This reply on X was related to my article regarding the OH minimum wage being livable. At first I was confused, because nowhere in the United States are people in a deficit of food. Apparently that is not the definition of a Food Desert. The USDA designates a food desert as an area having at least 500 people or 33% of the population lives over 1 mile (urban) or 10-20 miles (rural) from a supermarket. The areas also usually contain high densities of fast food and convenience stores.

I found this really interesting because I’ve lived in big cities and small towns across the country. I’ve traveled to 47 of the 50 states and not once have I ever felt like food was a problem. I see this kind of mentality is exactly what I talk about when I say Rich and Poor are how you think. I feed a family of 5 off of $350 a month, my minimum wage article assumes at $11/hr that a single person is going to budget $300 a month for food, but I understand that different areas have different issues so let’s take the original comment’s Indianapolis.

According to food-deserts website:

Honestly, give the website a read. It’s fascinating. It talks about how over 10,000 households don’t have a car and how transportation is the biggest issue when a grocery store is over a mile away. I’m not going to delve into the social aspects of why certain areas might lack these things, but I do want to say we live in a time of plenty. My Grandfather grew up in the Great Depression when it was hard to find food at all. They would have easily walked 2 miles to a grocery store and back again if they lacked transportation.

For my example here I think I’ll focus on Mars Hill. This is considered a food desert, though google currently shows a Kroger smack in the middle of the housing area. The biggest thing I see on google maps is an awful lot of yards. When people couldn’t find the food they wanted when my grandfather was a kid they grew it. I see a giant neighborhood of green. Gardens are not expensive to maintain and neighbors can help each other out. Part of that local community building I’ve talked about in the past.

But it gets even better. There’s a walmart a few miles outside this neighborhood. They sell adult bikes starting around $112. I’m sure Facebook has used bikes all the time, or garage sales. The bicycle is probably one of the greatest human inventions of all time. It’s easy to repair, gives good exercise and makes a greater than 1 mile trip to the grocery store a net positive in life instead of a negative. A covered bike trailer for kids is $134. That’s less than a single monthly payment on a $15,000 car and you own it all free and clear. Before all the complaints roll in, I’ll just drop the Mr. Money Mustache Bicycle post. He’s been taking his kid and doing grocery shopping via bike in the rocky mountains for almost 20 years. So weather and other complaints are invalid.

Indianapolis has a minimum wage equal to the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. A quick google search finds an apartment complex in the area with utilities included at $778 per month. From there they jump to around $1,100 a month with no utilities.

$7.25 is $290 a week, $1,256 a month, or $15,080 a year. Indeed’s website says the average McDonalds starting pay is $11.72. I found a local McDonald’s franchise offering $13 per hour starting, but let’s roll with the lower numbers. We’ll even round down to $11.50, that puts us at $460 a week, $1,993 a month, and $23,920 a year. That rent still sucks, but at least it’s something that could be paid now. We know our phone plan isn’t going to change from the $11/hr article. That’s $50 a month and we use the phone to tether us internet, because we’re at the bottom of the pay scale and this isn’t forever. Average utility bills in Indianapolis for an apartment appear to be $150-$300 a month. Let’s use the high end.

Category	Indianapolis Mars Hill	Notes
Gross Annual Income	$23,920	Local Mcdonald’s data: $11.50/hr.
FICA Taxes (7.65%)	$1,829.88
Federal Taxes (10%)	$782	Standard deduction $16,100
State Taxes (2.95%) Flat Tax	$676.14	$1,000 personal exemptions (takes income to $22,920.
Marion County Tax (2.02%)	$483.19	No deductions.
Subtotal after Taxes	$20,148.79
Rent	$13,200	Let’s use the $1,100
Utilities	$3,600	$300 high end average, fat to cut here, be frugal people.
Phone/internet $50	$600	Hotspot combo
Groceries $300	$3,600	Super Spendy Single Person
Money Left:	-$851.21	Cheaper food is do-able.

For reference purposes, Indiana has a 7% sales tax, and Marion County specifically charges an up to 2% extra tax on prepared food and beverages in restaurants. This is all the more reason to cook.

Well we hit the negative numbers before we got much past groceries. Let alone car payments. The rent is what is truly killing this income level. Getting utilities down to $200 a month, and keeping food at $200 a month leaves $1,548.79 left for all other spending. Which is enough to 401k and wipe out your federal taxes and give minor amounts back to you from the state and county level taxes.

The issue is you’re not walking out with the $5,000 left over that the OH or San Antonio scenarios give you. So what’s the solution? Clearly frugality is vital in this scenario, but we also talked about Community up above. If you had 1 room mate also making the same money allowing you to split utilities, rent and groceries, because $300 can feed more than 1 person. That would total:

Category	Indianapolis Mars Hill	Notes
Split Rent 50%	$6,600	1 roommate, $550 a month
Split Utilities 50%	$1,800	1 roommate, $150 a month
Split Groceries 50%	$1,800	1 roommate, $150 a month
Total after expenses	$9,348.79
McDonalds 401k	$1,304	This is usually matched and is the minimum to zero out federal taxes.
Total Remaining	$8044.79

Having a single roommate also making the local minimum McDonald’s pay of $11.50, lets you contribute for retirement ($2,608 after employer match, maybe slightly less if they only match 5%), and zero out federal taxes, and save about $40 between state and county taxes. Honestly lowering housing by 50% freed up almost one third of the income. With the under $250 bike and trailer purchase, you can now reach a grocery store two miles away, get exercise, cook and eat healthy and work on saving and investing more. Being at the bottom of the income also means you can push side hustles, or look for job growth opportunities. Increase income, increase investing, find financial freedom.

It’s do-able no matter where you live, but like all things it requires discipline.

~~Miniwing~~
Investor, Stoic, Parent