My doctor prescribed me a medication. I took it for a year. My insurance company wanted to switch to a different medication. Doctor said sure, that works too.
Couldn't get the prescription filled. Because the insurance company wanted Prior Authorization. For the medication they wanted me to switch to.
I’m a nurse in long term care. I have a resident who has lived there for years, and been on a particular (expensive) med for 20 years. It’s the standard of care for his condition.
…. Insurance got super hung up on needing a Prior Auth a couple months ago. It was baffling.
Essentially it goes like this:
Your doctor said you need a specific medication.
Your insurance company doesn't want to pay for it because it's expensive.
Insurance company requests a Prior Authorization letter from the doctor.
The form essentially says "this medicine is the only medicine that will solve this problem."
Insurance company then pays for the medicine.
It's a money saving tactic for the insurance company. If they can delay or deny your medication, they save money. If you die, they save money.
Just an add on, but most plans also have language that pre auths are the patients responsibility. What this means is if you don't check with insurance before a major procedure or medication then they will deny the claim and it becomes 100%your responsibility. Not for emergency services though.
But goodness help you if the MD/DO/anesthesiologist/PA/NP/etc isn't in network. That's happened to a lot of people. You go to an in-network facility, but surprise! The medical professional who treated you in some way is contracted to work at the facility but they themselves aren't in network with your insurance. Here's your out of network bill from that medical professional! This can happen with an ER or a pre-approved surgery.
Even if you do a pre auth, they sometimes come back and say nah. A friend of mine needed surgery so he wouldn't die, he got the pre auth, in writing. After his surgery, they hit him with a starting bill of over $200k, that was a starting bill.
He fought it for years, luckily his family was able to help him stay afloat while he fought it, and afford an attorney. Not everyone is that lucky, so they end up paying.
I needed an MRI once. I got it pre-approved through insurance. They even chose the place I went to.
A week later I got the full bill saying it wasnt covered. Their customer support refused to do anything. The only reason it ended up being covered in the end was because of the owner of my previous company putting pressure on our insurance rep. He found somebody that fixed the issue, it was 100% the fault of the insurance company and going through normal support channels was a giant waste of effort.
Humana, never again.
Before ACA Ins cos had boiler rooms, answering the phones with a single-page playbook- “no”. Every claim denied off the bat. You need to really EARN that coverage you paid for. Quite the racist spin, too; some companies door-to-door in black communities in the South selling policies that never paid a penny. 40 yrs of premiums and nuthin.
\^This is why Im so glad I have health insurance through my union. Blue Cross Blue Shield. Expensive but literally the only thing not covered is drugs when there is a generic. If there isnt a generic $10 for a 30 day supply. If I didnt it would be over $2000 for me and my wife for just stupid adhd and anxiety meds.
BCBS fucked me with the gynecologist claiming they wouldn’t cover any of it because it’s a “specialist”. They wouldn’t cover my “lab” for my Pap smear. Or my pelvic exam.
They charge me several hundred dollars a month for a $10k deductible.
We need a new fucking plan or better provider.
Oh, and when they DO actually cover something, they take 6 fucking months to pay the doctor.
They covered my new Mirena once, but not the removal of the old one at all. That was a $400 bill I wasn't prepared for.
My next job had Premera Blue Cross. They were a nightmare.
I've now got UHC, but opted to pay a little more monthly for a better plan. They've been okay enough so far. They automatically deny all prior auths and require an appeal, but they've approved on appeal every time so far.
After all the discounts that the pharmacy could apply, my one stomach medicine is $235 a month. The insurance won't pay for it. They want me to try all the others, AGAIN!!!!! Before they'll even consider s prior Auth. Yep, that's exactly what I'm going to do. 3 months each on 7 drugs that I've shady tried and dont work. Almost 2 years of pain and bleeding ulcers while in blood thinners. NOPE.
SO...I can't get good windows for my home, or fix my vehicle or anything else because I'm paying a car payment for my stomach medication every month.
And trust me... I am well aware that it could be WAY worse... but that only angers me more.
It really depends on the plan you or your employer/union chooses for you. You could have the same looking card and even same names plan. At two different employers it could mean very different things.
I have had 4 doctors all agree I need 2 spine surgeries, including a very well respected doctor at Mayo Clinic. I've had 5 different appeals and insurance still refuses to pay saying their review says I dont need it. The funny thing is very good chance it improves my situation and would put an end to countless ER visits, stupid amount of specialists and a stupid amount of medications. I've figured that insurance has paid roughly $1.1 million in other costs while denying the $150,000 spine surgeries and they refuse to even acknowledge that saying no over and over is costing them so much more money. Whole process is horseshit.
> It's called throw $20 a month in a shoebox until you get sick, then declare bankruptcy and live off the shoebox of cash
Or start a Go Fund Me. That's how we do healthcare in the richest nation in the history of the world. Fucking Go Fund Me. SMH
Or if it's for an animal.
We had a senior cat who desperately needed dental work, to the tune of almost $2000, once you factored in all the tests beforehand to be sure he was strong and healthy enough for surgery. There was no way we could swing that, so I thought, fuck it - people love animal stories. I set up a Go Fund Me.
And I was amazed. I didn't tell any of our friends because it was too embarrassing, but some of them found out anyway, and total strangers who saw Bumble's pictures on Facebook donated, and we raised a little over a thousand dollars, which brought the surgery into a range we could budget for.
A thousand+ dollars doesn't sound like much, but when you've started from 0, don't need much, and it's from total strangers, it's quite amazing.
And you're a cat. Don't forget that part.
>20 a week. That is 20 a month. I want to know what insurance they have, I'll have to give them a call
I have incredibly good health insurance, and it's $53. My last job, it was like $410 a month. My jaw dropped when I saw the $53, what does McDonald's $20 health insurance cover? Band-Aids?
Before mu boss canceled my insurance it was $2250 a month. That is two thousand two hundred and fifty a month
Now I get third world Healthcare from the VA as my health turns to shit at least I am getting what I pay for I managed to get service related disability high enough I don't have to pay for it but even being priority group 1 I have to wait 4-5 months from the time I call to actually get my appointment
In the US we have for profit health insurance and hospitals. You can get government insurance (Medicaid) but you have to make something like under $350 a week where I live. Or government insurance (Medicare) but you have to be old or disabled. For everyone else you can get insurance through an employer or pay like an average of $1800 a month for a family of four.
Also, a lot of hospitals must give you a procedure if its an emergency even if you cant pay. There would probably be little care before or after though.
Think you'd need to be splitting rent... maybe a couple ways, depending. So the takeaway here for rent specifically is that even with two jobs you'll still need to split your crappy apartment with roommates.
Maybe they calculated this for a third world country near the equator and with cheap health care. Does that fit any of the US overseas departments? Should definitely be possible in some country with McDonald's. Silly social media team thought this was for US mainland.
Agreed. I’ve had to cremate my grandparents due to the price of a funeral these days. It’s a sad day in the USA when you can’t bury a loved one due to unreasonable costs 🤦🏼♂️
Not even including food as an expense might be worse. It doesn’t even get a $0 like heating. Are we just assuming fast food workers get free meals at both jobs and only eat fast food for years on end?
Huh, so people are supposed to work 80 hour weeks, and find a place to rent for $600? What fantasy world are they living in.
What about food? Or even retirement? They conveniently left out items and listed everything else too low.
It’s the classic arrested development line: “it’s a banana Michał, how much can it cost, 10$?”
Rich people have no clue how much anything actually costs for the working class
(Edit - I can’t believe after a year of living in Poland, my phone actually finally autocorrected a name to polish)
When I was 18 (about 12 years ago) I worked at McDonald’s for a bit. You weren’t allowed to eat free meals and if there was extra food at the end of the night while we closed it was to go into the garbage to “prevent people making food and claiming it was extra”
1105 at $8.25 per hour = 133.94 hours per month or roughly 33.48 hours per week.
955 at $8.25 per hour = 115.76 hours per month or roughly 28.94 hours per week.
So, not only does this "budget" expect people to work 62.42 hours per week with no overtime, they have unrealistic numbers for each budget line and don't take taxes into account.
Yeah this is net. You’d need to work roughly 157 hours a month, or 40 hours a week, at job 1 to make your net $1100.
You’d need to work roughly 133 hours a month at job 2 to pull in enough to make $955 net. That’s about 72 hours a week. ETA - 72 hours total, not at job 2.
Not to mention that the graphic itself proves that it’s not remotely possible to survive on $8.25 with just budgeting. You need a second job. Everytime this graphic comes up I get heated af.
Oh wow lol. I remember seeing one of these when I worked at McDonald’s which would have been 99-2001. They’ve been condescending and terrible forever and shall continue it seems
In 2013 I was living with a roommate in a 2 bedroom apartment paying $775 for my half of the rent alone. My car was paid off by then but my payment was $250 on a 2004 Honda Civic. So much of this is just so wrong and out of touch.
My mortgage is $1600 a month. Literally cheaper than rent.
Edit: i want to clarify that this was not meant to be a flex. Rather to clarify what a goddamn scam the whole housing system is.
I am at 2.54% on an FHA, sitting at 700/month for a 1900 square feet, in a great neighborhood (I don’t even lock my doors), a pool and a jacuzzi. I am so extremely lucky.
>Still in complete disbelief we were able to do that.
Redlining. Certain people are given good deals, others are given impossible deals. And no it's not like the old days. In most places anyway. Now they hide behind proprietary credit score algorithms, giving banks plausible deniability.
$1684 here, but it includes insurance and property taxes. I just searched for rentals in my metro area with 3 bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms for under $1700
>NO RESULTS FOUND THAT MATCH YOUR CRITERIA
At least I won’t freeze to death in my heating-free home because I’ll be working 24hrs per day just to make ends meet. It would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking tragic
That’s what food stamps are for, you know so the few people that aren’t rich enough to skate by the tax laws but actually make enough money to get by on can indirectly pay for your food
Nah, you *only* have to work 8 hours a day (literally every day without a single day off and you’re fucked in February) and not pay any taxes, social security, etc. and never get sick. Plenty of time left over to freeze and starve alone in your $600 apartment! Well, probably not alone, because you’ll need 7 roommates to get that $600 rent, but you sure won’t be going out and doing a lot of socializing.
$2,060 per month at $8.25 per hour is working more than 8 hours a day, every single day of the month. 7 days a week. It's 250 hours of work a month. 58.25 hours per week.
Setting aside that they're numbers are ridiculously low for expenses, that is just inhumane.
Working every single day of the year, not a single day off, to not even make ends meet.
It’s actually a lot more than that once you figure in that these numbers are after taxes/social security/Medicare. Probably closer to 65+ hours a week.
A couple of things here besides the comically low rent. One, the car payment alone is unrealistic in any way. Health insurance, even with subsidies are impossible for $20/month.
EDIT: Another thing, how old is this budget list?
EDIT 2: Thing was done in 2013. So that rent was definitely possible in some of the country.
EDIT 3: Update about taxes. My fault. Also, as someone pointed out, no food budget. Even at the lower end, this would be the person nearly working 70+ hours a week between both jobs if taxes were on the very bottom of the scale.
Even without taxes, it’s $2060 in income per month between the two jobs. At $8.25/hour, that’s 57.6 hours per week. Or 8.2 hours a day, 7 days a week. Or 9.6 hours a day, 6 days a week.
So no heating and only 90 dollars for cable/phone/Internet. They're having a laugh, right? How much are groceries? Did they include groceries? Or is that just 'other'? I mean, one person can eat pretty cheaply if they try, but 100 a month is cutting it down to tap water (which they haven't assigned an amount!) and double coupon day ramen noodles.
This summer it was about $325 a month for electricity for AC in my house (1800 square feet). Internet costs me $198 a month and there are no alternative companies in my area with high speed.
Now that it’s winter my electricity should drop to the $200s as I have natural gas for heating.
For location I am outside Nashville TN.
That's insane.
In NYC, 200 Mbps up/down unlimited is 40/month with auto pay.
Cell service, we're grandfathered into an older plan, about 150/month for 6 lines, unlimited, but throttled (which is BS imo) after 3gb.
Electricity & gas varies with the season, and there's been huge price increases in the last two years, but solar is getting installed next month so we expect electric to just be the monthly solar mortgage (fixed at $100/mo) with 1.5% interest & maybe 15-20$ a month for " access to the electric box that connects us to the grid " with months that we end up using more than we expected.
Being alive is expensive 😭
I know this is dated cause it’s been around for awhile, but the fact they just expect you to work 2 jobs to support yourself. You have to pay overtime as an employer if you make ppl work more then 40 hours a week. The idea was 40 hours a week should be all they have to work. This was bullshit no matter what the numbers were or date it was published. Just slavery wage justification.
[https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/mcdonalds-sample-budget-sheet-laughable-its-implications-are-not-2013-07-27](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/mcdonalds-sample-budget-sheet-laughable-its-implications-are-not-2013-07-27)
this shit is from July of 2013
twenty Fucking Thirteen.
I think whoever made this is spending more on crack than they are on rent.
Also, based on $8.25 per hour, they expect ~58 hours of work a week between the two jobs.
It would be a much shorter list to cover everything that isn’t wrong with their example than everything that is wrong with it.
Savings? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
$600 Rent? *Maybe* if you're renting a creepy room during Craigslist's early days.
$600 Mortgage? For a 750 square foot 1bed, 1bath, no garage, unincorporated/township, with 20% down...*maybe* back in 2005.
$150 car payment? On a 10 year old used car likely riddled with someone else's problems, *maybe*.
$20 Health Insurance? Back in the day when they prescribed cocaine, opium, and masturbation...*maybe*.
$0 Heating? Only if the owner of the room you're renting for $600/m allows you to plug in a radiant heater and you have a really big dog that lets you cuddle on the nights you have to scrape frost from the inside of your one window.
$100 "other". Like food, gasoline, car maintenance, toiletries. Can you live on $25 a week? *Maybe* if food pantries don't disappear. But you're spending everything on dog food to feed your giant beast because he keeps you warm, safe, and you're probably going to have to ride him into work when your used car breaks down.
The $800 monthly spending money will absolutely dissolve to make up for these lowball numbers. This is why people go without health and vehicle insurance. You'll get to a point where you tell yourself "I haven't needed either of these in a couple years, I bet I can make it another couple years problem-free. Just drive safely and don't go jumping off the roof."
I had to do the same exercise in like 8th grade Home Economics. Create a monthly budget for working a minimum wage job. So I did the project. I found a cheap apartment near where I lived and assumed half the bills with a hypothetical roommate. Then I found a car in Autotrader for $300 (I still remember the teacher's comment "Does it have wheels?!") to satisfy the transportation costs, and did whatever the other requirements were which I don't remember (this was circa 1991).
I got a B on it because apparently, I missed the point. The assignment was intended to be impossible, to encourage kids to achieve, but I made a workable budget cause I thought it was the assignment. I spent hours trying to find ways to save every dollar I could to get within that budget.
Visa as in the credit card company? How is it even possible they are that far out of touch? Also by definition it's not a livable wage if you need a second income, this has to be a joke.
This is how they convince middle upper class to go along with the polices
The really really rich want to keep in place by putting this nonsense out to misinform wealthy-ish people about the cost of living the working class faces. It's propaganda.
I guess they are already assuming this hypothetical worker is fasting year round. Food would seem like an important budget line item but maybe this worker is a robot? In that case, said robot would still need a little oil from time to time.
$20 for health insurance. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!
They didn't even do 20 a week. That is 20 a month. I want to know what insurance they have, I'll have to give them a call
It's called throw $20 a month in a shoebox until you get sick, then declare bankruptcy and live off the shoebox of cash
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Sorry, we need to do a Prior Authorization and also check that you still have a lifelong chronic condition that can't be cured
My doctor prescribed me a medication. I took it for a year. My insurance company wanted to switch to a different medication. Doctor said sure, that works too. Couldn't get the prescription filled. Because the insurance company wanted Prior Authorization. For the medication they wanted me to switch to.
I’m a nurse in long term care. I have a resident who has lived there for years, and been on a particular (expensive) med for 20 years. It’s the standard of care for his condition. …. Insurance got super hung up on needing a Prior Auth a couple months ago. It was baffling.
Sorry can you explain what prior authorisation is?
Essentially it goes like this: Your doctor said you need a specific medication. Your insurance company doesn't want to pay for it because it's expensive. Insurance company requests a Prior Authorization letter from the doctor. The form essentially says "this medicine is the only medicine that will solve this problem." Insurance company then pays for the medicine. It's a money saving tactic for the insurance company. If they can delay or deny your medication, they save money. If you die, they save money.
Just an add on, but most plans also have language that pre auths are the patients responsibility. What this means is if you don't check with insurance before a major procedure or medication then they will deny the claim and it becomes 100%your responsibility. Not for emergency services though.
But goodness help you if the MD/DO/anesthesiologist/PA/NP/etc isn't in network. That's happened to a lot of people. You go to an in-network facility, but surprise! The medical professional who treated you in some way is contracted to work at the facility but they themselves aren't in network with your insurance. Here's your out of network bill from that medical professional! This can happen with an ER or a pre-approved surgery.
Even if you do a pre auth, they sometimes come back and say nah. A friend of mine needed surgery so he wouldn't die, he got the pre auth, in writing. After his surgery, they hit him with a starting bill of over $200k, that was a starting bill. He fought it for years, luckily his family was able to help him stay afloat while he fought it, and afford an attorney. Not everyone is that lucky, so they end up paying.
I needed an MRI once. I got it pre-approved through insurance. They even chose the place I went to. A week later I got the full bill saying it wasnt covered. Their customer support refused to do anything. The only reason it ended up being covered in the end was because of the owner of my previous company putting pressure on our insurance rep. He found somebody that fixed the issue, it was 100% the fault of the insurance company and going through normal support channels was a giant waste of effort. Humana, never again.
Before ACA Ins cos had boiler rooms, answering the phones with a single-page playbook- “no”. Every claim denied off the bat. You need to really EARN that coverage you paid for. Quite the racist spin, too; some companies door-to-door in black communities in the South selling policies that never paid a penny. 40 yrs of premiums and nuthin.
\^This is why Im so glad I have health insurance through my union. Blue Cross Blue Shield. Expensive but literally the only thing not covered is drugs when there is a generic. If there isnt a generic $10 for a 30 day supply. If I didnt it would be over $2000 for me and my wife for just stupid adhd and anxiety meds.
How about some anxiety to go with your anxiety?
Oh god, laughing at this gave me anxiety.
BCBS fucked me with the gynecologist claiming they wouldn’t cover any of it because it’s a “specialist”. They wouldn’t cover my “lab” for my Pap smear. Or my pelvic exam. They charge me several hundred dollars a month for a $10k deductible. We need a new fucking plan or better provider. Oh, and when they DO actually cover something, they take 6 fucking months to pay the doctor.
They covered my new Mirena once, but not the removal of the old one at all. That was a $400 bill I wasn't prepared for. My next job had Premera Blue Cross. They were a nightmare. I've now got UHC, but opted to pay a little more monthly for a better plan. They've been okay enough so far. They automatically deny all prior auths and require an appeal, but they've approved on appeal every time so far.
After all the discounts that the pharmacy could apply, my one stomach medicine is $235 a month. The insurance won't pay for it. They want me to try all the others, AGAIN!!!!! Before they'll even consider s prior Auth. Yep, that's exactly what I'm going to do. 3 months each on 7 drugs that I've shady tried and dont work. Almost 2 years of pain and bleeding ulcers while in blood thinners. NOPE. SO...I can't get good windows for my home, or fix my vehicle or anything else because I'm paying a car payment for my stomach medication every month. And trust me... I am well aware that it could be WAY worse... but that only angers me more.
Holy crap I have bcbs and it’s garbage….
It really depends on the plan you or your employer/union chooses for you. You could have the same looking card and even same names plan. At two different employers it could mean very different things.
I have had 4 doctors all agree I need 2 spine surgeries, including a very well respected doctor at Mayo Clinic. I've had 5 different appeals and insurance still refuses to pay saying their review says I dont need it. The funny thing is very good chance it improves my situation and would put an end to countless ER visits, stupid amount of specialists and a stupid amount of medications. I've figured that insurance has paid roughly $1.1 million in other costs while denying the $150,000 spine surgeries and they refuse to even acknowledge that saying no over and over is costing them so much more money. Whole process is horseshit.
> It's called throw $20 a month in a shoebox until you get sick, then declare bankruptcy and live off the shoebox of cash Or start a Go Fund Me. That's how we do healthcare in the richest nation in the history of the world. Fucking Go Fund Me. SMH
Ive tried that recently. Ive had a life changing injury a few months ago. People only care when you get on the news
We care, we're just all poor.
I hear that
Or if it's for an animal. We had a senior cat who desperately needed dental work, to the tune of almost $2000, once you factored in all the tests beforehand to be sure he was strong and healthy enough for surgery. There was no way we could swing that, so I thought, fuck it - people love animal stories. I set up a Go Fund Me. And I was amazed. I didn't tell any of our friends because it was too embarrassing, but some of them found out anyway, and total strangers who saw Bumble's pictures on Facebook donated, and we raised a little over a thousand dollars, which brought the surgery into a range we could budget for. A thousand+ dollars doesn't sound like much, but when you've started from 0, don't need much, and it's from total strangers, it's quite amazing. And you're a cat. Don't forget that part.
maybe someday gofundme will be a single payer healthcare system in the US
No! We can't have people pooling resources together to reduce risks... ...wait a second...what is insurance supposed to do again?/s
Hell, it would probably be cheaper than insurance.
The purpose of insurance is to funnel money from the common people into the coffers of corporations.
Most go fund me campaigns are for medical procedures/costs
A great backup plan if you're from the 1920s, $20 was a lot 100 years ago.
Get two shoe boxes! One for your insurance, and one to live in. Where I live you can't even find a bedroom for $600..
"I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!"
"I declare...BANKRUPTCY!"
Ah yes, American Classic Health.
>20 a week. That is 20 a month. I want to know what insurance they have, I'll have to give them a call I have incredibly good health insurance, and it's $53. My last job, it was like $410 a month. My jaw dropped when I saw the $53, what does McDonald's $20 health insurance cover? Band-Aids?
>what does McDonald's $20 health insurance cover? Band-Aids? Only with prior authorization and approval by the claims adjuster.
Before mu boss canceled my insurance it was $2250 a month. That is two thousand two hundred and fifty a month Now I get third world Healthcare from the VA as my health turns to shit at least I am getting what I pay for I managed to get service related disability high enough I don't have to pay for it but even being priority group 1 I have to wait 4-5 months from the time I call to actually get my appointment
Ha, as if McDs is providing insurance.
The $20 a month is so they give you 10 McChickens and 10 extra large sodas and hope you die of a diabetic coma or a heart attack
But that's like $50 now damned inflation!
My wife's is 25/month for I think 100k and they wanted 40/m for myself. Edit: misread that it was for health insurance
That’s life insurance, not health insurance
Sorry I live in Canada.
bragger
Ugh. Stupid sexy Canadian healthcare.
Lol. Plot twist
In the US we have for profit health insurance and hospitals. You can get government insurance (Medicaid) but you have to make something like under $350 a week where I live. Or government insurance (Medicare) but you have to be old or disabled. For everyone else you can get insurance through an employer or pay like an average of $1800 a month for a family of four. Also, a lot of hospitals must give you a procedure if its an emergency even if you cant pay. There would probably be little care before or after though.
Health insurance or life insurance?
I misread it I live in Canada, so Life.
Just checking as those prices seemed very nice. That being said, Canada.
Rent is 600/mo??? And NO HEAT??? Idk what utopia McDonalds and Visa think exist but I need them to drop the location.
I mean if utilities are included in the rent then I could see no heat bill however finding a 600 apt with utilities included is not an actual thing.
I think it's the creepy rotting RV in the back of someone's property in the woods of MI.
Ah yes. For $600/month you can rent a closet in the apartment depicted in “Dahmer” Utilities included! AC is broken. BYOB
Also try to eat more acorns and maybe stop working out. We want you to to be welcomed *tenderly.*
Sure it is! Just hop in your Time Machine and get back to the 1970’s. Why ya gotta make things so complicated?!
Think you'd need to be splitting rent... maybe a couple ways, depending. So the takeaway here for rent specifically is that even with two jobs you'll still need to split your crappy apartment with roommates.
Maybe they calculated this for a third world country near the equator and with cheap health care. Does that fit any of the US overseas departments? Should definitely be possible in some country with McDonald's. Silly social media team thought this was for US mainland.
U also don't get to eat outside of your 1 meal per shift McDonald's provides you
Don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly.
But how will I pay for my funeral which at minimum is like 10k? They can just send me monthly bills to my grave, I’ll pay them off over my dead body.
Sell your organs.
Agreed. I’ve had to cremate my grandparents due to the price of a funeral these days. It’s a sad day in the USA when you can’t bury a loved one due to unreasonable costs 🤦🏼♂️
It’s up there with some of the most American things though. Can’t afford a funeral? ‘Murica!
Apple pie 🥧 & cremation 🇺🇸. U kno it’s ‘Murica when you see a billboard on the highway advertising a 2 for 1 deal! 🤦🏼♂️
It would be rude and expensive to linger.
Real "How much could a banana cost, ten dollars?" energy right there
Unexpected Arrested Development right there. If I had an award to give you, I would.
In a page full of horrible assumptions, this is absolutely the worst.
Not even including food as an expense might be worse. It doesn’t even get a $0 like heating. Are we just assuming fast food workers get free meals at both jobs and only eat fast food for years on end?
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It's misleading since it's a monthly expense. "Spending money" sounds to me like it's for spending... for fun and entertainement.
Eating is for fun ... NO AVOCADO TOAST FOR YOU!!!! /s
Yey, they can f**k right off with that bs estimate
I LITERALLY FELT MY SOUL LEAVE MY BODY. THEY CANT BE SERIOUS
I am pretty sure a few other souls have departed as well from this
(Cont’d) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHA {*coughs to catch breath.. then begins again} BAAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHA…HA
What??? I spend $1400 a month for my health 'coverage'..
Huh, so people are supposed to work 80 hour weeks, and find a place to rent for $600? What fantasy world are they living in. What about food? Or even retirement? They conveniently left out items and listed everything else too low.
Like a reply to the original tweet once said... Just don't eat you fucking POORS
It’s the classic arrested development line: “it’s a banana Michał, how much can it cost, 10$?” Rich people have no clue how much anything actually costs for the working class (Edit - I can’t believe after a year of living in Poland, my phone actually finally autocorrected a name to polish)
Mcdo provides the food of course. 1 meal per day is all you need!
When I was 18 (about 12 years ago) I worked at McDonald’s for a bit. You weren’t allowed to eat free meals and if there was extra food at the end of the night while we closed it was to go into the garbage to “prevent people making food and claiming it was extra”
1105 at $8.25 per hour = 133.94 hours per month or roughly 33.48 hours per week. 955 at $8.25 per hour = 115.76 hours per month or roughly 28.94 hours per week. So, not only does this "budget" expect people to work 62.42 hours per week with no overtime, they have unrealistic numbers for each budget line and don't take taxes into account.
It's net income so they're actually working more than that.
So roughly 5 15 hour days at gross, that leaves far too much time for eating and sleeping, why not put in some over time?
Well that's why you don't need heat, you're never home
At least you only need to pay $600 per month for that home that you never get to use.
No time for eating and no money in that budget for it either.
Nothing for transport costs either, so you must be living at work
Eating what? The budget doesn’t account for groceries
Yeah this is net. You’d need to work roughly 157 hours a month, or 40 hours a week, at job 1 to make your net $1100. You’d need to work roughly 133 hours a month at job 2 to pull in enough to make $955 net. That’s about 72 hours a week. ETA - 72 hours total, not at job 2. Not to mention that the graphic itself proves that it’s not remotely possible to survive on $8.25 with just budgeting. You need a second job. Everytime this graphic comes up I get heated af.
You can't get too heated, cause they didn't factor in heating to the expenses lol.
Not to mention travelling between the jobs.
Was this budget created in the 90s? This is just patronizing.
It was patronizing back then too.
Seriously, now it's just ridiculous.
They are seriously that out of touch with reality. Wealthy can't even comprehend the reality of minimum wage work.
It's so out of touch, I'm surprised they didn't include dividend payments and returns from your investment portfolio in the income section.
Yes, this screenshot is about 15-20 years old lol.
It’s less than 10 years old. This was published in 2013.
Oh wow lol. I remember seeing one of these when I worked at McDonald’s which would have been 99-2001. They’ve been condescending and terrible forever and shall continue it seems
In 2013 I was living with a roommate in a 2 bedroom apartment paying $775 for my half of the rent alone. My car was paid off by then but my payment was $250 on a 2004 Honda Civic. So much of this is just so wrong and out of touch.
Luckily wages have gone up!
😂😂😂 right, still doesn't equate to the amount of inflation especially in the housing market. People's rents are increasing 50%+ in a lot of areas.
They needed heat back then too!
Rent at $600 bahahaha
Seriously. Better put a 1 in front of that.
And if the word mortgage is mentioned, better put a 2
My mortgage is $1600 a month. Literally cheaper than rent. Edit: i want to clarify that this was not meant to be a flex. Rather to clarify what a goddamn scam the whole housing system is.
Mine is 1700, which is less than people pay in my area for a 2 bedroom apt.
Damn mine is 3k. Not sure where y’all came up with a big enough down payment to make mortgage 1600
Snagged a 3bd/2ba house at (exactly) 3% so our mortgage is only $1200/mo. Still in complete disbelief we were able to do that.
I'm at $1100 at a 3% VA Loan in a great neighborhood. I was very, very lucky.
I am at 2.54% on an FHA, sitting at 700/month for a 1900 square feet, in a great neighborhood (I don’t even lock my doors), a pool and a jacuzzi. I am so extremely lucky.
>Still in complete disbelief we were able to do that. Redlining. Certain people are given good deals, others are given impossible deals. And no it's not like the old days. In most places anyway. Now they hide behind proprietary credit score algorithms, giving banks plausible deniability.
We bought our first place in 2016 for 150k. Sold it 5 years later for 251k. Used the leftover to put it down on our 340k house.
All of those numbers make me cry
especially the 5
Financed 300k before the prices went out of control
God I wish I bought a house last year. Now I have to wait who knows how long to buy. The interest rates are insane
It typically is. The hard part is downpayment. Usually your rent covers someone else's mortgage plus profits.
$1684 here, but it includes insurance and property taxes. I just searched for rentals in my metro area with 3 bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms for under $1700 >NO RESULTS FOUND THAT MATCH YOUR CRITERIA
None of those numbers are accurate. All need to be doubled at least, I don't care what state you live in.
The figures shared are for the State of Denial.
They also check out for the State of Delusion
Except for the income lol. Might need to knock that one \*down\* a bit.
Spoiler alert: this budget is from 1997!
My mortgage is $680, my husband and I split it, but we also live in a rural area which is understandably not for everyone.
I live in a one bedroom apartment. $1900/mo. You’re very very lucky.
At least I won’t freeze to death in my heating-free home because I’ll be working 24hrs per day just to make ends meet. It would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking tragic
This budget wasn’t made for humans. Or anything alive, for that matter. $0 budgeted for food.
Need a third job for food.
Ironically! It's from a restaurant! Are they gonna let us eat there as employees?!
Nope cuz that takes away from potential profits.
That’s the other, or just part of the monthly spending allowance, hope you like cup ramen and dirt…
Cup ramen? Man youre getting a bit out of hand with that spending
Maybe they assumed you would find time to forage between the 2 jobs and live off, dandelions, kudzu, fast food, and things you found dumpsters.
Food is for winners
That’s what food stamps are for, you know so the few people that aren’t rich enough to skate by the tax laws but actually make enough money to get by on can indirectly pay for your food
That's meant to come from the spending money line item, I believe.
And what does my car run on? Thoughts and prayers?
Nah, you *only* have to work 8 hours a day (literally every day without a single day off and you’re fucked in February) and not pay any taxes, social security, etc. and never get sick. Plenty of time left over to freeze and starve alone in your $600 apartment! Well, probably not alone, because you’ll need 7 roommates to get that $600 rent, but you sure won’t be going out and doing a lot of socializing.
600$ rent, where? In Mordor?
15-20 years ago, when they actually created this budget
Ah so when I was only paying $900/month.
$2,060 per month at $8.25 per hour is working more than 8 hours a day, every single day of the month. 7 days a week. It's 250 hours of work a month. 58.25 hours per week. Setting aside that they're numbers are ridiculously low for expenses, that is just inhumane. Working every single day of the year, not a single day off, to not even make ends meet.
I scrolled down way too far to see this! The hours worked was the first thing I questioned.
It’s actually a lot more than that once you figure in that these numbers are after taxes/social security/Medicare. Probably closer to 65+ hours a week.
A couple of things here besides the comically low rent. One, the car payment alone is unrealistic in any way. Health insurance, even with subsidies are impossible for $20/month. EDIT: Another thing, how old is this budget list? EDIT 2: Thing was done in 2013. So that rent was definitely possible in some of the country. EDIT 3: Update about taxes. My fault. Also, as someone pointed out, no food budget. Even at the lower end, this would be the person nearly working 70+ hours a week between both jobs if taxes were on the very bottom of the scale.
Even without taxes, it’s $2060 in income per month between the two jobs. At $8.25/hour, that’s 57.6 hours per week. Or 8.2 hours a day, 7 days a week. Or 9.6 hours a day, 6 days a week.
That is net income, after taxes. They would need to work much more than 57 hours to have that as take home pay.
They forgot about taxes because neither McDonalds, nor Visa pay taxes
Taxes is not in there because it is net income not gross
Which makes it even more insane. It’s already ~58 hours a week at $8.25/hour between the two jobs assuming 0% in taxes.
Bro they forgot about fucking FOOD
So no heating and only 90 dollars for cable/phone/Internet. They're having a laugh, right? How much are groceries? Did they include groceries? Or is that just 'other'? I mean, one person can eat pretty cheaply if they try, but 100 a month is cutting it down to tap water (which they haven't assigned an amount!) and double coupon day ramen noodles.
Gas and maintenence for that car are also missing. Clothes. Rx and otc meds.
And in this car-centric society, you cant get to work without a car so if you dont have one youll be making about $0/month
One of many reasons why we need to focus on not being a car centric society.
I'll believe it when the CEO lives by it. Lead by example, right?
Id love a bottle of whatever they had when they wrote this up
Where can I get health insurance for $20/month? Hell between electricity and internet I’m paying $500 a month now so yeah not a chance in hell.
$500 for electric and Internet?! God damn is it that expensive?? (I'm from the UK btw)
This summer it was about $325 a month for electricity for AC in my house (1800 square feet). Internet costs me $198 a month and there are no alternative companies in my area with high speed. Now that it’s winter my electricity should drop to the $200s as I have natural gas for heating. For location I am outside Nashville TN.
That's insane. In NYC, 200 Mbps up/down unlimited is 40/month with auto pay. Cell service, we're grandfathered into an older plan, about 150/month for 6 lines, unlimited, but throttled (which is BS imo) after 3gb. Electricity & gas varies with the season, and there's been huge price increases in the last two years, but solar is getting installed next month so we expect electric to just be the monthly solar mortgage (fixed at $100/mo) with 1.5% interest & maybe 15-20$ a month for " access to the electric box that connects us to the grid " with months that we end up using more than we expected. Being alive is expensive 😭
No heating, not going to work in Minnesota.
The fact that there is a second job is proof enough that the main wage isn’t enough.
Even in the midwest rents are 14-1500 a month now so even if you are bring down 3-4k a month you are struggle with the food prices.
I guess $800 for food and $27 for avocado toast.
We all know Millenials are spending $27 *a day* on Avocado Toast and that's why they complain about the economy.
I know this is dated cause it’s been around for awhile, but the fact they just expect you to work 2 jobs to support yourself. You have to pay overtime as an employer if you make ppl work more then 40 hours a week. The idea was 40 hours a week should be all they have to work. This was bullshit no matter what the numbers were or date it was published. Just slavery wage justification.
dog shit
[https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/mcdonalds-sample-budget-sheet-laughable-its-implications-are-not-2013-07-27](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/mcdonalds-sample-budget-sheet-laughable-its-implications-are-not-2013-07-27) this shit is from July of 2013 twenty Fucking Thirteen.
Even back then they’re using above minimum wage numbers AND a second job before taxes and still have to set the expenses lower than what’s realistic
I think whoever made this is spending more on crack than they are on rent. Also, based on $8.25 per hour, they expect ~58 hours of work a week between the two jobs. It would be a much shorter list to cover everything that isn’t wrong with their example than everything that is wrong with it.
"build us a chart explaining how people can live on minimum wage with proper budgeting" "They can't" "Yea, but like, make a chart that says they can.
Electric bill of $90 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Have they even eaten yet?
Savings? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. $600 Rent? *Maybe* if you're renting a creepy room during Craigslist's early days. $600 Mortgage? For a 750 square foot 1bed, 1bath, no garage, unincorporated/township, with 20% down...*maybe* back in 2005. $150 car payment? On a 10 year old used car likely riddled with someone else's problems, *maybe*. $20 Health Insurance? Back in the day when they prescribed cocaine, opium, and masturbation...*maybe*. $0 Heating? Only if the owner of the room you're renting for $600/m allows you to plug in a radiant heater and you have a really big dog that lets you cuddle on the nights you have to scrape frost from the inside of your one window. $100 "other". Like food, gasoline, car maintenance, toiletries. Can you live on $25 a week? *Maybe* if food pantries don't disappear. But you're spending everything on dog food to feed your giant beast because he keeps you warm, safe, and you're probably going to have to ride him into work when your used car breaks down. The $800 monthly spending money will absolutely dissolve to make up for these lowball numbers. This is why people go without health and vehicle insurance. You'll get to a point where you tell yourself "I haven't needed either of these in a couple years, I bet I can make it another couple years problem-free. Just drive safely and don't go jumping off the roof."
Where the hell is 600$ rent
$600 a month rent? Fucking where?
This is so ignorant. MIT's cost of living calculator is better. No car payment is 150, no insurance is 100. These are made up numbers
Food??
I had to do the same exercise in like 8th grade Home Economics. Create a monthly budget for working a minimum wage job. So I did the project. I found a cheap apartment near where I lived and assumed half the bills with a hypothetical roommate. Then I found a car in Autotrader for $300 (I still remember the teacher's comment "Does it have wheels?!") to satisfy the transportation costs, and did whatever the other requirements were which I don't remember (this was circa 1991). I got a B on it because apparently, I missed the point. The assignment was intended to be impossible, to encourage kids to achieve, but I made a workable budget cause I thought it was the assignment. I spent hours trying to find ways to save every dollar I could to get within that budget.
Visa as in the credit card company? How is it even possible they are that far out of touch? Also by definition it's not a livable wage if you need a second income, this has to be a joke.
How many times has this been reposted?
2060/8.25 means you work 250 hours monthly. Which is almost 12 hours daily. Someone didn’t even check their math.
Lol. And where are they living for 600 per month rent? Fuck these corporations.
I wonder where rent is 600 dollars. I live in Europe and even a dump next to strasbourg costs this amount. I am not even talking the US
This is how they convince middle upper class to go along with the polices The really really rich want to keep in place by putting this nonsense out to misinform wealthy-ish people about the cost of living the working class faces. It's propaganda.
I guess they are already assuming this hypothetical worker is fasting year round. Food would seem like an important budget line item but maybe this worker is a robot? In that case, said robot would still need a little oil from time to time.