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by me_me_mu_mu 1488 days ago
Are you trolling, not in the US, or from the past?
2 comments

In plenty of big cities, you'll see 6 people share a 1-bedroom apartment. Price can be $500 each. These places are terrible, but they are cheap.

Example 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/nyregion/overcrowding-wor...

Example 2: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/23/nyregion/base...

In plenty of big cities, that is nominally illegal.
No, I'm not trolling and I live in the US. What part of the specifics do you take issue with?
I'll bite!

>>You can get an apartment for $500. Health Insurance is $30, utilities $200

Right off the bat, you're not "getting an apartment for $500." MAYBE you can find someone trustworthy who can rent you a bedroom for $500/month in some cities but:

As of 2020, monthly rent averaged $1,164 nationwide; median rent is $1,104.

-- https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/renting-statistics

Only 7% of US counties have 1-bedroom apartments affordable on the prevailing minimum wage.

-- https://reports.nlihc.org/oor

Also, you need first month's rent ($500), security deposit ($500-$1000), utility deposit ($50 - $500), and sometimes last month's rent ($500).

So now we're talking a few grand. Better hope you spent the past three months working that guaranteed-40-hours/week minimum wage job without spending a single penny of your wages!

I also hope that your job is very close to your new apartment because you're going to need to spend a LOT of time chasing all the benefits that you seem to think are easily handed out and you don't have money for transit. Nope, you can't afford to take a whole day off work to wait in line for a free transit pass -- after all, you're going to spend $700 of this month's $900 income on housing and utilities!

At least make up numbers from this century if you're going to pull this Horatio Alger stuff :-)