How do people survive on wages close to minimum wage?

Hollister11

Plenty of people I went to school with are working full time in supermarkets. Most would be on circa €10 per hour.

How do people live on roughly 400 quid a week. Now they all live at home with the folks but what are they going to do in the future when they need a mortgage? How are they going to afford it?

I'm in college atm, and earn €50 a week, just to get by, but I'm sacrificing money now to have a good paying job for life.

Would these people not go to college and at least doubt what there on now a few years after graduating?

EDIT: Thread Title should be - How do people survive on wages close to minimum wage?

C Montgomery Gurns II

Hollister11 wrote: »

I'm in college atm, and earn €50 a week, just to get by, but I'm sacrificing money now to have a good paying job for life.

How much do you expect to earn from your career, out of curiosity?

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Hollister11 wrote: »

Would these people not go to college and at least doubt what there on now a few years after graduating?

i hate this attitude. college isn't for everyone and you're not guaranteed a good job afterwards at all these days. everyone has a degree now.

Armchair Andy

Like a college degree guarantees employment...

Hollister11

C Montgomery Gurns II wrote: »

How much do you expect to earn from your career, out of curiosity?

About 80K after 5 years.

Your Face

It might be possible they cannot afford college at the moment.
Free fees doesn't mean a free education.

amcalester

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Like a college degree guarantees employment...

Masters are the new degrees.

snowflaker

I graduated 10 years ago

I am not on €800 a week

petes

Hollister11 wrote: »

About 80K after 5 years.

Hahahaha

tonycascarino

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Like a college degree guarantees employment...

Agreed. I know loads who have college degrees who have no employment

Hollister11

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Like a college degree guarantees employment...

Not if you do a BA in classical studies. But if you do something practical, yes you will get a job sooner or later.

Armchair Andy

petes wrote:

Hahahaha

What? That's 16k a year!!!

Kev1001

What do you study?

{not many job areas pay 80k after 5 years}

sonofenoch

Hollister11 wrote: »

About 80K after 5 years.

That reminds me of those people on dragons den......'in year 1 we had a profit of 5,000.....by year 3 we project a profit of 1.4 million"

snowflaker

Kev1001 wrote: »

What do you study?

{not many job areas pay 80k after 5 years}

I kan haz 80 K's?

Beyondgone

If that's the standard of written English college students are passing off as "normal" then this generation is fecked.
I keep hearing that they ought to be teaching programming in school. Teaching English might be a start.

lmimmfn

Armchair Andy wrote: »

Like a college degree guarantees employment...

Generally it gives you a much better chance in life than without, depends on the degree of course

bmwguy

Hollister11 wrote: »

About 80K after 5 years.

What field are you in? The good earners in my circle of friends are hitting 80k now 15 years out of university (IT and Finance). Most aren't.

Nobody was within a country mile of it after 5.

Zascar

I wonder that myself. €400 a week, €1600 a month, less tax - how do you pay rent, bills, food... and the rest...

Elessar

I think it's a valid question and I really don't know OP. The amount of people I know just cruising through life on minimum to low wages is frightening. Zero ambition or motivation to better themselves. I know not everyone really knows what they want to do but people need to start getting serious about their future. Some are renting and are at the mercy of the ever increasing rental market, with no prospect of ever owning a home (but most are living at home). These are people in their 30s. What are they going to do as they get older?

Truth is many people just won't be able to buy a home, ever.

happywithlife

My husband hated school and ended up working in the job he started in at 14 years of age
Rock on 20 years he's still there and yet to hit €10 an hour. It's absolute crap. But he is so slow to change. He pulls in a decent enough wage when busy as he also gets some piecemeal pay on top of his Base wage. But it's very long hours. It was okay when it was just the two of us but realistically now with 3 kids he just about breaks even after paying for childcare but he'd rather be working which is fine. It's heartbreaking that his wage is so low though and he has been talking lots recently of leaving but with no qualifications he's loath to leave and I think he'd rather the devil he knows than the unknown

Your Face

1. Get a degree
2. ?
3. Profit

snowflaker

Zascar wrote: »

I wonder that myself. €400 a week, €1600 a month, less tax - how do you pay rent, bills, food... and the rest...

Its tough, but doable.

Hollister11

Kev1001 wrote: »

What do you study?

{not many job areas pay 80k after 5 years}

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

Your Face

Hollister11 wrote: »

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

:pac:

snowflaker

Elessar wrote: »

I think it's a valid question and I really don't know OP. The amount of people I know just cruising through life on minimum to low wages is frightening. Zero ambition or motivation to better themselves. I know not everyone really knows what they want to do but people need to start getting serious about their future. Some are renting and are at the mercy of the ever increasing rental market, with no prospect of ever owning a home (but most are living at home). These are people in their 30s. What are they going to do as they get older?

Truth is many people just won't be able to buy a home, ever.

Money isn't the be all and end all.

Some people prefer sanity and a healthy work life balance to chasing the Euro

Hollister11

Beyondgone wrote: »

If that's the standard of written English college students are passing off as "normal" then this generation is fecked.

I was on my phone.

I wouldn't send a message to a colleague or clients without proof reading,

snowflaker

Hollister11 wrote: »

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

You missed out on the tech bubble soz

Hollister11

Your Face wrote: »

:pac:

Fecking Phone.

SEPT 23 1989

Don't judge the happiness of your life by the money in your pocket

Enjoy your youth revel in it

It passes in a flash

bmwguy

You can't have a mortgage, a new car, kids,holidays and a social life on top of savings and pension funding on 400 a week but you can have some of them and be happy.

Beyondgone

Hollister11 wrote: »

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

Being able to spell software would be a good start. Employers note that sort of thing. I know I do.

Zascar

snowflaker wrote: »

Its tough, but doable.

I can understand setting a budget and sticking to it, but what about the unexpected emergencies or bills that pop up - must drown people, I really don't know how they do it. A holiday must be a dream as are most luxury goods. I know money and possessions are not everything - so much is now basically considered normal. Fair play to anyone doing it I really can't imagine.

Barry Badrinath

Hollister11 wrote: »

I was on my phone.

I wouldn't send a message to a colleague or clients without proof reading,

Thats €80k material right there.

Youre hired!

Hollister11

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Don't judge the happiness of your life by the money in your pocket

Enjoy your youth revel in it

It passes in a flash

I understand that, but if you don't have money how do you enjoy your youth? If your friends are going abroad, socialising multiple times a week, buying cars ect and you have no money, you also miss out because of the lack of money.

batistuta9

Zascar wrote: »

I wonder that myself. €400 a week, €1600 a month, less tax - how do you pay rent, bills, food... and the rest...

Live within your means. People on the dole live on half that.

The trouble is people want everything, like the OP mentioning mortgages, not everyone has to buy a house & if you do want one it should be within your means not where you want it to be

People are too greedy now, they want all they see when they can't afford it but think they should have it all.

davo10

Beyondgone wrote: »

Being able to spell software would be a good start. Employers note that sort of thing. I know I do.

Are you conducting an interview now?

thierry14

Hollister11 wrote: »

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

Try 35-45k if your lucky

Senior software engineers are struggling to get 80k with certifications galore

Degree doesn't mean **** in software development

It's all about certification

You'll put the real work in then

Winterlong

Don't be worring about what other people are doing, it's their life choices, good luck to them.
You know what you want to do, you have your targets, so just go do it.

snowflaker

bmwguy wrote: »

You can't have a mortgage, a new car, kids,holidays and a social life on top of savings and pension funding on 400 a week but you can have some of them and be happy.

Hollister11

Beyondgone wrote: »

Being able to spell software would be a good start. Employers note that sort of thing. I know I do.

I agree. I'm not exactly helping my case with my grammer. I'm on my phone though tbh.

Zascar

Someone should start a new thread without the spelling mistakes. Is this about living on minimum wage or Op's potential wage?

s4uv3

What the fcuk does the title mean? Or is it my basic level degree that's holding me back from understanding it?

snowflaker

OP gonna be a billionaire!

Beyondgone

Hollister11 wrote: »

I was on my phone.

I wouldn't send a message to a colleague or clients without proof reading,

Excuses excuses.. I was only jerking your chain anyway. I've no idea how anyone makes sense on a phone.

PaulKK

Hollister11 wrote: »

Computer Science, I'm specialising in softwared development.

I'm a developer and have been for 9 years.

The amount of grads who say they'll be on 80/90/100k in 5 years is hilarious.

I know some very talented guys in in their 40s who have been developers since gradation who aren't on that kind of cash. Its not because they are bad negotiators either.

In fact, you'll find that kind of money is at the very top end of what's generally achievable without some niche specialisation.

drunkmonkey

Hollister11 wrote: »

I understand that, but if you don't have money how do you enjoy your youth? If your friends are going abroad, socialising multiple times a week, buying cars ect and you have no money, you also miss out because of the lack of money.

Who needs money when you have a bag of yokes.

tastyt

Not everyone needs to earn or can earn 80k per year. If thats your ambition in life then fair play to you, you dont have to turn into a condescending asshole at the same time though

Filmer Paradise

You'd be surprised.

Not much good in Dublin or some of the urban areas, but in a more rural area it's doable.

A couple on 500 or so gross each would have a fair chance of buying a 150k house.

150k house in the sticks would be usually a 4 bed.

If kids come along, there's a fair chance Granny might take the sting out of childcare costs.

Don't go mad on new cars of foreign holidays & you'd do okay in the long run.

What I don't understand is how anybody can afford to buy a half decent house in Dublin.:eek:

Really. What kind of money would you want to be on?

snowflaker

s4uv3 wrote: »

What the fcuk does the title mean? Or is it my basic level degree that's holding me back from understanding it?

Some existential shyte I presume

Hollister11

georgiecasey wrote: »

i hate this attitude. college isn't for everyone and you're not guaranteed a good job afterwards at all these days. everyone has a degree now.

So you hate ambitious people? Unless you get a degree, or a trade your not building a career for yourself.