This is just to put into perspective how bad things are for other people.
I pay 500 a month for rent (live in the midwestern US, and work for the landlord part time to get some rent off).
My utilities are around 200 a month.
My car payment + insurance is about 380 a month.
To fill my car from empty to full, with 5 dollar gas, is only around 70 currently (we'll say x2 fills a month so 140)
My job pays me 10 an hour, plus commission. My commission MIGHT make me average around 13 an hour.
So let's do some math, my bills come out to about 1220 per month.
Let's say, I make 13 an hour this paycheck, even though normally it's lower. 13x40x52weeks is 27,040 a year.
Now let's remove taxes and insurance, which is about 25% of my paycheck.
20,280.
20,280/12 is 1,690 per month.
1690-1220 is 470.
That 470 goes to groceries, doctors visits, toiletries, house work, car maintenence. Let's be generous and say I have 200 left per month.
THAT IS ONLY 200 LEFT PER MONTH!
So, yeah. Even someone in the midwest with nothing bills, making 0.5 times the minimum wage here, is not getting by very easily.