Well This Is Certainly An Eye Opener!

**pollypurebred39** · 04-10-2010, 09:36 PM

Have you ever used the living wage calculator? I just did and Wow! No wonder we are struggling!

Living Wage Calculator - Introduction to the Living Wage Calculator

**DaughterOfErin** · 04-10-2010, 10:21 PM

They must be freakin kiddin'! I live in PA and the Pennsylvania Dutch Wage as we call it is about $10 an hour if your lucky! Try feeding a family on that! Where are you going to find a job that pays $28 an hour here?

**MrsOptimistic** · 04-10-2010, 11:13 PM

Whoa. That was definitely interesting.

**kattails** · 04-11-2010, 12:13 AM

WOW!! I can't believe they have a $740 allowance for food for 2 adults/2 children for my state. I rarely spend $300 a month for all 4 of us. Between daycare and food costs I save my family over $1500 a month. Thanks for the link, it reminded me just how much I contribute to our family.

**Mom2-3** · 04-11-2010, 12:30 AM

Interesting numbers. I would love to spend that much on food every month! The before tax amount (total) was pretty accurate.

**mauimagic** · 04-11-2010, 12:31 AM

Interesting find Polly - mahalo for sharing it!! Don't know where they get some of those reality figures from?

**Luckybustert** · 04-11-2010, 01:06 AM

I don't know where they're getting their figures from, but we certainly couldn't live on what they're calling a living wage.

**druthb00** · 04-11-2010, 09:28 AM

Mine seems a bit off. We spend a little more on housing (800 instead of 730) but wayyyyy less on groceries (150 instead of 457!!) I'm not sure where these numbers come from but I really can't see how two adults need to spend $457 on food down here. And $551 for 'transportation?' I guess they must be factoring in a car loan? Weird numbers. But thank you for the link!!

**Lady_V** · 04-11-2010, 10:09 AM

Bwahahahhahahahahah!!!!!!!!!

Massachusetts (Middlesex county) - 2 adults & 1 child
Living Wage -- $27.82
Monthly After-Tax Income That's Required -- $4,177

Dear Boss of Old Man,
Let's talk about a raise!!!!!!!!!!!

We are a single income family. We are doing okay, lights are on, bellies are full and dare I say, we even have a savings account... but those numbers are unreal.

I would REALLY like to know where they are getting medical insurance for a family of 3 for $276/month when JUST HIS insurance is $346!!!!

**nuisance26** · 04-11-2010, 10:16 AM

~Nope, don't agree with their figures.
We're living on one wage that(with OT)is 61% of what they say our living wage should be. Our two cars are paid for. We have almost half a year's salary in the bank. No debt. Our retirement fund is on track for $1 million. We live so well below our means that we bank 30% of our income.
I'm not trying to brag here, just saying that what they say is a "Living Wage" is really a "Living like everyone else wage". And in that respect I'd agree completely with their figure. Then we could afford a newer car, a bigger house, classes for the kids, night school for me, 2 vacations a year, meals in restaurants several times a week and pay for the kids' college. As it is we are making different choices based on our values and living well on much less.
DH's occupational field is listed in red near the bottom of the page and the wage listed is very near accurate. Essentially, what we use to live on(not save)is 133% of the poverty rate for our family size. That will go down to 110% when we add our third child.~

**shoiji** · 04-11-2010, 10:47 AM

For me $230 a month for food in my state. I spend $150 a month. That amount also includes HBA and pets. Really makes me wonder now.

**pollypurebred39** · 04-11-2010, 11:30 AM

I was just doing some research to help my son budget his income for now and the future and came across this calculator. I'm looking at his bring home after taxes, health insurance, and retirement (not a lot but you've got to start somewhere) and I'm just not seeing how he can keep a roof over his head, and I'm not using living wage numbers just paper and pencil, his average weekly income, and armed with the classifieds for rentals.

**Vanilla** · 04-11-2010, 03:48 PM

Very interesting #s.
But for our situation, the housing & medical insurance are way off, maybe the #s are from county, since this county covers a large & very diverse area.
Thanks for this post.

**frugalwarrior2** · 04-11-2010, 08:34 PM

I have to say alot of it was pretty accurate for us. Substitute child care for tuition for Community college. Housing was a bit low but we could be in a bit smaller house. The only thing that was off was transportation costs. But if I insured another kid...
I never thought of us as average.lol.