I feel like I'm racing the economy now. I got two promotions and a $6 raise in the past year, and rent and food prices went up so much that my budget for everything was virtually unchanged.
Last week I got offered a new role that would come with a $200 raise after taxes. I was excited, until the very next day when my landlord sent a renewal offer raising my rent $200 bucks. I toured one apartment over the weekend that wanted to charge me what I currently pay for my “luxury” apartment. The colossal dead roach in the middle of the floor was the final straw, but the resident screaming while spanking her diapered toddler in the parking lot outside was the cherry on top. There’s a certain kind of audacity to charge NYC prices in a modestly sized city in the south.
My fiance and I are in a similar situation with the housing market. We went from $30K in the bank and a 200K loan last year to 60K in the bank and a 300K loan this year. Absolutely nothing has changed for us due to the market. Prices just increased with us. We're looking at the exact same quality of houses despite a MASSIVE increase in funds.
Because inflation isn't real. It's a narrative pushed by corporation to have an excuse to increase prices. They have been making record profits every year, even more insane since the 'inflation' became a thing.
because we’re working off our debt as a country. not the uber rich… they’re having a field day. this country isn’t profitable. think of it like one of those strategy games where you invest in certain things to make your country/faction wealthier and easier to uphold (if that makes any sense lol)
I was going over my medication with my new dr and the topic of how the disabled (and working class at this point) are in forced poverty (where I live disability supports are poverty level and if you can work they claw it back after $200 per month). I was honest and told her that when the time comes that I cannot afford a roof over my head I will be committing suicide (we have MAiD in Canada) and she was shocked. But if we can't afford the basics of shelter, clothing and food while the landlord's are getting wealthier and wealthier and being homeless is pretty much illegal what tf are people support to do?
Several years ago we got renovicted from our apartment that was comically overpriced in the first place. Just choked us out raising the rent higher and higher. >$1000+ for a studio, broken utilities, first floor with high breakin rates, the works. We had a lot of neighbors on disability. As they were hiking up the prices, I noticed a lotall of them silently disappear. We were lucky to have family to help us, but very few of them did. I often wonder what happened to them. It's not a casual wondering, rather a rhetorical and furious one; I can figure damn well what happened.
Just so we’re all clear, don’t forget that when the United Nations tried to pass the right to food being a basic human right, the United States was 1 of only 2 countries who voted against that motion.
And if you're disabled and either have over 2k in you bank account or get married(even to another disabled person) you lose your benefits and are more screwed than before.
That's just it. They WANT you to die. It is DESIGNED to drive you into either prison or suicide. If you aren't profitable, they want you dead. People need to realize that it is designed this way. And right wingers complain about socialist "death panels".
My mom has been disabled her entire life due to a horrific childhood accident. Her entire family has lived in New Jersey for so long some of our surnames are on the streets here. I say that because the solution is always you should move to somewhere more affordable as if that's an option for everyone. Because of her accident my mom is mentally roughly 15 years old. She cannot work and she's frequently ill. The state pays her $762 a month. If she marries they take it away. If she tries to get into the job market they take it away. In both instances she will lose her health insurance. The average rent in this state is roughly 1600 a month for a one to two bedroom apartment.
I read a piece about how Canada will sooner pay for those with disabilities to end their lives than improve their disability benefits. It was jarring, especially when Canada is so often presented as the “better America,” with all the benefits that the US should have but doesn’t. But on the issue of the disabled, they’re remarkably on par. Even the dollar amount of government assistance is very similar.
Breaking Bad is the most successful/ loved series... and nowadays many ask themselves if breaking bad is legit a viable option, since the legal ways are fucking you over so much, anyways
Hate to say it but that's my plan also. Unless there's a revolution, I don't want to miss that, and there probably would be a place to stay if I fought.
in the USA, there are social welfare programs. A long time ago, the politicians realized that if they increase the poverty rate and 'force' people to depend on these programs then they will have life long voters, even generational voters that are locked into a system that relies on the government to live.
Ironically enough, these shitty disability benefits are EXACTLY why my mom is a landlord. She lives alone and cannot work a regular job after being injured. The only way she can save money and maintain a decent standard of living is to driver Uber and supplement her income with rent money.
Don't worry some wealthy land owner like Bill gates will rent out space to the government where people will collectively live in tents and get busses back and forth exclusively to work at approved factories to pay for use of said tents.
The hustle mentality is garbage to me also. "Don't have 3-4 side hustles plus your regular job? You don't ofcourse, cause no one wants to work anymore" 🙄. There was a fox news article about a woman who paid off 48k in student loans in 14 months because (no exaggeration) she had SIX different side hustles that helped her pay it off. 6! Like wtf?! It's like there is no balance in some people's lives. Smdh. Not everyone wants to work themselves to death for years on end to pay off debt. Not everyone is the same.
For real I get so pissed when people suggest I turn my hobby (fishing) into a money maker. No I don't want to guide people to my fishing spots that sounds awful. I have a 4yr degree and a fulltime govt job, that should be enough. Fucking ridiculous that people are expected or even suggested to use all of their free time working
Years ago i remember watching an episode of Dr. Who that disturbed me even as a kid. The details are foggy but the jist of it was a planet where people worked 20 hours a day with a 4 hour sleep period. I refuse to work my entire life away making someone else rich. If i cant afford the simple life I live by working 40 a week, I'm going to cause some damage before eating a bullet.
For all of you saying live in your car you need to check yourself, Watched my mother cry herself to sleep almost every night while being a foot away from her then doing the same after she went to sleep. her ankles would swell from the sleep position. Had to shower at a state park until they found out and kicked us out. Ate ramen everyday from plugging a hotpot into different outlets. Then your also approached by every psycho that realizes you can't just leave because your trying to use McDonald's wifi to find better jobs on the phone you now have debt on. Luckily it only lasted 4 months, then a year of shifty motel living before we saved up enough and got a place after being rejected countless times. You think it's that easy lol yeah it'll change your whole fucking perspective on people and life.
It's also illegal to live in your car. I was homeless for 6 months a couple years ago. You cant "just live in your car" lol. Cops will harass the HELL out of you.
If I didn’t get into college this would have been me. Spent my last year of highschool couch surfing, desperate to just pass so I could get into school and get a dorm. When I moved in, I had a single duffel bag and a blanket, everyone else showed up with entire van loads of stuff.
What's awesome is the same people who support this kind of shit spent the last 50 years giving us a reputation for being hostile to immigrants, ensuring that we won't be well-received anywhere else if/when we do decide to bounce outta here.
No they want you on the street so then they can arrest you and fill up the CORPORATE PRISON SYSTEM. Do everything your told in America and it will lead you straight to jail. How tf are people affording this? How do we not have riots in the streets?
And after everyone leaves the shitty jobs like they were told to do for years, the same people who told them to get a new job will cry, "No one wants to work anymore!! 😭😭"
I live in iran , inflation had fucked everything here , my father is retired and he's working in another job too , I have a regular job with an average income , my mother is a nurse and overall we have 4 origins of income in our family , and still ; we're struggling with financial problems ; this is the future of any inflated country if people don't stand against it , hope you guys find your way out of it , unfortunately we didn't
Yeah, even if you were working 80 hours weekly (which is straight up unhealthy since 40 hours weekly is already exhausting to the point of arguably being unhealthy) that's still only $2500. Which leaves $700 for internet, food, clothing, and any other expenses. Minimum wage should be twice what rent costs, at least. Whether that means rent goes down or minimum goes up, I don't care.
We had to buy our house because the mortgage was 400 less than the lowest rent in our area. With inflation we're still negative income each month. If I don't find another line of income in six months we'll lose this house.
We bought a house just before the market started creeping up in our area about 7yrs ago. We wouldn't be able to qualify for a home, now. We couldn't qualify before 7yrs ago. We got lucky, and I know that. We can only live comfortably because my in-laws live with us. Now, they can't afford to move because of the COL. (And I'd rather be struggling than still have them living here in MY House.😡)
That sucks the company I work for just gave everyone a 10% because of rising inflation. Not related to our yearly review either, every employee 10% immediately.
I'm pretty sure most of the world realizes the US is not the utopia it tries to portray itself as. There are absolutely countries that are worse off than we are though.
Bruh the IRS is taking back my $40 from when I was 15 and I owe them $150 from this year after filing even tho I made less than like whatever it is fuck them
You gotta redo your withholdings otherwise you’ll owe next year too. The IRS has a tax burden calculator you can use to determine what you should be paying each check.
Home Depot sheds. People are literally buying and making them into houses. Cheap too. Some do all the work, plumbing, electric, etc, via YouTube videos. Risky there, but gotta do what you gotta do to survive. Shit, I'm heavily considering that or an RV and live outta that. Least I can drive to a better location.
As someone who has followed the tiny house movement for years, while this seems like an ideal solution, you cannot put these things, like, anywhere. Most zoning laws state your dwelling must be at least 900sf. So even if you owned some land, you cannot just plop a shed on it and live in it. It sucks.
I was living in a shed when I met my wife. It was 10 X 20 feet with an 8 X 10 foot loft. It was done up real nice with wood flooring, 10k BTU AC unit, vaulted ceilings, water dispenser and coffee machine. I never put plumbing in, but it was still a really nice place to put my head at night.
I have lived in an RV for 18 months now. I live in Florida and wages are crap and can't afford rent. I have 2 Masters degrees, $175,000 in student loans and only make $36,000 a year. It sucks
Disabled and from England here, deemed unable to work at 17 with my health continuing to decline... I'm barely scraping by, lucky if I have £5 left for the last week of the month. Been waiting 9 months for them to complete my benefits review. Currently in limbo not knowing if I'll have the same, more or less money next month. If they take any off me, I'll have to choose between paying my bills and buying food.
My dad was forced to retire because of an inner ear issue. He was a mechanic for 35 years, but because of his inner ear, his equilibrium is fucked up. He even had to sell his Harley Motorcycle.
I'm sure all the housing being brought up by foreign investment groups will eventually rent us their property at a reasonable rate for the rest of our lives.
My apartment just tried to raise my rent from $1700 to $1900 and I “negotiated” to $1800. I can guarantee you my income didn’t raise that much this year.
I was lucky enough based on your numbers that my old apartment place was raising rent for about 3-5% every year I live there (3y). The kicker though… I was getting 2% raises during that time. So even at that rate I was looking at 3-6% loss of buying power just from rent alone, utilities were raised, food, gas, etc. Which ends up being more than that 3-6%. I consider this to be a better situation than most but I was still in the whole every year. Not to mention previously my apartment before that was 714 to start and ended up being 980 by the time I left 2 years later. Mind you they didn’t make any upgrades to the apartment or facilities.
The federal minimum wage is unlivable. There is a Dollar Tree near me that is chronically understaffed and although I'd like to help out it pays 7.25 which won't work for me. I have two WFH jobs. One pays 13 an hour but only gives me 5-10 hours a week and the other pays 10 dollars and hour and only gives me 20-25 hours a week. I'm barely surviving.
Even the often stated median household incomes are a joke, only propped up by multiple incomes, roommates and side hustles. Most people don't make more than 35K a year.
At that point just start stealing crap, either you get away with it and can sell what you sell for money or you end up in jail and get free food and a warm place to sleep. If working full time is not enough to even have a place to sleep why bother being a good citizen
I sometimes "forget" to scan shit at self checkout. I paid $200 for less than a cart full of groceries the other day. You bet your ass I'm gonna try and save some money
Problem is that the american "democracy" makes it impossible to vote for something thats not red or blue... If you dont change the system, the systematic oppression cant be changed either
This is actually one of the points I bring up with forced birthers who try to say that having a kid isn't going to ruin anyone's life. Like, we're all already living paycheck to paycheck. Having a kid someone can't afford is just going to put entire families that much closer to homelessness considering what a kid costs just to have and time off work to physically give birth and recover.
Even with a wage of $25/hr for 40hrs a week you're losing over half your monthly pay after taxes just for rent. Add on gas, utilities, food, insurance, and any other type of debt/bill will leave you struggling. You literally can't have any other expenses in your life if you want to afford rent without worry. I fucking hate this country.
That math is off if your working 40hrs a week the total is 1160 not including taxes. The federal minimum wage amount is ludicrous. I can barely survive on my states minimum wage.
Texan here. Average rent where I am was 950 before the pandemic. It's 1,300 now. And my area has been jerking itself off about being sO aFfOrDaBlE for years.
Landlords will have $556 mortgage, and charge you 4x so they can pay the $556 mortgage, live the high life, and work on buying more rental properties to screw over someone else.
Free market capitalism at its best. I don't think the USA government has control of anything except regulating what it's citizens can/cannot do. They have no control over big corporations like kellogs, exxon, etc, etc.
They’re actively trying to kill us. There’s literally no other explanation. And by they I mean the US government, and the corporations that run it. Us is humans generally, but specifically the underprivileged and non white-males.
YoU SHoud’Ve GoNe To CoLLEge! Um, I tried, I’m still paying that and it’s gotten me a nice $14/hr job. On the edge of homelessness myself, it was either the shelter or to beg the help of a much older and wealthy gentleman. He’s kind to me, but I know, we both know that “a sweet girl like me shouldn’t be in such a place!”… survival hurts. And now I’m trading my self esteem for a beautiful rental that I could otherwise not afford for my son and I.
Average rent is ridiculous, and minimum wage is too low, but it’s disingenuous to compare the two. Median rent and median income would be a more realistic metric to use, or compare percentile ranges. What is the bottom 25th percentile rent compared to the bottom 25th percentile income?
Average is a bad one to go by. Use median, its 1163. Average is polluted by the handful of LA and NYC rents of 40-50million per year based on their nightly rental rates for mega mansions.
Actually i wish some company would make cheeper housing like cheap affordable and good driving the housing market to lower its price because of lack of customer. For me the problem is like house renting in the us is like a mafia or oligopoly
I feel like I'm racing the economy now. I got two promotions and a $6 raise in the past year, and rent and food prices went up so much that my budget for everything was virtually unchanged.
People without promotions are virtually getting paid less. Steep inflation is a bitch
Yeah. Basically unless you get a monumental raise, you’re just running in place in the rat race.
Last week I got offered a new role that would come with a $200 raise after taxes. I was excited, until the very next day when my landlord sent a renewal offer raising my rent $200 bucks. I toured one apartment over the weekend that wanted to charge me what I currently pay for my “luxury” apartment. The colossal dead roach in the middle of the floor was the final straw, but the resident screaming while spanking her diapered toddler in the parking lot outside was the cherry on top. There’s a certain kind of audacity to charge NYC prices in a modestly sized city in the south.
My fiance and I are in a similar situation with the housing market. We went from $30K in the bank and a 200K loan last year to 60K in the bank and a 300K loan this year. Absolutely nothing has changed for us due to the market. Prices just increased with us. We're looking at the exact same quality of houses despite a MASSIVE increase in funds.
How come everything is inflating except my wage?
Because everything else makes the policymakers' donors money, but more wage would cost them more than they pay the lawmakers not to raise the minimum.
"Record profits" yet we get shit
asking the real questions. min wage should be $25
Corruption.
because minimum wage isn't tied to inflation. although this could be the law at any moment our rulers refuse.
Because 'rAiSiNG wagEs CausES EveN more InFLAtioN', according to the economic wizards.
NO WAGE, ONLY SPEND.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/wages.htm
Communist!
because that's the neo-liberal policy agenda all over the world?
Because inflation isn't real. It's a narrative pushed by corporation to have an excuse to increase prices. They have been making record profits every year, even more insane since the 'inflation' became a thing.
Greed
because we’re working off our debt as a country. not the uber rich… they’re having a field day. this country isn’t profitable. think of it like one of those strategy games where you invest in certain things to make your country/faction wealthier and easier to uphold (if that makes any sense lol)
But you see if they put wages up then the price of everything would go up......
Because capitalists are organized and labor isn't?
I was going over my medication with my new dr and the topic of how the disabled (and working class at this point) are in forced poverty (where I live disability supports are poverty level and if you can work they claw it back after $200 per month). I was honest and told her that when the time comes that I cannot afford a roof over my head I will be committing suicide (we have MAiD in Canada) and she was shocked. But if we can't afford the basics of shelter, clothing and food while the landlord's are getting wealthier and wealthier and being homeless is pretty much illegal what tf are people support to do?
Several years ago we got renovicted from our apartment that was comically overpriced in the first place. Just choked us out raising the rent higher and higher. >$1000+ for a studio, broken utilities, first floor with high breakin rates, the works. We had a lot of neighbors on disability. As they were hiking up the prices, I noticed a lotall of them silently disappear. We were lucky to have family to help us, but very few of them did. I often wonder what happened to them. It's not a casual wondering, rather a rhetorical and furious one; I can figure damn well what happened.
Just so we’re all clear, don’t forget that when the United Nations tried to pass the right to food being a basic human right, the United States was 1 of only 2 countries who voted against that motion.
And if you're disabled and either have over 2k in you bank account or get married(even to another disabled person) you lose your benefits and are more screwed than before.
And they'll pay a few bucks to have your body hauled away, spray some air freshener and put a new person in there for 20% more.
That's just it. They WANT you to die. It is DESIGNED to drive you into either prison or suicide. If you aren't profitable, they want you dead. People need to realize that it is designed this way. And right wingers complain about socialist "death panels".
My mom has been disabled her entire life due to a horrific childhood accident. Her entire family has lived in New Jersey for so long some of our surnames are on the streets here. I say that because the solution is always you should move to somewhere more affordable as if that's an option for everyone. Because of her accident my mom is mentally roughly 15 years old. She cannot work and she's frequently ill. The state pays her $762 a month. If she marries they take it away. If she tries to get into the job market they take it away. In both instances she will lose her health insurance. The average rent in this state is roughly 1600 a month for a one to two bedroom apartment.
Before suicide, consider rioting.
Suicide isn’t the answer, Revolution is
Don't kill YOU...
I read a piece about how Canada will sooner pay for those with disabilities to end their lives than improve their disability benefits. It was jarring, especially when Canada is so often presented as the “better America,” with all the benefits that the US should have but doesn’t. But on the issue of the disabled, they’re remarkably on par. Even the dollar amount of government assistance is very similar.
Time to crack out The Anarchist's Cookbook...
Breaking Bad is the most successful/ loved series... and nowadays many ask themselves if breaking bad is legit a viable option, since the legal ways are fucking you over so much, anyways
Hate to say it but that's my plan also. Unless there's a revolution, I don't want to miss that, and there probably would be a place to stay if I fought.
I've been in the same situation this last year. I hope that when it's.my time to go, I have the strength to not go quietly.
before you do that take one of the pigs with you
Doesnt sound like you are the problem in this situation, so why punish yourself
in the USA, there are social welfare programs. A long time ago, the politicians realized that if they increase the poverty rate and 'force' people to depend on these programs then they will have life long voters, even generational voters that are locked into a system that relies on the government to live.
i said something similar to my doctor and they didn’t let me leave until i signed a form saying i wouldn’t hurt myself lol
RENT STRIKE
Ironically enough, these shitty disability benefits are EXACTLY why my mom is a landlord. She lives alone and cannot work a regular job after being injured. The only way she can save money and maintain a decent standard of living is to driver Uber and supplement her income with rent money.
I’ve thought about this too. But I’d like to pay a visit to Mitch McConnell first. Or one of those corrupt geriatric assholes.
Don't worry some wealthy land owner like Bill gates will rent out space to the government where people will collectively live in tents and get busses back and forth exclusively to work at approved factories to pay for use of said tents.
I have the same retirement plan
The hustle mentality is garbage to me also. "Don't have 3-4 side hustles plus your regular job? You don't ofcourse, cause no one wants to work anymore" 🙄. There was a fox news article about a woman who paid off 48k in student loans in 14 months because (no exaggeration) she had SIX different side hustles that helped her pay it off. 6! Like wtf?! It's like there is no balance in some people's lives. Smdh. Not everyone wants to work themselves to death for years on end to pay off debt. Not everyone is the same.
For real I get so pissed when people suggest I turn my hobby (fishing) into a money maker. No I don't want to guide people to my fishing spots that sounds awful. I have a 4yr degree and a fulltime govt job, that should be enough. Fucking ridiculous that people are expected or even suggested to use all of their free time working
Years ago i remember watching an episode of Dr. Who that disturbed me even as a kid. The details are foggy but the jist of it was a planet where people worked 20 hours a day with a 4 hour sleep period. I refuse to work my entire life away making someone else rich. If i cant afford the simple life I live by working 40 a week, I'm going to cause some damage before eating a bullet.
For all of you saying live in your car you need to check yourself, Watched my mother cry herself to sleep almost every night while being a foot away from her then doing the same after she went to sleep. her ankles would swell from the sleep position. Had to shower at a state park until they found out and kicked us out. Ate ramen everyday from plugging a hotpot into different outlets. Then your also approached by every psycho that realizes you can't just leave because your trying to use McDonald's wifi to find better jobs on the phone you now have debt on. Luckily it only lasted 4 months, then a year of shifty motel living before we saved up enough and got a place after being rejected countless times. You think it's that easy lol yeah it'll change your whole fucking perspective on people and life.
It's also illegal to live in your car. I was homeless for 6 months a couple years ago. You cant "just live in your car" lol. Cops will harass the HELL out of you.
If I didn’t get into college this would have been me. Spent my last year of highschool couch surfing, desperate to just pass so I could get into school and get a dorm. When I moved in, I had a single duffel bag and a blanket, everyone else showed up with entire van loads of stuff.
This, this, this.
I've been living in my truck for 8 months. I've never had so much money before.. But my diet still consists of ramen noodles and tortillas.
Don’t forget taxes! $1,256 is the gross amount of wages. On minimum wage, they’re taking home less than $1k per month.
Well just be a man and live in your car if you can’t afford rent. You’ll even have extra money to buy yourself some things.
[удалено]
In what world does someone making minimum wage pay an effective 20% tax rate that also includes fica?
I don't even know where they're getting the $1256. $7.25, at 40 hours a week, is only $1160. BEFORE tax.
Are they trying to make us leave the country?
Bold of you to assume someone can afford to leave.
Bruh on 7.25 people can't even afford to leave their own state. They know they got us locked down
No. They're trying to make you desperate enough to commit crime.
What's awesome is the same people who support this kind of shit spent the last 50 years giving us a reputation for being hostile to immigrants, ensuring that we won't be well-received anywhere else if/when we do decide to bounce outta here.
Good luck, there’s people in Canada making six figures that can’t afford a house.
They're trying to enslave us in it. And it's working.
I think they're trying to milk us dry, so that they can leave the country rich
Maybe we can form a caravan.
No they want you on the street so then they can arrest you and fill up the CORPORATE PRISON SYSTEM. Do everything your told in America and it will lead you straight to jail. How tf are people affording this? How do we not have riots in the streets?
To go where? Housing prices are insane across the world right now
Nah. They decided to make USD as valuable as company scrip
Bold of you to assume they give us a second thought.
I actually looked into moving out of the usa and I dont meet the requirements to become a citizen in any place I want to move too so im stuck.
They’re making it so no one can leave…. Then they can just keep exploiting us more and more because there are no options.
It’s not any better out here either trust me
For all the flak it gets, America actually has one of the easiest immigration policies in the world. It’s usually even worsemoving to another country
This would require making $10.50/hr without paying taxes.
Right I can't even afford to move to a cheaper place, even if I could find one.
And minimum credit score requirements
And you typically have to make at least 3x the rent.
And some idiot will now post that you should find a second job or a new job that pays more. No clue.
And after everyone leaves the shitty jobs like they were told to do for years, the same people who told them to get a new job will cry, "No one wants to work anymore!! 😭😭"
[удалено]
"Well minimum wage isn't designed for people to live on their own, get a roommate (or 5)!"
I make over 100k a year. I’m not struggling, but it doesn’t feel nearly like what it’s supposed to. Like, dude I can’t afford a car lmao.
You don't need a place to live if you're always at work! taps forehead
If you work 24/7 you won't need a place to sleep.
I live in iran , inflation had fucked everything here , my father is retired and he's working in another job too , I have a regular job with an average income , my mother is a nurse and overall we have 4 origins of income in our family , and still ; we're struggling with financial problems ; this is the future of any inflated country if people don't stand against it , hope you guys find your way out of it , unfortunately we didn't
Yeah, even if you were working 80 hours weekly (which is straight up unhealthy since 40 hours weekly is already exhausting to the point of arguably being unhealthy) that's still only $2500. Which leaves $700 for internet, food, clothing, and any other expenses. Minimum wage should be twice what rent costs, at least. Whether that means rent goes down or minimum goes up, I don't care.
Have you tried cutting out the avocado toast?
Who writes this stuff? Obviously not people who have ever had jobs.
$50k or $50/hr?
Yeah who writes this stuff and compares minimum salary to average rent?
We had to buy our house because the mortgage was 400 less than the lowest rent in our area. With inflation we're still negative income each month. If I don't find another line of income in six months we'll lose this house.
Job hop, that is how it's done. The day and age of expecting raises is done.
We bought a house just before the market started creeping up in our area about 7yrs ago. We wouldn't be able to qualify for a home, now. We couldn't qualify before 7yrs ago. We got lucky, and I know that. We can only live comfortably because my in-laws live with us. Now, they can't afford to move because of the COL. (And I'd rather be struggling than still have them living here in MY House.😡)
That sucks the company I work for just gave everyone a 10% because of rising inflation. Not related to our yearly review either, every employee 10% immediately.
No livable wage
I'm pretty sure most of the world realizes the US is not the utopia it tries to portray itself as. There are absolutely countries that are worse off than we are though.
marketing. feels over reels? Americans prefer comforting lies to uncomfortable truth.
Bruh the IRS is taking back my $40 from when I was 15 and I owe them $150 from this year after filing even tho I made less than like whatever it is fuck them
You gotta redo your withholdings otherwise you’ll owe next year too. The IRS has a tax burden calculator you can use to determine what you should be paying each check.
Home Depot sheds. People are literally buying and making them into houses. Cheap too. Some do all the work, plumbing, electric, etc, via YouTube videos. Risky there, but gotta do what you gotta do to survive. Shit, I'm heavily considering that or an RV and live outta that. Least I can drive to a better location.
In a lot of places, land is more expensive than the house you put on it, so even living in a plastic shed is unaffordable.
Dude. I never considered starting with a shed. This is going on my list of goals.
As someone who has followed the tiny house movement for years, while this seems like an ideal solution, you cannot put these things, like, anywhere. Most zoning laws state your dwelling must be at least 900sf. So even if you owned some land, you cannot just plop a shed on it and live in it. It sucks.
I was living in a shed when I met my wife. It was 10 X 20 feet with an 8 X 10 foot loft. It was done up real nice with wood flooring, 10k BTU AC unit, vaulted ceilings, water dispenser and coffee machine. I never put plumbing in, but it was still a really nice place to put my head at night.
Lololol I follow Tiny House marketplaces on Facebook. The price for a converted shed is unbelievable. Some asking 30k or more for a tiny little shed.
I have lived in an RV for 18 months now. I live in Florida and wages are crap and can't afford rent. I have 2 Masters degrees, $175,000 in student loans and only make $36,000 a year. It sucks
Let's look at the math another way (and leave taxes out just to show the absurdity).
And in some cases you won't qualify for that $1827 apartment unless you make 3 times that much a month.
How does avacado toast fit into that calculation?
You grow the avocados yourself. Can't afford bread or electricity, so no toast. Throw rotten avocados at the landlord.
Avocado toast * daily latte = amount of lube required to make it not hurt
If you're mad about this, wait until you hear what disabled people are expected to live on
Disable Marine veteran. Live on $968/month. Of course I don't have my own place.
Especially those disabled before working age...
Preach
Disabled and from England here, deemed unable to work at 17 with my health continuing to decline... I'm barely scraping by, lucky if I have £5 left for the last week of the month. Been waiting 9 months for them to complete my benefits review. Currently in limbo not knowing if I'll have the same, more or less money next month. If they take any off me, I'll have to choose between paying my bills and buying food.
🙌
My dad was forced to retire because of an inner ear issue. He was a mechanic for 35 years, but because of his inner ear, his equilibrium is fucked up. He even had to sell his Harley Motorcycle.
I'm sure all the housing being brought up by foreign investment groups will eventually rent us their property at a reasonable rate for the rest of our lives.
No seconds till everyone gets firsts
I hate everthting
I thought I hated "everything". I'm an amateur compared to you. You hate it so much you don't even bother to spell it correctly. ;)
Jail is looking kinda better.
That's what they want. Making homelessness a felony which takes away your voting rights while they are profiting off your imprisonment is the goal.
Best part, a lot of states have a 10% maximum rent increase yearly... So they raise the rent by 10% each year.
How tf is a 10% increase justified?? I'm guessing they don't even bother trying
My apartment just tried to raise my rent from $1700 to $1900 and I “negotiated” to $1800. I can guarantee you my income didn’t raise that much this year.
My state has no rent control (Michigan). My community got bought out by a corporation and they just raised my rent by 22.2% - $400 a month.
This is a math take I haven’t seen before and I am LOVING it. This is how you need to look at that .15 raise they give you.
I was lucky enough based on your numbers that my old apartment place was raising rent for about 3-5% every year I live there (3y). The kicker though… I was getting 2% raises during that time. So even at that rate I was looking at 3-6% loss of buying power just from rent alone, utilities were raised, food, gas, etc. Which ends up being more than that 3-6%. I consider this to be a better situation than most but I was still in the whole every year. Not to mention previously my apartment before that was 714 to start and ended up being 980 by the time I left 2 years later. Mind you they didn’t make any upgrades to the apartment or facilities.
The federal minimum wage is unlivable. There is a Dollar Tree near me that is chronically understaffed and although I'd like to help out it pays 7.25 which won't work for me. I have two WFH jobs. One pays 13 an hour but only gives me 5-10 hours a week and the other pays 10 dollars and hour and only gives me 20-25 hours a week. I'm barely surviving.
What do you do? I've been trying to find something I can do from home but I have no idea where to even start looking.
Even the often stated median household incomes are a joke, only propped up by multiple incomes, roommates and side hustles. Most people don't make more than 35K a year.
yes please please share what you do!!
They'll just tell you to find 2-3 roommates. Then again they're trying to ban that too.
Banning roommates?
At that point just start stealing crap, either you get away with it and can sell what you sell for money or you end up in jail and get free food and a warm place to sleep. If working full time is not enough to even have a place to sleep why bother being a good citizen
I sometimes "forget" to scan shit at self checkout. I paid $200 for less than a cart full of groceries the other day. You bet your ass I'm gonna try and save some money
True but having a felony record really fucks your life up
Let's keep voting in the same useless self dealing politicians and expect things to get better. And don't look up the definition of insanity.
Problem is that the american "democracy" makes it impossible to vote for something thats not red or blue... If you dont change the system, the systematic oppression cant be changed either
I honestly don’t know how people with children do it. Truly baffles me.
We don't, ill be homeless tomorrow because of it
We're all one missed paycheck away from being homeless. American dream eh?
This is actually one of the points I bring up with forced birthers who try to say that having a kid isn't going to ruin anyone's life. Like, we're all already living paycheck to paycheck. Having a kid someone can't afford is just going to put entire families that much closer to homelessness considering what a kid costs just to have and time off work to physically give birth and recover.
Even with a wage of $25/hr for 40hrs a week you're losing over half your monthly pay after taxes just for rent. Add on gas, utilities, food, insurance, and any other type of debt/bill will leave you struggling. You literally can't have any other expenses in your life if you want to afford rent without worry. I fucking hate this country.
Exactly me, $26 an hour and after all those bills I’m lucky if I can get fast food a few times a month
I wonder what our feudalist lords will do when no one can buy their shit or pay their rent
Just sell it all to land developers and move on to the next grift.
I foresee a lot more articles about how us plebs are killing X industry. Not the people who are bleeding it dry! No no no.
This makes me so depressed
Wait you can still feel?
I make about 3k a month after taxes and live everyday in a cloud of anxiety
Just spend negative $600 on coffee and avocado toast every month. Then you can afford a place to starve to death.
I'm starting to think I should've gone into the coffee and avocado toast business.
here's a thought. capitalism was never going to work long term for anyone but the capitalists.
That math is off if your working 40hrs a week the total is 1160 not including taxes. The federal minimum wage amount is ludicrous. I can barely survive on my states minimum wage.
They did a 7.25x40=290. Then 290x52=15,080 for the year. Then 15,080/12=1256.667 per month.
But tHe CosT of LiVing is LeSS in RED StaTes!
"JuSt MoVe To ThE mIdWeSt Or ThE sOuTh"
Texan here. Average rent where I am was 950 before the pandemic. It's 1,300 now. And my area has been jerking itself off about being sO aFfOrDaBlE for years.
Yeah about that… my apartment in Oklahomie cost $1245 a month… and it’s not even a state with a coast.
It’s called your bootstraps. You either pull them up or tie them. I can’t remember.
Choke the landlord?
[удалено]
Landlords will have $556 mortgage, and charge you 4x so they can pay the $556 mortgage, live the high life, and work on buying more rental properties to screw over someone else.
Where the heck do you live?
We don’t need to just tax the rich, we need them to pay us our wages they have been skimming from us to fly their little spaceships around.
Guess I'll illegally stay in the woods and hope the most well funded gang in the world doesn't find me to protect the property of the rich.
More proof that capitalism must be smashed by whatever means necessary.
Our rent is $650 a month for a 3 bedroom but it's not in great shape and our commute to work is over an hour because we had to go rural to find it.
You bring home a lot less than $1256 a month
Free market capitalism at its best. I don't think the USA government has control of anything except regulating what it's citizens can/cannot do. They have no control over big corporations like kellogs, exxon, etc, etc.
They’re actively trying to kill us. There’s literally no other explanation. And by they I mean the US government, and the corporations that run it. Us is humans generally, but specifically the underprivileged and non white-males.
YoU SHoud’Ve GoNe To CoLLEge! Um, I tried, I’m still paying that and it’s gotten me a nice $14/hr job. On the edge of homelessness myself, it was either the shelter or to beg the help of a much older and wealthy gentleman. He’s kind to me, but I know, we both know that “a sweet girl like me shouldn’t be in such a place!”… survival hurts. And now I’m trading my self esteem for a beautiful rental that I could otherwise not afford for my son and I.
In fairness, the average worker paying “average” rent isn’t making minimum wage. Agree with the sentiment though.
Why is he comparing an average rent to minimum wage?
Average rent is ridiculous, and minimum wage is too low, but it’s disingenuous to compare the two. Median rent and median income would be a more realistic metric to use, or compare percentile ranges. What is the bottom 25th percentile rent compared to the bottom 25th percentile income?
To get stupid people on this sub angry.
They actually take home 1,160 a month. BEFORE TAXES.
Crazy to think that someone makes 7.25$ a freakin hour and the government is still like, hey lemme get some of that. Lol
Average is a bad one to go by. Use median, its 1163. Average is polluted by the handful of LA and NYC rents of 40-50million per year based on their nightly rental rates for mega mansions.
Sure lets just compare the average with the minimum. Makes perfect sense…
The owner of the properties don’t give a fuck about people at all just give me money
Actually i wish some company would make cheeper housing like cheap affordable and good driving the housing market to lower its price because of lack of customer. For me the problem is like house renting in the us is like a mafia or oligopoly
It's because living with a roof over your head is a commodity. Capitalism Kills.
We should protest by living in cars and RV's in big communities to protect each other, see how the government likes that.
Yet I should making 3 times the rent to qualify for a place.
You’re comparing the average to the minimum. That is stupid. Try comparing the average to the average.