Question for the older generation.

[Quixilver05]

now, this isnt implying im too young to be in this guild, I am 22 years old and paying bills and whatnot, but I realized that if you were to live on minimum wage now adays, it would be almost impossible if not very difficult to manage on your own.

I was wondering if back before my day when prices on everything were a lot lower if it was actually possible to live on minimum wage?  

[Sefar Morisota]

in my opinion, it would be the same. you have to remember, back in the days of the older generation, minimum wage was lower than it was now. minimum wage reflects the times. we live in a very expensive era where everything cost an arm and a leg. (the opinion of a 22 year old history student)  

[Lucky Lass 38]

Quixilver05

now, this isnt implying im too young to be in this guild, I am 22 years old and paying bills and whatnot, but I realized that if you were to live on minimum wage now adays, it would be almost impossible if not very difficult to manage on your own.

I was wondering if back before my day when prices on everything were a lot lower if it was actually possible to live on minimum wage?

Well, actually, when prices were lower so was the minimum wage. It's all relative. What's different is back then we didn't "need" all the crap folks seem to want now. There were no electronics, people didn't use dry cleaners, rarely ate in restaurants, used mass transportation, that sort of thing. So your money went a lot farther then than it does now.
With the current financial meltdown occurring here in the US, we may just be going to have to go back to those simpler times when we didn't buy so much stuff and just had the basics of food, clothes and a roof over our head!  

[wolfen26]

Well, it is possible to be comfortable even on a minimum wage, even I am learning to live on less. There are a couple of things I have learned. It takes a real extreme tightening of the belt.

One lesson is do not live beyond your means. If you cannot pay for it in full in cash, then do not buy it. That goes with only three exceptions and that is when buying a house, car and food. But even with a car, every vehicle that I have owned, I have payed in full. The only thing I would EVER use a credit card for is if it is an extreme emergency, and if I have the money to cover it later.

Second I have also learned is if you need something, learn to look for a good deal, (there is no shame in going to goodwill or thrift stores, I have found designer clothes there). If all else fails, learn to make it yourself. Making it yourself can save a lot of money over time, and it can be fun, I make my own cleaning supplies that way.

And also, learn to manage your money, dont be afraid of it. If you need any suggestions, pm me, I am not a financial worker, but I know how to live on a tight belt.  

[Miss Abigal of Lenox]

When I first started working in 1957, age 16, I was making .671/2 cents an hour. I gave me spending money plus let me buy all my clothes for school. I would put them in lay-a-way and pay on them until I got it payed off. I do feel sorry for the young people of today, things are so expensive, housing, cars, even food, so I know it's hard on you to make a living. We made less, things cost less, but we were still able to make a living. I wouldn't trade my times for anything in the world, I grew up in the fifties, how cool is that. I've come full circle, now living on a fixed income and it's pretty hard for us oldie moldies too. Just remember to spend only what you have.  

[Miss Abigal of Lenox]

Lucky Lass 38

Quixilver05

now, this isnt implying im too young to be in this guild, I am 22 years old and paying bills and whatnot, but I realized that if you were to live on minimum wage now adays, it would be almost impossible if not very difficult to manage on your own.

I was wondering if back before my day when prices on everything were a lot lower if it was actually possible to live on minimum wage?

Well, actually, when prices were lower so was the minimum wage. It's all relative. What's different is back then we didn't "need" all the crap folks seem to want now. There were no electronics, people didn't use dry cleaners, rarely ate in restaurants, used mass transportation, that sort of thing. So your money went a lot farther then than it does now.
With the current financial meltdown occurring here in the US, we may just be going to have to go back to those simpler times when we didn't buy so much stuff and just had the basics of food, clothes and a roof over our head!

Lucky Lass you need to check up on Mr. Obama before you vote, check on your candidates before you give them the control of your country.  

[TheHellDevil]

Sefar Morisota

in my opinion, it would be the same. you have to remember, back in the days of the older generation, minimum wage was lower than it was now. minimum wage reflects the times. we live in a very expensive era where everything cost an arm and a leg. (the opinion of a 22 year old history student)

Yeppers.... Inflation. The more money there is to go around, the less buying power it has. The higher the wages of the people, the higher the companies are going to charge for their consumer products and services. (Backup from a 24-year old economics student... albeit a newbie in the field)  

[Taxi Mama]

My college bound daughters expected to move into apartments when they left home; I explained about DORMITORIES. They expect to eat out every day; I explained about MEAL PLANS. We will pay for their college, but they'll be living poor, because we can't afford multiple nice homes with all the trimmings. And I expect them to appreciate the nice things more, having learned to do without!

P.S. I am also prepared to explain about Renting A Room, and Using The Bus, in case they drop out of college.  

[walkingundine]

If by 'minimum wage' you mean the federally-established minimum (some states have set theirs higher), the answer is 'not comfortably'.

With a crummy apartment and roommates to share the bills, in an area with good public transportation and a lower cost of living, yes, I've survived on it. I wasn't comfortable and I had no savings, but I managed.  

[Velouria Dragoon]

It is hard to live comfortably on minimum wage, but so it has always been. When I was younger, the minimum wage was younger. When the minimum wage went up, prices went up so that employers could afford to pay the new wages to their employees. Now this is not the only thing that makes (or made) prices go up, but it is one thing. So it is all relative.
Kids do expect ALOT. for example my kids think they should have a WII and a DS and cell phones and not just one or two games for WII, but a plethera of them etc. Considering our income, they have quite another think comming. But they do have a wii and are doing alright with what they have. TV and other places make it look like every kid has all this stuff and they dont't have it all, nor do they need it.  

[Drudra]

something not addressed yet that really affects whether you can or can't live on minimum wage: housing, food, property tax, sales tax, etc all vary from state to state, so what might be able to support someone in Oregon wouldn't be able to support someone in California, or whatever. you get the idea. And I recently saw a news special where they were interviewing people who used to be able to live on minimum, but now they can't, they are standing in soup kitchen lines and such.
Also to consider are house payments/ apt rent. and car payments, and groceries, and health insurance (or med bills without insurance) gas, electricity bills, gas bills, buying cloths (buying at thrift stores and only when you need it) pluss property tax, if applicable, and no "fun money"....add that all up, and I'd say No way.
So, being a 26 year old who's lived on my own off and on (in two countries), I'd say most people cannot live on minimum wage unless their house is a carboard box.(or they are sharing the rent, as was mentioned earlier.) Add a family into the equation, and you get really desperate people working 3 jobs and still just scraping by. I thank God I had a family who could send me through school so I could not be stuck in such a bind. But I know people who are.  

[poetsespresso]

Lucky Lass 38

Quixilver05

now, this isnt implying im too young to be in this guild, I am 22 years old and paying bills and whatnot, but I realized that if you were to live on minimum wage now adays, it would be almost impossible if not very difficult to manage on your own.

I was wondering if back before my day when prices on everything were a lot lower if it was actually possible to live on minimum wage?

Well, actually, when prices were lower so was the minimum wage. It's all relative. What's different is back then we didn't "need" all the crap folks seem to want now. There were no electronics, people didn't use dry cleaners, rarely ate in restaurants, used mass transportation, that sort of thing. So your money went a lot farther then than it does now.
With the current financial meltdown occurring here in the US, we may just be going to have to go back to those simpler times when we didn't buy so much stuff and just had the basics of food, clothes and a roof over our head!

I'd have to agree. Wages have increased including minimum wage and the different things one can buy has increased drastically, and the young adults that grew up more recently have likely been "more" spoiled than the ones that came before because of:
1.) more gadgets / computer related / run stuff available
and
2.) more generous parents than the former work-for-everything-and-be-frugal generations that might still remember the Great Depression in the echoes of their parents.
plus a little of
3.) young adults having more technological skills / computer skills because of having grown up around it using it muuuuch more than older people and thus having better opportunities to use those skills in the workplace.  

[poetsespresso]

One thing Gen Y and Millenials are different is they define "work ethics" differently.

Gen X of which I am one, I think of work ethics as respecting the boss and working hard to earn my way up to higher positions with time. That includes doing some things which may be either difficult to do or may be tedious, but one lives with it.

Gen Y and Millenials have higher expectations of the work place and want more instant gratification because of the way entertainment in their lives has been constantly presented to them. If they aren't happy with what one person says they can leave that webpage and never come back. Gen X treats it as relationships that one has to build trust between people, instead of skipping out on the relationship as easily.

But perhaps I'm just full of bull and don't know what Gen Y and Millenials are like, because after all we're all individuals not groups. It's only shared experiences shaping us as groups that seems to make the groups their own identities.  

[Irahatam]

When I was a teen with a job minimum wage had just been raised to $2.20 from $1.75. Please don't quit me on this because it's been years since this happened!
I was never on my own and paying bills but my checks went into the family funds and the bills were payed with whatever money was available. There was alot of times my whole check went to pay bills and buy groceries. Sometimes I got to keep a few bucs back for myself.
It doesn't seem to me that things have changed much for those making minimum wage today. But then even making $10.00 an hour still leaves one broke after paying SS/FICA/Health Insurance (if one claims it through their job). Then theres rent/gas/electric/water... Add a car in there and it's difficult to have enough left over for groceries. I can't tell you how many times beans, rice and bisquits have been the fair for many days.
It's always been tough if one makes minimum wage, regardless of the decade lived in. And I don't see it getting better under the current conditions in the world.