Good news from Arkansas! (Minimum wage increase)

[Imran Siddiqui]

I am having a hard time following just who is replying to whom. Is there any way to collapse the threads down into a reply tree?

GP sent you here, didn't he?!

NEVER!!

[xvdravarvx]

Who's GP and why is he relevant to thread trees?


I came from one of the Civ IV forums following my favorite poster (who shall remain nameless) who hasn't posted a strategy thread in some time.

But I saw how much fun he was having here and I can't help it

[MrFun]

Originally posted by MRT144
(especially because it would result in a gross increase of 4000 dollars per year for them on their payroll)

Yeah -- it would be horrible if workers experienced a dramatic, real increase in their wages!

We gotta keep em down!

[Apocalypse]

GP is a big thread tree fan. There is forum software that makes it easy for people to switch between this style and tree style, but Markos already changed this forum up a lot and doesn't want all that to go to waste.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by xvdravarvx
Who's GP and why is he relevant to thread trees?


I came from one of the Civ IV forums following my favorite poster (who shall remain nameless) who hasn't posted a strategy thread in some time.

But I saw how much fun he was having here and I can't help it

Obligatory DL

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
mimum wage isn't enough to live on currently... and I mean live, I don't mean have nice things...

Originally posted by Gibsie
Anyone catch Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" show, the first of which was about an attempt to live on minimum wage? I'd love to see the economists who oppose increases to minimum wage put their money where their mouths are (so to speak) and try and live on it for a month.

1 month's labor at $5.15 (minus FICA witholdings): $1350

Run-down house with 5 roommates (counting utilities): $400
PPO health insurance premium (plus annual deductible divided by 12): $250
Basic sustenance (carbohydrates, protein, multivitamins, coffee): $150
Toiletries & Laundry: $10
Clothing (annual replacement divided by 12): $20
Bus fares to and from work, grocery store, etc.: $90
Basic cable & broadband internet package: $80
3.5 liters of cheap vodka to unwind from time to time: $20
Total expenditures: $1025

Living a damn comfortable life and saving $325 a month for community college to eventually make much more than minimum wage: priceless.

[Zkribbler]

Yeah, they'd just squander it on food, medicine and clothing.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Yeah, they'd just squander it on food, medicine and clothing.

We can't let the working-class members get all uppity and start thinking they're as good as anyone else.

Kick them while they're down.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Darius871



1 month's labor at $5.15 (minus FICA witholdings): $1350

Run-down house with 5 roommates (counting utilities): $400
PPO health insurance premium (plus annual deductible divided by 12): $250
Basic sustenance (carbohydrates, protein, multivitamins, coffee): $150
Toiletries & Laundry: $10
Clothing (annual replacement divided by 12): $20
Bus fares to and from work, grocery store, etc.: $90
Basic cable & broadband internet package: $80
3.5 liters of cheap vodka to unwind from time to time: $20
Total expenditures: $1025

Living a damn comfortable life and saving $325 a month for community college to eventually make much more than minimum wage: priceless.

you spend 400 on a month (counting utilities) on housing?

wow that is cheap, really really cheap for Maryland

up in Maryland, run down house with 6 people (When there was only suppose to be 5 ) + utilities ran ~550 if not more

JM

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Jon Miller


you spend 400 on a month (counting utilities) on housing?

wow that is cheap, really really cheap for Maryland

up in Maryland, run down house with 6 people (When there was only suppose to be 5 ) + utilities ran ~550 if not more

JM

What I can't get over is the $37.50/week grocery bill.

Actually, the $10/month on toiletries and laundry combined is also pretty damned impressive. Or frightening. Or something.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
What I can't get over is the $37.50/week grocery bill.

Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more ya eat, the more ya toot.
The more ya toot, the better ya feel.
So let's have beans for every meal.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


What I can't get over is the $37.50/week grocery bill.

Actually, the $10/month on toiletries and laundry combined is also pretty damned impressive. Or frightening. Or something.

yeah, I was just doing a calculation, and that is really impressive

I have done similiar before, but you have to live on Raman or something...

currently, eating at (mostly) home, and watching what I eat, I still spend $50 a week on grocercies (plus a bit more in incidental groceries/restaurant)

I think I spend $10 on laundery alone, and I rewear my pants over and over again (and just throw everything together)

Jon Miller

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
you spend 400 on a month (counting utilities) on housing?

wow that is cheap, really really cheap for Maryland

up in Maryland, run down house with 6 people (When there was only suppose to be 5 ) + utilities ran ~550 if not more

Hell, I'm sitting in a 15x13' room with a 5x5' walk-in closet that costs $250/month counting all utilities. I figured that must be pretty low compared to the rest of the country so I nearly doubled it just to be safe. Also depends on what you mean by run-down... let's just say my wall is particle board, the ceiling slants at a 45 degree angle, and my floor is a mosaic of carpet samples. Cozy though.

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
What I can't get over is the $37.50/week grocery bill.

Why not? At minimum (i.e. with no strenuous exercise) you need about 70 grams of protein a day; six egg whites in the morning and two 100g chicken breasts or beef patties for lunch and dinner is more than enough, and adds up to less than $2 a day up here. Hell, you can even find a day's worth of pure whey for ~$1.25 if you don't mind the taste.

That's about $14 for a week's protein, add on $1 for decent multivitamins, and then just pick whatever super-cheap bread, cereal, pasta, or rice gets you up to 2,000 total calories for the day. To be honest I think $37.50 is awful generous.

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Actually, the $10/month on toiletries and laundry combined is also pretty damned impressive. Or frightening. Or something.

What kind of toiletries do you need other than bars of soap, TP (easily avoided if you save your loads for public bathrooms), toothpaste, and a new toothbrush four times a year? I hope I'm not missing anything.

I suppose you could tack another $5 onto laundry just to be sure - in my case a week leaves one load (if that) which is a $1.25 wash, a ~$0.25 scoop of hella-cheap detergent I have at home, and a $0.75 dry. With 4.4 weeks a month, that hits $8.25/month on average if you can sun-dry half the year, or $6.60 if you can sun-dry all year.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Darius871


Hell, I'm sitting in a 15x13' room with a 5x5' walk-in closet that costs $250/month counting all utilities. I figured that must be pretty low compared to the rest of the country so I nearly doubled it just to be safe. Also depends on what you mean by run-down... let's just say my wall is particle board and my floor is a mosaic of carpet samples. Cozy though.

You are living in a very very cheap area. You can't find that in College Park (Maryland).

JM

[Gibsie]

Well yup, you've shown you can do it on paper, but unfortunately, in the real world things don't work out so easily, Darius. In the case of the TV show I referred to, there was two of them, I beleive they were earning about how much you said combined (A 12 hour shift yielding $50 for the guy, the woman working a bit less). If you think two people can live on $1300, well, good luck to ya. Let's hope you never need to buy things like furniture, either, or a TV to watch that basic cable package upon, and a PC for that broadband package. When you're poor, companies also demand more by way of deposits from you, too.

According to your calculations, you could afford to hire a maid for yourself while working on minimum wage. Riiiiiiiiight...

Actually try and live on minimum wage for a month, slogging it out on a 70-80 hour week, without any of your pre-existing luxuries to keep you going when you get home, then get back to us before you start telling us how "damn comfortable" it is. And if you are earning minimum wage right now, then well done, you're very fortunate.