Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Livable wage is a throwaway line that doesn't mean anything for 2 reasons:
1. I can live on minimum wage and steadily accumulate wealth.
2. Entry level jobs aren't meant to be a career that sustains a family, but a foothold into the labor market.
Was just talking to a high school kid yesterday and he's a burger flipper at McDonalds. Couldn't have more respect for him. They're paying him a fortune and giving him as many hours as he will take.
If someone says I can't accept a wage I agree to, or couldn't live on it, I tell them to get outta here with their ignorant tyranny.
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I agree that being able to adapt to circumstances is a good quality. But in the end, 2 + 2 = 4.
Looking at several papers and online real estate sites, I could only find three rentals in a 60-mile radius, all single rooms in shared homes. One was $600, the other $700 and the other $975. There were a couple mobile homes for sale in the $30k and up range, with lot rent, on property the owner is trying to drive out all the tenants. Mind you these mobile homes can't be relocated. The next house on the market is a two-bedroom half of a duplex going for $300k, and I bet it has some serious problems. The next house after that is $425 and goes up from there.
On the other hand, the employment sections of the papers are plumb full. Most of the jobs are from $17 to $25 an hour, depending on experience. One roofing job is offering $20 to $35 an hour, depending on experience. Mind you a lot of these jobs slump down in hours during off seasons, like in the winter for construction, or in the fall and spring for food, entertainment and transportation.
But say you (generic "you" not "you" personally) have experience as a roofer and somehow get work all year long, 40 hours a week all 52 weeks without a single break and have zero debt. Then according to NerdWallet, you could afford the $450,000 house after nearly $102,000 in down payment and closing costs and you'd be paying 1/3 of your pretax income on housing.
If you have experience in something else and make the maximum of $25 and hour, were sure you'd work all 52 weeks a year full time and had zero debt, then you could afford the $300,000 house.
But if you make $20 or less or have enough debt or bad credit with the $25 to $35 wages, then you can only afford an old trailer in a mobile home park that doesn't want you there, or room with someone in a shared house.
Lots of people here live in their car. There is no good way to commute from a cheaper town or suburb.
I wonder what I'm doing wrong. I've been here for 16 years and also make $25 an hour. Oh well, that's what I get for not going to college, I guess.