Existing on a LOWER CLASS Income

SageGoddess320

I feel like a prostitute.

They probably make more money.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

melduf

Move to Quebec, Canada! School and health are paid by the government. Of course, it's not perfect; we had huge protests last year about the scholar fees going up (from a few hundreds to a thousand a year, yes you can laugh)

I work for a university. If I'm sick, I'm fully paid. On the third day of absence, I have to see a doctor and then according to his diagnostic, I can have up to 6 months with my full salary. And that is even if I'm a temporary employee. After giving birth, women are paid for a year between 50 to 75% of their salary to stay home by the government. My employer pays the rest to make it 92%.

Private High schools are funded. So it costs an average of 2 to 3,000$ a year to send your kid to a private school. Technical schools (called cegeps) cost an average of 500$ per session.

If you go to the doctor, you don't pay if you have your health card (which is given to every citizen staying more than 6 monts a year in Quebec soil). Same for hospitals. You might have to wait 12 hours before you see a doctor though...

The downside: you give almost 50% of your salary in taxes. There are huge taxes on gas, car license and stuff like that. But hey, nothing's perfect...

slackerwoman

I can't wait til I can figure out how to afford school, finally get a degree and leave this retail bull**** behind.

I feel like a prostitute.

This is a genuine comment. How do people not afford school nowadays? I went to school on loans, pell grants (only AFTER I turned 23) and working. I definitely don't have a pretty loan history (only 40k in debt from loans at the end of a 4yr degree that took me 6.5 years :drinker: ) but I'm so confused how people can't afford school with the pell grants, loans, scholarships, working opportunities available.

This! I am just about to finish my degree on student loans... but for real, my sister went to a tech school and paid for it out-of-pocket. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Agreed! I went back to school full-time at 33 years old and worked full time. I did it with loans which I am still repaying. I couldn't afford to repay them at first because I wasn't making enough money so I got my loans deferred until I started making the money. It is possible. Where there is a will there is a way. And I also had a five-year old at the time. I grabbed help from anyone who would give it to me.

CalJur

Understood but be thankful. Better than no income.

troisieme

I sympthize with your situation. I see some possibly good advice from other posters, and it can certainly do no harm to read through those. I have lived on a low income at various times and I know you have to do without stuff that you should have. But you are definitely doing something right, to lose weight as you have done. There is job discrimination against people who are overweight, and there are health problems that can be costly that come from being overweight. So you are definitely helping yourself already. Congratulations on that and keep going.

lour441

I can't wait til I can figure out how to afford school, finally get a degree and leave this retail bull**** behind.

I feel like a prostitute.

This is a genuine comment. How do people not afford school nowadays? I went to school on loans, pell grants (only AFTER I turned 23) and working. I definitely don't have a pretty loan history (only 40k in debt from loans at the end of a 4yr degree that took me 6.5 years :drinker: ) but I'm so confused how people can't afford school with the pell grants, loans, scholarships, working opportunities available.

The problem is that even after a degree graduates are not finding jobs... or if they are finding jobs it's no where near enough to juggle life plus paying back those loans! ...

It's not as easy as, go get a loan, go to school, graduate, make money, pay back said loan.

You are right. It is not that easy. You actually have to do a little research and perhaps a ROI analysis of your degree program. If you are going to pay $100k for a degree in {insert any degree program that leads to a low paying wage} then you probably are making a mistake. If you pay $100k for a degree in {insert any science or math degree here} you will probably be ok.

zyxst

A college degree does not guarantee a job.

msacurrie

Small businesses are not bringing in the money they used to thanks to this economy. If you cannot afford private healthcare, look into some state grants or free clinics. Wish you the best!

hem8787

You CAN go to school, you just have to be willing to take on a enormous debt burden once you graduate. I got a bachelor's degree from a traditional university. All of it was paid for by student loans that I now have to pay back. Does it suck having to pay back tens of thousand of dollars? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes.

Tracepa98

I got myself in a screwed up scenario that Im now battling 7 years later. The only school that was near me at the time was a private tech school. Yes, I was young and naive. Yes, I was uneducated. I was also swindled by the school in that they did not educate me on the full damages of what the APR's would be on all the loans I was signing for. I was living on my own and oddly received next to nothing in Pell grants so it was basically all student loans through Sallie Mae and Citibank. Working full time retail and barely making ends meet.

Sallie Mae was a nightmare from the beginning and every phone call either ended with me crying or getting angry. Oh and to add to the fun I was also 10k in credit card debt. The misfortunes of living outside of my means and unfortunate bouts of unemployment. I trucked on.

I bit the bullet, moved home with family, enrolled in a debt management program and paid off the credit cards. Granted I still have 65k in student loans and I'm currently being garnished for some of them.

I currently work for a very small company....10 employees to be exact. And for close to 2 years i didn't have health insurance. Really sucked so I can definitely relate to the OP.

Hang in there.

mrstravisjones

i know you just want to vent, but here's the deal - you do what you have to until you can do what you want to. i used loans to get through school. was about $50k in debt by the time i finished. i have worked up to 4 jobs at a time to make ends meet. life is work. you have to put in the effort to get the results you want. i know that seems harsh, but your life is in your hands.

and other people who grew up middle class like me will probably agree with this statement. when it comes to getting an education, lower income families and wealthy families have it easier than middle class. lower income can receive tons of aid. you just have to put in the work and look for it. it is there. and wealthy people can just pay for it outright. the middle class is the class that gets screwed when it comes to higher education. we don't make enough to pay for our schooling and we make to much to qualify for most of the available aid.

if you're willing to do the work needed, you will be able to get out of the minimum wage/no benefit job rut. good luck to you.

kimharper13

People complain all the time about what benefits they don't get at work. No one is a slave, if you don't like your work environment, pay, benefits, etc.; you are more than free to find another job. There are some drawbacks to working for a small business but there are some advantages to. What you have to do is decide if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. If they do then shut up and make the most of what you have. Have you thought for a teeny, tiny second that the owner of the small business get NO paid vacations, NO sick leave; most small business owners get NOTHING if they are not at their job working. That small business owner made a lot of sacrifices to start that business and keep it going. In the process that small business owner made it possible for you to have a job. Rather than complaining about what you don't have be thankful for what you do have. That small business owner can only provide some much in salary and benefits because at the end of the year the business MUST show a profit or the business will have to close. Small business are the the government, they can't run up a deficient and just borrow more money from China to keep going.

FabMrFox

I'm sure I could assist with financial advice if more of your variables were known. share appt with roomates to cut bills? this can save you 30-40% with one roomate(not 50% due to increase in bills ie: 1 bdrm- 2bdrm) Meal planning and budgeting can save an additional 20-40%. Part time job of just 2 days a week can make another 10-20%+. What type of car do you drive? insurance can vary alot as well as registration fees etc. You may find that re-evaluating needs and wants may be the difference between living paycheck to paycheck and financial freedom.

WendyTerry420

Hmmm.... I work for a corporation that owns the largest market share in our industry. Still no sick days, no health insurance. etc.

You can thank the Federal Reserve bankers and the blowback from a century of inflation for our truly sucky economy. We shouldn't *need* health insurance anyway, except for emergencies or catastrophic illnesses and such.

LuckyLeprechaun

People complain all the time about what benefits they don't get at work. No one is a slave, if you don't like your work environment, pay, benefits, etc.; you are more than free to find another job. There are some drawbacks to working for a small business but there are some advantages to. What you have to do is decide if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. If they do then shut up and make the most of what you have. Have you thought for a teeny, tiny second that the owner of the small business get NO paid vacations, NO sick leave; most small business owners get NOTHING if they are not at their job working. That small business owner made a lot of sacrifices to start that business and keep it going. In the process that small business owner made it possible for you to have a job. Rather than complaining about what you don't have be thankful for what you do have. That small business owner can only provide some much in salary and benefits because at the end of the year the business MUST show a profit or the business will have to close. Small business are the the government, they can't run up a deficient and just borrow more money from China to keep going.

qft

BrunetteRunner87

"small businesses" can't always afford to give you pay for sick days, health insurance, etc. Or they could but then you would make less overall. It's one thing if you're working for Wal Mart and you get no benefits, it's another if your boss is just a regular person. They have to live too.

digitalbill

I joined the Military.
20 vacation days the first year
All the sick time I needed and I got a steady paycheck.
Promotions were almost gaurenteed and the benefits were better then any corportation could ever give.

hughtwalker

So, what you are saying is that apart from the weather, things aren't so bad here in UK after all.

I know, I'm lucky. I qualified 41 years ago, before our government thought of student loans instead of maintenance grants and my qualification, being fairly specific and vocational, led to finding a job easily and being self-employed means that I have a fairly good relationship with my employer.

WendyTerry420

I can't wait til I can figure out how to afford school, finally get a degree and leave this retail bull**** behind.

I feel like a prostitute.

This is a genuine comment. How do people not afford school nowadays? I went to school on loans, pell grants (only AFTER I turned 23) and working. I definitely don't have a pretty loan history (only 40k in debt from loans at the end of a 4yr degree that took me 6.5 years :drinker: ) but I'm so confused how people can't afford school with the pell grants, loans, scholarships, working opportunities available.

I did loans and Pell grants. Then the asshats at the Dept of Education cut me off, two semesters away from my degree. Now what?

WendyTerry420

I can't wait til I can figure out how to afford school, finally get a degree and leave this retail bull**** behind.

I feel like a prostitute.

This is a genuine comment. How do people not afford school nowadays? I went to school on loans, pell grants (only AFTER I turned 23) and working. I definitely don't have a pretty loan history (only 40k in debt from loans at the end of a 4yr degree that took me 6.5 years :drinker: ) but I'm so confused how people can't afford school with the pell grants, loans, scholarships, working opportunities available.

Not sure when you went to school but


source: BLS

Energy costs up, health care costs [for employees] up, state funding for universities down equals above graph...

The line that is missing from this graph is the huge increase in student loans that contribute to rising tuition rates.