(Caitlyn)My first decision that I made during the simulation was which job I should choose. I chose the 2nd shift at the warehouse. The reasoning behind this decision was because it was the only job without varying hours and that the pay was 14 an hour. My weekly pay was 306 and for the majority of decisions that I made throughout the simulation was based on how much money I had left in my account. The necessities such as bills, groceries and medicine were paid and I also chose to spend money on my child in the simulations gifted supplies. I made the decision to stay in instead of paying for a babysitter in the simulation because I could not justify paying for a sitter without knowing when the next paycheck would be coming. I also chose to get the thrifted shoes instead of the name brand ones as for me personally it is not that important, it was also much cheaper to get the thrifted ones. At the end of the simulation I had 384 dollars left in my account, but I did not get the dental work done on my tooth because it was going to cost 800 dollars. I chose not to get the dental work done because I couldn’t afford it in the simulation. When Ehrenreich says it’s “expensive” to be poor she means that when being in a situation where you are barely making it by it is expensive. Not having enough money to put down a deposit so you have to rent a room by the day or living off of fast food because you don’t have the appliances to cook in batches it can add up fast. The money you make has to go straight into paying for living expenses leaving little to no money to put into savings.
Ehrenreich, B. (2013). Chapter 1. In Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America (pp. 13–32). book, Henry and Holt Company.