Hmm, $8.50 per hour for a 40 hour week? That’s $340 a week, or $1360 gross a month. I can live with that right?
After all deductions (between ¼ - ⅓ of gross for various taxes, Social Security, etc.) of about $400.00, that leaves me with $960.00.
Lets see, average rent for a 1 bedroom in D.C. is $1617.00 a month.
Average Rent In Washington, Washington Rent Trends and Rental Comps
Definitely can’t afford that, so let’s say I can find a “C-level” apartment for $600.00 available somewhere in surrounding Maryland and Virginia. (Class C properties were built within the last 30 to 40 years. They generally have blue-collar and low- to moderate-income tenants, and the rents are below market.)
Apartment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That leaves me with $360.00 for all other expenses. Hmmm. Electricity and gas…$45 - $55 a month depending on time of year (cold weather/hot weather), so we’ll average that to $50.00.
Now I’m at $310.00. but according to this I’d need $348.92 a month if I bought and prepared all my own food and maintained a healthy diet!:shock:
Food Prices in Washington, DC, United States
Shoot! Hmmm, maybe I overestimated my tax burden…if I cheat a little on my W-2 I can maybe bring it down to only $300 in deductions…pay it back at the end of the year with savings.
Yeah, so I get $100 more, and $61.00 in disposable income.
I still need to get to and from work. The Metro train fares range from $1.70 to $5.75 and bus fares start at $1.60 one way if I get a “SmarTrip card. Gee, that means even if I live close I’d need $3.20 a day round trip for work. At 5 days a week…that’s $64.00! :shock:
Metro - Fares - Metrobus (follow link to rail fares also).
I guess I can try walking several hours, put in some gas money for a ride, or buy a bike…hope I don’t need to shave or buy clothes, or anything.
EXCEPT…Full-time Wal-Mart employees work 28 -40 hours, 1/3 of all employees are part-time, working under 28 hours, and they are beginning to replace full-timers with “temps” in another effort to eliminate benefit requirements. :doh
PBS - STORE WARS: Wal-Mart Business Practices and
Exclusive - Wal-Mart's everyday hiring strategy: Add more temps | Reuters
I can only HOPE I get to be one of the “full-timers” getting 40 hours a week.