Minimum Wage Woes, Part 2: Real McBudgets

Today is Friday, July 19, 2013.

The other day, CNN Money published an article in which they reminded readers of the recent McDonald's budget flap. The fast food giant showed a generic budget on their website for employees, with advice on how to live on minimum wage.  Like others, I took issue with this generic budget in a recent blog post, which you can read here. 

CNN Money decided to interview some real McDonald's employees to find out how they live on their McSalary. 

Devonte is working toward an Associate's Degree in criminal justice.  He is 21 years old and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He works only 25 hours a week, for a total of $525 per month, and has no second job (unless you count studying for a degree a second job – I would.)  He lives with his mother and sister to cut down on living expenses.   His tuition at school is $180 per month, of which he can pay only half.  The school is allowing him to pay less while he is still taking classes, but when he finishes his coursework next semester, the bill will come due, and he's worried about paying up.  

Since he lives at home, his expenses fall mostly in the "other" category, including $40 per month for contact lenses, $50 per month on clothes, and $300 per month on food.  (You will recall that food expenses were left out of the McDonald's sample budget.) 

Christopher is trying to raise two kids on $7.50 an hour.  He makes $1000 a month, which means he works at least 34 hours a week.  He has no second job.  He pays $500 monthly rent, and spends $290 monthly for cab and bus fare.  His kids go to a school that does not provide buses, which is why he has to pay for cab or bus fare to get them to school.  He has no health insurance, and he pays about $100 a month on prescription medications.  (I wonder what they would cost him if he had insurance?)

McDonald's estimated a heating cost of $0 in their generic budget, but Christopher, who lives in Detroit, Michigan, where winters are very cold, pays $45 a month for this.  He pays $55 a month for his phone, and $45 for electricity.  He pays $100 a month on childcare. 

His older son is as big as a professional basketball player, with size 13 shoes.  Christopher pays a lot to keep him in clothing, which he constantly outgrows, and to keep his son's hair cut neatly. 

Basically, Christopher spends about $750 more than he earns each month.  I have no idea how he accomplishes this. 

Kyle makes only $415 per month, and he gives half his paycheck to his daughter's mother.  He keeps his food costs down by eating at McDonald's, which – by all accounts – is not a healthy thing to do.  He struggles to pay for gas for his car and the car insurance bills.  He says he borrows money from friends and family to get by. The article gave no information about how old he is or where he lives.  His picture shows a fairly young man. 

Tyree has worked for McDonald's for 21 years.  He works at two separate McDonald's restaurants in Chicago for a total of only $610 a month.  He pays $320 monthly rent, $56 a month for bus fare, $26 a month for health insurance, $135 a month for cable TV and phone.  He lists "other" expenses as costing $700 a month, which is more than his income.  (Keep in mind that McDonald's failed to include a category for food in its sample budget.)  Besides food, Tyree has to pay for prescription drugs.  

Despite research that shows that adult males make up only 27.5% of the minimum-wage workforce, all four of the workers interviewed for the article were male.  (Adult women make up 48.5%, teenage girls make up 14%, and teenage boys make up only 10% of the minimum-wage workforce total.)  Statistics show that 75% of minimum-wage workers are white, 19.3% are black and 2.6% are Asian.  3.1% are unaccounted for in the statistics I saw, but I would bet they are Native American, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders.   In spite of this, all four workers interviewed for this article are black.  I would say that the article tends to reinforce the stereotype of the black male as minimum-wage earner.   :-/

What Makes Certain People More Attractive to Mosquitoes?

Today is Thursday, July 18, 2013.

If you think mosquitoes like you better than other people, you may be right.  If you want to know why, Dr. Phil Koehler of the University of Florida has some answers.  

I originally thought about writing this for my mother, who complains each summer that the bugs seem to love her.  She has the bites to prove it.  However, in her case, it may be the little gnats that prefer her type.  None of the things on the list below applies to my mother.  

Whatever.  For what it's worth, here are Dr. Koehler's findings, some of which includes research done in other places.

Mosquitoes like like blood type O.  Believe it or not, people secrete a substance that allows mosquitoes to identify blood type before they bite you.  They prefer O over A, but then this study was done in Japan, where B and AB are extremely rare.  I'd love to see some research done in the U.S.A. 

Mosquitoes like beer.  Apparently, more mosquitoes land on people after they have consumed beer.  Wonder what a drunk mosquito would look like...

Mosquitoes like to fool around during the full moon.  Mosquitoes are 500 times more active when the moon is full.  If you like to fool around during the full moon, just remember that mosquitoes do, too.  By the way, the peak times for mosquito activity are dusk and dawn. Some mosquitoes will fly 40 miles for a bite.  (Also, by the way, only female mosquitoes bite, not males. Don't ask me why.)

Mosquitoes like smelly feet and Limburger cheese.  The dirtier and smellier your feet are, the more mosquitoes will land on your feet, so do yourself a favor and keep 'em covered.  Everyone will thank you.  Oh, and don't eat Limburger cheese outdoors at dusk or dawn when the moon is full.   The thing about Limburger cheese is this: the bacterium used to ferment the cheese is the same as one found on human skin and this particular bacterium is partially responsible for body odor, especially foot odor.

Mosquitoes like expectant mothers.  Researchers theorize that part of the reason for this is that pregnant women, especially in the later stages of pregnancy,  exhale 21 percent more volume, and the mosquitoes are drawn to the carbon dioxide, as well as the moisture content in the breath.   Also pregnant women are up to 1 degree warmer in their abdomen, probably due to all the activity going on there, so the sweat released on their skin is particularly attractive to mosquitoes.  We all know how heat seems to make odors stronger.

Mosquitoes like runners.  If your game plan is to run away from the mosquitoes, forget it.  They like runners (and anyone who exercises in the heat) because they sweat more.  Mosquitoes are drawn to the lactic acid in the sweat, which is released by muscles as they work hard.  Runners and exercisers also breathe harder, and, as I mentioned above, they love the carbon dioxide that we exhale. 

Mosquitoes like dark clothes, especially red and black.  Black clothes are most attractive, then red.  Gray and blue are neutral.  Green, khaki and yellow are less attractive.  Light-colored clothes in general are less attractive than dark ones.

So... sorry, Mom, I don't know why the bugs like you so much.   :-/

Storing Up Memories for Winter

Hidden Valley Golf Course in Brandon, SD

Today is Wednesday, July 17, 2013.

As I was driving home from my mom and dad's place after dinner yesterday, I was thinking about what a beautiful day it turned out to be, and it crossed my mind, as it often does in the summertime, that I need to remember this day next winter.  I've been doing this for many years, now.  I tell myself, "Remember how beautiful that sunset was.  Remember how good you felt.  Remember this heat.  Remember how relaxed you felt.  Remember that big, blue sky without a cloud in sight.  Remember the green grass, and how you could smell the grass after someone mowed their lawn  Remember that gorgeous rainbow.  Remember that thunder shower.  Remember this campfire.  Remember how much fun you had... 

Remember.  Because there will be cold days when you will wish for warmth. There will be drab, gray days when you will wish for green grass and blue sky.  There will be days when you don't feel so good, even days when you are lying in the hospital, wondering whether you will ever feel good again.  There will be days when you are upset, worried, scared... and you will need a pleasant memory to take your mind off your troubles for a little while.  

When it's five p.m. on a cold December evening, I will remember how light the sky was until almost 9:30 at the height of summer.  When my steering wheel is so cold I can't touch it without gloves, I will remember that it was once so hot that I couldn't touch it until I ran the air conditioner for a while.  When all I can see for miles around is white snow, brown tree trunks bereft of leaves,  and a cloudy gray sky, I will recall the bright, emerald green of the grass after a summer rain, and how big the blue sky looked when all the clouds were gone.   When I am walking at a snail's pace across treacherous black ice, I will remember how effortlessly I walked on dry pavement to my car, or carried the trash bag out to the Dumpster.  

I sometimes remember winter during the summer, too.  When I see all the places where water collects on the pavement after it rains in summer, I remember that this is where the water will freeze next winter, and I will have to go around it to avoid a fall.   When I walk outside without a sweater, I recall spending 15 minutes putting on layer after layer of clothing before heading outside, even to do a simple thing like taking the garbage out.  When it takes the air conditioner in my car a while to cool the car down in the summer, I remember that it also takes the heater a while to come on in the winter.  When I have to stay indoors on on a stormy day or take precautions during a tornado watch, I recall that I also stay indoors during a snowstorm, and I have to take precautions in advance of a blizzard.  

When I take off a sweater because I am too warm, I try to recall how good that sweater feels when I am cold.  When I kick off my blankets on a hot summer night, I try to remember that those same blankets kept me snug on cold winter nights.  

It's all about balance, I guess.  I'm glad I live in a place where I can experience extremes of heat and cold, if only to remind myself that nothing is permanent, and I need to fully enjoy good things in the present so that I can endure tough times in the future.  :-)

Refresh, Delete, Undo, Save

Today is Tuesday, July 16, 2013. 

These four verbs: refresh, delete, undo and save, have all taken on specific meanings related to the use of computers.  Since I spend so much of my time online these days, they have become important functions in my life. 

The word refresh, as it is used with computers, means to update or renew an image or a computer screen (or the contents of the computer memory) by sending an electronic signal.  There is a little"refresh" button that looks like  an arrow circling to the right at the top of my Internet browser window.  Some pages that I visit are programmed to refresh automatically, while others are not, and if you have visited them before, you may have a picture of that page stored in your cache that is out of date. If you are looking for some new content on a particular page, but don't see it, click on the refresh icon first.  

In life, everything is in a constant state of flux and change.  New information is generated constantly.  It's so important for us all to take time to refresh our ideas, attitudes, and world views.  Some things, such as fashion trends, get refreshed so often and so minutely each time that we don't even register the changes much from season to season.  It's only when we look at clothes from decades back that we notice how dated the styles look, and we notice differences in hemlines, collars, waists, length, etc.  

Our view of the world and what is possible changes daily, too.  We get tired more easily.  Our range of motion is limited.  Activities that our bodies used to do easily, effortlessly, and gracefully are harder now, or even impossible. 

We react to situations differently now than we would have ten or twenty years ago.  Some things that once shocked us seem familiar now.  What used to anger us doesn't seem as upsetting anymore.  Things we never noticed before now bother us a great deal. Our sense of right and wrong has altered, our sense of what is acceptable and unacceptable, our values have shifted, even our notions about God and the meaning of life have changed over the years.  

As a nation, Americans are once again updating their ideas of what is OK and not OK in terms of the way people of different races act toward one another, and the way members of the various races are treated under the law.  The Paula Deen affair and George Zimmerman's murder of Trayvon Martin, among other things, serve as catalysts for change, however painful it may be.

Like some pages on the Internet, we don't always refresh automatically; it takes a major change to force us to "hit the refresh button" consciously.  Adaptability is a key quality that allows us to refresh gracefully and relatively painlessly.  The quality of detachment allows us to let go of our old ideas and habits in order to make room for something new.

*** *** *** *** ***

They say that the eraser is one of the greatest inventions of humankind. If so, the delete key is the second greatest.  When I think about all the holes I rubbed into paper with my eraser over the years, I have to laugh.  The delete key is so much easier.  Of course, we mustn't throw out the baby with the bath water.  That would be going overboard.

It would certainly be tempting to be able to delete all our mistakes, especially if we could do it with one keystroke.  The problem is, of course, that we need to learn from our mistakes.  That's why we make them.  It's one thing to delete something we have written on a computer, or even with an old-fashioned eraser.  It's quite another to delete a mistake we have made in life.  

Since we can't generally go back and rewrite history, we will have to delete something else.  Let us delete our feelings of unworthiness and guilt, our feelings of shame.  Let us delete the negative self-talk that follows every mistake and pratfall in our lives.   Let us delete feelings of anger, bitterness, and resentment toward others for things they have done, and toward life itself for having given us situations we could not control 

We can't really delete all our problems, but we can delete our negative, self-defeating thoughts.  We can delete the limits that we have imposed upon ourselves.   A positive attitude is the best way to delete the negative things in our lives.

 *** *** *** *** ***

Fortunately, there are some things that we can undo.  With computers, I have learned that it's always best to undo something as soon as you can, because there is a point beyond which the "undo" function will not work.  It works that way in life, as well.  

We can't always undo our mistakes, but we can start over and redo things that need to be done better.  We can ask for forgiveness and make restitution, whenever possible.  

We can turn over a new leaf and resolve to do better next time.  A humble heart and a sincere attitude will work wonders in this effort. 

 *** *** *** *** ***

How many times have we all lost a file on the computer because we forgot to save it?  Our precious memories of the happy moments in life are like files that we must save.  Any computer user knows that files don't save themselves. You have to make a conscious effort to save them. 

We must save the happy moments in our memories, because we never know when we will be parted from those we love, and we can't see the dark valley that we may have to walk through in the future.  Pictures are great, but it's even better if we take the time to reflect at the end of each day, perhaps to do some journaling.  A "gratitude notebook" that we can update each evening or each morning can become a wonderful source of memories, something to hang onto when life turns a little sour.   An attitude of gratitude is the way to save the good things in life for later recall.   :-)

Thoughts on the Zimmerman Verdict

Today is Monday, July 15, 2013.

On Saturday night, a jury of six women in Florida gave their verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman.  The verdict was "not guilty."  There has been a lot of emotional response to the verdict, particularly among those who wanted to hear a "guilty" verdict. 

In times like these, it's a good idea to take a deep breath and step back a bit to make sure we know what's really going on.  It's important to remember that a verdict of "not guilty" does not automatically mean that the defendant is innocent.  It simply means that there is a reasonable doubt about whether the person actually did the crime.  Often, what this means is that the prosecution did not adequately prove the defendant's guilt.  Sometimes, unfortunately, it's almost impossible to prove guilt.  The jury is constrained by what they can consider and what they cannot consider in rendering their verdict.  

Do I think George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin?  Well, somebody did, and Zimmerman was the one with the gun.  Zimmerman was the one who was out to get the "f**king punks" in his neighborhood.  

Do I think George Zimmerman was justified in killing Trayvon Martin?  Well, the kid turned out to be unarmed, and I have a lot of trouble believing that a muscular, 29-year-old man with a gun actually felt that he was in imminent and extreme physical danger from a 17-year-old kid who stood only 5'11" and weighed 158 pounds.  

Trayvon had just been suspended from school for ten days because of some drug residue in his backpack. He was visiting  his father for the period of time that he was supposed to be out of school, so he was not well known in the neighborhood.  It's too bad that his father didn't inform the "neighborhood watch captain" that his son would be visiting him.

Apparently, there were also some items of women's jewelry in the backpack at school, but none of the pieces of jewelry was linked to any theft reports.  There was also a screwdriver in the bag, which police said could possibly be used in theft.  OK, I understand that part, but any theft he might have committed was not proven, and until proven otherwise, a screwdriver is just a screwdriver.  Some people say seem to think that these things should have been mentioned in the trial, but the fact is that it is irrelevant why Trayvon was staying with his dad, and the book bag was not in his possession at the time he was killed.  

Besides, we don't sentence thieves to death in this country.... do we? 

Trayvon sounds like a troubled kid, and I have to say, there are a lot of troubled teenagers, in part due to the divorce rate among parents of Trayvon's generation.  It's not that the parents are totally at fault, but divorce is always a contributing factor.

Do I think that Zimmerman overreacted?  Yes, definitely.  Trayvon probably had no idea that Zimmerman was a "watch captain" and in any event, kids these days are instructed not to talk to strangers.  (Do you tell your kids not to talk to strangers?  If so, how does that make your kids' probable reaction any different from that of Trayvon when a strange man pulled up in an SUV and told him to stop?)   

One of the things that always bugged me as a teacher was that many kids lack the facility with language to be able to explain to adults what they are doing and why. Another thing that bugs me is that many young people have a very defensive attitude toward any authority figure, and their behavior often automatically turns mean and surly, which tends to inflame the adult authority figure.  (I know, because I've been that adult authority figure.)  If more parents taught their kids not to sass off to adults and if more kids had the wherewithal to at least explain what they are doing, a lot of angry episodes could be avoided.  

Do I think Zimmerman's behavior was racially motivated?  Yes.  Do I think Trayvon Martin's behavior was racially motivated.  Yes.  

Do I think Trayvon should have reacted less defensively?  Yes, but I do understand that he had just had a very negative run-in with school officials, and was probably not feeling very charitable – putting it mildly – toward any adult authority figure.  Teenagers are not known for their mature reasoning skills, and are liable to react to situations at the gut, or emotional, level.  It didn't help that Zimmerman's behavior toward him was intended to "power him down."  I can tell you that this never works, really, even if you get the kid to do what you want (or stop doing whatever they are doing), because when you power kids down, you will only manage to arouse their anger, and it will come back to you, somehow.   

So... now Zimmerman is "not guilty" and he even gets to have his gun back.  Some commentators say he will really need it, now.  If he thought he was in mortal danger on the night he shot Trayvon Martin, he hasn't seen anything, yet.   And his legal troubles are not over, either, because it's likely that he will be involved in a civil suit for "wrongful death" brought by Trayvon's family, or he will be sued in a "civil rights" case brought by the NAACP.   Either way, we have not heard the last of George Zimmerman.  :-(

Why Don't You Just Go to School and Get a Better Job?

Today is Sunday, July 14, 2013. 

Cartoon: I sure could use a raise.  I know!  I'll go to school, get more training and experience... work harder, become more productive, make myself more valuable!  Nyaaaah.  (Rings a doorbell holding a "Living Wage Petition".) 

This cartoon is incredibly unfair because it portrays minimum wage workers as lazy people who are unwilling to do what it takes to get a better-paying job. There's a simple reason why many people don't enroll in a college or trade school: It's too expensive.  Here's why.

Image Credit: DailyFinance

If you are in your 50s or 60s and haven't sent your kids to college or vocational school, you may be surprised to hear that in the past 30 years, college tuition has increased 1,120 percent!  This means that tuition nowadays is over 10 times what it was 30 years ago.  And that's an average figure.  In 1967, the cost of attending Yale University was $1,950.  Now it costs at least $38,300, considerably more than 10 times the 1967 figure.  Tuition itself isn't the only cost.  There's the cost of books, as well.  During the 2010-2011 school year, college students paid an average of $1,000 just for books!  Nowadays, students rent textbooks, buy used texts, or download eTextbooks. 

By contrast, healthcare costs, which are commonly described as "skyrocketing," have only gone up 600 percent.  The cost of housing has gone up 375 percent.  The consumer price index (think of goods such as clothing, household needs, cars, and services from a barber or hairdresser, auto mechanic, etc.) has gone up 275 percent.  The cost of food has gone up 220 percent.

What about trade school?  An article in eHow says that DeVry University, a well known school that has 95 physical locations across the United States and which also offers online courses, has programs that require anything from 65 to 124 credit hours. (One class is typically 2, 3 or 4 credits, based on how often it meets weekly. 1 credit hour typically means you spend one hour a week in class.  This does not count the time you are supposed to spend studying between class meetings.)  If you live in California, one credit will cost you $575, but if you are enrolled full-time for 12 or more credit hours per semester, that figure can go down to $345. Let's do the math: 12 hours at $345 = $4140.  How are you going to pay for that?  Get a loan!

College loan debt has now outpaced car loans and credit card debt as the largest source of personal debt.  It has been estimated that Americans owe more than $1 trillion in college debt.  One in five families is currently paying off tuition debt.  (This typically takes many years.  I was in my 30s before I had my bachelor's degree paid for.)  The average university student is in debt to the tune of $27,500 by the time he or she graduates.  Rising student loan interest rates are not helping matters. 

In addition, getting a degree or certification in a job skill is not a guarantee that a graduate will find a job.  Many technical school and university graduates are still working for minimum wage or slightly above, while they search for a suitable job that fits their qualifications.  Although employment is on the upswing in this country, it's still hard for people to find a job, and many people end up waiting four or five years to find a job that they trained for.

Minimum-wage workers have neither the time nor the money to attend school, so unless they can get a scholarship or land a Pell Grant, they typically end up stuck in the minimum-wage grind.  

Make no mistake about it:  We make it damn hard for our own citizens to earn qualifications to make a decent living in this country.  We are shooting ourselves in the foot.  Why?  :-(

Minimum Wage Woes

Today is Saturday, July 13, 2013.

The other day I saw a video produced by an organization that is lobbying Congress to raise the minimum wage.  It showed a page from the McDonald's web site that was apparently for their employees, attempting to give helpful budgeting advice.  Here is a link to the video.  The organization that created the video is called LowPayIsNotOK.com, and you can see the video there, too (click on the link at the top of the page.)  I did not sign their petition, however, because it required me to give them my cell phone number, and that is one thing I will not provide.  Instead, I'm writing this blog.

Under income, the budget listed not one, but two jobs, with the first job totaling $1105 per month and the second job totaling $955.  It was not clear which of these incomes was supposed to be from the McDonald's job.   The total income was listed as $2060 per month.  I'm assuming that is take home pay. 

Let's look at the income for a moment.  Federal minimum wage (per hour) in the United States is $7.25 (pictured).   There are a few states that have a state minimum that is over the federal guidelines, Washington state being the highest, at $9.19.  A number of states have a minimum of $8.00, including California.  Several states have a minimum that is lower than the federal wage.  In general, these lower minimums apply to smaller businesses, so larger businesses in these states must go with the federal minimum.  About five states have no state minimum, which means that the federal guidelines apply. 

In states with the federal minimum, the vast majority of workers at McDonald's make around $7.75 an hour.  A few of the "manager" positions earn a little over $8.00 up to about $9.50.  A very few higher level employees make more than that.  

Let's be charitable and say that the worker is making $8.00 per hour.  At that rate, without considering taxes, you would have to work  a total of 65 hours per week at your two jobs.   There are probably people who do this, but I'm guessing that they can't sustain this type of schedule for very long without some dire consequences. There are 168 hours in a week.  If you spend 65 of them working, you have 103 hours left.  Let's say you get 7 hours of sleep a night - that's 49 hours, with only 54 hours left in the week.  That's between 7 and 8 hours per day for other things, like getting ready for work, eating, transportation time to work, and a little down time.  But, of course, that's if you work 7 days a week, which few part-time workers do.  If you work 6 days a week, then you would have to squeeze your 65 days into six slots, working 11 hours five of those days and 10 hours the sixth day.   A ten-hour day does not leave much time for anything else in life, so right away, the McDontald's budget plan is not really sustainable in the long term, nor is it realistic.

The total salary was listed as $2060 per month.   Let's say you made that much money as a gross salary.  This works out to $24,720 per year.  If you are single with no kids, your tax for the year (at least some of it would be withheld) would be $1762 for the year.  If you are head of the household (single or married) your tax is $797 for the year.  You would have to have 1 child in order to pay no tax at all for this salary amount.  

The McDonald's budget plan figured the following expenses: 

savings  $100   (This is so unrealistic, it's not funny.)

rent or mortgage $600  (This may be true for someone living in a rural area in the South or the Midwest, but if you are living in a city, this is just not accurate.  According to the Living Wage Calculator, housing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, runs from $508 to $891, on average.  But if you live in Brooklyn, New York, for example, you pay anywhere from $1129 to $1672 per month, so you would be forced to have at least a couple of roommates.)

car payment $150  (I'm not sure what kind of car you could afford, but my guess is that it would be a "beater," and probably unreliable in the long term.  The  McDonalds budget does not figure in the cost of gas for the car, a very serious omission.  The Living Wage Calculator says a person in Sioux Falls, SD, would need $306 - $748.  Since buses are few and far between, and things are pretty spread out in Sioux Falls, you really need a car.  If your car payment were really only $150, then you would still need $156 for gas.  There goes your savings.)

car & home insurance $100  ( I think my car insurance is about $45/month, and my renters' insurance is maybe $15/month, so this is fine, but since McDonald's didn't figure in gas money, you'd use any extra money at the gas pump.)

medical insurance $20  (Oopsie, this won't do. According to the Living Wage Calculator, medical expenses average $120 a month for singles, and up to $405 if you have 3 kids in South Dakota.  If you live in Brooklyn, NY, expect to pay an average of $136 to $418 per month.  Keep in mind that the vast, vast majority of minimum-wage workers are not employed full-time, for a reason.  The reason is that their employers don't want to underwrite health insurance.  It's well-known that people without insurance have to pay much more than those with insurance, so the out-of-pocket cost for a simple doctor visit is astronomical.  Obamacare should help with this, but healthcare for the least-paid workers is always going to be a problem.)

heating $0   (That's right.  Zero.  I'm not sure what they were thinking, but apparently, they think there are no McDonalds stores in any state that has winter weather.  Or something.  Now, in the North, the least expensive apartments do include heating in the rent, but then again, your rent is probably not going to be only $600.)

cable/phone:  $100  (This may be about right, as long as you don't do a lot of texting on your phone.)

electricity: $90  (Well, my electric bill is around $75, and I'll bet it costs way more in Brooklyn, New York!)

other $100  (Um, let's see.. what have we not listed, besides gas for the car?  Oh, gosh yeah, food!  Water, clothing, child care, and school supplies for the kids.  If you have kids, they tend to grow, so clothing and shoes are a big issue.  You may be able to get by with the same clothes from year to your, but your kids can't.)

OK, so basically, McDonald's goofed, big-time.  Even with two incomes totaling $2060 per month take-home, you cannot really make ends meet, especially if you are single and have kids.  

Oh, kids.  Let's take a look at that:  Child-care in South Dakota is estimated at $408 for one child, $679 for two kids, and $950 for three kids.  In Brooklyn, New York, those figures run from $788 to $2,288.  So yeah, the McDonald's budget is way out of line.  

But wait, what if you don't work for McDonalds?  What if you work for Wal-Mart?  Or Target?  Or a hundred other places that pay minimum wage?   Same deal.  Basically, you can't get by on minimum wage.  The D. C. Council, the lawmaking body in our nation's capital,  just approved a "living wage" bill that would boost wages in so-called "big-box" stores like Wal-Mart from $8.25, the city's current minimum wage, to $12.50 an hour.   Walmart responded by threatening not to open three new stores currently planned - some already under construction - in the Washington, D.C. area.  The retailer says that the "average" wage for workers is already over $12, but we all know that the vast majority of workers are paid only minimum wage, and that these people are not full-time employees. 

Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) responded to Wal-Mart's threat this way: "The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays. We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us."  

Good for you, D.C. Council!  You don't need three Wal-Marts anyway!  :-/