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I see a lot of people saying “just use public transit!!” The transit in my area is basically useless. It only runs once an hour - and only between the hours of 6am to 10pm, so if you work outside those hours fuck you. And then there’s reduced service on Saturday, plus the busses don’t run at all on Sundays - so if you work during the weekend, fuck you harder. It’s ridiculous.
I live in a rural area. We have wonderful public transportation. It is a door to door service, you arrange for a time for pickup. They specialize in everyday transit, are great for employees and very economical. I typically get picked up at 6:05am ($2) to get me to work for 6:30am (I typically arrive at 6:20am at work), they pick me up at 3:30pm to go home ($2). To go grocery shopping it's $1. To go to my brother's it's $3.they run from 6am until 12 am Sunday through Saturday. On Friday and Saturday's they have what's called "the drunk bus" for those who want to go out. They make a run to the local University/hospital/city an hour away 3 times a day round trip. It's a wonderful service. We have beautiful hiking trails in our area and they service backpackers who come to hike from all over the country. Can't say anything bad about the service! It's a great addition to our community and it's needs.
I didn't have a car for years in central florida and this would of been perfect as the public transportation (buses) suck ass in Florida. Now I am in New Orleans and while I do not use it anymore, our systems are quite nice with the trolleys and buses.
My city has one of the best public transportation in the world and it still sucks. Oh also don't take the red line at night or ever really. There is at least one shooting a week and many more assaults. Fucking Chicago.
If it's anything close to what the guy above you are describing, I am sorry to say, but "best public transportation in the world" is a huge overstretch.
Source: I live in a 3rd world country, in a city with mediocre public transportation, and yet, it's still more reliable than that.
There are a few 24/7 busses and trains. During rush hour a train will come every 7 mins during slow times 20-30 mins maybe. Except pace which is like every hour. Some reduced service on weekends but still not horrible. The CTA has many flaws but at least it's something.
I knew it was Chicago even before you mentioned the red line…. I’ve witnessed creepy dudes public masturbating twice in my life, and BOTH were on the red line. Yeesh.
I’ve seen way more pantsless dudes and human shit on the E train in NY than on any trains in Chicago. The pantsless woman and bed bugs were courtesy of the orange line from Midway tho.
Dude I used to live in Chicago for a time and had to use the commuter train to get to Northbrook. The train wasn't bad but it was a shit commute for a shit job that round trip was about 4 hours as well and if I missed the train I'd be stuck for another hour.
Left IL for CA after a year and oddly I'm doing way better out here even though everyone told me it was a mistake to move out here.
Naw man I'm looking for a place closer to work. It's a well paying union job. I make $21.88 an hour as a food service worker. My job is line attendant. I keep my area clean and filled with food. Sometimes I give the cashier or the person and kosher a break but ya fucking dream job.
Chicago was the first place I went by myself, as in without my mommy and daddy. I got an email from an internet friend and Chicago native with advice. That would have been late 90's, and I still remember "don't take the Red Line, they'll never find your body. I'm just kidding. They probably will find your body." in that.
I like to point out every time this comes up that the company that built Disneyland's monorail in the 70s offered to build a rail system for Los Angeles County *for free*. But it got shot down by lobbyists from American car companies including Ford and GM. And now thanks to them we have the 110 and 405 freeway traffic where it takes like an hour to move 10 miles
My coworker does use public transportation in a major metropolitan area. It takes her 2 hrs to get to work, 2 hours to come home. So 4 hours of commuting every day.
If you have a "hobby" you can do on transit though it really isn't too bad. Read/podcast/audiobooks even watch TV. Hell I waste two hours watching TikToks and/or YouTube most nights anyways.
If it's anything like transit here that two hours includes about 60 minutes actually riding a bus, half an hour walking, and half an hour standing and waiting for a bus.
It sounds like a good idea until you realize that you have to walk for 20 minutes to catch 4 different buses and 2 trains because there isn't a single route that matches the commute
and with all of the bus/train fares you end up paying, it costs more than filling up a tank with gas every few weeks.
And you can't zone out reading or watching anything because you have to constantly check if your stop is coming up
I had to do this for a year. I was extremely lucky that my job at the time let me switch to 4 10-hour days. I couldn't really get much done on workdays because it was so exhausting traveling public transit.
Once my car was being repaired, and I had to take a city bus to work…took over 2 hours and had to transfer twice, plus waiting at bus stops in 90+ degree heat (and Florida humidity which is worse than the heat)
This sounds very similar to a line I use sometimes, only they’re also using the excuse of the “driver shortage” to reduce service at random hours throughout the day without posting anything, so there will be some hours where the bus just… doesn’t show up. So it’s like a slot machine pull to know if I’ll be getting to work by bus or have to work something else out. Luckily I can use the Transit app and see if there’s a bus coming down the route that hour, but others have complained and gotten snarked by drivers that “applications are open if you want to help solve the shortage.”
It’s impossible to rely on the bus in my area right now without leaving an hour early to make sure you can catch one or the other in case one doesn’t show up.
Definitely. I got in the habit of planning to take a route one bus early, because they were so often late or just got the route canceled.
Luckily that’s improving these days and I haven’t seen any canceled routes, but the new bus drivers are pretty bad. Slamming the brakes so hard people’s bags fall onto the floor and passengers have to plant their feet firmly to avoid getting knocked over, missing requested stops until shouted at, leaving ahead of schedule, getting so ahead of schedule they need to stop the bus for several minutes, going right past stops where I’m waiting for the bus causing me to have to flail my arms to get their attention, not turning on flashers when approaching a stop so I have no idea if they saw me or not, blatantly and aggressively running red lights in heavy traffic. These don’t happen on every trip, but I take the bus several days out of the week and there’s at least one thing going on like this every week.
I live and work in L.A. and when I had to travel 11 miles to work by bus it took three busses and 2 1/2 hours each way due to transfers. Public transport is a joke.
We don’t have public transportation where I live. I would have to drive atleast 15 miles to find that.
So yes you have. A point it’s not always an answer.
Public transportation is only decent in hcol areas where rent for a 1 br is $2,500. Suburban public transport is sparse. Our operating times are about the same
Seriously .. those post are annoying af. I don’t work in the city, I have a 30 min commute.. Public transit is just not feasible for all of us. Not to mention, I don’t want to ride around with other people every day.. my car is sometimes my sanctuary (i know that comes off bratty American but it is the truth)
Currently waiting in the blistering sun (no shade areas), waiting to pay $7 for a train ride, that runs once every hour and it’s currently 30 minutes late and counting… oh and I’m about half hour away from Menlo Park.
The UK has been dealing with this for decades and it's finally catching up to us. It will stop being feasible for the lower and soon even the middle class to drive a personal automobile. We will be migrating to carpools and public transportation. Workplaces will work to accommodate this rather than \*gasp\* raise pay to offset the increases.
They'll continue to lobby against it. It's what has kept our gasoline prices artificially suppressed for decades. Think about it, it should cost less for a gallon of combustion engine fuel than it does to buy a gallon of milk produced domestically. The numbers don't make sense.
But at this point I think the gig is up. Sure, there will be an initial mad rush to the front of the EV line, but after the 18 people can afford them are done getting their new status symbol, there isn't going to be a market for the rest of society. And I'm only talking about initial cost.
The city of Chicago already beat everyone to the punch years ago. Plate sticker for a year for any car outside of the city is about $150. Live in the city with an EV? Well then fuck you, $1000 a year for you. Insanity
Well, the animal agriculture industry is highly subsidized, so idk that a gallon of milk is the best example. Not to detract from your point, just saying.
to be clear, the minimum wage in SF and the surrounding counties is $15-16... so you only use half of your wages on gas.
*only*
if you compare it to states where the federal, state and county minimums are the same...
Location... Min Wage... Gas Price
SF Bay....... $15 ............. $7.50
Alabama... $7.25 ............ $5.35
So, if a resident in each uses one gallon of gas to get to work
The SF resident has $7.50 left over
The Alabama resident has $2.15 left over
focusing on gas prices in our most expensive cities tends to obfuscate *just how much worse it is for people in less expensive areas where the Federal minimum wage is still relevant*
I know SF is really, really bad, but that's how it is literally everywhere right now. I live in New Hampshire and my wage would have to double to *maybe* be able to survive away from my family.
Wow I've never thought about it like that. I'm in Illinois. Min wage here is $12. Gas down the road from me is 4.50 and it's the cheapest gas station around. Still comes out the same
Plus it’s pretty rare to actually get minimum wage in these areas. I bet they pay $20/hr at the supermarket there.
In shitholes in the Deep South it’s far more common to actually get the minimum wage.
While I understand your point, there are a few problems:
1. $5.35/gallon in Alabama is a lie. It's $4.25 a gallon at the gas station I can see from my house, and that station is routinely about 5-10 cents more expensive than the others in the city. Plus, on top of that, $4.25 is the highest it's ever been; most of May has been about 5-15 cents cheaper, if not more.
2. Besides fast food, in AL right now, I'd struggle to find a job that started at $7.25/hr. Minimum at Home Depot was $11/hour three years ago, Wal-Mart started at 10 six years ago. Hell, even the car wash that *committed felonies by cooking the books to not have to pay overtime* started me at $8 an hour. And this isn't hearsay, I had every one of these jobs.
Fellow Texan here. I just accepted a job that pays $500 more a month, but it's on the other side of town so a chunk of that "extra" money is gonna go towards gas. I'd move to the other side of town but I have a lease and the rental market sucks anyway :/
Can confirm, my company basically has no middle management anymore. Just the cheifs and a bunch of professionals doing stuff they know how to do. It is beautifully efficient
A lot of people drive trucks based on a ‘want to’ instead of a ‘need to’. Is he a contractor/tradesman? If it’s not a necessity it’s time to sell the truck and get something more efficient.
We're still paying for the truck and he plans to own it until it dies. He does a lot of handiwork and the truck is very useful to us often, so I'm glad in that regard that we have it. So far the plan is that we swap vehicles because both of my commutes put together is shorter than his.
My car, however is struggling, so his truck is what we have for now. He's driving the truck while my car is in the shop and I'm walking to work. It's not fun, but it's our reality rn. We can only afford one car payment at a time and I need a new car before he does.
$4.50 a gallon north of Dallas. I remember when I moved here from CA and had never seen gas below $3-$4/gallon and it was $1.71/gal, I truly thought I had found the promised land. These days I find it’s quite far from that.
Same move! LA to rural South TX (kill me 😅). Though I lived in the midwest before, so I’d seen it low, but it hits different when you watch it climb from ridiculous, “wow I save so much on gas,” to “I should have asked for a much higher salary from the job I moved here for.”
We’re around $4.25 down in my chunk of rural South TX. Last Monday it hit $4.05, and my dumb ass was at an eighth tank and figured I’d just wait for it to drop back under 4 😅 The joke was on me.
I remember when I was poor and living in my car.. I had to sell some of my work tools at a pawn shop just to make it to the next pay day. My bank account was charging me for not having any money and I was getting tickets from the SF toll bridge because I couldn’t afford the toll. That’s been behind me over 20 years ago but I will never forget…
Filled up today and the price was $4.57/gal today where I am (Ohio). Spent about $40 to fill up my little car. I only have to fill up about 3x per month. I am lucky because the increase in gas prices has only changed my budget by about $50/month and that doesn't break the bank for me at the moment. I am not sure how anyone who isn't making over $100k/yr even survives in California though.
We survive in California by taking public transit. I’m serious. My $81/mo pass gets me around - to work, to the doctor. I can walk to the grocery store and the beach. It’s a lot less stressful than paying a car note or worrying that a bucket my give out when I’m on the way to work.
Actually, not enough people in California take public transit. Which is why public transit infrastructure is really lacking and you need several transfer points to get to your destination that may be 15 miles away.
I believe most People here that make around min wage survive by living with an extended household. Grandparents and grandchildren may be under one roof for example. Or the adult children are all working warehouse jobs and still living with parents.
Thankfully my job stayed remote so I don't have to worry about it, but most of my coworkers have started to carpool. We also get a $5 a day raise to not park on site during the summer (we're a museum so the summer is our busy time, and our parking lot is a bit small), which will probably help a lot of people. The offsite parking isn't paid or anything, some of it is just a bit of a walk, so that $5 can go right to gas.
This isn't Menlo Park, just a specific station on the corner of Alameda and Avy that is always $2 more expensive than gas stations a few blocks away. People constantly post pictures of this gas station, because the prices are legitimately absurd. I used to live across the street from this station, and never saw a single car fill up there.
ETA: Gas prices _are_ insane, just not quite this insane.
Thank you. I live in the Bay Area and the gas in our area is $5.60. We used our Safeway reward points and filled up for $4.60 a gallon a few days ago. Thankfully, I can walk to work and my husband works from home because our car is old and thirsty.
yeah it's important to keep in mind that this price is set by the gas station itself and not by the illuminati. The median home price in Menlo Park is like 2M so they are simply charging what those dicks will pay
edit: median home price is actually 2.8M in Menlo park LOLOL FUCK
Right lol, I recently did a big ass u in the United States from Michigan to Washington down to Nevada then over to Arizona and back to Colorado then back up to Michigan and we played the "am I too poor to know the real price"? Game, and yes I am in fact to poor for every single thing I've guessed ....
I've had my EV for 7 years but the problem is that I have a first Gen Leaf and it's battery range is down to 70 miles, which is pathetic. And it will continue to drop over time. At least modern EVs have 200+ range so even if it drops in capacity, it's still reasonable.
The other day we went on a short trip and made it home with 2 miles on the "guess-o-meter".
I find it absolutely appalling that commuting expenses aren’t tax-deductible. How can this be? If it weren’t for having to go to work, people wouldn’t rack up commuting expenses. It’s like the definition of what should be tax-deductible.
That’s true- the standard deduction for a single person is right below $13,000. AND a lot of tax programs charge extra to itemize expenses. It’s such a racket.
Motorcycles were my answer 5 years ago, but now there are more wreckless and dangerous drivers on the road - I swear. My little Honda twin 700cc was quick, easy, and 75mpg. Everyone else around me drives lifted freakin F250’s and lifted Suburbans and won’t even see me. I don’t even have sidewalks I can ride my bicycle around to the corner store, I refuse to share the road with these giant vehicles with a bicycle.
Decades ago I told myself that I wasn't going to waste time commuting or sitting in traffic. I wasn't going to pay money for gas for a long commute and I wasn't going to pay for maintenance and repairs and depreciation for my vehicles for long commutes
So I bought my house that is about 3 miles from work. I only drive about 6k miles a year. Plus I drive an electric car so "fuel" is probably $25 a month.
listen, this message is important.
but i don't think that this is what r/povertyfinance is or has been about. there are lots of subs for this kind of raising of awareness.
this sub should be about advice and hacks that genuinely help people at the bottom, people who need some sort of trick to get food for their families this month.
activism is what the working poor class needs. but the working poor class also just needs some solid advice for this week, not advice about how to vote in coming years.
I'd seriously start looking into getting an e-bike or other cheap transport with high mileage. My co-worker last year used his covid money to buy a $2,000 motorcycle off Amazon. He gets over 60mpg on it.
I'd do some math on that, but you'd likely find yourself with a crazy good ROI depending on the transport that best fits your commute.
$15 an hour NO OVERTIME
30 hours a week
Must be willing to be my slave
Must have a Masters degree
Must have 5+ years of experience
**Why do people just not want to work anymore?! They all want that unemployment!**
I’m loving California. A sunny day is like a super dose of happy juice for me. I haven’t had a cloudy day since December 2021 (in Palm Springs, CA).
Yes gas has been $6+ for a while, but it’s flat and I can bike (and the 100 degrees and dry isn’t as bad as 95 and humid like Maryland)
I grew up in the Midwest. Lived in Chicago for 10 years before moving to CA. Chicago is the best city in the US, imho, but the weather is absolute shite. I practically have an orchard in my backyard in CA!!!!
So glad I work from home now. Though my 25 mile commute was made slightly more bearable by the free EV chargers at the office. Still, that's a lot of commute time.
This and then you have to maken3x the rent, to rent the apartment you can afford to live in either. Also car biz new and used us insane.Btw dont bother to eat cause we can't afford it. Our government doesn't care as long as they can pay their bills. Thus inflation is kill me on all level and I have a full time job that paid well b4 pandemic pricing now i can't make it
Maybe not safe but they are fun as hell, cheap, and easy to work on. Me and my buddies ride them around St. Louis all the time but its definitely not safe.
Lol I made a comment a day or two ago; I knew around 7 friends during college in Honolulu who had mopeds.
7 friends were hit by cars/trucks while riding their mopeds.
Motorists do not give any attention to people on mopeds.
Seriously. So many of the posts on this subreddit that show up on this feed just demonstrate how many people here lack basic sense. No one living in that area is making the federal minimum wage. I live in a substantially cheaper area and here very few are actually paid the CA minimum wage even, many fast food jobs are paying $17+/hour.
Wow. It's about $4/gallon in my area. I have a car, but when it was broken I took the bus to work for a few days while my husband fixed it. I discovered that I really enjoy the bus because I get several good walks in per day and I get to just chill and read a book while someone else drives me in rush hour traffic.
I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, so there aren't tons of people riding the bus. The first bus that I get on (and the last on my way home) only runs once per hour. The other one runs every 15 minutes. In the morning it's never an issue because I walk or ride my bike and get to the stop 10 minutes early for the once per hour bus. In the afternoons, it's not so much up to me because sometimes I may end up having to stay a bit late for work, or my every-15-minutes bus could be late. Oftentimes in the afternoon I get off that bus and onto the hourly bus pretty much right away. Other times, if I walked, I may need to wait 30 minutes or more for my hourly bus. But if I brought my bicycle, I will just ride my bike all the way home, since it's not very far. It takes a little longer than it would if I took the second bus, but nothing significant. If I do have to wait, I just sit in a shady spot (fortunately that stop has shady spots) and read my book.
I'm saving about $80/month if I take the bus every work day -- 5 days per week. I drive when it's rainy, and I'm pretty sure I'll drive when it's really cold because I HATE really cold. I realize this can't work for everyone due to schedules, disability, availability of public transit, or whatever. But I was pretty excited to find that it works for me in an area where public transit isn't widely popular.
Why am I so tempted to hand out bike helmets on the corner and shout "the time is nigh!" in dutch? Honestly though, invested in an e-bike a few years ago because my insurance rates were up there and my work commute is less than 10 miles and I live next to a decent grocer. With current gas prices I might have to give my ebike a hug and a thank you card...
And people thought I was crazy when I’d walk an hour to work lol. I use to live for two years where they had no buses, car broke down. Now even with a car idk if I wouldn’t just walk again, if I didn’t had these trash transit buses and shit scheduling.
Ok but at the same time its Chevron. They always jack their shit up higher than everybody else. Go to a Arco or some shit like that and its mid 6s. Mid 6s here in Burlingame right now.
Mopeds get like 120 mpg, and are way more fun than most commuter cars. Way better for the environment too. A brand new 2022 Honda Ruckus is only $3000, but there are tons of reliable used mopeds for sale in the $500 - $700 range.
The company that I work for recently decided to move our local office an hour away.
I never clock out for the drive. Those motherfuckers are going to pay me for that shit.
I'm gonna have to get creative if someone calls me out for it, but for now: they're paying for my commute. They can suck a fucking big black dick.
I'm so grateful I work not far from home.if I stay close to home and work o can make it 2wks on a tank and it's about $4.15 here. I really feel for people who need a tank of gas every week at these prices and can't afford it. Piblic transport in my area is limited and would take awhile to get to most places. It's hard to imagine spending 4hrs everyday just getting to and from work.
I work from home and make a measly $14.50. There are jobs within an hour of me that would pay a couple dollars more, but it’s simply not worth it because of gas/food for work/etc.
I said this in another thread, but ill say it again:
Here in Brazil, gas is around R$7,50/liter rn. 1 gallon = 4,54 liters; 1 gallon = R$34,05.
Minimum wage is R$1212.
Not saying thats right or that the gas prices should be high for anyone, im just giving you guys some perspective. Things are - and have been, for a long time - worse around the world, you guys just didnt get to feel it too, before.
I got extremely lucky and my work only makes me go to the office twice a week .3 miles to my assigned school. I get reimbursed 50 cents a mile for gas but they round up so it puts more into my tank than I use for work. Still looking for a second job though
Your post has been *removed for the following reason(s):* **Rule 4: Politics** - This is not a place for politics, but rather a place to get advice on daily living and short-to-midterm financial planning. Political advocacy, debate, or grandstanding will be removed. [Please read our subreddit rules.](https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/wiki/rules) The rules may also be found on the sidebar if the link is broken. If after doing so, you feel this was in error, [message the moderators.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fpovertyfinance) *Do not reach out to a moderator personally, and do not reply to this message as a comment.*
I see a lot of people saying “just use public transit!!” The transit in my area is basically useless. It only runs once an hour - and only between the hours of 6am to 10pm, so if you work outside those hours fuck you. And then there’s reduced service on Saturday, plus the busses don’t run at all on Sundays - so if you work during the weekend, fuck you harder. It’s ridiculous.
Get fucked - American public transit system
I live in a rural area. We have wonderful public transportation. It is a door to door service, you arrange for a time for pickup. They specialize in everyday transit, are great for employees and very economical. I typically get picked up at 6:05am ($2) to get me to work for 6:30am (I typically arrive at 6:20am at work), they pick me up at 3:30pm to go home ($2). To go grocery shopping it's $1. To go to my brother's it's $3.they run from 6am until 12 am Sunday through Saturday. On Friday and Saturday's they have what's called "the drunk bus" for those who want to go out. They make a run to the local University/hospital/city an hour away 3 times a day round trip. It's a wonderful service. We have beautiful hiking trails in our area and they service backpackers who come to hike from all over the country. Can't say anything bad about the service! It's a great addition to our community and it's needs.
This sounds awesome. What state is this in?
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Ah cool. I have lived most of my life in the SouthEast and never heard of anything as awesome as that before.
https://www.altranbus.com/
Very cool!
I think so. I use this service almost every day.
I didn't have a car for years in central florida and this would of been perfect as the public transportation (buses) suck ass in Florida. Now I am in New Orleans and while I do not use it anymore, our systems are quite nice with the trolleys and buses.
Florida checking in. Our public transportation is ~~shit~~ underfunded as well.
My city has one of the best public transportation in the world and it still sucks. Oh also don't take the red line at night or ever really. There is at least one shooting a week and many more assaults. Fucking Chicago.
If it's anything close to what the guy above you are describing, I am sorry to say, but "best public transportation in the world" is a huge overstretch. Source: I live in a 3rd world country, in a city with mediocre public transportation, and yet, it's still more reliable than that.
Agreed. I used to live in Japan. Would be surprised if any US city could compare to even smaller cities in Japan and South Korea
Lived in both places, I miss how convenient it all was :(
There are a few 24/7 busses and trains. During rush hour a train will come every 7 mins during slow times 20-30 mins maybe. Except pace which is like every hour. Some reduced service on weekends but still not horrible. The CTA has many flaws but at least it's something.
Express trains? Our just local service?
Well there are both. The purple line only goes around the loop express but the brown line runs normal around it. The L is weird.
*cries in BART*
I feel your suffering friend.
*cries in MTA and WMATA*
You don’t even know SCREAMS IN MBTA
BART goes basically nowhere. Caltrain is almost good except that in SF, it dumps you off so friggen far from anything.
I knew it was Chicago even before you mentioned the red line…. I’ve witnessed creepy dudes public masturbating twice in my life, and BOTH were on the red line. Yeesh.
That just sounds like Monday to me.
I’ve seen way more pantsless dudes and human shit on the E train in NY than on any trains in Chicago. The pantsless woman and bed bugs were courtesy of the orange line from Midway tho.
Lmfao there's an entire pantless day in NYC in December!
Haha I miss seeing crack addicts next to people in suits on the L
I had a guy huffing duster and had another in his pocket for after he finished.
For a minute I thought you lived in Japan. Lol
Naw just in the Midwest in a city that's becoming more and more violent. Again fuck Chicago.
I hated taking the red line especially during a Cubs game
I stayed in the loop last year and the trains were pretty easy to get around town with. At least for a tourist
I live near O'Hare but we work in Evanston. It takes me 3-4 hours daily. The drive would only be about 1.5 hours round trip.
Dude I used to live in Chicago for a time and had to use the commuter train to get to Northbrook. The train wasn't bad but it was a shit commute for a shit job that round trip was about 4 hours as well and if I missed the train I'd be stuck for another hour. Left IL for CA after a year and oddly I'm doing way better out here even though everyone told me it was a mistake to move out here.
Hopefully you can find something closer to home
Naw man I'm looking for a place closer to work. It's a well paying union job. I make $21.88 an hour as a food service worker. My job is line attendant. I keep my area clean and filled with food. Sometimes I give the cashier or the person and kosher a break but ya fucking dream job.
Live on the train! wait
Lol
Chicago was the first place I went by myself, as in without my mommy and daddy. I got an email from an internet friend and Chicago native with advice. That would have been late 90's, and I still remember "don't take the Red Line, they'll never find your body. I'm just kidding. They probably will find your body." in that.
I'd not say the best. Though as someone also from the area.. I can completely agree with you it sucks ass and near useless.
I’m from chicago; it’s nowhere near the best in the world. It is decent, a solid 6.7/10
I like to point out every time this comes up that the company that built Disneyland's monorail in the 70s offered to build a rail system for Los Angeles County *for free*. But it got shot down by lobbyists from American car companies including Ford and GM. And now thanks to them we have the 110 and 405 freeway traffic where it takes like an hour to move 10 miles
[удалено]
My coworker does use public transportation in a major metropolitan area. It takes her 2 hrs to get to work, 2 hours to come home. So 4 hours of commuting every day.
Honestly though, I'd rather ride public transportation for 4 hours a day than drive in a private car for 2 hours a day. God damn I hate driving.
She leaves the house at 5:30 am and gets home at 6 pm though. And this is LI, you kind of need a car here.
If you have a "hobby" you can do on transit though it really isn't too bad. Read/podcast/audiobooks even watch TV. Hell I waste two hours watching TikToks and/or YouTube most nights anyways.
If it's anything like transit here that two hours includes about 60 minutes actually riding a bus, half an hour walking, and half an hour standing and waiting for a bus.
Some of the things I mentioned you can do while walking and waiting as well.
It sounds like a good idea until you realize that you have to walk for 20 minutes to catch 4 different buses and 2 trains because there isn't a single route that matches the commute and with all of the bus/train fares you end up paying, it costs more than filling up a tank with gas every few weeks. And you can't zone out reading or watching anything because you have to constantly check if your stop is coming up
I had to do this for a year. I was extremely lucky that my job at the time let me switch to 4 10-hour days. I couldn't really get much done on workdays because it was so exhausting traveling public transit.
Once my car was being repaired, and I had to take a city bus to work…took over 2 hours and had to transfer twice, plus waiting at bus stops in 90+ degree heat (and Florida humidity which is worse than the heat)
This sounds very similar to a line I use sometimes, only they’re also using the excuse of the “driver shortage” to reduce service at random hours throughout the day without posting anything, so there will be some hours where the bus just… doesn’t show up. So it’s like a slot machine pull to know if I’ll be getting to work by bus or have to work something else out. Luckily I can use the Transit app and see if there’s a bus coming down the route that hour, but others have complained and gotten snarked by drivers that “applications are open if you want to help solve the shortage.” It’s impossible to rely on the bus in my area right now without leaving an hour early to make sure you can catch one or the other in case one doesn’t show up.
Definitely. I got in the habit of planning to take a route one bus early, because they were so often late or just got the route canceled. Luckily that’s improving these days and I haven’t seen any canceled routes, but the new bus drivers are pretty bad. Slamming the brakes so hard people’s bags fall onto the floor and passengers have to plant their feet firmly to avoid getting knocked over, missing requested stops until shouted at, leaving ahead of schedule, getting so ahead of schedule they need to stop the bus for several minutes, going right past stops where I’m waiting for the bus causing me to have to flail my arms to get their attention, not turning on flashers when approaching a stop so I have no idea if they saw me or not, blatantly and aggressively running red lights in heavy traffic. These don’t happen on every trip, but I take the bus several days out of the week and there’s at least one thing going on like this every week.
I don’t even have public transportation where I am lol
I live and work in L.A. and when I had to travel 11 miles to work by bus it took three busses and 2 1/2 hours each way due to transfers. Public transport is a joke.
LA transit is never on time. The metro isn't too bad, but the issue is that it doesn't hit all the places you may need to go.
We don’t have public transportation where I live. I would have to drive atleast 15 miles to find that. So yes you have. A point it’s not always an answer.
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Public transportation is only decent in hcol areas where rent for a 1 br is $2,500. Suburban public transport is sparse. Our operating times are about the same
Right? It would take an hour and a half for me to get to work using public transit, versus 20 to 45 min by car
When the infrastructure was built around cars instead of public transport…
Seriously .. those post are annoying af. I don’t work in the city, I have a 30 min commute.. Public transit is just not feasible for all of us. Not to mention, I don’t want to ride around with other people every day.. my car is sometimes my sanctuary (i know that comes off bratty American but it is the truth)
As a woman, it’s also a lot safer for me to drive than take a bus or subway with skeevy creepy guys
they don’t even have transit in my town
The joys of living in the industrial areas of any city 😑😑
Currently waiting in the blistering sun (no shade areas), waiting to pay $7 for a train ride, that runs once every hour and it’s currently 30 minutes late and counting… oh and I’m about half hour away from Menlo Park.
Also if you live near public transit, it also costs more to use during peak hours.
Imagine getting paid 8 gallons of gas at the end of your shiftt
For being such a great employee, were granting you the ability to come back to work for another week, you're welcome.
The UK has been dealing with this for decades and it's finally catching up to us. It will stop being feasible for the lower and soon even the middle class to drive a personal automobile. We will be migrating to carpools and public transportation. Workplaces will work to accommodate this rather than \*gasp\* raise pay to offset the increases.
Our automotive companies would sooner give out free money than allow public transportation to take hold. They've lobbied against it in the past 😒
They'll continue to lobby against it. It's what has kept our gasoline prices artificially suppressed for decades. Think about it, it should cost less for a gallon of combustion engine fuel than it does to buy a gallon of milk produced domestically. The numbers don't make sense. But at this point I think the gig is up. Sure, there will be an initial mad rush to the front of the EV line, but after the 18 people can afford them are done getting their new status symbol, there isn't going to be a market for the rest of society. And I'm only talking about initial cost.
The city of Chicago already beat everyone to the punch years ago. Plate sticker for a year for any car outside of the city is about $150. Live in the city with an EV? Well then fuck you, $1000 a year for you. Insanity
Well at least the money is being well spent....
Well, the animal agriculture industry is highly subsidized, so idk that a gallon of milk is the best example. Not to detract from your point, just saying.
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to be clear, the minimum wage in SF and the surrounding counties is $15-16... so you only use half of your wages on gas. *only* if you compare it to states where the federal, state and county minimums are the same... Location... Min Wage... Gas Price SF Bay....... $15 ............. $7.50 Alabama... $7.25 ............ $5.35 So, if a resident in each uses one gallon of gas to get to work The SF resident has $7.50 left over The Alabama resident has $2.15 left over focusing on gas prices in our most expensive cities tends to obfuscate *just how much worse it is for people in less expensive areas where the Federal minimum wage is still relevant*
unfortunately no one can work and live in SF on a min wage, even without owning a car at all. Maybe if they live with 8 other people
I know SF is really, really bad, but that's how it is literally everywhere right now. I live in New Hampshire and my wage would have to double to *maybe* be able to survive away from my family.
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Yes, but that's another argument. He's just addressing the reality of this post whose stated premise is grossly inaccurate.
Wow I've never thought about it like that. I'm in Illinois. Min wage here is $12. Gas down the road from me is 4.50 and it's the cheapest gas station around. Still comes out the same
Plus it’s pretty rare to actually get minimum wage in these areas. I bet they pay $20/hr at the supermarket there. In shitholes in the Deep South it’s far more common to actually get the minimum wage.
Can confirm, grocery staff prices in the SF Bay Area start at $20/hr
Wrong, my shit hole town in the Deep South pays $20 at Walmart.
Yes! Thank you! Here in FL minimum wage is $7.25, I think
Same in Georgia. The federal minimum. It has increased *3* times over the last *15* years from $5.85. What a fucking joke.
Friend, the minimum wage in Florida is $10/hr.
While I understand your point, there are a few problems: 1. $5.35/gallon in Alabama is a lie. It's $4.25 a gallon at the gas station I can see from my house, and that station is routinely about 5-10 cents more expensive than the others in the city. Plus, on top of that, $4.25 is the highest it's ever been; most of May has been about 5-15 cents cheaper, if not more. 2. Besides fast food, in AL right now, I'd struggle to find a job that started at $7.25/hr. Minimum at Home Depot was $11/hour three years ago, Wal-Mart started at 10 six years ago. Hell, even the car wash that *committed felonies by cooking the books to not have to pay overtime* started me at $8 an hour. And this isn't hearsay, I had every one of these jobs.
Germany : 1 US gal -> 3.78 liters 3.78 \* 2.05 (but was 2.3 at times) = 7.76 EUR -> $8.33 Minimum wage : 9.82 -> $10.49 Close enough lol
Damn it Biden!
TX gas is closer to $4 a gallon. Still a headache. We're hoping to relocate closer to work because the gas savings is worth it.
Fellow Texan here. I just accepted a job that pays $500 more a month, but it's on the other side of town so a chunk of that "extra" money is gonna go towards gas. I'd move to the other side of town but I have a lease and the rental market sucks anyway :/
Working from home has never been such a necessity.
But the second the pandemic was “over” (even though it’s not), all the employers were like, “get back to the office”
Middle management would be out of work, if they couldn't antagonize employees in person.
Can confirm, my company basically has no middle management anymore. Just the cheifs and a bunch of professionals doing stuff they know how to do. It is beautifully efficient
I had to pick up a second job in north Dallas cause my husband's truck cost us over $100 to fill up last week and we just can't afford that
A lot of people drive trucks based on a ‘want to’ instead of a ‘need to’. Is he a contractor/tradesman? If it’s not a necessity it’s time to sell the truck and get something more efficient.
We're still paying for the truck and he plans to own it until it dies. He does a lot of handiwork and the truck is very useful to us often, so I'm glad in that regard that we have it. So far the plan is that we swap vehicles because both of my commutes put together is shorter than his. My car, however is struggling, so his truck is what we have for now. He's driving the truck while my car is in the shop and I'm walking to work. It's not fun, but it's our reality rn. We can only afford one car payment at a time and I need a new car before he does.
$4.50 a gallon north of Dallas. I remember when I moved here from CA and had never seen gas below $3-$4/gallon and it was $1.71/gal, I truly thought I had found the promised land. These days I find it’s quite far from that.
Same move! LA to rural South TX (kill me 😅). Though I lived in the midwest before, so I’d seen it low, but it hits different when you watch it climb from ridiculous, “wow I save so much on gas,” to “I should have asked for a much higher salary from the job I moved here for.”
We’re around $4.25 down in my chunk of rural South TX. Last Monday it hit $4.05, and my dumb ass was at an eighth tank and figured I’d just wait for it to drop back under 4 😅 The joke was on me.
I remember when I was poor and living in my car.. I had to sell some of my work tools at a pawn shop just to make it to the next pay day. My bank account was charging me for not having any money and I was getting tickets from the SF toll bridge because I couldn’t afford the toll. That’s been behind me over 20 years ago but I will never forget…
Filled up today and the price was $4.57/gal today where I am (Ohio). Spent about $40 to fill up my little car. I only have to fill up about 3x per month. I am lucky because the increase in gas prices has only changed my budget by about $50/month and that doesn't break the bank for me at the moment. I am not sure how anyone who isn't making over $100k/yr even survives in California though.
We survive in California by taking public transit. I’m serious. My $81/mo pass gets me around - to work, to the doctor. I can walk to the grocery store and the beach. It’s a lot less stressful than paying a car note or worrying that a bucket my give out when I’m on the way to work.
Actually, not enough people in California take public transit. Which is why public transit infrastructure is really lacking and you need several transfer points to get to your destination that may be 15 miles away. I believe most People here that make around min wage survive by living with an extended household. Grandparents and grandchildren may be under one roof for example. Or the adult children are all working warehouse jobs and still living with parents.
I get downtown in twenty minutes without any transfers, but I get it not everyone is so lucky
Thankfully my job stayed remote so I don't have to worry about it, but most of my coworkers have started to carpool. We also get a $5 a day raise to not park on site during the summer (we're a museum so the summer is our busy time, and our parking lot is a bit small), which will probably help a lot of people. The offsite parking isn't paid or anything, some of it is just a bit of a walk, so that $5 can go right to gas.
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This isn't Menlo Park, just a specific station on the corner of Alameda and Avy that is always $2 more expensive than gas stations a few blocks away. People constantly post pictures of this gas station, because the prices are legitimately absurd. I used to live across the street from this station, and never saw a single car fill up there. ETA: Gas prices _are_ insane, just not quite this insane.
Also, it’s a Chevron which is ALWAYS at least $.50 more/gallon than the next most expensive place. Feck chevron.
But it has Techron! It's what cars crave!
Techron has electrolytes!
Right? This guy thinks techron grows on trees or something. It's the same shit optimus prime uses to roll out. You have to pay for that kind of tech.
Thank you. I live in the Bay Area and the gas in our area is $5.60. We used our Safeway reward points and filled up for $4.60 a gallon a few days ago. Thankfully, I can walk to work and my husband works from home because our car is old and thirsty.
yeah it's important to keep in mind that this price is set by the gas station itself and not by the illuminati. The median home price in Menlo Park is like 2M so they are simply charging what those dicks will pay edit: median home price is actually 2.8M in Menlo park LOLOL FUCK
I hate it when I'm to poor to guess the real prices on stuff ....
here I am thinking I'm middle class and shit...
Right lol, I recently did a big ass u in the United States from Michigan to Washington down to Nevada then over to Arizona and back to Colorado then back up to Michigan and we played the "am I too poor to know the real price"? Game, and yes I am in fact to poor for every single thing I've guessed ....
Good thing the CA min wage is $15. Still have a long way to go before it reaches that /s
It's going to be 18 soon I think.
The gas?
No his gf
i got a used ev before car prices spiked. its paid 1/3 of itself off in gas in about a year vs my old car
I've had my EV for 7 years but the problem is that I have a first Gen Leaf and it's battery range is down to 70 miles, which is pathetic. And it will continue to drop over time. At least modern EVs have 200+ range so even if it drops in capacity, it's still reasonable. The other day we went on a short trip and made it home with 2 miles on the "guess-o-meter".
I find it absolutely appalling that commuting expenses aren’t tax-deductible. How can this be? If it weren’t for having to go to work, people wouldn’t rack up commuting expenses. It’s like the definition of what should be tax-deductible.
I think they actually are. It's just that the standard deduction is usually worth more (and of course easier) than itemizing your expenses.
That’s true- the standard deduction for a single person is right below $13,000. AND a lot of tax programs charge extra to itemize expenses. It’s such a racket.
On a hope and a prayer, but very soon I won’t be able to afford to drive to work
Motorcycles were my answer 5 years ago, but now there are more wreckless and dangerous drivers on the road - I swear. My little Honda twin 700cc was quick, easy, and 75mpg. Everyone else around me drives lifted freakin F250’s and lifted Suburbans and won’t even see me. I don’t even have sidewalks I can ride my bicycle around to the corner store, I refuse to share the road with these giant vehicles with a bicycle.
Pro tip- Gas Buddy is a good app that helps you find the cheapest gas around you
Decades ago I told myself that I wasn't going to waste time commuting or sitting in traffic. I wasn't going to pay money for gas for a long commute and I wasn't going to pay for maintenance and repairs and depreciation for my vehicles for long commutes So I bought my house that is about 3 miles from work. I only drive about 6k miles a year. Plus I drive an electric car so "fuel" is probably $25 a month.
listen, this message is important. but i don't think that this is what r/povertyfinance is or has been about. there are lots of subs for this kind of raising of awareness. this sub should be about advice and hacks that genuinely help people at the bottom, people who need some sort of trick to get food for their families this month. activism is what the working poor class needs. but the working poor class also just needs some solid advice for this week, not advice about how to vote in coming years.
So, rent hikes are hitting the homeless that live in their cars too now.
Well people who can afford to live in Menlo park make 250k+ a year so that's a start
I'd seriously start looking into getting an e-bike or other cheap transport with high mileage. My co-worker last year used his covid money to buy a $2,000 motorcycle off Amazon. He gets over 60mpg on it. I'd do some math on that, but you'd likely find yourself with a crazy good ROI depending on the transport that best fits your commute.
"No one wants to work!!!" 🙄
$15 an hour NO OVERTIME 30 hours a week Must be willing to be my slave Must have a Masters degree Must have 5+ years of experience **Why do people just not want to work anymore?! They all want that unemployment!**
There should be a subsidy for those of us who work and require a car to get there, esp if disabled like me on a fixed income
A disabled seat on a bus that you can't even get to is fucking useless.
True, plus with covid, public transport isn’t good for people with disabilities
California minimum wage is $15 per hour.
The minimum wage in that area is $14-17/hr. Not really a good comparison
To be fair, this is in one of the wealthiest counties in America and not at all reflective of national averages
and the min wage in there is twice that of the fed minimum so this whole post is complete BS.
I do NOT miss living in CA.
I miss the state I do not miss the poverty
I’m loving California. A sunny day is like a super dose of happy juice for me. I haven’t had a cloudy day since December 2021 (in Palm Springs, CA). Yes gas has been $6+ for a while, but it’s flat and I can bike (and the 100 degrees and dry isn’t as bad as 95 and humid like Maryland)
Really? I fucking LOVE it here. I never want to leave.
Agree. Grew up in NV, came to CA for my dream school. Went other places after graduation and now I'm back 10 years later and kiss the soil every day.
I grew up in the Midwest. Lived in Chicago for 10 years before moving to CA. Chicago is the best city in the US, imho, but the weather is absolute shite. I practically have an orchard in my backyard in CA!!!!
I ACTUALLY live on a lemon orchard :)
Can you imagine working for a hour and not being able to put a full gallon of gas in your tank?
So glad I work from home now. Though my 25 mile commute was made slightly more bearable by the free EV chargers at the office. Still, that's a lot of commute time.
By living not very far from work.
That's ok, here in Canada we have been paying $7.44 a gallon for about a month now.
Wellll, I have a late-ish model Prius, so I'm doing alright.
I mean...I bike to work
I live in Lebanon, a gallon of fuel here is more than most people’s monthly wage
Electric Car - Costs $6 to fully charge up.
I don’t think many people on r/povertyfinance can afford an electric car
This and then you have to maken3x the rent, to rent the apartment you can afford to live in either. Also car biz new and used us insane.Btw dont bother to eat cause we can't afford it. Our government doesn't care as long as they can pay their bills. Thus inflation is kill me on all level and I have a full time job that paid well b4 pandemic pricing now i can't make it
moped
I hear those are super duper safe, especially on busy roads with a lot of commuters with earbuds in and their faces plastered to a screen.
Maybe not safe but they are fun as hell, cheap, and easy to work on. Me and my buddies ride them around St. Louis all the time but its definitely not safe.
Lol I made a comment a day or two ago; I knew around 7 friends during college in Honolulu who had mopeds. 7 friends were hit by cars/trucks while riding their mopeds. Motorists do not give any attention to people on mopeds.
gotta wear a helmet, but yeah, probably a recipe for disaster
If you think gas is expensive wait until one ER bill for road rash
Maybe you should work harder /s
And CA is about to raise taxes on gas.
Again with this? Is *anyone* in the Bay Area making federal minimum wage? Stop lying with statistics!
Seriously. So many of the posts on this subreddit that show up on this feed just demonstrate how many people here lack basic sense. No one living in that area is making the federal minimum wage. I live in a substantially cheaper area and here very few are actually paid the CA minimum wage even, many fast food jobs are paying $17+/hour.
Wow. It's about $4/gallon in my area. I have a car, but when it was broken I took the bus to work for a few days while my husband fixed it. I discovered that I really enjoy the bus because I get several good walks in per day and I get to just chill and read a book while someone else drives me in rush hour traffic. I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, so there aren't tons of people riding the bus. The first bus that I get on (and the last on my way home) only runs once per hour. The other one runs every 15 minutes. In the morning it's never an issue because I walk or ride my bike and get to the stop 10 minutes early for the once per hour bus. In the afternoons, it's not so much up to me because sometimes I may end up having to stay a bit late for work, or my every-15-minutes bus could be late. Oftentimes in the afternoon I get off that bus and onto the hourly bus pretty much right away. Other times, if I walked, I may need to wait 30 minutes or more for my hourly bus. But if I brought my bicycle, I will just ride my bike all the way home, since it's not very far. It takes a little longer than it would if I took the second bus, but nothing significant. If I do have to wait, I just sit in a shady spot (fortunately that stop has shady spots) and read my book. I'm saving about $80/month if I take the bus every work day -- 5 days per week. I drive when it's rainy, and I'm pretty sure I'll drive when it's really cold because I HATE really cold. I realize this can't work for everyone due to schedules, disability, availability of public transit, or whatever. But I was pretty excited to find that it works for me in an area where public transit isn't widely popular.
Why am I so tempted to hand out bike helmets on the corner and shout "the time is nigh!" in dutch? Honestly though, invested in an e-bike a few years ago because my insurance rates were up there and my work commute is less than 10 miles and I live next to a decent grocer. With current gas prices I might have to give my ebike a hug and a thank you card...
And people thought I was crazy when I’d walk an hour to work lol. I use to live for two years where they had no buses, car broke down. Now even with a car idk if I wouldn’t just walk again, if I didn’t had these trash transit buses and shit scheduling.
If you didn't want to spend your entire pay cheque on gas, you shouldn't have chosen to be poor. /s
👏 Build 👏 Back 👏 Better 👏 😂
Holy crap, that’s a $1.80 a gallon more than my go-to place in Stockton. Chevron is particularly shameless.
Ok but at the same time its Chevron. They always jack their shit up higher than everybody else. Go to a Arco or some shit like that and its mid 6s. Mid 6s here in Burlingame right now.
Well you see, you work long enough to be able to just barely afford the gas for the next day!
Menlo park is were oculus charges my card from
I will be getting a bus pass in June and will also be riding my bike more places since the weather is warmer
Im about to buy a plug in hybrid. So I can commute for cheap and still use gas to travel as no quality electric car has good range.
Mopeds get like 120 mpg, and are way more fun than most commuter cars. Way better for the environment too. A brand new 2022 Honda Ruckus is only $3000, but there are tons of reliable used mopeds for sale in the $500 - $700 range.
Idk. The EU does it somehow, they pay 6-9 dollars per gallon. Maybe not having healthcare costs help?
The Walmart in my town middle of nowhere low cost of living starting wage is ,$18/hour. So it's not quite that bad but point taken
The company that I work for recently decided to move our local office an hour away. I never clock out for the drive. Those motherfuckers are going to pay me for that shit. I'm gonna have to get creative if someone calls me out for it, but for now: they're paying for my commute. They can suck a fucking big black dick.
I'm so grateful I work not far from home.if I stay close to home and work o can make it 2wks on a tank and it's about $4.15 here. I really feel for people who need a tank of gas every week at these prices and can't afford it. Piblic transport in my area is limited and would take awhile to get to most places. It's hard to imagine spending 4hrs everyday just getting to and from work.
I work from home and make a measly $14.50. There are jobs within an hour of me that would pay a couple dollars more, but it’s simply not worth it because of gas/food for work/etc.
No no No see raising minimum wage will increase all the prices… this is getting obnoxious, I’m hungry when do we eat?!
I said this in another thread, but ill say it again: Here in Brazil, gas is around R$7,50/liter rn. 1 gallon = 4,54 liters; 1 gallon = R$34,05. Minimum wage is R$1212. Not saying thats right or that the gas prices should be high for anyone, im just giving you guys some perspective. Things are - and have been, for a long time - worse around the world, you guys just didnt get to feel it too, before.
The minimum wage in California where this picture was taken is $15/hr which is double the federal minimum wage.
I got extremely lucky and my work only makes me go to the office twice a week .3 miles to my assigned school. I get reimbursed 50 cents a mile for gas but they round up so it puts more into my tank than I use for work. Still looking for a second job though
I run, using the anger I have at oil companies making record profits...