Is it possible to buy quality clothes for the minimum wage in the USA: the experience of an immigrant

What can you buy in the USA for the minimum wage? The author found it out the blog "Americano | Americano" on "Yandex.Zen".

Photo: Shutterstock

Next - from the first person.

I decided to conduct an experiment and find out what can be bought with the minimum daily wage, for example, a janitor or a premises cleaner. In other words, the minimum wage in the States.

I live in California, the state minimum wage is $12 per hour. It turns out that for a 12-hour shift you should not receive less than $140. Perhaps a little more, $150-160 dollars. And then I thought: is it possible to dress normally, wear good clothes with such a salary? So I decided to check it out.

Taking $ 150 with me, I drove to the nearest clothing store. I went specifically not to the economy segment, but to a regular, normal store.

My goal was to completely change my clothes for this amount ($ 150), that is, shoes, pants, top.

Let's start with shoes as from the essentials.

I bought Calvin Klein sneakers - a fairly well-known brand, decent quality, casual style (note that I bought them for myself, that is, I, as a middle-class person, would not be ashamed to wear such shoes to work or walk around the city). Good, quality shoes.

The sneakers cost $ 43. Of course, there were also cheaper ones, but the goal of the experiment was not a cheap segment, but good, high-quality things.

Then the question arose pants - I settled on jeans.

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I took jeans in a gray-sand color scheme (I saw that many people wear this color now, and I decided to keep up with fashion). They cost me $20. By the way, I forgot to say: it was Levi’s - I think many are familiar with this brand: good quality, again, not a cheap item of clothing.

In total, I have already spent $ 63, it remains to buy top for completeness of the image.

Since I live in California (it is almost always hot here, only in winter or in rainy weather I have to wear a sweater or light jacket), then I go in t-shirts and shirts for about eight months a year. Therefore, I decided to take something in between a T-shirt and a jacket - a long-sleeved T-shirt! Convenient: in the heat, the sleeve can be rolled up, in the cool - release.

The last point is sleeveless T-shirt.

There is not much difference here, and almost all T-shirts cost between $5 and $15. If we talk about fleece sweaters, they cost about $10-$25. Again, I note that I chose not some unknown manufacturer, but the fairly well-known brand “Helly Hansen”.

As a result, I completely dressed in famous brands and spent only $ 73.

Let me remind you that this is only half of the minimum wage per day. The remaining money is enough for two more trips to the cafe. But what was the purpose of this experiment? Check, using the example of buying good clothes, whether the minimum wage in the States is sufficient for a normal life. The conclusion is definitely clear.

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