Share Your Story: Have you ever lived on minimum wage?

Im gone say some REAL ISH.. LISTEN UPim a young black man.. '89 year i was born. Lived Down south for most of my youth.. I GREW UP SEEING STRUGGLE.. i think its horrible that one of the first things i remember as a kid is UNDERSTANDING what STRUGGLE is.. KNOWIN what MONEY is..and knowing what its like to NOT HAVE IT.. and see others frivilously spend what most strive so DAMN HARD to get. I got jobs here and there as a teen.. moved to the WEST.. recently. 2008-2010. min wage 9.04..  DONT MEAN ISH. parents charge u rent..so as a man u pay. MONEY GONE..bus to work everyday. MONEY GONE. pay cell bill. MONEY GONE. plus as a man... u GOTTA keep $$ in yo pocket.. plus.. u gotta find yo career EARLY in LIFE.. or u gone fall behind. SO u spend money on what u NEED to get more $$.. (studio equiptment in my case) MONRY GONEaint do skool cause im too smart to get a lil change (a few 1000) just to OWE waaaay more years down the line..( STUDENT LOAN DEBT is HUUUGE!) HEEELLLL NAAAW.. so i said F**K skool. so how can a brother save money??? when AINT NO CASH to save? 16 and already got BILLS.. MOVED OUT to grow my own balls as a man.. PAYING RENT.. MONEY GONE.. then.. DOOOOOM.. FIRED from job.. SEE.. when u black.. when u get FIRED.. NO MATTER WHAT the reason.. aint no body gone give a F**K. lost my job.. SNOWBALL EFFECT.. so what does a BLACK MAN do? cant go back to moms from the jump right.. SO... give 2 weeks to find a JOB.. NOTHING.. NOW.. TIME TO GET GRIMEY.. two options.. ROB or SLANG. (sell drugs) and i did it.. but even that runs dry eventually. AINT no retirement plans for DRUG DEALERS ..feel me. WHATS the option? get a job.. AMERICA dont give a DAMN about anyone that aint BLOND HAIRED..BLUE EYED IMAGE OF AMERICAN.. (no diss to OBAMA.. but ONE black man makin it DOES NOT EQUATE for 400+ years of unequal opportunity for the rest of the race) LETS BE REAL..  so i hit the streets.. why?? it goes like this..GET a JOB.. so u apply for a lot.. (i've had 4 jobs and got fired from 3) NO ONE HIRES UTIME WAITS FOR NO MAN... bills DONT WAIT.. so i CANT WAIT for jobs to hit me back..so what can u do?? no $$ for travel.. so u cant get to temp jobs.. so u do the ONLY THANG GUARENTEED to make $$.. SLANG DRUGS.. now i got a job.. moved back down south.. MY paycheck wage went from 10 flat.. ( living out west.. HIGH ASS COST OF LIVING) to 7.25.. WHAT THE F**K?? STILL LOSING.. LOSING EVEN WORSE NOW.. the american DREAM aint to SURVIVE ya'll.. ANIMALS SURVIVE.. humans are meant to LIVE.. so when ISH hits the fans... u WIPE it off... WITH THEIR TOWEL.. feel me..AMERICA.. where u GOTTA be GRIMEY and DIRTY...to SHINE..I'll stop sellin drugs when i get hired to a job that makes me more $$ than SLANGIN..till then.. SEE U on the CORNER... I GOT what u NEED.. 

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When I was growing up in the 1970s, we lived in Middlesex County, NJ. I was in elementary school, my sister was a baby, and my father worked two jobs so my mother could stay home with us kids. My dad hated like hell that my mom resorted to buying end-of-day or day-old bread to make sandwiches on, but with the money my parents saved from small sacrifices like that and from other things, they were able to save enough money for all four of us to go on day trips to the Jersey Shore -- Asbury Park when it was still something to look at -- a few times a year.  Back then a little hard work and some smart budgeting would get you by, because your dollar went much farther. Now, it's a lost cause. I do not know exactly how much my father earned at that time, but for even a small family like mine, living near New York City in a modest two-bedroom apartment that was NOT rent-controlled or rent-stabilized was difficult. The New York Times article is absolutely correct.  I lived in New York for eight years.  In order to offset the sky-high prices of EVERYTHING, Albany does need to raise the minimum wage -- higher than $8.50/hour. New York City's prices are about on par with Silicon Valley, so if Silicon Valley can legislate a living wage -- not a minimum wage -- why can't New York?

Let me start by saying I mean no offense to anyone, other than those who should rightly be offended! We live in the supposed Most prosperous country in the world yet we have, the highest ratio of hard-working, WORKING-POOR people in our country. My Family & I have struggled for some time to survive from pay-check to pay-check and I used to wonder why! My eyes have been opened to the truth & facts that we also live in an Extremely bigoted/racist/Mysoginistic/Classist society, which means we live in a society of pure fools, { It takes each and every one of Us being able to "LIVE", not merely Survive, for our society to thrive!!!!!}, who believe and will barter/buy/sell/trade/steal/or kill to keep Certain people and Peoples in positions of Excellent Health, Out-Standing Education & Financial Prosperity to the detriment of the rest of Us. My Daughters & I spent years where I worked so much I hardly ever got to spend time with me Children, because 1 Full-time minimum wage job was NOT going to cut it {and I was able-bodied & minded so, Welfare was not an option for Us!}. I struggled and fought my way through school to receive an Asssociates Degree { while enduring a physical disability for part of that 2yrs. that I would later find was permanent & being a victim of Domestic Violence/Spousal Abuse}, so I could get a better job & provide for my Family without becoming yet another burden on the backs of others like me who were willing to and did work! There were times that Our diet consisted of Ramen Noodles for Our 3 meals a day and possibly a bologna sandwich {which I would often forgo to ensure that my Children would have another meal}. We were in protective custody of the state at one point with no vehicle and had to walk approx. 7 miles to & from the grocery store when we did finally start getting food stamps to help out. We have had to make Our way through me losing a job because I couldn't afford to get back and forth to work, which created to the usual snowball effect: lost job, lost home, lost belongings, lost hope, lost Our voices. We have come a long way in a very short period of time, only to have my Daughters now facing the dilemnas of terribly/sickeningly low wages & very high costs for any & everything they need {along with my Grandchildren}. I always tried to continue to believe that if I worked hard, I would see the Fruits of my efforts & I taught my Daughters the same thing, unfortunately the world & life are doing ALL they can to teach them the complete opposite, {If you do what is good/right/correct/honest/ & ehtical, Not only will you work yourself to death, but it will bee for nothing, because lying/stealing/cheating/deceiving/ & pure unadulterated Evil seem to run Our societies/Our World now! So, to answer the question in the simplest way, "What it takes to live on Minimum Wage, rather How do you live on Minimum Wage?"
YOU DON'T "LIVE" ON OR OFF OF MINIMUM WAGES, YOU EXIST, STRUGGLING FOR EVER SINGLE CRUMB THAT GRACIOUSLY FALLS YOUR WAY, YOU KEEP FIGHTING AGAINST EVERY ODD THAT REARS IT'S HEAD HOPING AGAINST HOPE THAT THINGS WILL GET BETTER SO YOU CAN KEEP GOING - SO THAT YOU CAN EXPECT SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR YOUR CHILDREN & GRANDCHILDREN, YOU LEARN TO PUT PRAYERS IN PLACE OF THE DOLLARS YOU DON'T HAVE AND HOPE THAT SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, YOU LEARN TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THE LEAST, YOU RECOGNIZE THAT NECESSITY IS INDEED THE MOTHER OF INVENTION, YOU PUT FEARS/SHAME/PRIDE/ & JUDGEMENT ALL IN THEIR PLACES, AND YOU STRIKE OUT MOVING FORWARD THE VERY BEST CAN!!!!!

TO EACH & EVERY ONE OF MY FELLOW-MINIMUM-WAGE-MAKERS {THEN AND/OR NOW}, PLEASE REMEMBER " OFTEN IN LIFE YOU HAVE TO HAVE BEEN A FIGHTER TO BECOME A SURVIVOR, YOU HAVE TO HAVE BEEN A SURVIVOR TO BECOME "A CONQUEROR!!!", IT'S WHEN YOU BECOME A "CONQUEROR" YOU HAVE TRULY BEGUN TO "LIVE"!!!!!!!!!!"

TO ALL: BECOME YOUR OWN "CONQUEROR", LIVE YOUR LIVES TO THE FULLEST & BEST OF YOUR ABILITIES & BE BLESSED!!!!!