The proper cost of food for one person is somewhere under $40/week, assuming refrigeration is available. I come out near $40/week on my "core plan" when purchasing 6oz packs of canned juice; a more unbalanced diet (still retaining adequate protein from block cheese and winter sausage) can be managed for about $25/week by substituting saltines for the juice. This is for 3,500 calories/day. I lose weight when sedentary on 3,000 calories/day. Assumption: access to Walmart, or a non-advertising grocery store that doesn't pack groceries (Kansas City examples: Food4Less, Aldi.)
And there are economies of scale when feeding 2-4 people. I believe the USDA low-cost plan still comes in at $160/week for four people, and is somewhat more diverse than my "core plan".
So food cost is controllable to somewhere between $1300 and $2080, assuming no use of food charities. If food charity is available (e.g., Harvester's in the KC area), only protein (meat and cheese) need be purchased.
The real problem with his proposed existence wage ($10,000/year i.e. $833/month) is that it precludes renting an apartment. The only option would be living in a used minivan or suitably large car (Cadillac). I'm not sure what the going car loan for that would be, but I know that the car loan (KC area) for more conventional cars is $80/week for those with a hellish credit record. Driving the value of the car low enough to not require replacement insurance would be far less...probably would need to finance only $2,000.
That's at most $320/month for housing, and at most $160/month for food. So we need a 24-hour parking lot to put the minivan or Cadillac in. For downtown KC, I've heard $2.50/day...which comes out to a bit under $195/month.
So yes, it's theoretically possible to live in a downtown urban area on even less than the proposed existence wage.
Health care coverage is more problematic...that $50/month for a competent $5,000-deductible catastrophic health insurance plan is going to hurt, but won't break the limit.
[HUD projects have a reputation of being a disaster in progress...forget that]
Incidentally: I really should check the prices for parking at the Plaza when discussing this. That would be really surreal: living in walking range of just about every luxury store of interest...
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-03-26 04:48 pm (UTC)The proper cost of food for one person is somewhere under $40/week, assuming refrigeration is available. I come out near $40/week on my "core plan" when purchasing 6oz packs of canned juice; a more unbalanced diet (still retaining adequate protein from block cheese and winter sausage) can be managed for about $25/week by substituting saltines for the juice. This is for 3,500 calories/day. I lose weight when sedentary on 3,000 calories/day. Assumption: access to Walmart, or a non-advertising grocery store that doesn't pack groceries (Kansas City examples: Food4Less, Aldi.)
And there are economies of scale when feeding 2-4 people. I believe the USDA low-cost plan still comes in at $160/week for four people, and is somewhat more diverse than my "core plan".
So food cost is controllable to somewhere between $1300 and $2080, assuming no use of food charities. If food charity is available (e.g., Harvester's in the KC area), only protein (meat and cheese) need be purchased.
The real problem with his proposed existence wage ($10,000/year i.e. $833/month) is that it precludes renting an apartment. The only option would be living in a used minivan or suitably large car (Cadillac). I'm not sure what the going car loan for that would be, but I know that the car loan (KC area) for more conventional cars is $80/week for those with a hellish credit record. Driving the value of the car low enough to not require replacement insurance would be far less...probably would need to finance only $2,000.
That's at most $320/month for housing, and at most $160/month for food. So we need a 24-hour parking lot to put the minivan or Cadillac in. For downtown KC, I've heard $2.50/day...which comes out to a bit under $195/month.
So yes, it's theoretically possible to live in a downtown urban area on even less than the proposed existence wage.
Health care coverage is more problematic...that $50/month for a competent $5,000-deductible catastrophic health insurance plan is going to hurt, but won't break the limit.
[HUD projects have a reputation of being a disaster in progress...forget that]
Incidentally: I really should check the prices for parking at the Plaza when discussing this. That would be really surreal: living in walking range of just about every luxury store of interest...