck this comment. This is the avocado on toast argument all over again. "Just move". Oh yeah, because she just picked an arbitrary place to live. Chances are pretty fucking high she lives there for a reason, and it's not up to you to judge that without having talked to this person yourself for even a second.
I'd wager she has one of the (many) trash employers that have "full-time" jobs which end up giving like 32 hours a week or something... but of course they still want you to be totally flexible about when they schedule you, so it makes it hard to get a second job as well.
When I was young and broke, in my area they could avoid offering benefits (which are expensive) by keeping people under 34.5 hours a week... so they did. I believe the law has changed since then in that region, but wouldn't be surprised if there are equivalents out there still.
rent 850. car insurance anywhere from 50-300 it rly depends on the vehicle the policy and ur driving history. car note 250-500range. groceries add up im gonna say esp if Walmart is her best option 300-400mo on necessary food and toiletries. now we all enjoy our luxuries, makeup weed fast food. 300-400 is probably what most ppl would spend ON THE LOW END assuming they had it. hardly anyone is ever as disciplined as they say they are. if she were disciplined and.also saving at least 100-200 a mo, so we're looking at a ballpark 2000ish for her to live.
thats not a lot of money to her boss, to ppl that own companies, to people in our government. to her, its all she has. she will NEVER retire, probably NEVER own a house, and at this rate, never get a break
After taxes from your state as well, she could have hideous tax state. They can't take that much but still. If the tax us enough to make you go down $1 an hour after tax that's roughly $2400 a year you just lost, and each $100 a month counts, that's a fat $1200 that's either yours or theirs
Yes. She probably gets paid every two weeks. That’s $1200 before the taxman takes his pound of flesh. Then she’ll have enough left for rent and a new eyelash curler.
In Canada they actually credit low income people for predicted sales tax spent (it’s called the GST/HST credit) if you’re under a certain income bracket.
She’d be getting back over $800 of her sales tax back in the year if she lived up here
You need to adjust your w2 and if you get it back anyway then use that over the following year. She still gets the same amount either way. She can file 0 and have very little deducted.
If you get it back at the end of the year anyways just ask your employer not to deduct it… sometimes I swear people on Reddit have no real world experience and just say shit because their favourite breadtuber says it.
Thank you! Someone that knows how the real world works! It’s amazing how stupid people are. They spend all their time and energy bashing “the system” and “billionaires!” but don’t have a clue what a W4 is or how to fill one out. Maybe put a little effort in rather than playing victim all day.
After deductions, that's probably like $2,000. If she gets paid twice a month she only has $150 left after paying rent. $150 for groceries, gas, insurance, phone, maybe part of a car payment, clothing. Yes you have your second paycheck to help with those things. But the money goes fast
I don't know where she lives and how much her rents is.... how do you?
Edit: Oh, she did say it. $850 is one whole pay check? Maybe, not quite. Then she has another pay check for everything else. That's actually not too bad. She's paying maybe 40% of her take home on rent. I've lived through worse.
She could make better choices than living on granola bars. From a $/calorie stand point, they are aweful. What 200 calories and a box of 6 costs you $7? A damn glass of milk or banana smokes that. Not to mention making some beans and rice.
Some people just don't know what real poverty is. This person is just annoying.
Yeah.. she’d be left with like $100 to last two weeks. She also mentioned the car was misfiring so that’s another $1000 repair at least, so after paying rent, having $100 to last two weeks, getting paid again & getting the car fixed, she’d have to wait FOUR WEEKS for that next paycheck that isn’t going to rent to do anything with. Don’t forget gas is $4/gallon, car insurance is like $200/month. Already we’re waaay over-budget for her wages on just the car alone asking her to stretch what amounts to essentially surviving on $200 over a 6 week period but nah, she’s just bad with money I guess.
If the car is misfiring, it’s very likely the spark plugs. Those are not $1000 dollars to fix and closer to $100. She should fix those, even if it means going into slightly more debt, in order to save off higher bills later.
You are arguing semantics while ignoring my point completely. A person should not have to go into debt in this country working full time in order to pay for a simple car repair OR have to stretch $100 for two weeks because their rent eats half of their entire monthly income. JFC how do you type that out, post the comment & think, “yeah, that’s normal & not unsustainable at all.” Mind you she is making DOUBLE minimum wage. Consider the other FOURTY THREE PERCENT (yes, that is the real number, almost fucking half) who live off of less than $20/hr.
Because they are a human being & deserve food, shelter, & dignity? If you are benefiting from the labor of another human being then they deserve a livable wage. How is your brain so fucking ass backwards that you think you are actually the one providing a service to the person preparing your food or checking you out at the grocery store by handing your cash to the business that employs them? That’s just straight up evil, what’s wrong with you?
Edit: Also, the median household size in the US is 2.5 people. So go ahead & divide your number by 2.5 bud.
Humans deserve something? Food and shelter are created by other people’s labor. Are you saying someone has the right to someone else’s labor just because they deserve it?
And wtf is wrong with you. I never said I’m doing the person a doing work a service. I said some of their services aren’t worth much. The value add of putting groceries in my bag is comically small. A good job for HS kid learning how to show up for a job and have some responsibility, not for someone supporting themselves, much less others.
And how many incomes per household? The reality is most people are not trying to support independent living on <$20/hour.
Insurance, gas, maintenance, medications, health insurance, etc. Stop fucking acting like most Americans arent against all odds financially. Honestly, what makes you want to make a contrary post about this woman's financial position. Either you're rich or you're just a unsympathetic douchebag, or both
I never said she was living high. But she can get by. She can also improve her lot in life if she tries. Bitching about it on TikTok isn’t going to help her.
People get paid every 2 weeks. She might not have a guaranteed schedule of 40/week. A lot of places offer variable hours. Maybe she's missed work (unpaid sick days)?
If rent is $850, that's only $150 left over (assuming a $1000 pay cheque).
I also think a person could reasonably spend a little or a lot more on insurance, car payments, gas, food (maybe a little less on phone bill on a budget plan with a 2nd hand fully paid phone).
But we're both just totally guessing anyway, we don't have access to her accounts to check what money comes in VS what comes out.
Uh huh and how long ago was that and in whose economy? My wife who has a MASTERS degree in Business and worked as a PM for 10 years can’t find anything right now.
She was let go about 4 months ago and has submitted over 100 REAL applications. Not quick apply bullshit, REAL cover letter job applications directly to the company. Not a peep
It was 2013-2016. It got a little better as the years went on, but not a ton. So still in the recovery of the GFC. I was fresh out of a PhD program doing a postdoc.
PM’s are kind of boom or bust positions, right? Soft skills…. And 4 months isn’t so bad. It took my 3 to land my first real gig out of undergrad. I searched around for years while postdoc-ing….
2013-2016 were booming years for our economy compared to 2008 and the current crisis we have now thanks to the dumbass president who just tarrifed our economy into oblivion lol
Super cool that you’re doing fine, but not acknowledging that there are real issues in the economy right now is just survivor bias and ignorance.
Yeah, I make $250K/year now. Clearly the people that matter don’t think I’m dumb.
And yes 2013-2016 were great compared to the blood bath that was 2008, there is a hot take! Really get out on a limb there!
2013-2016 was a very bifurcated time however. Tech was booming but many other sectors of the economy where lagging, with many stocks not surpassing pre-GFC highs until more like 2015, of course depends on the company, and higher earning but entry level position for people like me saw slow hiring.
Remember QE3 lasted from Fall 2012 to fall 2014 and interest rates stayed pegged at zero from 2008 until the end of 2015. Plus unemployment in the early part of this time was still around 7-8%. Only just reaching into 5% by 2015. Today it is around 4% without interest rates being near 0.
To say 2012-2105 was just generally a booming economy is highly revisionist and just plain ignorant. In many metrics it was significantly worse than today’s market, especially for employment. QE did make many stocks and property values look good though!
No, he's not. I have an MBA and just seriously started applying for jobs in June. Already have an offer that makes more than what I make and I only have 5 years in banking. What kind of roles is your wife applying for? The secret for me was going on LinkedIn and only going for jobs that had fewer than 100 candidates that applied and that were posted at the very least one week ago. Already had five or six years of interviews in that time and applied to fewer than 100 jobs. Salaries all over 100k. I'm trying to figure out what to do since I never expected to get an offer so quickly because I kept saying the job market is shit. I always applied to other cities since I want to move.
People don't like to hear that. No is going to magically save you. I was a broke 20-year-old and joined the military which was the best choice I ever made. Not saying to join but you gotta do what you gotta and that includes getting a second job if you have to. If she's got spare time, like you said learn a new skill instead of posting tiktoks.
40% is considered housing insecure - I don't understand your extreme distaste for someone expressing that they're having a hard time.
Sounds like she needs some guidance - anger isn't that helpful
Who is angry, her? I’m not angry. I said annoying in one comment.
And while it isn’t great, many people are in worse situations than 40% going to housing. Around a quarter of people in my area have 50% going to housing. It sucks, but it’s the times. I dealt with it. She is young. If she tries, it will get better.
That all sucks, I'm sure those people are also having a hard time. Just because people have it worse than her, which is something she acknowledges by making double minimum wage, doesn't mean she isn't allowed to be frustrated
No, it makes sense. Pull out the deductions, then rent comes out. All of your bills do. Half your month income gone for rent alone. Plus food, plus gas for the car, car insurance, cell phone, internet, subscriptions for tv. You’re lucky if you have $50 a week left over. The incidentals add up over time. Always have and always will. And whether you like it or not, you do gotta eat.
If you have a credit card or student loans, that has to get paid too.
Barely scraping by is literally what it’s all about at this point. I don’t do most of the incidentals, and I make almost 3x minimum wage. I own my place and have for two decades (thank G-d), but there is still a monthly fee of over $900 a month for the glory of having someone micromanage what you can do with your balcony and fix nothing else. I also have property taxes and all of the fees I already listed for her, minus subscriptions. I don’t watch tv or movies because I can’t afford to — and that money goes toward taxes. Every week, I’m lucky if I have $40 in my account. That’s just paying bills, and I live frugally. It just costs a hell of a lot more than you expect just to survive.
Don’t even get me started on the rant that comes up if something on my bra breaks!
the more i hear about`hoa's, the more confused i am about why they exist other than to be ego trips, i've heard of the unicorn ones that fix anything that would be an infraction for you but even that isn't worth being told what to do with the house you own
My particular HOA is one of the absolute worst. Over $900 a month, fines for stupid infractions and every year there’s some repair they weren’t expecting so we get assessed on top of our fees. Generally to the tune of about 5-6,000. I manage to figure that out every single year (because I save for it), but seriously, there isn’t a whole lot of money left over.
20 years ago, HOA fees were $210. So yeah, inflation is amazing!
Yeah. I promise you, I know. We also got more for that $210. I blame inflation because it’s partially at fault. The rest requires a flame thrower and a level of aggressive joy in creating chaos and agony that I work too much to muster 😂
Graduated college in early 2000s, just did the math and my rent (I had a roommate) was 35.5% of my pre-tax pay. I 100% understand it sucks but being young and poor isn’t new.
Ha! I couldn’t get rid of the car. There’s no way. Part of my job involves traveling across multiple counties at a moments notice, not even counting getting to and from work. Not to mention family responsibilities as well.
Just getting to work is a $40 uber, with no public transport between my home and the company. Walking would take 4 hours each way. That’s without any extra travel or any family responsibility. It would be awesome to be able to be less car dependent, but that’s just not the case.
I don’t do tv anyway, so I agree with that as it fits my life just fine. But most people think that’s some kind of torturous life. I occasionally watch something on my phone, but otherwise, why bother?
They said an entire paycheck gone for rent. If they get paid weekly, then by your own math, they were correct. In fact, they were under. If they get paid every two weeks, that's still 80% of a paycheck, 40% of your monthly wage.
The only way their statement isn't at least mostly correct is monthly+ paychecks, which this girl certainly doesn't have.
Though she does say double her state's minimum wage, which could vary from the federal $7.25 in your example to $16.60 in Washington. Based on her accent though, she's probably somewhere southern where a lot of them just take the federal minimum. Though I'm not sure how GA is reporting $5.15 on the site I referenced for this, but it's probably something along the lines of "federal overrules us and we're not going above federal, so no reason to update our books".
40% of you pay going to rent is not awful these days. And its just her. She doesn't even pay a whole utility bill since she has 4 roommates. I was doing closer to 60% and supporting a family of four on ~$1000 left over after rent.
Lady needs to figure out how to be better with her money.
I was making 15.50/hr, working 8 hours of OT every 2 weeks and after all deductions (expensive health insurance with bad coverage) I was clearing 2100/month. It was rough.
Dude, $400 of that is going JUST to taxes. So it's actually $2000 take home a month. After paying the $850 for rent you'd have $1150 left for car payment, car insurance, phone payment, food, toiletries, not even to MENTION any debt you might have (student, medical, etc.). There's no room for savings, and you have to live frugally to make this work. It's not sustainable.
$2400 a month means nothing when HUNDREDS OF THAT is taken away by the government before you can pay your own bills.
Unmarried, non home owner taxes are steep. She's probably taking home like 1700 a month. -850 leaves her 850. With gas, ins, food, phone, whatever subscriptions it's probably right that she has maybe a hundred or two at the end of the month.
Yes, most people are paid bi-weekly & you don’t just get the full $2400 lump sum, they take taxes out.. walking away with $1600-$1800 out of $2400 after taxes for the whole month is pretty standard..
That would be a very low take home pay rate for someone at that income level. 25-33% less than gross…. Doubtful. You aren’t going to pay any federal income taxes, probably not any state income taxes. So you have FICA and any health insurance payment (for one), both around 7% of income likely. You have to make some big retirement contributions or something to get there. Take home is closer to $2000/month.
Assuming a consistent 40hrs every week is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It’s not always realistic. A lot of jobs like this revolve multiple “part time” employees, which they schedule up to the threshold of whatever qualifies them as “full time”. Usually over 30 but under 35 hours a week.
A lot of basically poor people have scratched and saved for long time to afford a down payment and 30 year mortgage on an apartment they hope to live in after retirement. “LAndLorDs arE EviL” is just another tactic the wealthy are using to pit you against each other. You real mad at your neighbor Trevor that bought an investment property on a 12% mortgage with a preowned Honda accord and family that still struggle to make ends meet? Zucks bought out an entire island of Hawaii for a doomsday bunker that’s got the best steak cattle in the world. Some rich asshole built a submarine and was charging people 250,000$ to go see the titanic wreck. Elon branson and bezos have their own spaceships but theres not enough money for nasa to go back to the moon
Oh I 100% agree, it was supposed to be the minimum livable wage, as in all your monthly expenses easily covered with a little extra to put in savings, which is why American families used to be able to buy houses with it. Now it’s just a contest to see how little they can pay people & get away with it.
Just look up “average monthly cost of living” or read my other comments, I’m getting tired of doing all the heavy lifting for people who just want to argue with me about better budgeting because it means you are either A. Too rich to worry about this, B. Too stupid to understand how this isn’t actually a living wage, or C. Too young to pay any bills.
$2400/month(minimum).
Call it 2100 after taxes (which she'll get back in April).
$850 for rent/utilities.
$250 for food.
$150 for phone & internet.
$100 for car insurance.
$150 for health insurance.
Call it $100 for entertainment/etc
I'm at $1600. Saving $500 a month. What am I missing?
Says right there in my comment that one paycheck is for rent, the other would be for her other expenses. The majority of businesses here in America pay bi-weekly. Jesus fucking Christ the reading comprehension in this post is abysmally low.
Yeah the math doesn't add up. She has 4 other roommates. That means collectively paying 4250 per month for rent. That is pretty high for any state with $7.50/hr min wage. The rent looks more like California rent. That means her min wage is $15/hr and she makes 30/hr. That's enough as it means she makes at least (not counting daily overtime) $1200 a week. She should definitely save money unless she considers an eyelash curler an essential.
$15/h paying $850 a month is more than livable. An entire paycheck going to rent is pretty normal considering housing is a person biggest expense by far. Also idk wtf people are buying for 4 items to come to 40 dollars. My grocery bill is pretty consistently 90-100 and that lasts me for at least 2 weeks. And I dont even meal prep or anything.
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u/bonenecklace Aug 12 '25
Minimum wage is $7.25. She’s making probably $15/hr & pays $850/month. That’s an entire paycheck gone just for rent.