Live on Minimum Wage

It is possible to live on minimum wage. For most people, however, it's not likely to be very much fun. Whether you're forced to live in this situation, or you want to know that it's an option, this article will show you how it can be done, assuming you bring home $1000 USD a month after taxes.

Steps

 * 1) Find a place to live within walking or biking distance to your job and for less than half of your income. In this example, you'll want to look for a living situation where rent and utilities cost no more than $500 a month. This probably means having roommates, or renting a room. If you can't find a cheap place to live close to your job, consider looking for another job in a neighborhood where this is possible. Being able to get to work reliably and for free will contribute significantly to your income stability, both by cutting costs, and by making sure you don't lose hours due to car problems or missed buses (which would also result in paying for a taxi).
 * 2) *Consider going rural. There are many small towns where you can find a room to rent for $100 a month and a small apartment to rent for $200 a month. These areas often have lots of jobs for minimum wage workers – look for an area with lots of "help wanted" signs around these towns and notices inside of town halls and gas stations looking for workers.
 * 3) *See also How to Commute By Bicycle.
 * 4) *Climate can make a big difference, because colder weather increases heating costs, and also negatively impacts your ability to get to work. Read the tips in How to Stay Warm at Home Without a Heater. A move to an area with lower cost of living due to a friendlier climate is therefore worth considering. If you minimize your possessions and network, a big move is doable.
 * 5) Spend no more than $200 USD a month on household necessities (food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc). The only way to pull this off is to cook pretty much everything yourself (buy raw ingredients instead of pre-prepared food), or get government assistance. If the store isn't within walking or biking distance, or isn't reachable by public transportation, shop only once a month, and see if you can borrow a car for that trip.
 * 6) Consider dedicating $100 a month for leisure. That's about $25 a week. Learn how to treat yourself within that range. This includes buying clothing, which you can get at a thrift store, and transportation for when you go out. Be careful, however, not to overspend. It is far better to spend nothing for leisure at all, than it is to overspend and go into debt. Have discipline and strengthen your character. The more money you can save for a rainy day, the better, so do not assume you must spend the $100 a month for leisure. Always look for free alternatives. The library provides free entertainment in the forms of books, music, and internet access. There are parks, recreational activities, and countless other things even in the smallest of rural towns.
 * 7) *Avoid going to bars. Bar tabs could far exceed your leisure budget and it is easy to make poor decisions with money when drinking. If you want to have a drink with some friends, having it at home always saves money.
 * 8) Cut cellular and cable costs. Cellular plans usually cost about $30 a month. If you don't use all the minutes in your cell plan, a prepaid or pay-as-you-go phone may save you a lot of money. Or, consider not getting a cell phone at all, if you can function without one. Cable TV often costs at least $20 a month and goes unused. Consider dropping your cable subscription altogether and instead watch TV on free online streaming services. Use the internet in libraries to save money.
 * 9) Save the rest for medical and other emergencies. It is generally difficult to get health insurance through a minimum wage job. These steps leave you with about $170. That's enough for an individual monthly health insurance premium if you're in very good health to begin with, and if you choose a high deductible. But if you have a medical emergency, you'll still have to pay out of pocket until you meet that deductible!
 * 10) *This is extremely important because a medical emergency, even something small like a urinary tract infection, can cost you a lot of money that you don't have, and make you miss some work.
 * 11) *If you're in debt, try to pull the money to pay it off from other categories. Do not use this money for anything other than medical emergencies. That's the only way it'll build up. If there's something else you need (e.g. furniture, appliances) budget for it out of your leisure or food money.
 * 12) *Save automatically. Keep some of your money in a checking account sufficient for paying bills, then go to the library and use the internet access there to set up an online high yield savings account with a big bank, like ING or HSBC. Set up an automatic savings plan there to withdraw periodically from your main checking. Also consider investing your money or save for retirement. But understand that all investments have risks to various extent, so be sure to learn as much as you can about each investment option, e.g. stocks, bonds, gold, before you commit any of your hard-earned money.
 * 13)  Get a second job.  Face it, you don't have a lot of money to spend on leisure anyway and that first job, assuming it is full time, is only taking maybe 10 hours out of your day including lunch and commuting.  A second part time job helps keep you out of trouble and can actually reduce your expenses while making a huge difference to your total take home pay.  It also gets your foot into another door that may lead to a much better paying position if you do your job well.

Tips

 * Live Without a Car. A car is a giant money suck. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it, if you’re working minimum wage, your car is killing you. Ditch the car – get whatever cash you can from it. Then choose a place to live where you can get to work by foot or by bicycle. In a small town, it’s pretty easy to reach any other place in the town (and many places in the nearby countryside) on foot or by bicycle, and it’s something that people often do to cut corners.
 * Find the free stuff. In towns of any size, there are resources available for the impoverished, from free dinners at churches to food giveaways to soup kitchens. Look around for the free stuff and use it – it’s there for everyone to utilize. When you must spend money, be as frugal as possible. Ramen is very cheap, filling, and full of carbs, for example.
 * Be Humble. Pride often keeps people from walking into a soup kitchen. Don’t let it. That kind of pride is an obstacle ground into you by a life in a consumerist society. People who are there to help you want to help you stand on your own two feet – give them that opportunity. Look for every opportunity to help you with your situation, from consulting to WIC to Medicaid to welfare. If you don’t know where to start, start off by asking a pastor or a clergyman for help.
 * Minimize your required commitments. Repaying debts? Call the creditors and explain your situation and ask for an abatement. This won’t get rid of your debt, but it can minimize your requirements for the time being. If you have children that you simply can’t support, look for opportunities to help you with that burden – your family is a great place to start, for example. Don’t saddle yourself with burdens heavier than you can carry or you’ll do nothing but collapse. You don’t become strong by carrying 500 pounds of weight on your back – you become strong by learning how to carry ten pounds, then adding more as you go along.
 * Take every side opportunity you can. There are all sorts of little opportunities to make more money if you pay attention. Doing things like helping someone shingle a roof for $10 an hour cash is an opportunity you can’t let pass by. Free meals? Take them. Twenty bucks for helping an old man clean out his garage? Do it. Ask around for odd jobs and other small-scale moneymaking opportunities – perhaps even get started on your own “handyman” business.
 * Minimize your possessions. There are a lot of reasons for doing this. The biggest one is that the more stuff you have, the more money you’ve wasted. Also, fewer possessions mean that you need less room to live. If all of your worldly possessions (clothes included) fit in a single Rubbermaid tub – that'll make it extremely easy to actually live in someone’s living room for a while, if you need to. Sell items you don't need. Amazon is a great place to post your items for free: you don't pay anything to list your items, but Amazon will take a commission (about 15% of the sale price, plus $2.34) from whatever you make on your item.
 * Better yourself. Even if you aren't in a place to make more money just yet, learning a new skill or meeting new people only increases your chances to be ready when the opportunity comes.
 * Try to save as much money as possible. Rethink all your purchases: Do I really need this? Could I possibly get it at a better price? Could I possibly use something else instead that costs less? Buy what you need, not what you want.
 * Simplify your life. You will be a much happier person.
 * Grow your own food. You can grow a significant portion of your food, condiments, and healing herbs yourself very cheaply and for a few hours work a week. If you don't have a backyard, many areas have garden allotments available for those who sign up.  You can even grow food in containers, on the floor, in window boxes, in hanging baskets, and in 'window farms'.  Common seeds are cheap.  Or, take home and plant such items as potatoes and herbs from the natural foods supermarket.  Many will grow quite well at home because they don't have growth inhibiting chemical additives.
 * Discuss your money-saving strategies with your significant other and be sure he or she agrees and is willing to do the same things you do. Money difficulties can be one of the biggest stressors in a relationship, so it is best to work together.
 * Quit smoking. Cigarettes are expensive, unhealthy, and unnecessary. And the prices are only going up.

Warnings

 * Even after you’ve done all of this, it still takes some serious commitment to make all of this work. You can get yourself in a position where you’re not spending more than you make, but it takes commitment to stay there. Remind yourself every day that you’re not going to waste money and that you’re going to spend less than you earn this week – and this month – and this year. That’s the one way you can get ahead. Surround yourself with people who are also fighting to go in the right direction. Don’t be resentful of people in a better situation than you – instead, use them as inspiration and realize that if you keep on the path, you’ll get there too.
 * Avoid debt like the plague.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Calculate Your Real Hourly Wage
 * How to Panhandle
 * How to Become a Hobo
 * How to Travel on a Very Limited Budget
 * How to Live Without a Car
 * How to Live in Your Car
 * How to Camp As a Lifestyle

Sources and Citations

 * The Simple Dollar: Ten Steps To Financial Success For A Minimum Wage Earner - Trent Hamm. Content released generously into the public domain.