30 Days - Minimum Wage

Millions of Americans work full-time jobs and still live below the poverty line. How do they survive? Could I do it? Well, we'll find out. I try to live on minimum wage for the next 30 days. All right. Hey buddy, I'm still waiting. Yeah, you are prized with that? I may be going to live on minimum wage for the next 30 days, but I'm not going it alone. I suckered my fiance Alex into coming with me. You might remember my girlfriend Alex from supersize me. We're engaged now. Alex is a vegan chef, and having her with me is going to make it a lot easier to stay healthy on the cheap. What do you think? Pretty good. We're not gonna be having this. Oh, what do we have? Beans and rice. Nice. Spending 30 days on minimum wage won't be easy. These earrings cost more than my college education. You see, we've been living the good life ever since supersize me hit it big. Hell, we even got to go to the Oscars. Keep your fingers crossed. Unfortunately, we didn't win. Yeah, you know, we didn't win. Yeah. Once the Oscars were over, it was time for me to move on to my next project. Working a minimum wage job. I'm concerned about what's going to happen just because I am so bad with money. I'm the worst. I'm the worst. 

Every time you go out the door $20 only falls out of your pocket. You're going to have to learn how to budget. When was the last time you made a budget for living? A budget for a living. I have not made a budget since. For the next 30 days, Alex and I have to follow three rules. First, we both have to work minimum wage jobs. Second, each of us will begin with cash equaling one week's minimum wage pay. 206 bucks apiece, that's just one 78 47 after taxes. And third, we have to freeze our credit cards and bank accounts and leave all our money behind. So what's left in my wallet is my driver's license? And my ACLU membership card. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be challenging. It's going to be scary. We're going to make it. Why did I agree to do this? Because you love me. We decided to spend the next 30 days in Columbus, Ohio. The state of affairs in Ohio mirrors conditions all over the United States. Ohio was lost almost 250,000 jobs in the last four years alone. In fact, three of the top 20 poorest cities in the United States are in Ohio. Ohio was also the most hotly contested state in the 2004 election. So Columbus, Ohio's capital seemed like the ideal place for us to begin our minimum wage lifestyle. 

We're crashing at my friend Jim's house for our first night in town, but after that, we're on our own. What do you like this one? Before we do anything else, Alex and I have to find a place to live. One bedroom, three 49, 99. Even with our two paychecks combined, we only have $356 as our starting balance. Yes, I was calling regarding the ad that was in the Columbus dispatch. We just require that you make about three and a half times the amount of rent per month. Today, we're focused on finding an apartment. So we've looked in the paper and then we hit the streets. Since Alex and I don't have a car, we bought a bus pass so we could get around town. Go ahead. It's definitely. Sketchy. The goal for us is to not spend more than $400 a month. It looks like we've been ironed in the carpet. Right next to the hot water heater. Extra toilets always great. They smell like cigarettes and cleaning fluid in here. Just in the hallway. We hope. Opinion. Nice. You keep looking down. I'll keep looking up. All right. Alex and I looked all over town and finally found an apartment for 325 bucks a month in a place called the bottoms. Got two places here to show you. Okay. This is wonderful. Yeah. 

You get your own thermostat. That's fantastic. Well, no, it's not really a thermostat, but this is electric. Okay. So today the heat's on or off. Kind of two days ago, there was a street person living in here. We just changed the locks this morning. Oh, wow. Everyone downstairs. There was a crack house. Right downstairs was just a crack house. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Just a little bit rough for area. Okay. But you got the hospital right here, so you know. So in case we get shot in the head. Right there. He's allowing us to pay off the deposit over a couple of months, which is awesome. Because we don't have the money now. Maybe not a safe, but. Yeah. It was a crack house last week. That doesn't mean violence. It was a selling drugs. Okay. Can we move in? He's right now. Please. After paying $200 toward our first month's rent, we owe our landlord another 125 for the rent, and 325 for security deposits. So it doesn't have to change on the street. Exciting. We have an apartment. Which is a great, great thing. And it's freezing. In our apartment. All right. Home sweet home. It's not that bad. We have to make around a grand before the end of the month. And that's feasible. You know, that's we have a lot of time to make a $1000 between us. 

We can do it. We can do it. I'm confident. It's day two, and now that Alex and I have found the place to live, we have to get some jobs. When it comes to being an unskilled laborer, there's no one more unskilled. Than I am. If you guys were hiring, I have loads of copy experience. Hey, I was here to respond to the ad for a job. Yeah. I really want to work at a fast food place. And now I'm going to have a choice. Maybe if you guys were hiring. Temp service and jobs today. A lot of minimum wage earners go to temp agencies to get jobs fast, so I decided I would do the same. So I wanted to find out about getting a job. Let me get two forms ID, okay? One fixture social security. Okay. I love this party behind this no sleeping on the job. That's number one. And what will be the right for tomorrow? Won't be less than 7. Thanks for all see you in the morning and 6. I'm making 7 bucks an hour. That's a buck 85 more than minimum wage. Not bad. I love the rules. You know, there's no drinking on the job. No fool around. My favorite one was that no hiding in the porta John. 

So I can't so I can't hide in the portal at tomorrow while I'm at work apparently. Come over. Hi. I got a job. Nice. Alex got a job busing tables in washing dishes at a coffee shop downtown, and I'm going wherever the temp agency sends me to Mars. Look at you getting jobs. We're getting jobs. Hallelujah. Now we gotta get something to eat. I was so hungry today. There were so many times where I wanted food. Normally I would just buy something and I didn't do it. You know, just because we don't have the money. What did you eat today? I pulled out an application at the deli. They had a barrel filled with free pickles. Before I ate about 6 pickles while we were there, and I took about another 6 with me. I had never been in a position of denying myself when I was hungry. I mean, today was really, really hard. Tomorrow, the work start