Your Living Wage Calculator

How much money do you need to survive? How much money do you make? How much money do you spend? Everyone needs to make more money than they spend. Are you self sufficient? The cost of living is pricy. That is why we work. Working is a necessary part of life. Does your job pay well enough to survive? It better.

We recently found a cool Living Wage calculator that will determine how much money you need to survive on. You might be surprised at how much money you actually need. There are all sorts of costs in life that can be unexpected – insurance, housing, medical, transportation, food, child care, taxes. When you figure out what all of your costs are, you might realize that you need to make a bit more money.

The living wage calculator is designed by Diana Pearce at the University of Washington. It assumes you work a normal 40 hour per week full time job. When you use it, you can select a state and county to determine the living wage where you want to work. It may come as a surprise that where you live makes a big difference in how much you need to survive. A recent article claims that half of New Yorkers can’t afford their rent. This might not be an issue if you’re living in Iowa. If you can avoid high priced communities, it will help you live a more affordable lifestyle. Do you need to relocate?

This useful calculator can help you in your job search too. It will help you figure out how much money you actually need to make. If you do use it and budget appropriately, you’ll be able to stop living paycheck to paycheck – something that isn’t very fun.

When you are shopping for a job, carefully consider your wage. Use the calculator to determine if it is enough to survive on and support your family. Take a minute to determine how your current wage compares to the living wage of your home. If your wage does cut it, head over to the job board and start a new job search. It might be the best thing you’ll ever do.