Living Single on Less Than 50K in the Good Ole USA

I was delighted to read the article Mike Winters wrote that was featured on CNBC.com which described the minimum income  that  a single person needs in order to survive in each American state.

To read the original article here is the link

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/29/the-salary-a-single-person-needs-to-get-by-in-every-us-state.html

And so, playing the part of the truly frugalista, that I sometimes like to do....I went through all the states and ferretted out the ones that required less than 50K for a single person to survive on per year.

There were only 15 states that made this cut:

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennesee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

So friends, if some of you are trying to plan a modest retirement, this list might become helpful. As a Canadian, I was surprised to see Oklahoma and Tennesee on the list....as the folklore we hear up here about those states is so lovely, that a certain wealthiness for the average citizen was kinda my assumption. But myths are lovely for story time...and don´t always represent reality.

So, does this list help you picture what you could afford if you are a single person trying to thrive in America? Does it help you budget for potential costs of rent or groceries? 

Let´s say you were trying to go really low budget and live from just side gigs, such as food delivery, would it be comforting to know that you don´t need 70K to afford to live in these 15 states?

One of my fave bloggers, https://annienygma.com/

often wrote about Kentucky and how it was pretty simple to find below market rentals for 2 or 3 people. She made a reasonable life from her self published writings and various side gigs to provide for her and her daughter with room left for her to spend time with her family.

Do you look at retirement in such a broad sweeping way? Would you be willing to move to a completely unknown state just to afford to 

¨not work¨ in your retirement?

Do you expect to do any kind of income producing labor in your retirement years? Do you expect any kind of pension income? Do you have any extra health concerns that are not going to be covered by any private or public health insurance policies? Do you want to retire in an area where the average income is below average or above average? Do you want to retire near a hospital or university or have access to great entertainment venues like theatres and concert stages?

Do you have a special diet that requires access to specialty shops?

Well, I have prattled on enough. I love it when authors take the time the report the facts and I respect Mike Winters for attempting to illuminate our understanding of what is a necessary basic income for a single person in each state of the USA. Thanks Mike!

May God bless your preparation for retirement or any kind of lifestyle you design to fit your budget.

Peace,

Carla

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Increasing My Mobility in a Small City that Hates Walking

It's true....folks in my city hate walking. Ok, ok....i'm exaggerating a tad....but you hear me right? I live in suburbia in a smallish northern Ontario city. There are lots of places that are walkable....or at least bike-able with a fairly cheap bicycle....and yet.....99% of the residents of my town drive or are driven EVERYWHERE they go. Ugh.

And so.... back to my dilemma. I knew that increasing my mobility was going to do wonders for my sense of wellness and not to mention my muscle tone and can-do spirit. I knew from experience how even ten minutes in the sunshine on a sunny day could improve my mood measureably. But yet..... it still feels odd, that when I do these outdoor activities....walking, hiking,. sunsitting on the grass....and biking....that I see very very few folks doing the same. And yet, the gyms are full of avid athletes and the sports teams are active on every weekend for the younguns. Sports is a big thing in my town...but non-registered casual physical activity for the purpose of getting gracefully from a to b....is not real trendy.

And so, I have a problem I have not yet solved. How to make walking and biking cool again? I did my small effort the other day, when I noticed a local food store did not have a bike rack. So I contacted the head office of that shop and complained that they needed  a bike rack for their location in my city. I was successful. The head honchos were glad to receive my feedback and promptly had their landlord install a brand new bike rack a couple steps from the food shop. Well done Carla! 

In my city's defense, they have recently put in more bike lanes on newly updated roadways near my suburb. I applaud this. But the social climate has not really changed. Ladies in my age phase and snappy style are not often seen on bikes. It just isn't perceived as the thing to do.

The only time I see really stylish folks biking are those who spend thousands on ultra sleek racing bikes and join bike clubs and wear neon spandex and sharp helmets. That's not the kind of societal change I am seeking.

I'm seeking the notion of biking the way it was when I visited Holland often as a kid. My relatives let me bike around their beautiful dutch city on a great big black bike. Bikes were common. The land is nice and flat so the rides were not stressful. To see adults on bikes is normal in Holland....or at least it was those years ago when I  traveled there.

Biking, when you are not huffing and puffing is a graceful activity, especially if you have a well maintained bike with the tires pumped to perfection.

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And so...my friend, I plunder on and take the blessings along the way that all this activity brings to me and my life. I have learned to recognize several plants this year that I didn't know were edible before...such as mullein and sumac.

I have take some of the best wildflower pics I have to date. I have discovered that even when I meet a small hill, that if I shift into the highest gear that I don't have to get off my bike and walk to make it up the hill. The gears make the bike ride enjoyable and my muscles thank me later.

Peace friends, and bike on......

Carla

What It all Means...

Truth be told, I have been accused upon occasion of being ¨too deep¨....and that may be true once in a blue moon.....

Today my deep thought was about what these summer rains gushing into Ontario might mean.

Our city is overgrown with all kinds of planted and ¨volunteer¨ plants that just pop up without invitation. It´s like one small shrub finds a juicy spot to grow and then it sends a wire over to it´s cousins to come take over the place.

There is all manner of everything growing up here in Simcoe County. Wild apples, planted apples, wild raspberries, planted domestic raspberries....wild mullein. And then there is this weird looking invasive vine-ish plant that is trying to climb up and over almost every tree in every forest or meadow.

It isn´t that I need to hear a mysterious reason for this affluence of growth....but the rains have been a blessing. There is no better word for it....than a blessing. Why? Because rain means growth for plants means more food for animals and ultimately for the many humans that grow in my city and the surrounding territories. While we are not considered a ¨bread basket¨ of Canada, we might be referred to as corn row. There are farms that circle the outskirts of my city....with tidy rows of machine fed corn.....towering high into the fluffy blue clouds.

In the business world, of which I am a part, mankind feels so powerful, that every little decision weighs so much and is so important to the present and future tense of the business.

But when we step outside and walk quietly on an overgrown path in a dewy forest that fosters exquisite wild birds calling out to the stranger in their midst, we are reminded that we ain´t that big a deal. 

At the end of the day, it isn´t us that controls the rains here. We don´t have the forest fire smoke anymore that haunted us a few weeks ago....We don´t have rampant unemployment. We don´t have floods.

We have loads of ¨normal¨.

Normal days of normal work and plans for normal school years. We eat normal foods on normal days and watch somewhat normal news on the telly.

We send normal cards to normal folks on normal days of celebration. We pray for rain and then we pause. Oh ya, we already have that....loads of that.

And so, dear God, in case I didn´t mention it....I thank you for the rains....the extravagant growth that reaches into all corners and up to the wooded hills. Thank you for the cooing doves that sit on our fence in a pair. Thank you for the hand drawn picture of a blue jay from my nephew´s little one.

Thank you for growth and thank You for normal. Loads of growth....and loads of normal. Amen.

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