I was going over my finances, like I do
every few months, and decided to write down all my expenses so far
(not counting entertainment, coffee, eating out, etc.). I was trying
to figure out how much I could save if I got a better paying job, now
that minimum wage in San Francisco is $12.25 an hour.
Turns out, I won't be saving anything
after all...
Here are my expenses:
Rent $850/month $10,200/year
Rent in San Francisco is insane and I'm
lucky to get a studio (no bath or kitchen) at this price. I got a
lease, so I'll see how long that lasts. There is rent control here
but it's a tricky situation that has kept many local and state
lawyers busy (and well employed).
Health Insurance $285/month
$3,420/year
I never needed health insurance, until
a disastrous situation put me in a "hospital" against my
will. Rather than paying $32,000+ for those bills, my health
insurance put out $15,000+ and cut it down to a reasonable amount for
me to pay in monthly installments, somewhere around $5,000+.
Not bad... but now I don't think I can
afford health insurance anymore. San Francisco has their own health
insurance but I don't work here to qualify and I really don't want to
be on Medi-Cal because I've heard horror stories about it.
Storage $180/month $2,160/year
Do I really need all that junk in my
storage? No. But how do I get rid of it? That's a problem that has
plagued me for 3+ years now. Yes, for three years I've been paying
storage fees because my family used to live in a four bedroom three
bath house and now I'm on my own in a studio with no way to get all
my things back to the way it used to be. Not all that stuff is mine,
true, but if I were to pack all my stuff: books, books, more books
and some furniture... I'd really be crammed in this remodeled hotel
room I'm living in now. This is a work in progress.
PG&E $60/month $720/year
Since my last bill so far was $4.44, I
have no idea what my next bill will be but I'm basing it off of
previous bills I've had with PG&E. Unfortunately, due to much red
tape and meaningless "Poverty Levels for a Family of One
Household", I don't qualify for PG&E handouts. How much
electricity can I use with only a computer, printer, rice cooker, hot
water pot and fluorescent lights? I may have to update this later.
YMCA $62/month $744/year
Yes, I belong to the YMCA which is
right handy for me. I may not use the gym that much or go to all of
the yoga classes but they have an indoor swimming pool, as San
Francisco's summer weather reaches a ridiculous high of 70 degrees
fahrenheit without fog. They also have clean showers. I live in a
studio and shared bath with only three bathrooms on four floors, with
over 60+ people sharing them. Figure it out.
AT&T $51.98/month
$623.76/year
I am going to cut AT&T even though
I've been with them 10+ years. They inform me that I'm on "the
cheapest plan" but I'm not convinced. My phone bill is supposed
to be $39.99 but they add in all these extras and taxes, including a
very shady Administration Fee of $0.61 that was not approved by
customers. Needless to say, I could write another article just on how
much AT&T rips me off. Now I just have to figure out how to
transfer data from a very old flip-phone to my monthly to-go
smartphone.
StraightTalk $40/month
$480/year
Recently, StraightTalk along with
TracPhone was involved in a lovely scam where they "throttled"
data speeds, even though customers paid money for Unlimited Data
Nationwide. Unfortunately, I missed this FCC claim process because
StraightTalk conveniently did not send me a letter, as they were
supposed to, informing me that I had a right to a refund.
However, since I had to use my
smartphone to get my cheap $850/year lease in San Francisco, I'm
willing to forgive them this once and continue to shell out money for
their product that I desperately need. So far my data limit is under
3GB, so I should be fine. But I would rather have this phone than pay
more money for AT&T. I'm also using Google Voice but we'll see
how long that lasts before I have to pay for that too.
Bus/MUNI/BART in San Francisco
$83/month $996/year
I get a monthly pass for $83.00 and if
my card gets stolen (like it did a few days ago), I get a replacement
with all my benefits and money sent to me for just $5.00.
San Francisco is one of the few cities
in the United States of America, where you don't need a car. I don't
have a car anymore but luckily, I don't need one here. San Francisco
has three options for transportation: Bus, MUNI and BART (along with
those sketchy: Über, Lyft, etc. rideshares that take money away from
city-licensed taxi drivers). I don't ride my bike here (yet) but even
walking is possible where I live and as long as I live in San
Francisco (hopefully forever), I will never need a car except to rent
one when I go out of town [promo plug-in for Enterprise-Rent-A-Car
here].
Comcast $54.95/month
$659.40/year
Without Comcast Internet, I wouldn't be
writing this to you now. Internet has become one of the most
important utilities in civilization: more than a phone, TV, radio (or
even Gas/Petroleum). Because, without this communication you
couldn't: find a place to live, find a job, find your way around
town, sell junk you don't need, find unemployment, etc. We should all
have free internet in this country with sufficient speeds to
adequately complete these daily activities (no streaming movies,
etc.). Let me write it again: We should all have free
internet in this country with sufficient speeds to adequately
complete these daily activities (no streaming movies, etc.).
For the time being though, this monthly cost will be the last thing I
cut from my budget and I'd rather cut food for it. I'm using a Wi-Fi
to-go plan which may be eliminated soon so I have to use it while I
can.
Food $200/month $2,400/year
$40/week × 5 =$200. I'm not sure if this is a strict budget or not.
I shop at Safeway and try to get gluten-free products there. Due to
my Celiac Disease (it's a disease, not a diet!), I can't have bread,
so this significantly changes my whole budget. Gluten-free food is
ridiculously expensive. Lucky for me, I like Asian food and can get
by with rice but there's only so much you can do before your
tastebuds start yelling, "I'm bored! Get me sugar and
chocolate!". So yeah... I'll see if I can cut this down without
cutting my weight down too.
So... how much is this all costing me, you ask? I'm guessing you're
bad at math like I am. Here's the answer:
$1,866.93 a month. $22,403.16 a year.
Seems like a lot, doesn't it?
For one person, I'm sure it is. So given my circumstances (and
unemployment situation), I was willing to cut a few things, should my
purse become a bit lighter in the future.
Without Health Insurance, AT&T, Storage and YMCA, my expenses
would be:
$1,287.95 a month $15,467.16 a year.
(Cutting those expenses I listed would save me: $578.98 a month and
$6,936 a year.)
Now, here comes the reality check. If I don't find a job and my
situation gets worse, I'll have to make more cuts. Let's call it, the
Major Crunch. I want to keep my Bus/MUNI/BART, internet for job and
school and smartphone to keep my life going but if worse comes to
worse I can live without it, though it would really, really,
suck.
Here's the breakdown on Absolute Living Expenses With No Frills
Whatsoever:
Rent: $850
PG&E: $60
Food: $200
= $1,110 a month $13,320 a year.
But guess what? It's still ABOVE Poverty Level (one person). In 2015,
the new Poverty Level for one person was listed (according to GOOGLE)
as: $11,770 a year.
Federal and state wages have yet to match San Francisco's generous
minimum wage standard.
In Chico, I made $10.00 an hour MAX. But even with that wage, I never
made $11,770 a year. Why, you ask? Was I lazy or unemployed? No. I
had two jobs then. The other job paid: $8.70 an hour. Even
with these two jobs, I never made that much money -- not even enough
to pay my rent of $795 a month.
I didn't have enough hours and the one job that gave me enough hours
was cut but was only paying me $8.70 an hour. ($0.70 above Chico's
minimum wage, but with forced union dues, I made less than that an
hour).
It's a delicate balance between wage and hours worked to make a
living. I've counted and re-counted this dozens of times to get a
formula table fit to show any economist who dares insist that minimum
wage standards are enough to live on.
Let's start with 20 hours, as the basis for part-time work...
20 hours a week.
Here's the breakdown on San Francisco's minimum wage and a part-time
job of 20 hours per week.
$12.25/HR × 20 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $980 a month.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
That's $11,760 a year.
Guess what? You're making: LESS THAN POVERTY LEVEL! ($11,770 a year)
Forget paying the bills. Forget saving money. Forget going to school
(even with financial aid, you have to shell out for books, paper/ink,
etc.).
Let's try getting more hours...
$12.25/HR × 25 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $1,225 a month.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
$14,700 a year.
All right. Now things look less grim. You can make a living wage and
maybe go to school if you have previous savings and are really,
really lucky at not having any medical bills or catastrophes to upset
this delicate financial balance.
$12.25/HR × 30 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $1,470 a month.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
$17,640 a year.
Great. Making a living wage with more money and the increased
possibility of making it through school is a step in the right
direction! Let's see how long this lasts.
$12.25/HR × 35 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $1,715 a month.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
$20,580 a year.
Yay! A proper living wage and United States living standard enough
for you to pay your bills, go to school and maybe save for the
future.
Oh wait... looks like I forgot something.
This is for a single person living in San Francisco, on "generous"
minimum wage, granted an unheard of 35 hours per week without any
cuts, excluding taxes and emergencies.
How many people actually make this much? Not many.
Let's do the math with $10.00 an hour, $9.00 an hour and $8.00 an
hour...
$10.00/HR × 20 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $800 MO. $9,600 YR.
× 25 hours a week × 4
= $1,000 MO. $12,000 YR.
× 30 hours a week ×
4 =
$1,200 MO. $14,400 YR.
× 35 hours a week ×
4 =
$1,400 MO. $16,800 YR.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
$9.00/HR × 20 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $720 MO. $8,640 YR
× 25 hours a week × 4
= $900 MO. $10,800 YR.
× 30 hours a week ×
4 =
$1,080 MO. $12,960 YR.
× 35 hours a week ×
4 =
$1,260 MO. $15,120 YR.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
$8.00/HR × 20 hours a week × 4 times a week (estimated paycheck
arrival) = $640 MO. $7,680 YR
× 25 hours a week × 4
= $800 MO. $9,600 YR.
× 30 hours a week ×
4 =
$960 MO. $11,520 YR.
× 35 hours a week ×
4 =
$1,120 MO. $13,440 YR.
(This does not include money subtracted for taxes, unemployment,
etc.)
Notice the less you get per hour, the more hours you have to work to
escape "Poverty Level". Since the Poverty Level is so
unrealistic in this country, it doesn't take into account living
standards in today's economy.
Imagine also, if you had a family to support on this income. Many
single mothers (even with supposed government benefits) struggle to
make ends meet, and they make above poverty level.
I did this to illustrate what money really means in a job. How even
$1.00 more an hour can be the difference between living at poverty
standards or scraping by at every-day standards.
I may not be an economist but any ordinary person can figure out the
Poverty Level system is wrong and needs to be corrected immediately.
No rich person can argue this evidence, saying that "we make a
decent living" on such pitiful wages. Never mind the fact that
employers are cutting wages and hours every which way they can. Even
bank tellers have only 20 hours a week... You can find for yourself
where they stand on the chart.
Having this information puts my job search in perspective and may
hopefully help others bargain for better wages... unless it means
getting laid off in your job. It's easier to bargain for more hours
than for higher pay but even with more hours, employers will look at
cutting you...
(as what happened to me at my other job).
If you dare to ask for living wages, more hours and a better life,
you may get punished. But by not asking for this, you are living in a
state unfit for our standards today in the United States of America,
home to the greatest number of billionaires on the planet.
My financial circumstances mean little compared to the big picture of
the economic crisis in America. Plenty of people get by living on the
streets, though I'm not sure I'm willing to do that (yet). However, I
think when everyone starts having this conversation, we can reach an
agreement that there's a lot to be done concerning our budget and
financial situation. Deciding what to do about it after, is another
question (and a much more lengthy article to write).
For now, I'm still looking for a job. I'm saving my coins in the
meantime. If I'm lucky, I'll have enough coins to do laundry next
week (It's $6.75 to do laundry every week). Oh no... I forgot to
budget for laundry! I guess when times get tough for me, I'll be the
smelly person on the bus.
