Like others I anticipated some of the next answers and choose accordingly. I also would not do certain things is real life. Like take a waitress job 50 miles away to save on rent. Waitress jobs are fairly plentiful and chances are good you could find one in the town with the lower rents, thus saving on transportation costs.
I've waited tables on and off for many years. I've never made less than $15 an hour. Actually I average more like $20-25. I was surprised the average hourly rate was only $8 per hour.
Overall it was a good lesson on tough choices people have to make every day.
I thought that too, but then I thought about people I've known who worked at places that don't serve alcohol. They tend to earn much less than I did. If you live in a dry area or you can't serve alcohol for some reason, $8-10/hour might be reality at least starting out.
I also know that part of the reason I did very well is because I looked polished and I was knowledgeable about food and wine. I don't expect that the typical person who is living this scenario necessarily has that going for them out of the gate.
ETA: I got errors on chrome twice, but I made it to day 23 with $281. Still, I would never have pocketed that $10 in real life.
It definitely depends - the alcohol thing is a big factor. So is if it's a buffet. I was a waitress at a crappy buffet for a little over a year that didn't serve alcohol and tips were horrible. I got I think $2.32 an hour, 90% of which went to taxes, and most tables only tipped me a dollar or two. A $5 bill was the jackpot. The restaurant was officially supposed to make up the difference between our tips and minimum wage (I think $5.25 at the time) but they never did. I would say I made around $4-5 an hour on average. But I was in high school, so I didn't NEED the money. It was gas/fun money.It didn't matter if I only made $100 a week to me, but it did to the 25 year old single mom with a 5 year old who worked with me.
I ran out of money on the 29th day, so close. I had to pay the vet bill. Though I agree some of the circumstances were not realistic, like the landlord raising the rent 3 days after you move in.
I did it a second time and ended up with 469 left, this time I had health insurance, and I let the kid go on their field trip, but I let someone live with us for 200, and donated plasma, and I didn't go to my kids play. Honestly, my mom and dad didn't go to everything I was in. There were times my mom had to miss one of my tennis matches because she had to work. It's not that big a deal when it happens once in awhile.
I had $323 left. Tutored my own kid, let him go to the birthday party with a gift and made him wear Goodwill shoes. I paid at least the minimum on all my bills. I don't think it asked me about a pet.
This was great. I made it all the way through the month with $239 leftover, but made a lot of tough choices to get there (and lost my job....). Unfortunately I just thought of what my dad would do, as we grew up in a similar situation. It's so tough that millions of people have to make these choices every day.
I ended with $107, but I think I was forced to make some choices that could have been different in real life...for example, it said my dog was sick $50 to put it down, $200 for medicine, or let it suffer. I'd probably try to find a home or bring it to the animal shelter in that situation..but overall a really good eye opener.
I can't remember what I ended up with, but for myself this is unrealistic. Mainly for the fact that it's American and I am Canadian. I'm not sure if we have more options, but I know for certain things I could get better options.
It is definitely an eye opener as a general sense of what some people have to do to make it to the end of the month.
This was great. I made it all the way through the month with $239 leftover, but made a lot of tough choices to get there (and lost my job....). Unfortunately I just thought of what my dad would do, as we grew up in a similar situation. It's so tough that millions of people have to make these choices every day.
Do it! I took the test after I posted and the book is actually quoted! It was written so long ago but the content is still obviously very relevant. It's a fast read and goes into great detail about a lot of what was covered in the quiz.
I wound up with $742 at the end but I made a ton of hypothetical sacrifices like not getting the root canal and ignoring chest pains since I opted out of health insurance. I skipped all the vanity stuff for my kids but spent $ on the gifted and sports applications. I also kept $10 from my kid (under the assumption I would need it to feed him/her ) My choices got my through the quiz but would not have been sustainable long term in any stretch.
Re: Could you make it with $1,000?
This was great. I made it all the way through the month with $239 leftover, but made a lot of tough choices to get there (and lost my job....). Unfortunately I just thought of what my dad would do, as we grew up in a similar situation. It's so tough that millions of people have to make these choices every day.
onefootinthebayou I'm totally going to get that book!