[cianclarke]

Although not doubting the author's claims, the budget itself seems a little skewed. Who spends $90/mo on electricity? My bills come to $30/mo from Nstar - although I don't heat or cool my apartment from this supply. Also, $100/mo for Cable & Phone? $30/mo T-Mobile Plan + $40/mo Comcast Internet = $70/mo. There's an extra $90/mo saving - for what it's worth.. :-(

[bifrost]

My power bill is around $40/month for my house, I work at home most of the time and I live in San Francisco. Tack in about $60-70/mo in the winter when I run the heater (gas). I am also educated enough to put on a sweater instead of running the heater :)

That said, I think the budget is pretty skewed as well, and assumes a few things that I propose are incorrect. For starters, having a car payment (or really a car at all) is an incredibly bad idea. I'd also posit that living in a non-shared situation is also un-ideal. I'd also suggest that if you're not making enough money, you shouldn't have a cellphone nor cable TV, but I suppose you could qualify for the infamous "Obamaphone". IMHO you could cut $600/mo off that spend then tack on $40/mo for a bus pass, tack on $80/mo for a reasonable healthcare bill, $30/mo for some cheap DSL or even dialup so you're not totally off the grid. That leaves you with $450 and only working the MCDs job.

This obviously isn't to say it'd be a marvellous life, but its not working two jobs/etc.

I think the other disconnect is that people expect a "job" to be a "career" as well, and IMHO thats just wrong in this situation. Someone who's working a min-wage job is either just getting into the workforce (as a teenager or something) or someone who can't get anything else. The someone who can't get anything else, I don't know what to do about that, but its not the problem of wage payers to help them out.

[gnoway]

I pay over $90/mo for electricity. You'd be stunned at what happens when crappy energy efficiency meets Florida summers.

[inafield]

Canadian here: Electrical bill of $60-80 every two months in a 600sqft condo on the third floor of a west by south west facing unit. It's also possible to rent a room or small basement suite for $600/mo and have all utilities included.

If you're on minimum wage, internet is easily accessible from a library, McDonalds, or Starbucks. Or find a landlord offering it bundled.

Cheap cell plans from $20 upwards do exist.

I'm not saying this is ideal, but then again, we're talking about minimum wage. I used to work at McDonalds in Canada and one of my co-workers worked her way up to manager and managed to go to college part time. Granted, she was also living at home with her parents and our post-secondary education is heavily subsidized up here.

[Falling3]

I spend probably 90 to 140 on electricity. I seldom use heat, but cooling is quite necessary here. My phone is $45 and I'm still on my parent's plan so that's quite a bit of savings. And I don't have cable, but my internet costs $65/month.

[jack-r-abbit]

I don't doubt that is is hard to live a nice life on minimum wage. But I also believe that a lot of people just find it absolutely outrageous to go without a lot of things we don't actually need. I think it is funny that "cable" is listed in the budget like it is a basic necessity for life. Ditch cable = save money.

[minikites]

I think you answered your own question re: electricity for heating/cooling. The budget also assumes two full time jobs and no food budget.