4 Men with 4 Very Different Incomes Open Up About the Lives They Can Afford

[NutBucket]

Breaking the law is a matter of ignorance and stupidity. I can afford to pay a parking ticket by why would I want to waste my money?

 

[Exophase]

Breaking the law is a matter of ignorance and stupidity. I can afford to pay a parking ticket by why would I want to waste my money?

Are you a robot who never makes a mistake? I guess you never got a parking ticket in your life. I've gotten tickets because one of the cars in my household was left on the street overnight, because one of us forgot to move it in or there was a miscommunication about who was expected to do it. Stuff like this happens sometimes, but I guess we should forever hang our heads in ignorance and stupidity...

 

[thesmokingman]

Are you a robot who never makes a mistake? I guess you never got a parking ticket in your life. I've gotten tickets because one of the cars in my household was left on the street overnight, because one of us forgot to move it in or there was a miscommunication about who was expected to do it. Stuff like this happens sometimes, but I guess we should forever hang our heads in ignorance and stupidity...

Stupid or not, pay the fine or deal with the consequences. What the five, are you a child? If you're poor don't waste what funds you don't have on dumb shit.

 

[jlee]

Are you a robot who never makes a mistake? I guess you never got a parking ticket in your life. I've gotten tickets because one of the cars in my household was left on the street overnight, because one of us forgot to move it in or there was a miscommunication about who was expected to do it. Stuff like this happens sometimes, but I guess we should forever hang our heads in ignorance and stupidity...

Did you keep doing it until you had $3,000 to pay?

 

[Jeff7]

How often do you worry about money? Maybe once a week. I've been broke before. I've refinanced my house to pay my employees.
...

It's nice to see employers who do care about ensuring that their employees always receive their paychecks.

How often do you worry about money? Every single day. Every single minute. I always want more, and every single day I'm thinking, "What's the next move?"

Ambition sounds like a somewhat interesting thing to have.



I wonder how many people they surveyed?
Interesting that the wealthier ones don't seem quite as concerned about taxes.
If you're at $20k/yr, every little bit taken hurts. $1k is a big chunk at that point. If you're at $250k/yr, that same $1k is peanuts.
Possibly some cherry-picking of interviewees going on though...

 

[Exophase]

Did you keep doing it until you had $3,000 to pay?

No, but I have no idea how much of those $3000 are from fines that I wouldn't have had to pay. This isn't about whether or not he should have learned lessons or changed behavior, it's about having to accrue fine after fine because he could never pay.

 

[thesmokingman]

No, but I have no idea how much of those $3000 are from fines that I wouldn't have had to pay. This isn't about whether or not he should have learned lessons or changed behavior, it's about having to accrue fine after fine because he could never pay.

You know what happens if you drive thru a toll road by accident? They fine you. If you don't pay in two months they put a lien on your registration. Boohoo, right?

 

[NutBucket]

Are you a robot who never makes a mistake? I guess you never got a parking ticket in your life. I've gotten tickets because one of the cars in my household was left on the street overnight, because one of us forgot to move it in or there was a miscommunication about who was expected to do it. Stuff like this happens sometimes, but I guess we should forever hang our heads in ignorance and stupidity...

I've never had a moving violation *knock on wood* and have received exactly one parking ticket in 17 years of driving.

 

[Exophase]

You know what happens if you drive thru a toll road by accident? They fine you. If you don't pay in two months they put a lien on your registration. Boohoo, right?

I'm guessing you think this is acceptable as well..

http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/01/news/unpaid-tolls-debt/

If you can't pay then have no cap on how much you can be charged until you're forced into bankruptcy.

 

[NutBucket]

Actually I did that once. We have the fast-pass lanes here in SoCal and they were added relatively recently. I took the wrong on-ramp once and had to pay the toll. I sent in a check for less than $0.50!

 

[thesmokingman]

Actually I did that once. We have the fast-pass lanes here in SoCal and they were added relatively recently. I took the wrong on-ramp once and had to pay the toll. I sent in a check for less than $0.50!

Dude, you should have ignored it then claimed ignorance. Zomg, they took my house because... then Exophase would have come to your rescue. :'''(

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm guessing you think this is acceptable as well..

http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/01/news/unpaid-tolls-debt/

If you can't pay then have no cap on how much you can be charged until you're forced into bankruptcy.

In Cali they will put a lien on your registration within two months. You can whine and cry about it all you want, that won't change the fact that irresponsibility will lead to a lot more problems.

 

[cronos]

Interesting that the wealthier ones don't seem quite as concerned about taxes.
If you're at $20k/yr, every little bit taken hurts. $1k is a big chunk at that point. If you're at $250k/yr, that same $1k is peanuts.

That's what people have been saying above. If his income is at $20k/year, every little bit taken each month he'll get back after filing his return. He shouldn't be concerned about tax, because he effectively doesn't pay any.

 

[waggy]

Chicago sold their parking management and payment to a private firm ~2009. I'm sure that entity really doesn't give a dick how much they charge this guy, or how he pays them--only that he does it. He seems to be feeding them like they're a slot machine though, so I imagine that makes them happy.

They wouldn't have any incentive to make this easy for him, as the city would if they were in control.

While I hate that the city sold the parking (really fucking stupid) they did try to make it better on paying.

granted they almost doubled the rate of parking..

 

[waggy]

$800 a monthy on food ain't bad. we do 200-250 a week for 2 adults and 2 preteens.

though we tend to spend the most in the summer when fresh fruit is in season. we go through a lot of fruit then.

I don't understand the poor guy.

 

[TwiceOver]

When people throw out their "food budget" numbers, is that strictly food or more like "household"? We are probably around $800/no but that is household with paper towels, laundry detergent, bathroom supplies, etc.

 

[Jeff7]

That's what people have been saying above. If his income is at $20k/year, every little bit taken each month he'll get back after filing his return. He shouldn't be concerned about tax, because he effectively doesn't pay any.

There are numerous taxes though, not just federal income tax. (Yes, I know that he'll pay little to nothing on the federal taxes.) I think I might have gotten something back on state taxes when I was working part time during college....maybe. That was 15 years ago though.
Local tax, sales tax, various state-level "because we wanted more money" taxes....

 

[zinfamous]

When people throw out their "food budget" numbers, is that strictly food or more like "household"? We are probably around $800/no but that is household with paper towels, laundry detergent, bathroom supplies, etc.

Ah, we do keep those separate. Food is strictly food, even for items like cooking oils, cooking wine, spices or whatever that gets used into other months, it's part of the same budget.

Paper towels, toilet paper, soaps, cleaning stuff...all of that stuff is in their own "household budget" With Costco, though, that ends up being less than $10/month if you spread the cost out over 3 or more months.

For me, this is a "new experiment" to see if I can do it. My goal is to effect a more permanent behavioral change which should, in the end, be nothing but beneficial (Save $100+ per month on things like food, put it directly into investments/IRA contributions/whatever).

The good thing is that I'm already that way anyway, I already cook quite a bit as it is..and I've been doing that for more than 20 years. I don't mean Kraft macaroni and cheese--I like to experiment with all sorts of recipes and fancy techniques. I'm absolutely convinced that I can learn how to cook just about anything that I would want to eat close enough to restaurant quality where the benefit of going out for that meal really isn't worth it. Not regularly, anyway.

 

[Ns1]

...

 

[rstrohkirch]

I'm confused on the Poverty Line - Demetrius Campbell, 25

He mentions the biggest 2 week check he's had so far was $250. Chicago has a minimum wage of $10 or a bit more now since they are on graduated plan. I'm curious as to why his weekly worked hours is so low. Maybe he can't find or afford childcare?

 

[TwiceOver]

I'm confused on the Poverty Line - Demetrius Campbell, 25

He mentions the biggest 2 week check he's had so far was $250. Chicago has a minimum wage of $10 or a bit more now since they are on graduated plan. I'm curious as to why his weekly worked hours is so low. Maybe he can't find or afford childcare?

He probably has multiple garnishments.

 

[TwiceOver]

Paper towels, toilet paper, soaps, cleaning stuff...all of that stuff is in their own "household budget" With Costco, though, that ends up being less than $10/month if you spread the cost out over 3 or more months.

A family of just 3 here, there's no way we spend $10/mo on household goods like that. My wife probably uses $10/mo in toilet paper alone. Laundry detergent, softener, dryer sheets easily $20/quarter if not more. I'd say we easily spend $50-$70/mo on just household type goods, which we lump into our grocery spending since it is generally all done at the same time (Wal-Mart).

 

[Ns1]

I'm confused on the Poverty Line - Demetrius Campbell, 25

He mentions the biggest 2 week check he's had so far was $250. Chicago has a minimum wage of $10 or a bit more now since they are on graduated plan. I'm curious as to why his weekly worked hours is so low. Maybe he can't find or afford childcare?

He also says he doesn't get consistent hours...yet only has one job.

 

[Exophase]

I'm confused on the Poverty Line - Demetrius Campbell, 25

He mentions the biggest 2 week check he's had so far was $250. Chicago has a minimum wage of $10 or a bit more now since they are on graduated plan. I'm curious as to why his weekly worked hours is so low. Maybe he can't find or afford childcare?

Apparently it's a tipped job, and the minimum wage for tipped positions is at $5.45. That makes the $7 number meaningless without knowing what kind of tip income he makes.

But yeah, he isn't working that many hours.

I wonder if he gets child support? A very low income single father household is pretty unusual, maybe he's a widower.. Or maybe the article was misleading and he doesn't actually have sole custody.

He also says he doesn't get consistent hours...yet only has one job.

In some areas it's still really hard to find work. But you'd think he would have mentioned it if he were at least looking.

 

[Ns1]

If homie can't get a job with uber / lyft/ postmates / doordash / task monkey / etc, homie is basically unemployable.