My point is $20/hr in LA is shit.
LA is shit-—No matter what hourly wage you make.
I lived there for 29 years. I paid myself $20 an hour doing accounting for small businesses, effective 1-1-1989. No minimums—no charge for travel time.
I had my own house & 2 cars & a 1 ton truck & a 2 horse trailer & 4 horses.
NOW own 5 +++ acres free & clear in N Nevada high desert. Still have horses, truck, car, & 4 horse trailer.
Still charging only $20 an hour. Last client retired in spring this year. I did HIS books for 53 years.
I deliberately live on what I NEED-—NOT on what I WANT.
NO cell phone
No car payments
No Mortgage
No visits to hair salon
No manicures
No massages
No “spa days”
No jewelry
No movies
No cable TV
New clothes==new set of sweats & underwear & socks.
Very little ‘eating out’
No ‘new furniture’ or other household items
Living on Soc Sec
4” + of snow outside & I have on boots that are 18 years + old.
Watched part of Dr Phil today-—couple claimed to be working very hard & couldn’t “afford rent”. Blamed “Greedy Landlords”. SHE thought it was a ‘travesty’ that landlords would let people like them be homeless instead of lowering “rent to what they could pay”. Totally clueless about what property costs-—mortgage rates-—Calif property taxes—utilities-—maintenance, etc.
But FIRST expense she named was $360 a month cell phone bill.That == 50 cents an hour-—That also == $4320 annually—not counting new phones often.
She ‘had 3 jobs’—not detailed what for how much wages-—he made $27.50 an hour...no details. That = $56,100 annually.
Dr Phil tried to tell them they needed to make 3 budgets:
The I WANT budget
The I NEED budget
The What I can AFFORD budget
She wasn’t understanding based on her facial expressions.
IF I am a property owner-—I have a right to charge what I want for rent——SHE doesn’t get to set ‘what she can afford’.