February is "pig out" month :)

I don't do anything business wise because it makes me feel better unless it's correcting a mistake before anyone catches it. What I would pay would never touch minimum. I was paying $10/hr cash to college kids as helpers in the 80's. I pay 20 now. That's my minimum.

There is one situation that I faced many times over the last few years. I would use Labor Ready a few times a month. Those guys get minimum wage. I pay around $18, I think. It's been a couple years. I would tip them a 20 at the end of the day or take them off the ticket and work them a couple more hours at 18 cash in pocket. Word got around I was a good guy to work for and I got some hustle.

I have, however, sent a couple back after 2 hours. Hell, if you can't please me, you're pretty damn awful. And I've had a couple that wouldn't come back out and work for me. I hover and give a lot of orders. I have to with Labor Ready. I just about had to walk them to the porta-potty to keep the needles and joints in check.

If you're making $9/hr, steak isn't on the menu for dinner. I've been there, ramen noodles are cheap.:cool:

Then you need to add in medical insurance for all the repairs your body will need after a long-term ramen diet. :eek:

;)

Ramen and beer, the diet of champions! Or maybe just college students.....

Oh, beer makes the diet work. But $3.33/day means a person would have to drink Lucky or similar. :eek:

When I was poor I was a big advocate of The Beast (Milwaukee's Best Light). $9 for a 30 pack, though the next morning wasn't typically pleasant.

When I was making such low wages in summer jobs, my dad joked that it made life easier on them because I ate so many of my meals for free or nearly free at the restaurants where I worked. And when I was a day laborer at a moving warehouse, the driver who took us for the day always fed us, sometimes got beer for us too. If you work in a restaurant, you probably can live on less than $5 a day for food.

Back then at Wendy's employees got a 50% discount, but if you opened the store on the morning shift, your lunch was free. That was before they had the "value" or "combo" menus. So it was actually cheaper to go across the street to BK and pay full price there than to pay half price at Wendy's.

And in my experience working in restaurants in the DC area, all the servers from the neighboring restaurants knew each other and hooked each other up when dining or having happy hour at the other places.

When I first moved out on my own I used all of my savings on the 800 mile move, utility deposits and rent down payment. I was making more than minimum wage but not a lot of money. I sat down and looked at my budget. My rent was a whopping $90 a month but utilities and gas for the car ate up a big chunk of the budget. I lived on rice with soy sauce on it. On Friday night I would splurge and throw a can of coup on top of the rice. That cost just pennies a day. This was back before Raman noodles.

I did not have a date for many months because women are expensive. 4 years later I bought my first house as a single man. Once again I remember looking at the budget and thinking how in the heck can I pay off that $32,000 mortgage and keep up with household maintenance and utilities. Lots of rice, beans and chicken. Few steaks and cheap dates.

I have never ever taken one penny of government assistance of any type ever. No food stamps, unemployment, rent subsidies or any form of assistance. Only my own paycheck from my hard work.

Good perspective to have, isn't it? I recall going to the store with my wife and infant son and having $100 to spend on food for the next 2 weeks. My wife and I kept a running tally in our heads of what we had grabbed, which was only the absolute essentials. Occasionally we would have to put something back, which is a humbling experience. It was also great motivation to work my ass off and make a better life for my family. I grew up poor and had little help from my parents, but I also have never taken a dime from the government.