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How to live on $432 a month in America

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Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#471

Post by Lionga »

999900000999 wrote: post #236
cozzyd wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? You can walk plenty in the cold with the right equipment. I walked 2+ km a day at the south pole ...

It's really dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I'm about .5 km from the closest supermarket. If it's snowing or just cold out I'm still ordering food. If I'm mildly sick, ordering food. I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

You need to be in good shape to fucking walk 2km? WTF is wrong with people in murica? Well is guess they are just ordering fast food all day

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#472

Post by AStonesThrow »

troupo wrote: post #453
permo-w wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also, if you have a social "thing" like tennis or climbing or drugs or whatever thing you like that tends to have an active and welcoming social community that you're willing to engage with, then the social issue can be dampened somewhat

> if you have a social "thing" like tennis or climbing Then you wouldn't be able to cut down expenses to "nothing"/month. Social thing assumes expenses. Hobbies assume expenses.

> Social thing assumes expenses. Hobbies assume expenses.

Entertainment is a line item in the budget: Library + Fishing = “Free”

Libraries can be amazingly social, for eggheads. Lots of groups and events meet there in my town. It’s a full-fledged Third Space.

[Neither the library access nor fishing gear is without cost, but at least they already account for taxes.]

By the way, anyone who benefits from free stuff, for example installing ad blockers, and earns $17/hr, should seriously consider tithing 5–10% to tax-deductible donations. It’s a matter of economic justice.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#473

Post by icameron »

owenversteeg wrote: post #305

Like other people here, I have my quibbles with the exact math. But the general premise is true: yes, you can live in rural poverty for cheap. The problem is the vibes. A hundred years ago, you would have a community, a place in society, and all of your family and friends nearby. In 2025, the only actual local job the author of the piece can come up with is at a gas station. Top ten occupations, 1920: Farmers, farm l…

I think you’ll meet most of the community and could gain some standing working at the town gas station actually, especially if you try to be even a little bit friendly with the locals.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#474

Post by tuna74 »

owenversteeg wrote: post #305

Like other people here, I have my quibbles with the exact math. But the general premise is true: yes, you can live in rural poverty for cheap. The problem is the vibes. A hundred years ago, you would have a community, a place in society, and all of your family and friends nearby. In 2025, the only actual local job the author of the piece can come up with is at a gas station. Top ten occupations, 1920: Farmers, farm l…

"You could be a simple farm laborer and have a wife and kids and a place in society."

You could not afford a good life as a farm laborer.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#475

Post by HPsquared »

renewiltord wrote: post #415
kiba wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could just invest the difference in your stock portfolio and institute a land value tax instead. Stock are more a lot more liquid than real estate and less risky as well. Whereas the value of a home is pretty much stuck in the property until you convert it to liquid cash by selling it, but then you need to move elsewhere.

Indeed you could either go through the arduous task of convincing your friends to move somewhere with you or just get enough political support for a land value tax instead. No brainer to go for the tax. Way easier to achieve.

Ah, path dependence.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#476

Post by tonyedgecombe »

nimih wrote: post #375
stavros wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait wait, how much does fuel cost that a 50km trip is $18? Even my diesel car does that for 4 €.

The IRS is also presumably factoring in increased wear and tear on the vehicle and increased insurance costs.

The last time I did the maths on that fuel was half the cost of running our car.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#477

Post by decimalenough »

tangjurine wrote: post #437
drewg123 wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that its across an international border from the Montreal airport. So you'd need to cross a border twice to fly to a domestic US destination and twice more on your return. Crossing a border is always an unknown in terms of delays, so I question the practicality. I'd personally feel like I needed to leave way more than 90 minutes to ge to the airport. FWIW, I've crossed the border at both Cornwall and O…

Massena, the place in the article, has an airport. An international airport. Just checked flights from sfo to there, 500 bucks. I don't get how this is different than moving to another state for work.

Massena's airport serves exactly one destination, Boston, and even that is possible only through federal subsidies. It's "international" because they can muster up somebody to stamp your passport if you fly in via general aviation.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#478

Post by bombcar »

cozzyd wrote: post #338
Aeolun wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you need only $400 a month, you have a looot of time to spend walking to Walmart.

It's not the distance, but hostile roads with no safe crossings.

My admittedly unscientific survey of small Midwestern towns with Walmarts (that are NOT suburbs!) is that you can walk to the Walmart on sidewalks. At most, you have half a block to the nearest sidewalk, or have to cross the street.

Some of the middling-old sections only have one sidewalk. The oldest have them on both sides of the street, and the newest developments have them also, usually.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#479

Post by throwaway2037 »

throw27263w wrote: post #355
KennyBlanken wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rural living also looks cheaper because most people do not even remotely consider the costs of transportation. The IRS estimates per-mile deduction at well over 60 cents per mile. If you have to drive 15 miles to the grocery store and back, your grocery bill goes up $18/trip. If you need to drive 15 miles to work and back, take $90/week out of your paycheck. Then there's the fact that whoever is The Employer in that…

I also noticed the author's budget did not include health insurance. I also wonder how close it is to the nearest hospital or urgent care.

Hello stranger! No need for a throwaway account for such an insightful comment. I thought exactly the same when I read the article.

Yeah, it is a bullshit/clickbait article. No healthcare? Yeah, let's see how long his wife will put up with that. And, literally, there is zero cost for heat. Do you know how cold that place is in the winter? Here is what he wrote:

    > as far as heat goes, well, one could either pay a little extra in electric for that — or they could have the Amish deliver their scrap wood from their sawmills to burn in a wood stove, very cheaply.
To be clear: That's not zero. Another lie.

Still: This person should setup a YouTube channel to document their life. It would be like the boring/suffering version of people who sail around the world on a yacht.

Re: How to live on $432 a month in America

#480

Post by specproc »

ZeroTalent wrote: post #470
permo-w wrote: post #448

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also, if you have a social "thing" like tennis or climbing or drugs or whatever thing you like that tends to have an active and welcoming social community that you're willing to engage with, then the social issue can be dampened somewhat

wait... drugs? I don't get it. the dark net is a thing. or do you mean doing them with other people?

A very social activity if done right
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