It's incredible how anachronistic the minimum wage is now!

In NY City, the minimum wage is more than twice the federal wage.

I know what you mean---all this inflation!

What sort of skills do you have now?

I mean I’m doing alright I guess. I work in data management but my earnings haven’t increased since 2019 so it’s starting to get to me. I can blame it on myself for not being more proactive about finding a higher paying job but that’s about to change. All this inflation is Lightning up a fire on my ass.

I just feel for the people who have families or people who are now barely getting by…

I agree that it’s getting ridiculous but in lieu of increased earnings, there’re still things you can do to remediate the concern.

First thing I’d recommend would be to create a budget so you can actually tell where your money goes each month. From there, it can clarify your thinking on spending decisions. Such as eating out less, maybe cancelling some streaming apps you don’t use often, going to the library instead of buying books, national parks instead of theme parks, buying generic instead of name brand, etc

I feel the same way. Your heart is in the right place.

In a place like Houston, I am sure there are many hard-working people working two jobs just to get by. Just, in some cases, to keep a hotel room because they are otherwise homeless.

Sorry for being "intellectual"---but it's a social Darwinist rat race out there.

Minimum wage just isn't enough anymore. Hopefully you can find a job that pays higher than that, Walmart said its minimum wage is $14/hr. Lots of manual labor type jobs pay $10+/hr near me, and like warehouse jobs are good because you could get the forklift license and get paid more.

At some point it is just all about finding a job that pays more.

I’m not earning minimum wage, fortunately. I should probably reword my post a bit.

1. I'm using less water by removing my lawn and using drought tolerant plants. I'm collecting waste water like the cold water warm up for a shower and water from washing fruits and vegetables. I use that to water my plants.

2. I'm voting for people that are in favor of increasing the minimum wage.

3. I'm not willing to increase my earnings as that usually entails more work or responsibilities. Sure, I'll take more money for free but that's rare. Therefore, I am looking for ways to reduce my spending. This personal finance forum is an excellent start in collaborating with others to maximize our dollars. If you spend less than you earn, you'll never run out of money.

Good luck, OP

[removed]

[removed]

Yeah it sucks. Inflation reduction act has done? Some people should be jailed over greed. Many are making hire wages, which a company is paying and they will use that as a reason to boost rates.

My husband and I combined bring in $120K per year. We have a modest home and mortgage payment ($1500 per month), no kids, no credit card debt, no car loans... nothing. We don't live extravagantly. When we sit down to budget it still boggles my mind how anyone who DOES have those things can survive out there. Salary increases just aren't matching the rate in which we're seeing prices increase.

I feel like it never stops. We are in Kansas City,mo and our utilities were already high before covid and now they are sky high. We pay on average $125 a month for water/sewer($350 in summer when watering🤦‍♀️), $200 on electric and $150 on gas(those both are on balanced billing). So at this point my utilities are around $500 a month! When only 3 years ago it was around $350(still stupid high in my opinion but doable). We don’t use any more either so fucking ridiculous.

Worry about the things you can control not about what you cant. They need to acquire some sort of skill that will demand a higher wage. This will help you in inflationary times and recessions. I have lived in Houston all my life, and there are plenty ENTRY level retail and hospitality jobs that pay way above minimum wage. I know this because I help my dad apply to Walmart to stock shelves, and has zero skills. He does not do well with technology, speaks broken English, has trouble reading it, and, worst of all does not work well with people making 16/hr. There is no reason to take a minimum-wage job ; make the businesses compete.

Read this article by Bloomberg where they take the top 10 cities where 100k takes you the furthest and texas cities were 7 out of the 10 cities, Houston being 6th in America.

1. Memphis, TN
2. El Passo, TX
3. Oklahoma City, OK
4. Corpus Christi, TX
5. Lubbock, TX
6. HOUSTON, TX
7. San Antonio, Fort Worth , Arlington TX (Tie)
8. St. Louis, MO

have a budget, no extra spending, 2nd job, cut out unnecessary services/trip/purchase which will take some self-control, last option is to move to other part of country that is low cost of living!

[removed]

I’m not sure how they are either. We make 135k a year and have 2 kids and we are drowning latly. Our mortgage was $1.6k a month when we bought 3 years ago and reasonable but now it’s going up to $2.1k a month because taxes and insurance increased so much over the last 3 years(hoping the market tanks so we can lower the taxes back down🤔). Our utilities have gone up $150 a month with no increase in usage. Food cost are up about $200 more a month. My husband only gotten a 3% raise each year but health insurance increases have pretty much eaten all his raises since they somehow always go up about the same amount as his raise. Like how is anyone surviving anymore on less then 100k. We don’t even have any debt besides the house.

[removed]

[deleted]

>I’m not earning minimum wage, fortunately. I should probably reword my post a bit.

Practically no one earns the Federal Minimum Wage; not sure why you even mentioned it, other than for dramatic effect.

>I'm voting for people that are in favor of increasing the minimum wage.

I was going to look for a better job, but now I like your idea better.

[removed]

Pa checking in with a 7.25 minimum wage too! Feeling the hurt myself, been laid off since late august, with a solid resume, skill set and industry. Apply for about 100 jobs a week. Had my first interviews this month since October…got rejected on one, ghosted on 2 and the 4th decided to not hire for the position…

It hasn't affected me at all. I am single, no kids and never plan to have one or get married. Live in a HCOL area, earned 262k last year, 192k AGI as I managed to put 50k into my retirement, around another 50k in savings, have 170k that I will use towards a down payment on a condo... here in Los Angeles condos are like 600k minimum.

I don't feel affected by prices/inflation at all. I am self employed though and my income is only affected by my direct efforts, I don't depend on wages.

> Meanwhile, the minimum wage here is still $7.25

I don't know about your area, but mine (Utah) has a similar (same?) minimum wage and pretty much nobody actually makes that wage, almost everyone is >$10/hr at "minimum" wage jobs. Places are still understaffed and having to raise prices so they can afford to pay higher wages because the labor supply just isn't there.

It's still bad, looking at minimum wage isn't particularly helpful.

Exactly. In my state (Utah), the minimum wage is also $7.25 (I think), but most "minimum wage" jobs are $10-12/hr starting. That's just how the labor market is these days.

well yeah, it obviously won't affect you if you earn that much and are single with no kids.

What does this comment have to do with the post? Obviously it won't affect you if you are making 260k a year....

[removed]

Your post has been removed because we don't allow political discussions, political baiting, or soapboxing (rule 6). This includes questions or discussions about proposed legislation or government policy changes.

If you have questions about this removal, please message the moderators.

Devils Advocate here: remember the big push for $15/hr right before inflation took off? I remember the opposing side to that push saying the cost of living was going to increase due to such a large change to minimum wage. Here we are. Granted, a huge part of this is from printing money during COVID for unemployment(and people not returning to work….creating a huge labor shortage and massively unrealistic wages for unskilled labor) and the abuse of eviction moratoriums.

Ya, I like reading about all the people complaining about rent increases and how it would be so much different if they owned a house and it wouldn't increase payments each year. Man, my house payments have skyrocketed faster then rent increases because of property taxes due to valuation increase and insurance increases. I'm shocked rent increases aren't higher tbh

>What does this comment have to do with the post? Obviously it won't affect you if you are making 260k a year....

Well, the person asked "How does one stay sane after all these prices increases? It’s out of control"

I am just sharing my opinion that I feel totally sane. I am not affected.

The OP isn't asking for only the opinions of those who can't stay sane.

Are the ones who aren't affected not allowed to comment?

Are you only allowed to comment if you are affected by prices?

Last time I checked this was a message board where anyone can post their opinions.

So now people can't comment afford they aren't affected? Of course it answers the post directly.

You just don't like the answer and are salty.

ANYONE CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION. MY ANSWER IS THAT I AM NOT AFFECTED.

Does that bother you? So just because I make money I can't comment that it does not affect me? LOL

Lol no, I'm not salty, it's just funny that you think this was useful in any way. Clearly if you can afford to live your life happily, which if you make 250k a year then you still do, even after inflation then you aren't the target audience of the question. It's not really that hard to understand, but I guess I already knew that even if you make good money it doesn't make you smart.

To be honest, I was just replying to OP's lament on minimum wage being low. Whether that is ultimately a good thing for inflation or the economy is up for debate. I don't think I have the information to be right or wrong.

However, if I was a young adult making minimum wage (and I did for a few months), voting for this change is the first thing I would do as that is a simple thing to exercise. I don't believe you have a right to complain until you actively participate in changing it. Right or wrong.

Is it "useful" to add to the thread that you are also broke and also can't afford anything as most of the other posts in here? How is that useful?

The other comments in here aren't useful. They are simply commiserating that they can't afford things. How does that add value?

[removed]

It adds value because they relate to the situation that OP is in, and allows them to see that there are people struggling just like them. There are also comments giving some tips as well that provide help.