I make more than minimum wage but I find the whole idea of living and loving life on a very low income tantalizing.

I just started blogging this week about some of my financial goals for the year. A secret goal that I haven’t started writing about yet is to cut my expenses down to mimic life at minimum wage. And THAT is The Great Money Challenge!

I am SHOCKED to learn about housing prices in the midwest! I knew they were low, but not so low. When you originally did the calculations for minimum wage at a total of about $11,000 per year, I actually laughed. That barely covers my living expenses for the year. It’s funny that someone above referenced prices in Seattle - I live here. When I hear that a decent home can cost $60,000 elsewhere, it makes my boyfriend’s and my decision to buy a “frugal” $400,000 home laughable.

I wanted to mention though that here in Washington state the minimum wage is significantly higher than the national minimum. I don’t want to bother looking it up, but I assume other high cost-of-living states or cities have this as well. Or maybe not. I should look this up…

Anyway, the minimum wage here in WA is something like $7.89 and it’s raising to over $8 next year. But with cost of living so high here, I don’t think it could be any other way.

Your posts always inspire me. Thank you!

…”"I wouldn’t advise having kids with this gameplan, so be sure to budget for contraception!”

LOL

I’d add a few other pointers, gleaned from my semi-demi-exboyfriend, the Emperor of Cheap:

* Buy all incidentals at yard sales, estate sales, and thrift shops. This includes things like kitchen implements, tools, plant pots, camping gear, artwork for your walls, etc.
* Also at yard sales, buy candles. Use them to navigate the house at night — never turn on lights unless you have to.
* Furnish your home from yard sales and estate sales. Never buy a piece of furniture new. This includes tables, chairs, sofas, lamps, and the like.
* Learn to cook, and never eat out. You’ll find you eat better, save a ton of money, and you can entertain friends inexpensively by hosting them for dinners and breakfasts.
* Find free and low-cost ways to entertain yourself. Hiking, bicycling, picnicking, and camping (using mostly second-hand gear) are very cheap and lots of fun. Watch local listings for free community activities (in our part of the country, NPR stations post these on their websites).
* Meet people by joining groups who hike, bicycle, dance, and the like. Maintain an active social life.
* Volunteer. This is a great way to make new friends, to engage in an activity you enjoy, and to make a little difference in your community. The Emperor, for example, volunteers as a rangemaster at the local shooting range, where he has met a lot of guys who share his interests in shooting, hunting, fishing, and hiking; at the city museum, where he was invited to become a docent; and at libraries, where volunteers get their choice of free cast-off books (this is where he gets his cookbooks!).

The Emperor lives like a real emperor on less than 12 grand a year. He owns a new Camry (paid for in cash, thanks to his proclivity for savings), travels where and when he pleases, and lives in a (paid-off!) house that’s perfect for his needs in a safe area where his car & homeowner’s insurance are half of mine and his property tax a third of mine. He hasn’t held a regular job since he was in his 40s, when he and a friend challenged each other to quit their jobs and embark on “bumhood.” While the pal was a stockbroker and could afford this shenanigan, the Emperor was a journalist, not a trade that lends itself to early retirement. Now in their 60s, neither man ever went back to work; neither has ever expressed any need or desire to go back.

Living proof that if you’re determined and very smart about spending, you can thrive and be happy on a modest income.

I would question, however, whether you can get health insurance for $500 to $1,000 a year. The last time I tried to buy insurance on the open market, it was $350 a month, and because I had incurred a hairline fracture of my wrist in a hiking accident several years before, the insuror refused to cover ANY broken bones and any back problems (i.e., if you get in a car accident, you’re sh** out of luck). The Emperor went bare until he reached Medicare age. He was in the active duty Air Force Reserve, and so whenever he was on duty, he got a free checkup, free dental cleaning, and a year’s worth of blood pressure meds. He was very, very lucky that he never got sick or seriously injured during the years that he was uninsured.

The $400 for a garage apartment w/ utilities is very do-able. I often wonder why more people don’t retire here. A 600K home in Seattle is 150K here… and then you could potentially live off the interest.

Not enough is said about buying as modest a home / car as you can, until you can get some investment and/or rainy-day dollars accumulated.

“Your Money or Your Life” and “The Tightwad Gazette” were huge influences for me right after college and helped me avoid big debt, but your savings goals blow my out of the water (I save 40% of gross salary & consulting income).

A couple of comments on this post: I live part-time in a mid-sized midwestern city and $400/month would be really tough to find in a safe area. I don’t know about more rural places. Also, a catastrophic health insurance policy will run at least $150/month (like the kind students can buy). I think you’ve left enough cushion with the $4K figure to cover these, but it would seriously affect the amount one could save or use to pay down existing debts.

Keep up the inspiring work!