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Thread: cost of living in the us

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    Default cost of living in the us

    This is just random curiosity. I have noticed that the minimum wage people earn in the us sounds ridiculously low and unlivable to me, like not even a teenager working in macdonalds would work for less that $10 an hour, I think minimum wage is like $13-20 an hour here depending on industry. Then I thought maybe the cost of living there is less. I dont really understand economics that well but generally speaking what do people pay on rent and groceries a week over there?

    Like in Melbourne I'd say you couldn't rent an apartment for less than about $150 a week on average, milk costs $1-2 a litre... and I think you would be hard pressed in your twenties to be earning less than $500 a week (working full time). That's at the lowest end of the scale. Oh if you are unemployed I think you get about $500 a fortnight from the government. Of course I know this is all totally socially based and it probably varies widely. I'm sure it does in Australia too, but I just wanted to ask any way

    Just curious to compare standards of living.
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Yeah I've noticed people on here too say that their hourly rate is like $6-$8 which has shocked me. I'm on about $12 at the moment and I would consider it BAD pay but I'm just working there because the job is so convenient for me.

    Are things also comparatively cheaper in the states so a lower wage kind of equals out?
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  3. #3
    cameron_keys
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Depending on what state you live in ,minimum wage here is from @$5-$8 an hour. Getting $20an hour here is considered a really good job in most places. And cost of living can be very high...in places like south Fl,NY and Cali I have absolutely no idea how people survive on it. Living at home, tons of roomates, living in the ghetto...it sucks.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    I think cost of living varies pretty widely in the U.S, depending on the area. For example, I live in a fairly large 2 bedroom apartment in an ok area for 695 a month, but I know in some places you can't even get a dinky studio for that. I think minimum wage here is almost 8 dollars right now.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Depends on where in the country you are and varies WIDELY. Here in NJ, a one bedroom apartment will likely run you $900 plus, unless you are in an urban area. Near NYC would be more. Our minumum wage is $7.15/hour, which is NOT enough to live on, even at 40 hours (minus 25% taxes) is damn close to poverty. If I recall most of the office jobs I was working before I went back to school were $10-14/hour. Which is better, but still not good.

    I spend about $40-50 a week on groceries recently, though I try to make it less.

    I would kill for $500 biweekly for unemployment! I was getting maybe $250 biweekly in PA. Blah.

    It is, however, cheaper to live elsewhere in the US. I had an apt in Ohio for $325 a month.

  6. #6
    BrunetteGoddess
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Definitely depends.

    In Tucson, AZ, we are very close to the Mexico border, so our minimum wage is very low due to the availability of cheap labor from people immigrating to Mexico. It's hard to find anything over minimum wage here if you don't have a degree, and still pathetic wages for degree holders as well.

    Our rental market is decent, right now R and I are living in a duplex unit. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath with fenced in yard, water and sewer/trash included in rent for $575/mo. However house prices are just horrendous. Mean house price for something liveable is about $250,000. And the mean household income is $50k, individual is about $32k. So I have no idea who is supposed to be buying this shit.

    Oh, minimum wage here is $6.90/hour. It went up this year, last year it was $6.75/hour, and the year before that it had been $5.15/hour for YEARS.

    I make $7.40/hour for housekeeping in a hotel. Very physical work, and I almost cry when I think about all the work I did for basically $40/day after taxes.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by Flick6 View Post
    This is just random curiosity. I have noticed that the minimum wage people earn in the us sounds ridiculously low and unlivable to me, like not even a teenager working in macdonalds would work for less that $10 an hour, I think minimum wage is like $13-20 an hour here depending on industry. Then I thought maybe the cost of living there is less. I dont really understand economics that well but generally speaking what do people pay on rent and groceries a week over there?

    Like in Melbourne I'd say you couldn't rent an apartment for less than about $150 a week on average, milk costs $1-2 a litre... and I think you would be hard pressed in your twenties to be earning less than $500 a week (working full time). That's at the lowest end of the scale. Oh if you are unemployed I think you get about $500 a fortnight from the government. Of course I know this is all totally socially based and it probably varies widely. I'm sure it does in Australia too, but I just wanted to ask any way

    Just curious to compare standards of living.
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Well I live in the most expensive area in the most expensive place in the US. I live in Union Sq Manhattan. We rent a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $5300 a month. (This compares to me living in a LUXURY apartment building in Charlotte, NC for $1500 for a 1 bedroom.)

    I make $8 an hour (!!!) and only work 3 days a week. You can get food here for cheap too, but its all take out garbage. Every time I go to the grocery store I spend $100 on what feels like nothing.

    Going out here sucks too...so much to do but so expensive. Most nights we get bottle service that ends up running $250-300 per couple.

    Luckily my boyfriend makes up most of our income. I only have to pay what I can for rent and food and stuff. If I didn't have him I'd be fucked.
    Last edited by Aubreyyy; 03-16-2008 at 11:34 PM.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by Lysondra View Post
    Welcome to the reason I moved.
    Seriously if Australia had Bronze Age archaeological sites, I'd be packing to go there in a year! It's like a magical, hot fairyland.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    it's not a fairyland, it's just a very, very, very tiny population country.

    singapore is similarly amazing in certain respects, but it's only got 4 million people for the entire nation.

  11. #11
    made_of_sequins
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by Lysondra View Post
    Welcome to the reason I moved.
    and the reason I will probably move back to my country when I'm done with dancing and school. I like it here a lot--but I can't imagine working for such little pay forever. Especially when the costs of living are not lower so that it would even out.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    A single minimum wage job in the U.S. puts you below the poverty line. It's enough to survive on, but not enough to live on (if that makes sense).
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by Flick6 View Post
    This is just random curiosity. I have noticed that the minimum wage people earn in the us sounds ridiculously low and unlivable to me, like not even a teenager working in macdonalds would work for less that $10 an hour, I think minimum wage is like $13-20 an hour here depending on industry. Then I thought maybe the cost of living there is less. I dont really understand economics that well but generally speaking what do people pay on rent and groceries a week over there?

    Like in Melbourne I'd say you couldn't rent an apartment for less than about $150 a week on average, milk costs $1-2 a litre... and I think you would be hard pressed in your twenties to be earning less than $500 a week (working full time). That's at the lowest end of the scale. Oh if you are unemployed I think you get about $500 a fortnight from the government. Of course I know this is all totally socially based and it probably varies widely. I'm sure it does in Australia too, but I just wanted to ask any way

    Just curious to compare standards of living.
    Well things are different now, but (if when you say $ you mean AUD) the AUD has in the past been not equal to the dollar... So to earn $500 australian I might only need to make $250 or $350 American a week which translates to $7.50 an hour basically... Still not perfect, but that does make up for some of the differences between the two countries...

    But yeah, the minimum wage is woefully out of date and has been for years... Even with the recent increases, in my opinion...

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by Aubreyyy View Post
    I live in Union Sq Manhattan. We rent a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom for $5300 a month.
    Woah.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    ^^^Gotta love NYC... Her comment about Charlotte is probably why it's going through such a huge influx right now...

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by scarlett_vancouver View Post
    Woah.
    Something that makes me sick- my boyfriend and I pay $2200 together to share a 11x 16 bedroom, bathroom w/ 2 other guys, and live in a situation that we HATE.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    gah, that is why i dislike urban living. 5300 dollar apartment and NONE of you can afford to live there alone or as a couple.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    ^^^ B/c of our douchey roommate (I have a thread about it lol) my boyfriend and I are getting a 1br.

    I was searching on CL today and was really surprised at the amount of studio and 1 BR apartments in our area for around $2k. I guess we're going to move out on our own AND save money lol

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by jester214 View Post
    Well things are different now, but (if when you say $ you mean AUD) the AUD has in the past been not equal to the dollar... So to earn $500 australian I might only need to make $250 or $350 American a week which translates to $7.50 an hour basically... Still not perfect, but that does make up for some of the differences between the two countries...

    But yeah, the minimum wage is woefully out of date and has been for years... Even with the recent increases, in my opinion...
    The AUS dollar is about 93 US cents and hasn't been below about 83 US cents in some time.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    still, the AUS population is a mere fraction of the US population, which is also relevant to calculating COL.

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    Veteran Member ellebelle's Avatar
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Personally I think Australian metropolitan areas are pretty expensive to live in.. I pay $1550/month in rent. Every time I eat it costs a minimum of $10, usually $20+. Cigerettes are like $12-13 a packet, Absolut is $40 for 750mL, you go out to a night club and it's minimum $7 for a drink.
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Most places, minimum wage is not enough to live on. See "Nickel & Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich.

    Oregon has a fairly high minimum wage and fairly low rents, but it's hard to get the simplest shit jobs, as I discovered last year.

    Min. wage is quite a bit higher in Canada, which has similar living costs to the US, but a somewhat saner government.
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    If you are only making min wage, you will probably have to be on some type of gov assistance to make ends meet. It's fine if you are living with your parents or SO who pays the rent and some bills, but alone I nearly starved to death paying for the cheapest apartment I could get while in college. It's why I started dancing. After going 3-4 days with no food, you start looking at all your options.

  24. #24
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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    If we hadn't moved in with my family, we'd probably be living in some shelter or something. I am so grateful for their kindness, and my ability to stay home with my daughter almost every day.

    In West Hollywood, my roommate and I were paying $1350 a month for a tiny one bedroom with a converted living room that she made into a bedroom. When I say "tiny", I mean you couldn't fit two people in the kitchen. There was one parking space, and bums would fuck each other behind our garbage cans. That was considered fairly inexpensive for the area.

    In Riverside, CA - we paid only $500 for a shitty 1 bedroom in an apartment building with neighbors practically up our asses. We could hardly afford it with one parent working.

    Now I am in Buffalo, NY - I remember paying $400 a month for a 3 bedroom in a decent neighborhood before I moved to California. The cost of living is definitely lower here, but the wages are also less.

    I am so jealous of you Aussies. I'm gonna come visit someday, and when I do I'll be clinging to the limbs of some kangaroo and the customs agents will have to drag me back to the US. At least that's how I imagine it.

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    Default Re: cost of living in the us

    Quote Originally Posted by miabella View Post
    it's not a fairyland, it's just a very, very, very tiny population country.
    That makes it even better! I live in the densest state in the US. Mmmm...space.

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