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How to live on $432 a month in America

(shagbark.substack.com)
526 points cactusplant7374 | 1 comments | 23 May 25 16:40 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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TrackerFF ◴[23 May 25 21:22 UTC] No.44076735[source]▶
I looked through those numbers, and immediately thought to myself - hope you don't need to see a doctor for anything serious, or go to a dentist for that mater.

FWIW, I grew up in rural nowhere (population 150, nearest town 45 miles away) - and I honestly don't know how anyone can live out in the boonies without a car. Taking the bus that goes 3 times a day is one thing, needing to move stuff is another thing. I mean, obviously there are plenty of people that do manage - but sooner or later you'll become completely dependent on others for certain types of transportation.

Also, there's clothes, house maintenance, and lots of other things.

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skyyler ◴[23 May 25 21:35 UTC] No.44076843[source]▶
The lack of a budget for heating in an article that uses the term "American Siberia" is so hilariously out of touch that it makes the rest of the article farcical.
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xp84 ◴[23 May 25 23:01 UTC] No.44077378[source]▶
Literally mentioned in the article. Their electricity is literally less than 0.1x what I pay in California.
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1. lolinder ◴[24 May 25 14:33 UTC] No.44081390{3}[source]▶
Heat is mentioned in passing with literally no attempt at quantifying the cost:

> as far as heat goes, well, one could either pay a little extra in electric for that — or they could have the Amish deliver their scrap wood from their sawmills to burn in a wood stove, very cheaply.

That's it. The line in the budget for heat is there and was left intentionally blank:

> Heat:

You can't just hand-wave away the cost of electric heating at the temperatures they get in upstate NY, even if the 0.04 number is accurate year-round (which it almost certainly isn't), and wood-burning stoves use way more wood than the author appears to be imagining with their "scrap wood" comment.

[0] https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/massena/new-york/unite...