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1000$ - much or little?
Is it unheard of for an American to live on an income of a thousand dollars a month or is it fairly common?
I remember there was Lt. Colombo character from the American series shown on Russian TV in the 90s, I think, who knew there was a bill with a 100 on it but he seemed to have never seen, let alone, possessed one. Was it really big money when the story was filmatised :) and what is a hundred bucks for an average Tom, Dick and Harry today?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by alexB
Is it unheard of for an American to live on an income of a thousand dollars a month or is it fairly common?
I remember there was Lt. Colombo character from the American series shown on Russian TV in the 90s, I think, who knew there was a bill with a 100 on it but he seemed to have never seen, let alone, possessed one. Was it really big money when the story was filmatised :) and what is a hundred bucks for an average Tom, Dick and Harry today?
Okay, to be fair about it all... COULD you live on $1,000 would really depend upon WHERE you live in the U.S. On average, I would say. no. And here is why...
According to the Federal Guidelines..$10,830 (annually) is considered poverty for 2009/2010 for ONE person.
To obtain Free and Reduced Meals in School (in our area), you can't make more than $20,036 per year.
So, IF you could actually find a place to live for 300 bucks a month (say crash with a bunch of other people which is common... Immigrants just take over an apartment and fill it wall-to-wall with mattresses) AND you walk to your job so you don't have any transportation costs, AND you live on rice and pasta AND you don't have any other costs, like a cell phone, cable or anything else like that... yes, it can be done. BUT... is it living???
Right now, I do know many people who are cutting back and trying to live on as close to $1,000 as possible! Times are hard here! :sad:
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
My rent and utilities are $250 a month, I could easily get by on $1000 a month, but I am a single person.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
I second what rockzmom wrote. It may be possible, with many restrictions, but you would never want to live like that. I haven't lived like that since 1971 when I lived the hippy life in Haight-Ashbury. Nowadays it is nearly impossible. Share an apartment in Chapel Hill, will cost you $400 for rent/utilities. And don't forget, to get $1000 чистый доход you have to earn about 20% more, i.e., $1200 for state and federal tax at the minimum rate of 15%. OTOH you'd probably qualify for food stamps, so that would give you some leeway. Been there, done that too.
Where the heck you living, Zombie. Arkansas? What about your car insurance? Health?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Now, I almost forgot to answer the other part of your question, back when Colombo was on... Let's see my first job was when I was in high school in the early '80s and I think I was making $3.10 to $3.35 per hour, and on Sundays, I made time and a half!
Then, I started working full-time I think I was making all of $6.35 per hour. So, at a 40 hour work week, that would be 6.35 x 2080 hours = $13,208 less all the taxes and health insurance! So back then I would have cleared way under $1,000 per month and I was living on my own. And I was eating a lot of pasta and there were no cell phones or cable back then!
So, yes, that was a lot of money back then!
I also agree with chaika, I have been there done that. I mean, we are getting by here now with much less than before and it is not fun... but I would not want to have to go back to the way I used to live...because it is more like... existing. I think my having done that though is why I do so well in odd locations around the world! I can handle just about anything you throw at me! :wink:
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chaika
I second what rockzmom wrote. It may be possible, with many restrictions, but you would never want to live like that. I haven't lived like that since 1971 when I lived the hippy life in Haight-Ashbury. Nowadays it is nearly impossible. Share an apartment in Chapel Hill, will cost you $400 for rent/utilities. And don't forget, to get $1000 чистый доход you have to earn about 20% more, i.e., $1200 for state and federal tax at the minimum rate of 15%. OTOH you'd probably qualify for food stamps, so that would give you some leeway. Been there, done that too.
Where the heck you living, Zombie. Arkansas? What about your car insurance? Health?
North East Kansas, haha. Car insurance is $30 dollars, I don't carry health insurance due to cost vs. benefit ratio. I haven't felt the need to see a doctor since I was 12 (25 now).
If I had to carry health insurance there would be no way to live off of $1000 a month. Health insurance is expensive in the US.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
So what's the minimum wage in the US?
I mean the lowest salary that employers are legally allowed to pay? In the UK it's about £5.50 /hour. =USD 7.
The only person who would work for less than that would be an illegal immigrant from outside Europe, i.e. African or Middle Eastern.
I read in the paper recently about an English woman who dressed up like a gypsy (zigane) and went to beg in the Underground (metro). She made average of £30 an hour. :no:
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
By the way, I understand that it's customary to measure gross annual salary in US rather than monthly net (as it is customary in Russia). Is it truly so? And is it really convenient to measure annual income rather than monthly? Isn't it a bit too 'long term'?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Federal minimum wage is $7.25, some states make it higher than that though.
We measure salary jobs in yearly amounts, that seems to work pretty well, but for "paid by the hour" jobs we measure it by $ per hour and nothing else.
I don't know if it works better than knowing your monthly salary or not, I haven't ever used that system.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn
Federal minimum wage is $7.25, some states make it higher than that though.
We measure salary jobs in yearly amounts, that seems to work pretty well, but for "paid by the hour" jobs we measure it by $ per hour and nothing else.
I don't know if it works better than knowing your monthly salary or not, I haven't ever used that system.
Russian federal minimum is 4330 roubles per month (142$ per month - net). One can hadly live for these money, but somehow some people get by... I really don't know. $1000 per month is considered rather good salary in all Russian regions with possible exception of Moscow. Moscow is an exception because you can hardly find a living apartment for less than $700-800 a month (for rent). If you own one - this sum will be enough to maintain two people (i mean food only and other must-have things).
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramil
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn
Federal minimum wage is $7.25, some states make it higher than that though.
We measure salary jobs in yearly amounts, that seems to work pretty well, but for "paid by the hour" jobs we measure it by $ per hour and nothing else.
I don't know if it works better than knowing your monthly salary or not, I haven't ever used that system.
Russian federal minimum is 4330 roubles per month (142$ per month - net). One can hadly live for these money, but somehow some people get by... I really don't know. $1000 per month is considered rather good salary in all Russian regions with possible exception of Moscow. Moscow is an exception because you can hardly find a living apartment for less than $700-800 a month (for rent). If you own one - this sum will be enough to maintain two people (i mean food only and other must-have things).
Its hard for me to think about only making $142 a month, how much is an average apartment in Russia outside of the big areas like Moscow?
I had a classmate that was from Moscow and anytime she talked about the area it seemed like they didn't have housing districts and everyone just lived in stacked apartments, is that true? Sorry if that is a dumb question.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Even if you could sneak by on a grand, eventually you're going to hit by those bills that come from nowhere (and they always come) that will break you.
Where I live a one bedroom apt is $800/mo. minimum; you can do the math.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
[quote=Zombie Acorn] Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramil
Quote:
Originally Posted by "Zombie Acorn":3pgqva1i
Its hard for me to think about only making $142 a month, how much is an average apartment in Russia outside of the big areas like Moscow?
That's a too broad question.
Quote:
I had a classmate that was from Moscow and anytime she talked about the area it seemed like they didn't have housing districts and everyone just lived in stacked apartments, is that true? Sorry if that is a dumb question.
[/quote:3pgqva1i]
For Moscow it's true. Moscow is a New York sized city but it occupies 1/10 of its territory.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
In Moscow we pay an administrative assistant $800-1000. Usually they're 22-27 y.o. girls who rent a shared flat (800-900 USD a month).
For any other privincial centre (except for St. Pete) the sum must be divided by three.
An industrial worker can be hired for $500 in the provinces neighboring Moscow region.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn
it seemed like they didn't have housing districts and everyone just lived in stacked apartments, is that true?
That's true, and not only for Moscow; but what's wrong about it? It's absolutely normal in Russia.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
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Originally Posted by Оля
That's true, and not only for Moscow; but what's wrong about it? It's absolutely normal in Russia.
Tastes differ :) For a common Northern Korean such apartment would be a palace. For a common American it's probably a hellhole.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ленивец
For Moscow it's true. Moscow is a New York sized city but it occupies 1/10 of its territory.
Hm... well wikipedia states other way:
Moscow: population 10,562,099, area 1081 km^2
New York City: population 8 700 000, area 785 km^2 (land area)
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterlaz
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ленивец
For Moscow it's true. Moscow is a New York sized city but it occupies 1/10 of its territory.
Hm... well wikipedia states other way:
Moscow: population 10,562,099, area 1081 km^2
New York City: population 8 700 000, area 785 km^2 (land area)
Compare Moscow with the New York Metropolitan area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
[quote=Ленивец][quote=Waterlaz][quote="Ленивец":3v1s4f5b]For Moscow it's true. Moscow is a New York sized city but it occupies 1/10 of its territory.[/quote]
Hm... well wikipedia states other way:
Moscow: population 10,562,099, area 1081 km^2
New York City: population 8 700 000, area 785 km^2 (land area)[/quote]
Compare Moscow with the New York Metropolitan area
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area[/url][/quote:3v1s4f5b]
Well, that is a completely different thing.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
[quote=Оля] Quote:
Originally Posted by "Zombie Acorn":2aqujmpo
it seemed like they didn't have housing districts and everyone just lived in stacked apartments, is that true?
That's true, and not only for Moscow; but what's wrong about it? It's absolutely normal in Russia.[/quote:2aqujmpo]
Do many people own the apartments they stay in? Or are they mostly rented?
I don't think there is a problem as long as you can say you own something. I wouldn't want to have to live under a landlord my entire life.
I think in America apartments have a "temporary" feel to them, most people want to buy a house and move out if they can afford it. It might just be a culture difference.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn
I think in America apartments have a "temporary" feel to them, most people want to buy a house and move out if they can afford it. It might just be a culture difference.
Oh, I see now. Well, in Russia, most people DO own the apartments they stay in; and if someone doesn't own or co-own an apartment, his situation is quite unenviable (such person, administratively, is a "бомж" which means a vagrant). Although in Moscow, there are, of course, a lot of people from various cities of the whole country who don't have their own flat and rent one. But the overwhelming majority of people who live in Moscow have their own flat.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
It's a little like people in Moscow lives in condos. When you go into an apartment it is really pretty nice, but the buildings these nice apartments are in are just the opposite. Unlike the condos, the buildings are no one's personal property and no one takes care of them. Some of them are like the public housing you find in a ghetto in an American city-- graffitti in the stairwells, cigarette butts strewn about, light bulbs missing from hallways because people have stolen them.
One year is long term?? Money things are often based on the year -- yearly income tax, salary, insurance premiums, magazine subscriptions. Zombie does not pay his $30-a month car insurance on a monthly basis. Some things we do pay monthly -- mortgage, rent, phone, utility bills. I pay my Medicare bill (yes, I'm that old!) quarterly and my car insurance semi-annually, because it is too big a bill to pay all at once and keep the budget afloat. I make some monthly donations to charities and also annual.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chaika
It's a little like people in Moscow lives in condos. When you go into an apartment it is really pretty nice, but the buildings these nice apartments are in are just the opposite. Unlike the condos, the buildings are no one's personal property and no one takes care of them. Some of them are like the public housing you find in a ghetto in an American city-- graffitti in the stairwells, cigarette butts strewn about, light bulbs missing from hallways because people have stolen them.
Not all buildings are like that. Recently there's been a change of regulation and so called ТСЖ (Товарищество собственников жилья - a very close equivalent of condominiums) started appearing. Before that any building had been considered municipal property (even though all apartments in it were private) and thus the city authorities were supposed to take care of these 'municipal' parts of buildings. With obvious results. Presently, the building ownership can be transferred to ТСЖ and thus the residents can choose who should maintain their building. In such cases the interiors of 'common' parts are quite clean and nice. Some even have flowers and tapestries inside.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Columbo: 1971-1978, 1989-1998, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/
$1,000.00 in 1971 had about the same buying power as $5,425.85 in 2010. /$1,000.00 in 2010 had about the same buying power as $184.30 in 1971.
$1,000.00 in 1981 had about the same buying power as $2,502.31 in 2010.
$1,000.00 in 1991 had about the same buying power as $1,613.97 in 2010.
http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm
I pay the J-1 Russian kids (горничные и коридорный) $10 an hour x 40 hours a week at the start of the season. They get tips too, figure $500 a week. I make a bit more.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
My wife works in a bookstore (she is a manager) and the wages there almost near federal minimum. Salesgirls' wages are about 7000 RUR (about 240$) a month. Monthly cost of one-room apartment rent in my town is about 12000 RUR a month. And all other prices are equal or even higher than in Moscow.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chaika
when I lived the hippy life in Haight-Ashbury.
off: Did you see George Harrison there?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by capecoddah
Columbo: 1971-1978, 1989-1998,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/
$1,000.00 in 1971 had about the same buying power as $5,425.85 in 2010. /$1,000.00 in 2010 had about the same buying power as $184.30 in 1971.
$1,000.00 in 1981 had about the same buying power as $2,502.31 in 2010.
$1,000.00 in 1991 had about the same buying power as $1,613.97 in 2010.
http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm
I pay the J-1 Russian kids (горничные и коридорный) $10 an hour x 40 hours a week at the start of the season. They get tips too, figure $500 a week. I make a bit more.
So, to sum it up, a lollipop for each of the children, flowers for the wife, a clyster for the grandpa and a hundred is no more?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by alexB
So, to sum it up, a lollipop for each of the children, flowers for the wife, a clyster for the grandpa and a hundred is no more?
hehehehe :ROFL: I had to google clyster :ROFL:
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
7000 RUR (about 240$) a month.
One of my pet peeves is putting the dollar sign in the wrong place. It makes the writer look to me like a little dim. You put the dollar symbol in front and the cents symbol after, as any literate American knows.
What would you say if we started writing R7000 using our rules of position for the denomination? I would imagine it looks equally strange to y'all.
I never met George Harrison.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
I was thinking of opening a separate thread but perhaps this one will suffice for my question. How much do you need to make in Russia per month to buy the minimum food supplies per person ("food basket")? How about public and private transportation and other categories of expenses? This will be different for different cities, so if you know the city, name it too.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterAdmin
I was thinking of opening a separate thread but perhaps this one will suffice for my question. How much do you need to make in Russia per month to buy the minimum food supplies per person ("food basket")? How about public and private transportation and other categories of expenses? This will be different for different cities, so if you know the city, name it too.
A miminal 'food basket' costs from 3,000 RUR to 7,000 RUR a month depending on the region (roughly $120 to $220). This is minimal indeed (accomodation and clothing are not inluded - just food).
To survive you will have to make about 10,000-15,000 ($300 - $500) per family a month. (I'm talking of survival only).
To get by your income should be around 20,000 - 25,000 ($700 - $900).
If you make more than 30,000 a month ($1,000) you're 'above average' (Moscow and St. P. excluded).
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
So if I understand correctly, most Russians own the appartment they live in. Now, does that mean they bought them and have to pay off a loan? Or is the appartment handed down through generations? And I heard about trading appartments, does that happen a lot?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by devochka
Now, does that mean they bought them and have to pay off a loan?
If you have to pay off a loan (we call that "ипотека" in Russian), then you don't own the flat (yet).
In Soviet times, every person had to be 'registered' somewhere, usually in the place were he lived. When a baby was born, he automatically (or almost automatically, maybe there were some details I don't know) became 'registered' in some flat - usually the flat where his parents lived (and they were registered there too).
Flats were not a private property; they belonged to the State. People who were registered in the flats had only right to live in them (for ever). In one flat, several people can be registered. Each of them had right to use the flat. Older generation dies, younger generation own a flat (together with their children, again).
After the Soviet times, people got right to make the flats their own.
So the answer to your question is that the appartment is handed down through generations.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by devochka
So if I understand correctly, most Russians own the appartment they live in. Now, does that mean they bought them and have to pay off a loan? Or is the appartment handed down through generations? And I heard about trading appartments, does that happen a lot?
Most city-dwellers have been living in stacked flats which were/are the only type of accomodation with modern amenities (running water, sewage). There were/are private houses too.
Those apartments during the Soviet times belonged to the government which rented it at a subsidised price. But there were 'cooperative houses' too. But as fas as I know, those apartments weren't in their dwellers property. They held only a membership in a cooperative which gave them use rights. When such apartments were sold the new owner recieved the membership of the former one.
During the USSR's break-up there was a privatisation which basically meant that registered dwellers could take ownership of the flats they rented. Most of them used the opportunity. The process included signing a mandatory contract with a city of co-ownership of a whole house, so the new owners became partly responsible for keeping the house.
Those 'privatised flat' are being sold now.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
To make the situation more clear for American publice some words about the Soviet attitude must be said.
1. The government controlled the economy like an US military base commander controls his base or a CEO controls his firm.
2. Housing of Soviet people was alike to housing families of military people or company employees in a facility situated in a wild area.
Therefore stacked flats, they're economical; wide-area central heating because electrical power-stations need getting rid of hot water. Public transport but not cars.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chaika
7000 RUR (about 240$) a month.
One of my pet peeves is putting the dollar sign in the wrong place. It makes the writer look to me like a little dim. You put the dollar symbol in front and the cents symbol after, as any literate American knows.
What would you say if we started writing R7000 using our rules of position for the denomination? I would imagine it looks equally strange to y'all.
Thanks for the news. I never paid attention to where the dollar sign was placed. I assumed it was a substitute for the word dollar, to save space and time when writing, therefore it was, I though, logical enough to put it after the number, right where the word might have been. Was it not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramil
If you make more than 30,000 a month ($1,000) you're 'above average' (Moscow and St. P. excluded).
And what would you say you needed to get by well enough, 'above average', in Moscow?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
I think 'the average level' is 40,000 - 45,000 RUR ($1,300 - $1,500) a month. It's stats really, many have salary around 20,000 RUR, but many also earn 80,000 - 100,000 per month.
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
I wanted to find out how much someone would be making doing what I do, in Moscow. But there is no salary mentioned in the job ads on "Monster" for Russia (just did a super quick search). And those were the jobs that were advertised in English. Do jobs normally advertise the bracket for how much they pay or do you have to actually apply to find out?
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
They do. There are russian services like www.hh.ru, www.superjob.ru, etc. They usually indicate a salary 'fork'. An IT specialist (not just a guy who can find 'any key' on a keyboard) on the average is offered 50,000 - 70,000 RUR (about $2000) per month. Though it may be as low as 20,000 and as high as 150,000 (but these are the extremes).
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Re: 1000$ - much or little?
EDIT: Thanks Ramil! Interesting...