How do people manage to support a family on minimum wage?

thats $8900.50 american dollars and i dont know but anyone who goes out looking for work and gets paid that amount is o.k. in my book it;s a start and things can only get better, im impressed with your spirit, good luck. is it possible to get food stamps in your country to help you out ??

As a single mum in Australia with two teenagers, I cant afford to live on welfare benefits. I work 6 days a week to try and bump my income up to the so called National level of minimum wage. But the miniman wage system doesnt show how many kids need to be supported on that single income either. I struggle really really bad, sure Ive got the luxury of having the internet on, but my kids need it for school, if they dont have it they fail 70% of their school subjects as they cant research for their assignments or access their school work. To make ends meet, Ive got a large vegetable garden, and live very very frugal. If we didnt I may as well pack it in and hand my kids over to welfare because theres no way i could feed them in our remote area.

Well, no matter where you live not just in the UK, but here in the US as well there are many people having to figure out ways to live off of such meager incomes, and learning how to live within your means is one of the Best things a person can do for sure. Sometimes they end up having to find a roommate or a room to rent, get help such as Food stamps, food banks, etc. but people learn to manage and do it all of the time. Even those with children. With jobs getting so scarce now adays here in the US people are having to find ways to live and survive any means possible so learning to do with what you have until something better comes a long is the Best thing anyone can really do for sure.

There is no way to survive on minimum wage wherever we live.I live in the United States our minimum wage is I think $745 an hour.There is no way to survive on this we have many homeless people because of it.I worry now because the cold weather is coming I make $10.00 an hour so I am doing a little better but I can't afford any extras.I barley afford my rent and with winter coming my heating bill is going to put me in debt for awhileI live with my 18 year old daughter she is in college so I do not charge her room and board.She pays her own phone bill,and car insurance and does her own food shopping and she is broke all the time to.The prices of things we need not just the things we want but need are so high.Gas for our car is outrageous,just a loaf of bread is over $3 now.I don't know how our children are going to survive in this economy,as far as United States goes we have our previous president to blame for a lot of this.He was to war happy and the American public(not me) voted him in twice,fools they were. I don't know much about London so I can't say what it is like over there.

I don't know how people do it either. I cannot imagine trying to feed/cloth/house an entire family on a minimum wage job. I watch people struggling to get by in these tough economic times, and it is frightening. Many people have downsized and live a very frugal existence. I admire their courage and their determination. Others, while struggling, still can't seem to give up the extras like eating out, cell phones, and so on. Those ones I do not feel sorry for at all.

Uh...most likely they're participating in a social program of some kind. Welfare seems to be all the rage these days. No, god forbid they actually support themselves when the government can do it for them, with the taxpayers' money.

i do not know how it is done either. you have to be very resourceful and a very good budgeter to even make ends meet. we struggle and we do not make minimum wage so i know how difficult it can be but i am very careful with what we bring in and try everything to rob peter to pay paul so to speak. it is tedious but somehow i do it by the skin of my teeth most months.

I don't know but if there is a secret I would love to know. I don't even have a family -unless you count 4 dogs and 15 cats (which I do) but I can't afford the car payments and insurance and fuel, mortgage(I pay 1/2), my meds for the month for my asthma are over $100 and that is with insurance.. oh yeah, lets not forget, the phone, cable and internet, then there is of course food for me and the animals. When I am done with all that there isn't even enough for the Gas, electric and water bills. And to make matters worse they haven't given anyone a raise at my company in two years yet they price of everything else keeps rising.

A lot of people do manage to live like that. If you have a look around supermarkets, there are some very cheap food options which are perfect for those who don't earn a great amount. Also, if you think about the amount you probably buy on a daily basis that you don't actually NEED (games consoles, games, magazines, books etc) you would see how much money you could save by cutting down and just buying the basics. Plus, if you're below a certain wage, you're entitled to money from the government, and every family gets money for each of their children as well, meaning that they get a bit of extra help with bills and such.

An interesting subject for me, because it is something I am currently struggling with. I grew up in England and my family were reasonable well off. I don't think my brother and I were spoiled in attitude, but we were certainly used to money being there if we needed it, and I never budgeted at all. I worked in retail so not great pay at all, but I had very few expenses outside myself. I am now married - my husband is American and we live in Massachusetts, and have for 5 years now. Talk about a steep learning curve! I now live in a one bedroom apartment. The rent is $50 more than my husbands paycheck so for one paycheck, its the whole thing (plus the $50 carried from the last one.) He gets paid every two weeks. I was laid off because my company closed recently. I also have a bunch of medical bills, which is a struggle for me because we don't pay in England so the system is truly frightening over here to me! This week I will be going to a local food pantry for help because we cannot buy food. But on the whole I am proud of how I have dealt with it all, I have stood up and taken it on, despite the huge differences to get used to, and have learned to budget and to spread bills over time, etc. (This month we had extra medical stuff, I have a couple of long term issues, including diabetes.) So I can say, yes, it can be done, I have messed up a bit and we have credit card debt to pay off, but I am getting it and I think you can learn to live within your means. Its amazing how creative you can be with cooking and grocery shopping. I do wish now that I had saved a lot more money back in England, as with the exchange rate making it more in dollars, it would have helped!

You cannot imagine how people manage because you are substituting your needs with theirs. People manage on minimum wage because they have to; so they give up some of the things you consider as essential for decent living. I suppose those who do not have the means to live decently just get by. When your situation changes you have also have to adapt quickly lest you are overcome by your situation. I live in a third world country and I am sure some people also wonder how we can manage to live decently. It's not the amount of money that controls needs but the person.

It is in our Genetic code we strive to survive no matter what the cost If we were only getting paid 2 dollars an hour many of us would not be able to survive but there would be others who could live off that. It is survival of the fittest that is how some families can live off of minimum age if you ask me

I don't know what the minimum wage is here in the USA we live on a fixed income we do odd jobs but we don't have a regular job. We barley make it through the month on what we earn and there is only the two of us. The house payment takes most of our check a month then we also have to come up with the utilities. Then the cost of food but it is okay God takes care of those that try to take care of themselves. I don't see how people manage things either.

In my country,people always think how to save money,how to do lots of things while spend little money.and we always find ways to undergo.

Well, there's a whole raft of benefits that a family on low earnings can claim which will make the income picture look a lot better than that £925. But even so, there are a lot of families who have to borrow money often from loan sharks, to try and make ends meet. But a lot of people simply do not know how to set a budget and then live within that budget.

I would say they have learned to live inside there means. They learn to use what they got, and do it to the best of their abilities. An example would be if they can only afford a hamburger, they wouldn't be eating steak every night. Most people learn to do what they can and make the most of what they do have.

I am in the USA. I think Minimum wage is around $6.50 to $7.50 here. My husband and I are just starting out and he's the bread winner until I get to start work in November. In any case, we don't have children yet, and neither do we have a house, but we will have more responsibilities with needing a car, and health insurance. I am not sure how we will get by except to save. I am comparing this to my inlaws bills per month, though they have more bills then we will... I guess, my main reason for responding to this is that I think most people who are working minimum wage and are supporting themselves AND children are most like saving, having saved, or using government assistance.

I do not live in the UK, but I know here in the states we (unfortunately) have many welfare programs for people who struggle with sustaining them. It is a shame because it is tax payer funded and most of the time the people with low end jobs have a lack of motivation to do anything better with their lives so they are dependent on the government for life. And yes, their life styles are very minimalist as well.

People do find a way. It can be hard to start off with but if you find a way to budget properly you will be able to survive. I am in a family enviroment with 2 adults and 2 kids and one main income. I do have some work but to assist my partner with some things and have some financial assistance from the goverment for the children. First of all, look at all the basic essentials that you need to pay. Really just to live, all you do need is your rent, electricity, food, and transport to and from your work. Everything else become wants. For the wants, I would suggest to have a high interest savings account and put a small amount in that account. Only when you have enough money to get something you want, then use that money for your wants. My husband pays for the house, car insurance and food. I pay for electricity and 2 other bills relating to the house. These are the essentials for us. The rest of the money I have goes to my children's education, clothes and rewards which leaves me with little money. The remaining money pays for my cell phone and internet. For my wants, I do online earnings. So far I have able to buy an outfit for myself. Hands free kit for my cell phone for when I am driving, and have been able to help out a friend. These things I do get for myself with online earnings is like a reward for my effort to look after my family. Another suggestion would be, if you get a monthly bill in but you get paid weekly, pay the bill on a weekly basis if you can. My electricity bill comes in once every 3 months, but I pay it every fornight when I get paid. It is so much easier looking for small amount frequently in comparison to finding a large amount when the bill finally does come in. I will do an example in dollars and you can make up your mind what is easier. You get a weekly pay of $230. You have a monthly bill of $100. If you pay the bill on the due date, it would leave you $130 once every month. But if you decide to pay the bill every week, you would only have to pay $25 per week which would leave you with $205 every week. It also comes in handy when there is 5 pays in a month. When this happens, you will be $25 ahead each time. So now you can decide for yourself if $100 once a month is easier or $25 every week is easier to handle? Now I am going to put more into the example, your weekly rent is $150. Once a month you will not have the money to pay for the bill and rent beccause it will add up $250. But you can afford the bill and rent if you do pay the bill weekly with $25 as it will only be $175 leaving you with $55 every week instead of missing out on having money once a month. Because I pay for my bills more frequently, I am finding that I am in credit with my bills when they do come in. One of them, I am that far ahead that I really don't have to pay anything for 3 months. Another bill, I don't have pay anything for at least 6 months. The final bill, I don't really have to pay anything for 2 months. But I continue to pay so that I can always be ahead. If that credit drops, I can adjust what I pay so that I can remain in credit and have a healthy credit at all times. So priorities your bills. Have your rent, electricity, food, and travel costs as your number 1 through to 4. Then list every thing underneath. If you can't affort the low priority bill, then that will have to be one of the first bills to go. Keep going until you can afford to live. I hope this helps you to give you an idea of how people do survive. It is how my family survives even through the world financial crisis that we have been going through.