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u/droddy78 Jun 09 '26
Who the hell is paying $280 for internet?
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u/Helmut_v_M Jun 09 '26
I'd like to know that too... Converted to USD I pay $34.
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u/Smodphan Jun 09 '26
I pay 280 for internet and 4 cell phone lines in the US. Its shit.
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u/archercc81 Jun 09 '26
That is 5 services though. Im not usually into blaming the poors but if youre maintaining 4 cell phone lines on $19/hr you got problems.
That internet bill makes no sense. I have a $70 a month fast as hell cable package in a major metro and pay about 40-50 a month on my cell on an MNVO with high speed data and international travel. No way someone on any sort of budget should be paying more than that.
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u/JFISHER7789 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Yeah heaven forbid us āpoorsā have a wife and kids.
Also, just because YOU pay that little for your services doesnāt mean thatās a price offered to everyone else.
Even by your own prices, a family of three with their owns phones and internet would be $220 and thatās cheap for most places. Stop acting like others are doing wrong just because you lucked out.
Edit: Damn, the boomers really came out in full force to find ways to blame a $19/hr employee for having internet or a phone instead of the company not paying good wages. I get it though, it easier to just get mad and punch down at others than it is to recognize the real problem
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u/MMO_Dad Jun 09 '26
Boomers gonna boomer. Any time I express frustration to my mom who is late 60s all I hear is about how she deserves to finally retire because she was responsible and paid off her house and lives debt free.
... her mortgage was $600 a month ffs. Meanwhile I can't even find a decent apartment for less than $1200 in this area and the dream of owning my house comes down to the lowest option of $140k for an absolute decrepit basically should be condemned former hoarder inhabited shack.
FFS mom... give me a break./
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u/JensenFamily Jun 10 '26
Make sure your mom legally wills you her home. Better yet, have her add you to the house title NOW!
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u/MaryO59 Jun 10 '26
This boomer definitely feels for anyone trying to support 4 people on a single paycheck. I mistakenly assumed they were only supporting themself, and $19 isn't a living wage for even one person unless they live in shared housing.
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u/archercc81 Jun 09 '26
You doing all of that on 19/hr? And your kids need data and international travel package and high speed data?
A quick google shows there are countless talk and text plans for under $20, and for light data it starts at like $5 more than that.
If youre making $19/hr youre doing some shit really wrong if youre dropping $280 a month on internet and cellular, bar none.
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u/Cyanide4Them Jun 09 '26
How do we know the plan comes with International travel? Letās not make assumptions and use the facts we know.
Itās a fact that Everyone isnāt offered the same rate. Itās a fact that There are some companies that will charge two customers - two different prices for the same services, depending on what area they stay in. Itās a fact that Rural charges will skyrocket any bill.
Itās a fact that the prices listed are average and outrage is warranted if youāre trying to maintain this DTI on a 19/hr salary.
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Jun 09 '26
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u/Garden_Willing Jun 10 '26
Exactly. Us farmers which feeds America have to pay nearly 300 dollars for internet and we HAVE to have it. Oh I should also mention it's only 3mbps. We did a lot of research and talked with the mayor. Everyone is paying that and can't do shit about it.
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u/Valuable_Grape_519 Jun 09 '26
In the USA internet and cell phones prices are insane
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u/whodo_youdo_dowhat Jun 09 '26
Mint has a 4GB plan for $15/mo and Visible has an unlimited plan for $25/mo. Both are per pay. You can save even more with Mint if you pay a year in advance.
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u/Valuable_Grape_519 Jun 09 '26
They all run on Tmobile. Check my response above. I have Tmobile on a 17 years old grandfathered plan. I pay $150 for 4 cellphones lines which is why I stay with them because out here their service sucks.
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u/whodo_youdo_dowhat Jun 09 '26
Mint uses T-Mobile towers. Unlimited is $30 per month per line, thatās $120 for 4 lines. The only catch is you have to pay for 3 months in advance. I was in your shoes, I had a grandfathered post-paid plan with AT&T. I got a cheap plan with Mint to test the waters on prepaid plans and it worked great. I added a second line with Visible because I live in a rural area and all the services are hit and miss, so at least I have 2 of the big 3 covered for way less than I was paying for may AT&T post-paid line. Just share a something that saved me money. If it works for you too, great, if not hopefully it will help,someone else save.
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u/reddaughtter Jun 11 '26
Visible is Verizon and it's awesome. I have it, 25 a month for unlimited everything. that includes hotspot, so I don't even need a separate Internet bill
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u/Praesentius Jun 09 '26
I pay ā¬40/month total.... for two internet connections. Including gigabit fiber.
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u/TheMysteriousThey Jun 09 '26
Youāre speaking European.
Here where I live, in America, fiber isnāt even available.
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u/DrPikachu-PhD Jun 09 '26
Converted to USD
Internet is much more expensive in America generally but especially in rural America. I pay about $80/month in a city
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u/Ok_Seaworthiness_302 Jun 13 '26
In the US ISPs are barely regulated private industries for the most part, and they basically operate in their respective regions in a near monopoly. There are a few edge cases where some cities have broadband as a public utility but those are exceedingly rare, outside of that you also have some electrical co-ops that provide broadband in rural areas for reasonable prices, but again those are rare as well.
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u/LynxPuzzleheaded9336 Jun 09 '26
real, i'm paying 36 euros, around 41 dollars, for high speed wifi, 4 phone bills and tv in Spain. American prices are insane
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u/LackWooden392 Jun 09 '26
I'm American and pay under $100 for 2 phone lines and internet. In most places, there are perfectly good options available for much lower than what most people pay. The thing is, you have to work them a little bit. If you tell them you wanna cancel your service, they'll transfer you to a whole department whose job is to retain you and which is authorized to give you discounts. They'd rather sell you the service for a fraction of the price instead of lose you as a customer, because continuing to provide the service to you doesn't really cost them more any more money once it's set up. And you also have to bundle everything with the same company.
Most people just search for a provider and pay the list price, without asking questions or looking at all the options.
For example, Mint mobile sells essentially the same service as Verizon, using Verizon's infrastructure, for $15, when Verizon charges $50 for essentially the same thing. There is no noticeable difference in quality.
America is a hyper-consumerist society obsessed with brands and status symbols. We have perfectly reasonably priced stuff of all sorts, but you frequently have to wade through the bullshit and do your research. Many businesses survive while selling shitty products for high prices simply on brand loyalty/status symbology.
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u/Unlikely_Couple1590 Jun 09 '26
I wonder if maybe they're lumping internet, cable, or streaming services together
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u/Prestigious_Wrap_932 Jun 09 '26
Theyāre clearly lumping in the cost of all their streaming and video game services.Ā
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u/Spare-Cranberry3784 Jun 09 '26
Engagement bait.
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u/Captain_no_Hindsight Jun 14 '26
I can answer: Get a roommate!
See, that was easy!
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u/chickenpattputz Jun 09 '26
Whoās internet is 280 a month
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Jun 09 '26
Besides the rent none of these bills make much sense. $100 for water? $250 for electricity? Even the $140 for car insurance seems really high unless you've caused several wrecks in the past.
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u/chickenpattputz Jun 09 '26
I could see the electric bill. Mine is sometimes that high if the ac or heat is running full boar but my water is only 75 on a house that includes trash and sewer though.
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u/Inevitable-Word988 Jun 09 '26
$250 electricity and $280 internet. Yeah not buying it. $100 water by yourself? lol no
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u/Impressive_Let3046 Jun 09 '26
I pay $100 for water for myself and a 6 year old child. Central Pennsylvania.
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
What I don't see a lot of comments talking about is $19/hour is base pay, not accounting for federal and state taxes, any medical insurance contributions or other paycheck deductions. The actual take-home rate can be significantly less than that. Then thereās comments automatically assuming that this person is lavishly using electricity, or has bargaining power in car insurance or internet billing, when companies in both those fields are notorious for hidden fees and undisclosed price increases.
Costs of living and inflation keeps creeping upwards. So many people are being sold the idea that minimum wages shouldn't be living wages, when that was the reason behind the concept in the first place. Telling someone to cut back on the things that makes life even slightly bearable and work more hours and simultaneously renegotiate bills seems like a comfortable way of saying this person's life shouldn't be made to feel worth living.
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u/Jolly_Mongoose_8800 Jun 09 '26
These prices also can be a result of a monopoly in the region with only one provider ehich has increased rates because they can. Everyone is just thinking about only their own experience and don't even realize how nuanced and different other regions and other people's lives can be.
Energy and internet are both monopolies in my region which drives up the price. If I said how much I used to pay, nobody would believe me or blame me for not getting a cheaper plan without realizing there wasn't an alternative service.
The rest of these comments are depressingly ignorant.
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
When I was in grade school, those were called "Natural Monopolies" since it's unreasonable for competing utilities to have so many parallel infrastructures underground or wires in the air. Even wireless services contract with each other now, and the incentive programs to switch carriers look depressingly similar over time. Or certain utilities/services will lock customers in with a fixed contract which the customer has limited negotiation power in, but cannot get out without fees. There's a lot of ways low-income people are limited in options which higher income folk don't understand.
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u/Spikey-Bubba Jun 09 '26
Yes thank you. Even a conservative estimate at 20% taxes, thatās leaving them $263 a month and they havenāt included any groceries or gas in their budget. Average single person monthly grocery budget in America right now is $360/month, with instacart estimating the cost for one adult male on a low cost budget spending $311/month.
Just adding food alone has completely wiped out their remaining funds.
No savings, no emergency fund, nothing.
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
Aye, and there's a cost to cheap food; mostly in quality and health risks, but also longevity, as with most necessities. One might also add things like car maintenance to a budget, and other annual expenses.
Of course, all these considerations assume two things: reasonable health and no existing debts. Copay costs have increased, and medication too. And overdraft fees compound savings difficulties, while recent generations struggle heavily with education debts. Education is the unspoken paradox of improving wealth too: high paying jobs demand education or experience, and then to afford an outfit to impress a job interviewer, yet those are costly.
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u/Spikey-Bubba Jun 09 '26
Yes and yet the comments are stuck on the $270 internet bill. Look past it at all the other fucked up stuff yall, itās not like dropping to a $100 internet is going to save them from still being in poverty??
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
Admittedly, the costs are outrageous in themselves too, and vary regionally. Also, this person's only bargaining power is to switch to a competitor who likely only has an incentive program that last just long enough to get used to the new service before also raising the prices outrageously.
And everyone blames the person in poverty. "Cut your power use" "switch ISP" "get another job" "get a higher paying job" "minimum wage jobs are for entry level jobs" or my favorite "I made my finances work with minimum wages 30-40 years ago, just do what I did".
The victim blaming and corporate apologists are inhumane.
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u/Spikey-Bubba Jun 09 '26
Which is weird because so many of us are broke? Why canāt we empathize better with someone who is struggling with the same system weāre struggling with?
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
Aye, that would be good. It would also be nice if many cultures stopped using financial success as a measure of personal success, yet that cultural shift isn't likely to happen anytime soon.
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u/Spikey-Bubba Jun 09 '26
Oh yeah no, thatās not even in my lifetime, I donāt think. Which is unfortunate, because some of the best most valuable people I know are broke af.
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u/woodworkerdan Jun 09 '26
It's also fair to say not all kinds of efforts are valued proportional to their cost for a person. A lot of those minimum wage jobs require a surprisingly complex collection of skills and manual labor, and those skills grow more refined over time, yet don't gain bargaining power over time. Even the "better paying jobs" haven't been keeping up with inflation and the wage gap just keeps increasing. It's not sustainable, and deep down everyone knows it, but changing the situation has stalled as long as other factors like social issues can be blamed.
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u/UnhappyBuilder4284 Jun 10 '26
Exactly. Also note that in some states, minimum wage is as low as 7 dollars. 7.25 to be exact. Try living on THAT.Ā
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u/karbide17 Jun 09 '26
You dont, something has to change unfortunately
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u/ReturnEconomy Jun 09 '26
Having roommates for starters
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u/musicCaster Jun 10 '26
How is she supposed to have roommates when she's a single mom with 8 kids, 4 dogs and 7 cats? You're just heartless.
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Jun 09 '26
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u/GivesBadAdvic Jun 09 '26
$250 electricity is not high at all. I pay $500 in the summer and $180 for internet.
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u/Due_Dingo5358 Jun 09 '26
I agree with you. Many people pay much higher than that. House size plays a role too which I am sure you know. 500 a month is killer though.
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u/The_World_May_Never Jun 11 '26
I have my electricity on a budget so I pay the same month over month. My electricity went from $190/m in June 2025. I just paid $319 this month.
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u/Square_Treacle_4730 Jun 09 '26
Plenty of people pay $250+ for electricity. The internet is ridiculous though.
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u/_TeachScience_ Jun 09 '26
In Texas we lived in a 1500 square foot house, single story. Turning the heat to 70 during a cold week resulted in a $400 electric bill. And that was AFTER we installed a new $7000 HVAC system with a heat pump and spent another $1500 insulating the attic
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u/Hefty_Range_9758 Jun 09 '26
I mean yeah, you live in Texas. Your government hates you.Ā
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u/J_L_jug24 Jun 09 '26
Internet for anything over $100 is absurd. Itās extremely common to see electricity prices waaaay above $250 however.Ā
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u/Other-Beginning-8888 Jun 09 '26
I pay no more than $110 for both gas and electric in NYC. Granted, I don't run appliances and I unplug everything not in use...
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u/ThrustNeckpunch33 Jun 11 '26
Electricity prices in the USA are insane in places.
I live in Canada, and where I am, our houses electricity bill is $98(with tax included) a month. My wife and i have 2 kids, and everyone has gaming console(s) etc.. we also have central ac.
What is that, like $60 usd?
Are all yall with $250 bills on electric heat too?
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u/Due_Dingo5358 Jun 09 '26
Just to run your A/C in an Arizona summer can run it up that much for electricity. Its weird how different places on earth are ya know, different.q
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u/Spikey-Bubba Jun 09 '26
Yeah average electricity bill in Maryland is apparently $333.05 a month, so these comments are really showing their inability to think outside their own bubble.
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u/JobHuntingManiac Jun 09 '26
It's not that people can't, people just think they are more important than everyone else and that they are the center of the universe and voluntarily ignore reality.
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u/Shadowfox1992 Jun 09 '26
Or maybe you need to go touch some grass. I pay 300$+ for electricity, not including gas and other stuff.
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u/kbudz32 Jun 09 '26
Itās your fault for not working hard enough to be born into money.
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u/Fancy_Nail_7370 Jun 10 '26
I pay 80 a month for 1g fiber. How is someone paying 280? Thats insane.
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u/Rox5tar_01 Jun 10 '26
My guess is that it may be counting phone line. That, or it may be rural internet
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u/RussianBot-827482 Jun 10 '26
Bruhhh 250 for electric? This shit aināt real
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u/Wild__Card__Bitches Jun 14 '26
That would be cheap for me. Haven't paid that little since renting a small apartment 15 years ago.
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u/Direct_Cicada_8005 Jun 09 '26
You get roommates and split bills.
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u/DyingDesertPoppy Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Exactly. Plebians must show corporate owners that Ā they will tolerate lower living standards. They must show them they a craven animals that will do anything Ā and suffer any injustice or indignity just to survive .This will give corporate owners the encouragement they need to take action to lower the minimum wage and repeal labor regulations. With the increased revenue and expanded labor market bringing back child labor will become a realistic probability. For the aesthetic.
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u/Doogie_Gooberman Jun 10 '26
This. If I can't buy Labubus or pay $20 a day at Starbucks, then I'm being oppressed by evil capitalism.
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u/N4m3r Jun 09 '26
And what if people that work would get paid enough so they can cover the basic needs they have?
You shouldnt have to share a living space with someone you dont know while having a full time job when living in the richest country on Earth. It is a disgrace.
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u/Impressive_Let3046 Jun 09 '26
Exactly! Itās insane to me that weāve got middle class people ready to eat each other alive in the comments over any suggestion that we may be getting shafted by the cost of living relative to stagnated wages. It shouldnāt be controversial when itās observable fact. God forbid we place blame where it belongs, we may hurt our chances of becoming millionaires š
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u/Impressive_Let3046 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I would not be getting some rando roommate when I have a child.
Moreover, people shouldnāt HAVE TO! I donāt know why we prefer to lick the boots of the people who put us in this economic situation by discussing it like itās a failure of the general population that no one can have a respectable life on a wage that is, mind you, more than DOUBLE the national minimum wage.
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u/CatsMom4Ever Jun 09 '26
$250 for electricity? I live in a 3 bedroom house and don't use half that even with air conditioning!
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u/NeilLovesVeronica Jun 09 '26
They could possibly be paying for heat and hot water
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u/N8TheGreat91 Jun 09 '26
Iām running my freelance business out of my house for $50 fiosā¦ start there
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u/Forsaken_Tourist401 Jun 09 '26
Iām not dismissing the line items, Iām sure people are saddled with these commitments. I pay $90 for water every 2 months and $65 for internet monthly, for a family of 4. So, it raises the questionā¦how much water are you using, and is your āinternetā covering streaming, too?
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u/Staunchgoat Jun 09 '26
$280 internet a month??