Gabe Silver's Thoughts

     I thought Morgan and Alex were pretty good at budgeting. They were cooking for themselves which is waaaay cheaper than going out to eat. You see a lot of people going to McDonalds or Denny's because they think it's cheap but in the long run Alex and Morgan saved a lot more by just cooking with what they had at home. They were able to make it last too. I liked how Morgan was carpooling to work, that definitely was a lot more comfortable than the bus and saved time. I think Alex was complaining a lot though, she seems like she's been comfortable her entire life.

    The working poor are those who have a steady job, but make so little and have to give so much back they're basically living hand to mouth. Alex and Morgan experienced what it was like being in the working poor when they couldn't even get an injury checked out because they were worrying about money. That's the kind of fear I never want to experience, so I think for starters I am never having kids.

Jesus Villasenor Blog on 30 Days

#1: Morgan was not as good to budget money because he wasted money that he didn't have to, like the movies and all the bus rides. Alex was better because she saved money form all the bus rides which was very good. So in the end i think they were pretty good with budgeting except for the fact that they got fudged over with the emergency visits to the doctor. They had there rent, transportation and food down, but once the bills for the E.R. came into play they had no chance to be ale to improve there lifestyle.

#6: I agree that it cost much more to live in America but the Minimum wage is way too low now. Back in the day it was enough but now that prices have risen you need more money. The minimum wage has to be raised in order for people to be able to survive with a bit a decency.

30 Days on Minimum Wage - Luis

1. How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

Morgan and Alex were pretty good at budgeting on what they had for the 30 days period. Although they struggled and Morgan didn’t really appreciate Alex spending the money they got through it. At the end they might have not had money to pay off the hospital bills right away, but they had each other.

9. Describe how you would make the decisions regarding going to the doctor vs. trying to keep finances in the black. What if children were involved---- would that change your decision making process? if so, how?

If I was put into a situation where i needed to go to the emergency room I would go despite my money situation if it was indeed that severe, but if it was a small problem like my arm hurting from work I would  see how it felt over a few days and if it was worse i’d go check it out. If children were involved that would change everything because one doesn’t understand the pain they might be going through. Therefore it would be best if the children get checked as soon as possible to prevent a bigger problem.  

Ricardo Guerrero 30 Days

7.  Define Who The "Working Poor" Are.

The working poor are the people who work minimum wage every day of the year. They struggle in life because of income and they often fight. The divorce rate is also really high. These people have it really hard. Usually the living conditions are really poor. They don't have a home and they have to rent. As shown in the movie 30 Days On Minimum Wage their life is really hard. An example to that is when the couple gets emotional when they get the free stuff from the free store. This shows that anything can really help a person. All that matters is motivation and that should be enough.  The working poor are the people who didn't take things for granted. They appreciate any kind of help and support.

2. What Role Did Budgeting Play In Survival For Alex And Morgan?

Budgeting was a key role in survival for them. They were required to save every last penny they had. They had a small jar to collect the funds. They worked as many minimum wage jobs as they could in order to survive. So in fact budgeting was the real key to survival because without it they wouldn't be able to survive.

Zach Anderson's blog postings about 30 Days Making Minimum Wage

1. I think Senator Ted Kennedy’s argument that minimum wage should be raised is absolutely correct. As the film clearly showed, the fact that minimum wage is so low means that people making that amount of money have little to no means by which to pay for all of the basic expenses of living (i.e. rent, gas and electricity, food and water, clothes, and more). Morgan was working two jobs, making slightly more than minimum wage, Alex was also working, and they couldn’t pay all their expenses. Our working poor have absolutely no chance for survival, much less success with minimum wage as low as it is. In response to the argument from politicians and businesses against raising minimum wage, that doing so would cause companies to go bankrupt, the raising of minimum wage by a few dollars at least would not bankrupt the companies. For example, a company like McDonalds pays most of it’s workers minimum wage or just above. They are a multi-trillion dollar company, having to pay its workers a few extra dollars an hour wouldn’t bankrupt them. Also, but as the cost of living rises, if minimum wage stays the same, more and more people aren’t going to be able to spend money. Thus, the same companies that were against raising minimum wage are going to lose millions of customers as more people are falling below the poverty line.

2. I think the underlying feeling that caused Morgan and Alex to argue over finances was stress. Alex especially, was very conscientious about the fact that they had no money to spend on anything but the necessities. When Morgan spent money on the kids, she got upset because they couldn’t afford to do that. She saw that both her and Morgan were working very hard, and just barely making ends meet. When he spent money, that stressed her out over where the money that they would need to pay the bills would come from. It’s no surprise to me that they would be stressed out. With minimum wage being as low as it is, there’s no room for people to spend money carelessly, and people stress over how in the world they are going to survive with their sanity.

30 DAYS- Alex

7. The "working poor" are people that are working but get the minimum wage so they can't really afford nothing they can't afford furniture, Bills, or Food. The 30 days movie is a great example of the "working poor" Because Alex and Morgan were going throughout not having enough money to buy nothing for their department or pay bills.

8. Alex became so emotional by the service Morgan and her were receiving from the Free Store because she thought that it was nice and at the same time sad that poor people were giving away their things. But she felt good because they finally got furniture for her department but they still had to deal with not having enough money for the bills and the hospital recipe they received from the emergency room witch was sad for them.

1. I believe that Alex was good at budgeting their money. She walked to work instead of taking the bus in order to save money. However, Morgan wasn't. He spent money that they didn't have. While Alex was sacrificing and walking in the cold, he was spending unnecessary money by buying donuts and expensive dinners. As well as going to the E.R when he could've searched around for a cheaper treatment. He also could've taken a day off of work to go to the free clinic because at the end of the day, by going to the E.R, he lost more money than he would if he would've taken a day off of work.

7. The working poor are people who are working their hardest to try and survive in this world and are still barely surviving.