Child (3 year old)
Clothing
6 shirts: $60
6 pairs of pants/shorts: $60
2 pairs of shoes: $80
Socks: $10
Underwear: $10
Coat: $40
Living
Food: $1,260
Education/ Day Care: $1,910
Health: $200
Transportation: $200
Other: $100
Adults (2) + 1 Adult Child
(all items x 3, except education, rent + utilities x 1)
Clothing
7 shirts: $80
8 pairs of pants/shorts:
$120
3 pairs of shoes: $200
Socks: $15
Underwear: $15
Coat: $75
Living
Food: $2,500
Education(x1): $910
Transportation: $1,500
Health:
$500
Other: $200
Rent + utilities (x 1): $8,000
Total: $28,455
Difference: $6,342
The thing that surprised me the most when doing this project
was how little $22,000 is when you are trying to support a family of four. My original
calculations that I thought would be on the lower end of living wages ended up
being more double the poverty line. You really notice what you have that others
don’t when doing an assignment like this.
I don’t consider myself someone who spends enormous amounts
of money. I will occasionally go out to a movie or out to eat with friends but
this does not happen very often. When I thought about the amount of money that I
do end up spending on little evening out I notice just how much money I am
spending. Going to one movie a month and out to eat twice on month adds up
quickly (over $400 a year). For a family struggling to make ends meet this adds
up to a lot on money. For a family in this situation spending money like this would
be nearly impossible and just down right not very smart. I also had to cut near
basic expenses such as health care to bring my total number below $30,000. Cutting this type of expense shows the type
of difficult choices that people living at or near the poverty line have to
make each day. If someone in this type
of financial situation does become sick and needs medical care the expense fall
back on society, which fall indirectly back on all of those who pay for medical
expenses.
When I had cut as much money of as I thought I possibly
could I was still $6,000 over the poverty line. In doing this I have seen just
how wealthy my family really is. My parents have been able to send myself and
both of my brothers to a private high school and fund our extra curricular activates
for the last 18 years. I am truly blessed to have the privileges that I do and I
can’t think of what it would be like to live on the poverty line.
I like how you gave a list of your expenses. I would go into more detail about what kind of work your hypothetical family does,where they shop excetera because that affects how someone survives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. After having this assignment, I realized how blessed child I was. My parents literally gave me all the best things I could have. I could learn almost all sports when I was young. They also brought the most healthy, nutritious meals too. I could always have things I wanted to own. However, there were always homeless people outside and there were also people who need get donated money. I just knew they were poor and I sometimes need to help, but I didn't know exactly how poor they were before completing this assignment. I agree with your entry overall.
ReplyDelete