Dane Kunes-Collins

 Smart Lab Blog

6.) Personally, my parents are from Northern Europe; I hold a very, very far left, socialistic view on politics and economics. I support raising the minimum wage to $11 an hour through cutting military spending. In addition to socialized healthcare and provided transportation like the majority of the civilized world. Raising the minimum wage wouldn't be a trigger of inflation if done right, and would decrease poverty greatly.

8.) She is use to having money and living a materialistic lifestyle, so spending a month with Morgen on minimum wage was a very difficult task for her. The fact that she was able to get free couches and blankets, basic thinks, seemed almost like a privilege. She was touched by the generosity and compassion of the church missionaries.

Joshua hopson

1)  I think morgan and alex budgeting was good for them two.
3) I think race may have played a part in getting a job, but probably only for alex because she work at a coffee shop.
7) The working poor is the people of america that makes money but never haves money to spend on what they want.
10) Im surprised because there really didn't have nothing to work that bill that high, but the light bill.

Kaylen Coleman

2.What role did budgeting play in the survival for the 30 day period?

• Budgeting played a huge role in their survival because if they were spending money like how people do on a regular basis like they do in 2013 they would've been in debt because minimum wage now is 2 dollars higher than what it was before in 2007 minimum wage was 2.80-4.25. Now people cant survive off 4.25 an hour working most of their day and having a family to feed you would be dead broke, Morgans friend in the movie had 4 mouths to feed and he was working just like him no benefits were given to both of them because they were working for a temp agency, Alex and Morgan were in debt so imagine how his friend was living with 4 kids Morgan and Alex had to think about how much they were going to spend before they bought something to budget their money they get.

3.Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact that they had no children?

• Yes i feel that race was a part of it race is always a part of it if you're educated and artistic and looking for a job you would be able to get it if you're white over a colored person, You will always get discriminated, Racism will always play a role in todays society. Many people are getting criticized by their color of skin just because they achieve something in life

8.Why do you think that Alex became so emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at The Free Store?

• I think that she was emotional because they were living on minimum wage and they could barely afford anything so they didn't have any furniture for that time and had to eat on the floor and their apartment was infested with ants, ants were everywhere and hey aren't used to living in those conditions, so they would be feeling grateful for what they have gotten for free because they were hurting and was sad that they didn't have enough money for furniture.
  

Porsha richardson

Question 8: why do you think that Alex became so emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at the free store?

Answer: she became so emotional because they barely had nothing and she wanted furniture for the apartment they were renting and when they found out about the free store she started crying because she didn't know that there were people out there in the world that would be so helpful and generous to them. also she was emotional because she wasn't use to that life style and she didn't know people actually in the world struggle like that on a daily bases.

Question 10: Are you surprised about the electric company deposit request? why ?

Answer: yes, i was surprised because i didn't even know they could do that and that was just unheard of for me until i seen that movie 30 Days.

Question 1: How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

Answer: they were good in the beginning because they were making a lot of sacrifices just to make it through that day even if they starved or had to walk miles to work out in the freezing cold.

Question 7: Define who the "working poor" are.

Answer: the working poor are people who only can pay for there bills and have almost nothing left off their pay check because they are working minimum wage or even less than that and the would basically do anything just to make money for them or their family just to survive through a whole day.

Nadia Goldberg

2.) Budgeting played a huge role in survival for Alex and Morgan. If they didn't budget, they would not have any money left for the necessities. Because they budgeted, they knew how much money they could spend on what things. Alex and Morgan ate beans and rice almost everyday for dinner, which is a cheap option. If they had bought dinners consisting of steak and sushi, they would have been out of money within a few days. But, because they budgeted, they always had enough money for food and shelter.

8.) I believe that Alex became emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at The Free Store because she realized how nice people were. She had never really realized how essential things such as tables and chairs were, and she also realized that there are people in the world that care more about giving back to their community than there own personal eyes. Alex was giving up hope, so when her and Morgan got all of the things from the store, she gained her hope back and began to believe in the kindness of people.

Zan Wynia Blog

Question Number 6:  I completely agree with Sen. Ted Kennedy's stance on minimum wage.  I think it should be increased because a lot of people who are working minimum wage jobs are trying to support a family and it's nearly impossible to do that when you're being paid only 8 something dollars an hour.  Because they are being paid so little they have to work multiple jobs therefore giving them less time to spend time with and care for their kids.  Which leads to these kids growing up with few role models and no one supervise them.  It creates a viscous cycle that results in more poverty and crime in America.  We can help fix these problems by just raising the minimum wage a few dollars per hour and helping create more opportunities for kids and their parents who are working minimum wage jobs.

Question Number 7:  The working poor are the people of the United States who are currently employed, but are still living below the poverty line or are considered to be poor.  This terms usually applies to people who are working multiple minimum wage jobs, but are still not making enough to sustain a healthy life style.  We could get rid of this terms if we were to increase the minimum wage as I said in the question before.

Olivia Gerasole

10.     At first, I was surprised about the electric company deposit request. I didn't even know that electric companies could ask for security deposits. However, after looking at the situation that Morgan and Alex were in and where they were living, I wasn't surprised that the electric company requested a deposit. Of all places to ask for money, it seems most likely that the company would target a bad neighborhood. Since people moved in and out of the apartment, they probably didn't pay the bills on time or at all. Even though previously unpaid bills aren't Morgan and Alex's fault, the electric company just wants to make money.

11.    When Morgan took out his niece and nephew for a treat, Alex immediately got upset. She was mad because she felt that Morgan was being careless with all the money they were working so hard to save. It didn't take much for Morgan and Alex to get into a fight over money. I think since money is one of the main ways people can maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is very hard to get along when you don't agree with someone on how money should be spent. It must have been pretty stressful to not have enough money to what they were used to. I think the stress of not having enough money was the underlying cause of the conflict.

30 days is a month- Brandon Ruffin

1) Realistically, there are americans who have to live on minimum wage all of their life. These people would do a much better job of budgeting than Morgan and Alex. However, for people that were spontaneously put in a foreign situation, Alex and Morgan handled it pretty well. In the end, they were very much in debt. Not because of their budgeting, but because of bad luck.

2) The working poor are people who's income falls below the poverty line but not due to the fact they are unemployed. The economy today can cause the employed to fall below the poverty line even if they went to college and are very qualified.

nathan 30 days response

2)  The role budgeting played  in alex and Morgans survival was a big role. They had to do a lot of sacrificing when it came to their well being. They had to eat rice and beans for for most of the time. They really could not do much with out there being a conflict in making the decisions they made. When  Morgan hurt his wrist he had to try the free clinic first because they didn't have health insurance. when the free clinic was full had had the option of going to the emergency room which was pretty expensive. The emergency room visit cost them big time so they had to cut back on other things. They were basically working to live life and get by.

3) I feel race was a big factor with them getting the apartment they had. The fact that they didn't have children either also played a big role. I think if it was a couple that was a minority it would have been a lot more hard or probably even wouldn't have got it.

Chris Hernandez- 30 Days response

2) Budgeting had everything to do with survival for Alex and Morgan. When living on minimum wage, budgeting is what guides your life. You must know where you have breathing room for food, clothes, or even just a day out. For Alex and Morgan it meant life or death. The poor budgeting decisions lead them to almost $1,000 in debt in hospital bills for only two visits to the emergency room. The lack of money could have resulted in no funds to support their grocery budget. It was obvious that Alex and Morgan could not last more than 30 days living on Minimum wage.
7) The working poor are a percentage of people in the United States who work full time jobs that are statistically below the poverty line. Although the government believes minimum wage is high enough to support the cost of living, the working poor give them something digest. Minimum continues to be raised due to the failing economy that increases the cost of living. The working poor are unable to maintain an occupation that can keep up with the lifestyle the government expects.

Cole Rowland

1] Morgan and Alex did a decent job at budgeting for thirty days. When they had Morgan's brothers kids up for a weekend they spent more money then they wanted to. They bought treats and spent money that they had been saving for rent and for their medical bills. If they had not have been forced to go the ER and pay the crazy, overpriced ace bandage and the filled prescription they would not have gone into a crazy amount of debt.
7] The working poor are the families who, like Morgan and Alex, work for minimum wage and have to pay for a lot more things and more people. The families don't have good credit, health care, and other things that white collar people find as give luxuries. The blue collar class are skill based workers. THe white collar people work at desks and are considered as professional workers. then there are the super rich. Also there is the poor class, they are the class that work on their hands and knees all day and barley make enough money to support their family.
8] Alex became so emotional because she realized that during their time in this situation she wasn't going to be able to do what she wanted to do. they were going to need to budget and not do to much, even on her birthday. The couldn't be as luxurious as they usually were in their normal life.      

Stephen Perkins

7. Working poor is a term used to describe individuals and families who maintain regular employment but remain in relative poverty due to low levels of pay and dependent expenses.

So like people who make $8.50 an hour to me are the working poor because they are just getting by.
The working poor are the people you see working in Mcdonalds or any other fast food places, or even in clothing stores thats who i think the working poor is.



11. I Think its easy for them to get into arguments over finances because they are under alot of pressure of trying to keep money and trying to keep there job, also they need to spend money on food and pay rent I thinks thats why they were more irritable with each other.

Alana Pontarelli

1. Morgan and Alex were okay at budgeting for the 30 day period. They could have done better when the kids came over. I don't think the kids would've been offended if they didn't spend all that money. They're old enough to understand what minimum wage means for living.

7.The working poor are the people who are living off of minimum wage. In the state of Illinois, minimum wage is $8.25. That's roughly $10,725 a year. Most decent apartments costs that much for monthly rent.

Cedric Logan

 1. Morgan and Alex was good at budgeting for the 30 day period because they save all their money until the  last 8 day when Morgan was spend money on his nephew and niece and Alex was mad (in a happy face). Then, at the end, Morgan and Alex had to pay for medicine bill. In really life, you have to pay that bill. But Morgan and Alex couldn't, so they went home.

3. I felt like race was the factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex because it was very easy for to find 4 job in a day especially  for Morgan.

4.If the landlord didn't care about my safely then will not buy that apartment. Most likely a landlord not going to take 1/3 of the 1st month rent.

5. The "working poor" are person who work more job and get pay less.

Pharoah Sherod

1. In thirty days Morgan and Alex managed their money on minimum wage very well. even on the days where the children were over they "splurged", to use that term loosely. They were still very conserved about spending money. Alex even walked to work every day to save them the cost of using the bus, or taking a train. Even though Morgan was somewhat less exclusive about frivolous spending they still managed to make it through the thirty days.

7.The working poor are the people who work one or more than one job, but are still living underneath the poverty line. Most of the working poor are working minimum wage jobs so the can barely afford the bare minimum of living expenses. This was shown in 30 days where the could barely afford day to day cost, let alone to go outside and spend money. And when bills came in it was even more challenging. Medical bills aren't really included in the payment of minimum wage. In thirty days it showed that the cost of walking into an emergency room is more than a weeks wage, most people on minimum wages can't afford to pay that expensive of bills or they'll become impoverished adding on to the large amount of working poor. According to the Washington Post: "In 2011, some 46.2 million Americans lived below the official poverty line -- 15 percent of the country. Of those, roughly 10.4 million had jobs, but still lived bellow the poverty line"

Julia Nordhem

1. Morgan and Alex were very good at budgeting for their 30 day period. They figured out the expenses of transportation and food and set aside money to accommodate those needs. Once in a while they would walk to save money. Overall throughout the course of the 30 days they stayed on budget and had a plan on how they were going to spend their money. 

2. Budgeting played a big role in Alex and Morgan's survival. If they exceeded their budget they wouldn't be able to afford certain things and it could possibly put them in debt. Also, if the went over their budget on one thing they might not have been able to afford a necessity like food and they could have gone hungry. 

4. Honestly, I wouldn't have taken the apartment from the landlord who helped Alex and Morgan without paying the entire sum that was owed to him. This shows that he is not very experienced and probably doesn't know the business, nor does he care about Morgan and Alex.

7. The working poor are the people who work at jobs that are at or below minimum wage. They work many hours but because of tax reductions they don't get enough money to pay for necessities. 

8. I think Alex became so emotional about the services that were given to her and Morgan at The Free Store because she realized how people have to rely on stores like that for everything and she had never thought about it. It made her realize how grateful she was for all the things she has at home and in her life. Also, she was thankful that these services were an option for people and that they were available for her and Morgan.

9. If I had to decided between going to the doctor or keeping the finances and going to work, I would go to the doctor. This is because if my injury were to get worse, I could end up spending more time and money on tending to my injury. If I went to the doctors right away, I could get my injury cured as fast as possible and in the end I would be spending the least amount. 

11. Alex and Morgan got into many arguments over finances. The underlying feeling that I think is the cause of the conflict is how they each think the money should be spent or saved. Because of the circumstances of their jobs, each of them value their paycheck differently. They both think of different ways to spend it and this causes arguments. 

Shannon FitzGibbons

1. Morgan and Alex were pretty good about budgeting for the 30 days period. Morgan walked to work in order to save money, they also ate rice and beans for the whole 30 days. The only time where they spent a lot of money is when the kids came to visit. 

2. The role that budgeting played in the survival of Alex and Morgan was major. When they first rented the apartment they immediately were in the red. They needed to pay off rent which took them a while, they also got medical, and electric bills. If they do not pay these then their credit will become bad.

3. I think that race did play a factor in both Morgan and Alex getting hired and finding an apartment. In the world that we live in it is easier for white males to get jobs. It was probably a little bit harder Alex to find a job because she is a female. I bet that the landlord was happier to rent to them as a white couple because he was not very professional when he first rented to them.

4. I think that I would have payed the entire amount if I had the money, and did not have a large amount of bills to pay (hospital). If I did not have the money, I could leave with out the realtor finding me. They did not give him much information about themselves and where he would be able to find them. Therefore, I probably would not have to provide very much information about myself.

5. Gerald's reasoning regarding living wage is that his pay has gone down and the cost of living has gone up. This means that he will have to struck to s struck budget because he will not be able to spend money on things that he used to.

6. I do agree with Senator Ted Kennedy's argument that raising the minimum wage will help families. It will allow them to pay their bills on time, feed their families, and allow them to have time away from work. No person should have to spend eleven hours at work and only make around fifty dollars. Those who oppose the raise in minimum wage are not thinking about the situations that families are going though. 

7. The "working poor" are those whose jobs are at or below minimum wage. They work long hours and at the end of the day their paychecks are very small. They might work for eleven hours that day and get less than a fifty dollar check.

8. Alex became emotional at The Free Store because she was so happy that people give to those who cannot afford things by themselves. She was having a hard time with the change she was going through so to have someone help her meant a lot.

9. If I was put in the situation of going to the doctors or keeping my finances in the black I would probably wait much longer than Alex and Morgan did before going to the doctors. I feel that they only had their problems for a day or two before going to the hospital. I think that when you are living on such a low budget going to the doctors right away would not be smart. If I had kids I would probably wait less time to take them to the doctors before I took myself.

10. No I am not surprised by the electric companies deposit request. The people that lived in the apartment before them most likely did not pay their bill. This company is just trying to make sure that they are paid for their services given. With out them asking for the money they might never get paid.

11. The underlying cause to the arguments over finances between Morgan and Alex I believe is who was the one doing the splurges, and how the money was spent. Alex was walking to work everyday to save money. When the kids came into town Morgan was spending money fast and Alex did not agree with that. She got upset that he would spend money on donuts and she was not taking the bus to work. 

Kevin Hambourger

1. Morgan and Alex were pretty good on budgeting over the 30 day period. They tried to save money in any way they could, one way was Alex would walk to her job every day instead of taking the bus saving $2.50 a day. They also ate rice and beans for most of the 30 days to save money instead of buying expensive foods. Morgan and Alex also did not spend any money on luxuries until the kids came over and they spent a little more than usual. The one thing that put them in the hole was the hospital bills, they were very expensive and since they didn't have insurance they had to pay the whole bill which they couldn't do with the amount of money they had putting them in debt. Other than this they budgeted very well, and if it hadn't been for the hospital then they would have been completely fine.

6. I agree with Ted Kennedy's argument that the minimum wage should be raised and would help families completely. The cost to live has raised so much since the past, and people who make minimum wage can barely have a life. They live day to day and have barely enough money to actually enjoy their selves. Plus adding in kids, minimum wage can't cover the cost of living for these families. I don't think raising the minimum wage would be detrimental to these big businesses in which the owners of it are billionaires. Adding a little more money to everyone's paycheck won't make a big business shut down like Target, or Walmart or Jewel. If every big business raised their minimum wage, these families lives would be made a little easier.

Will Hain

3. Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact that they had no children?
Race and family size are actually huge factors in finding a job or house. Minorities are usually offered jobs that pay less and involve more physical labor. Anglo-American men tend to get jobs that pay better and are higher up on the totem pole of that company. Morgan and Alex are both white, so people were more willing to hire them. On the other hand, some companies like to hire minorities to make themselves seem more fair and non-racist. All of this basically applies to finding a home. Some people are less willing to offer houses/apartments to certain ethnic groups in neighborhoods where they aren't common.
Family is also a big factor. People are more willing to offer you a job or home if you have a family. Since Morgan and Alex weren't officially married, and had no kids, people would be less likely to offer them work/housing versus someone with a husband/wife and kids. If you have a family, people realize you need the money more than if you were single, but may also take advantage of that; offering you less, know you need the money more. It's the same way with houses. But it also makes a company look better when they hire "family men".

6. Do you agree with Sen. Ted Kennedy's argument that raising the minimum wage helps families? What about the opposing side that is against raising the minimum wage (big business in the U.S.)?
I definitely believe that raising the minimum wage would help families! The cost of living has gone up since his law was passed, and the minimum wage needs to go up to meet that. And it's not like multi-million/billion corporations are going to go broke paying a few dollars a day more to the employees doing the grunt work. A common misconception is that these minimum wage workers are teenagers doing it for a little extra spending money. The fact is that most minimum wage workers are grown adults trying to keep their families alive, aren't getting paid enough to be able to. As for those opposing it, a lot of arguments I hear opposing the raising of minimum wage involve "putting the shame back in being poor", "not 'shocking' the system" or "giving people incentive to work their way out of the lower class" but really, all they want is more money for themselves.

Victoria Amato

1. Alex was very frugal with her money and would walk to work to save $2.50 but Morgan believes in a weekend off and that they deserve to spend a little more when Alex thinks it is foolish to spend any "unnecessary money". When the children came to visit them, Morgan decided to splurge on them despite Alex's protests. In whole, the couple knew that they had limited funds and that they would have to ration their income. They did well by not buying snacks and walking to work in order to save their money.

7. The "working poor" are the Americans that go out and actively find temporary jobs but are still below the poverty line. An example of the "working poor" is the mexican couple in the emergency room because they are living a pay-check to pay-check lifestyle and are constantly in fear of not being able to eat or pay their bills. The "working poor" are always in debt and cannot afford not to work because of the repercussions such as not being able to pay their bills.

Erick Garcia

1.Morgan and Alex were pretty good at budgeting because of how they spent their money wisely. They  knew they had to spend their money on necessity's first such as finding a place to stay, pay all their bills and food. They also tried to save as much money possible. Alex walked to work everyday so she didn't have to pay money for bus fare. Morgan started to get a little careless with money when his niece and nephew and this angered Alex but they worked it out.
11. I think that the underlying feeling that caused them to get into arguments was that they were scared that they were living from pay check to pay check. They feel that if they waste too much money that they wont be able to eat or pay their bills. They cannot afford to not spend their money wisely. I can see why they got into an argument over spending a lot of money on the kids.

Sean Finn-Samuels

6. I agree with Ted Kennedy that raising the minimum wage would benefit the families who have to rely on minimum wage in order to just maintain the bare minimum requirements for living. When minimum wage was created, it may have helped those families just get by, but it didn't account for the cost of living increasing. Now, it isn't enough to live, and those who are payed minimum wage can't even scrape by, as I now realize by watching the documentary. Increasing the minimum wage would bring all of these families up to the bare minimum standard of living and allow at least a small amount of comfort in their lives. I understand the opposition, though. By increasing the minimum wage, large businesses will have to pay their workers more money and theoretically be forced to lay of more workers as a result, putting some laborers out of business, and possibly impacting the economy negatively.

10. I was initially surprised by the electric company's deposit request, but when I though about the implications involved, I wasn't really shocked anymore. The "Bottoms," the neighborhood Alex and Morgan lived in, was not the most wealthy neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, so chances are the tenants that lived in their apartment before them might not have kept up with their bills very well. Since Alex and Morgan were charged this deposit, the previous tenants probably left the apartment before paying any of their bills. As a result, the electric company wants security, to make sure that they are paid even if Alex and Morgan decide to leave before the end of their contract, such as the tenants before them did. It's not a fair request, but it's also not a surprising one.

Ilana Baker

 

3)      I think that race played a big part in getting an apartment, because the landlord was probably more likely to rent a white couple, especially since they didn’t have kids, which would have made it harder to pay the rent. However, I don’t think that race had anything to do with Morgan getting the job that he did. When he filled out his job application, his employer didn’t seem too picky about who he was employing. When he showed up on his first day at the temp job, there were many people from many different ethnicities. This shows that the temp agency he worked at most likely didn’t discriminate against people based on their race or ethnicity.

 

7)      The working poor are people who are employed, below the poverty line, and barely making ends meet. Many of them work minimum wage jobs, and they may also have families to support-sometimes as a single parent. They generally don’t get benefits such as health care, and this also contributes to their financial burden. Morgan and Alex were considered to be the working poor for 30 days. For the majority of the time, they didn’t have kids, they both worked full time, and even then, they barely made ends meet by the end of the 30 day period.

 

Alex Galvin

1. Morgan and Alex's budgeting from day 1- to about day 20 was great for the amount of money that they had at the moment. However, once Morgan's niece and nephew came to visit, Morgan felt as though he needed to spend hard earned money in order for the kids to have a good time. Although it was a very nice gesture, Morgan and Alex did not have the money to do all of the events that they did. Despite the last few days of their experiment, Morgan and Alex's budgeting was very strong for the most part.
2. Budgeting basically played the "do or die" role in the survival for Alex and Morgan mostly because Alex would walk to work instead of taking the bus in order to just save two dollars. They also lived off of a "rice and beans" diet for a large majority of the 30 day period. Had Morgan gone into the store, buying steak dinners, and champagne, Alex and him would have been dead within a week due to a lack of money to pay for other important things such as electricity and water.
3. Although race plays a large role in EVERYTHING, I actually do not believe that race played a huge role in the hiring of Alex and Morgan's jobs and them finding an apartment. I think this because they moved into a neighborhood called "the bottoms" (a neighborhood known for notorious drug dealing and violence), meaning that if they had been black or Hispanic, the land lord would have sold them the apartment anyway. Also, they applied for minimum wage jobs, which could have been taken by anyone of any race.
4. I would most likely walk away from the land lord mostly because if I was receiving the unacceptable income that Morgan and Alex were getting, I would not have the money to be able to pay him off, therefore confirming my reason.
5. I 100% agree with Gerald's reasoning about minimum wage. It is completely unacceptable for the minimum wage to be less than it was 25 years ago. This also has to do with Gerald's work ethic as well. If he has been in the work force for 25 years and still has a minimum wage job, he must not be pushing himself to his full potential to find a better job.
6.I completely agree with Senator Ted Kennedy's  argument about raising minimum wage to help families. With a raise in minimum wage, some families could possibly make enough money to bring meals to the table every night, rather than barely being able to support their families. However, this also means that several business's would go out of business due to the raise in minimum wage. The poor would benefit, however, the economy would unfortunately crash and spiral out of control.
7. People who get up at 5 am everyday to go work 10 to 12 long hours of hard labor, and still find them selves and their family in a financial abomination, are my definition of the "working poor". No matter how hard they work, they just keep finding themselves drifting further and further apart from their overall goals, causing them to stay poor even though they work their butts off 24/7.
*8. I believe Alex became very emotional about the services given to her and Morgan at The Free Store because she was never used to being in such a situation that you can barely afford a bed to sleep in, as well as a table to eat on. They had to eat dinner on their laps for days before they found out about the inspirational store. I also believe that she became very emotional because she realized that there are still people out there who care about giving back to their communities rather than worrying about their own issues. After her visit from the store, Alex found herself finally eating food at a real table, and sitting in a real chair. She also found herself sleeping on a cozy mattress. It was a very touching scene to her cry tears of both joy, and pain that there are people out in the world who have to go through that everyday of their lives.
9. Even though this seems impossible, I would make it my life's goal not to injure myself so badly that i need medical attention. However, since that is very unlikely, I would just go see a doctor if it was a very big issue regarding my life. Your life is more important than the 500 dollars you would save to put your life on the line. If children were involved, I would be forced to go to a free clinic mostly because the debt that I would be putting my family into would take my whole life to pay off if I continued working at minimum wage.
*10. I wish I could say that the electric company's deposit request surprised me, but it really did not even phase me. Our world is in so much debt, that companies need every penny that they can get. Am i saying that this act was right? No of course not, I guarantee that the tenants before them didn't pay their bills either, but this is what our economy is coming to, so we just have to adapt to it. Morgan however most definitely should have called the company to have the bill terminated.
11. Morgan and Alex's argument was over two main reasons. The first being that they could not afford donuts and Morgan bought them anyway. The second reason being that Alex probably hated being the one to ruin everyone's fun time to argue with Morgan.

Cole Vincent

1) How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

Despite the fact that both Morgan and Alex were hospitalized, they did a great job at budgeting. They had a concise plan and were economically conscious. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Morgan and Alex ended up in debt. As stated in the movie, they had every advantage possible. Depressing enough, however, they only escaped by the skin of their teeth.

2) Observe how easy it was for Morgan and Alex to get into an argument over finances. What is the underlying feeling that you think is at the cause of the conflict?

Given Morgan and Alex's financial situation, they were under quite a bit of stress. Therefore, when they had 2 children staying with them, there was little fun to be had. However, Morgan ended up indulging the kids and spent more money than Alex wanted. Due to the stress of living on minimum wage, Morgan and Alex argued over 60 cents. Although 60 cents seems like nothing, given the circumstances, Alex thought different.

Keenan Msicinski

 1. I think Morgan and Alex were good at budgeting for the 30 day period. The thing that killed them was the hospital bill. If they didn't get sick and hurt, then they would have been doing well.

2. The budgeting played a big role in the lives of Alex and Morgan. Alex had to walk to her work instead of take the bus just so that she could save $2 everyday. It also made the couple argue, because Morgan was spending too much at the movies.
3. I think that race was a factor in getting hired and finding the apartment. Its like Morgan said at the end of the movie, that it was still very hard for them and that they are white. It helps them be accepted, and I do believe that racial profiling still exists when getting accepted for a job. I think the fact that they had no children also helped because the landlord would not believe that they could pay off the rent if they had more kids to pay for too.
4. Honestly, if I had no money to pay off the landlord, I likely would just walk away. If I had that little income, then there would be no way to pay him, and there wouldn't be much of a choice.
5. I think Gerald is right in that working the type of job that he did, he deserves to make more money than he did 25 years ago. I think he was likely struggling to make ends meet and that the cost of living is much higher now, thus the minimum wage should be higher too.
6. I do agree with Ted Kennedy's argument of raising the minimum wage to help families. The cost of living has increased so the minimum wage should be increased too. I think the big businesses in the
U.S. should stop being so greedy and spread the wealth in this country so that the economy can be more balanced.
7. The working poor are the people that have no real skills, and because of that they have to work the hard backbreaking minimum wage jobs. Its not a position that anyone wants to be in.
8. I think that Alex got emotional about the services that were given to her at the free store because it meant a lot to her that she didn't have to worry about the pay. Alex had been working very hard the prior weeks and i think she was just amazed that she could actually get what she needed for free.
9. I think if I had a medical problem where a doctor was necessary, I would have to be in a lot of pain to get myself to go. If my finances were in a bad place I would try my hardest to push through it. If i had children involved i would get them the medical attention that they needed. The children would certainly change my decision making process. I would put my kids in front of me to do to the doctor.
10. I am not surprised about the electric company deposit request. I can see where they are coming from needing to get money because the last tenants didn't pay their bill. However i would not pay the security deposit, because that is not my problem. I would talk to a manager and tell him that the history of the electricity bill is not my problem.
11.I think the cause of the financial arguments is that there is that the money shouldn't be spent on meaningless things. Alex was right that Morgan shouldn't be spending the money on extra candy and things. If you are not in a good situation financially then you need all the money you can get. The cause of the conflict is the stress of not having money to spend.

Zoe Solomon

8.  I think Alex became emotional over the services that were given to her and Morgan at The Free Store because she realized that there are people out there who are very kind and helpful.  It was touching that there was help for people in the kind of situation that they were in.  She was also very emotional at the time from the big change in scenery and she let it out with tears of joy from the kindness of the people around.  Alex became really happy when she was able to sit and eat at a table in chairs.
10.  I wasn't surprised by the electric company's request.  But that doesn't mean I thought it was right.  Alex and Morgan were living in a bad neighborhood and the people before them probably didn't pay their bills on time or ran away from paying.  The electric company just wants to make money, so they asked for them to pay, even though they never did anything wrong.  Morgan should have called and said that he shouldn't have to pay.

Pharaoh Sherod

1. How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

Relatively good including the weekend when the children were over, even know they had to "splurge', to use that term loosely, they still spent an impressively low amount. The medical bills were way to expensive for anyone on minimum wage to even consider paying.





7.  

Jack Brennan

1.  Alex and Morgan were good at budgeting because they had a lot of time to plan ahead.  Except while the kids were there and near the end Morgan began to splurge too much.
2.  Alex and Morgan only survived because they budgeted what they could afford to eat and how they could afford for transportation.
3.  Race was not a factor for Morgan because he got a temp job so they just give everyone what's available without thinking twice.  Alex possibly got hired easier because she's white but getting that job would not be hard anyway.
4.  I probably would have just walked away because the landlord was clearly not a great person anyway.
5.  Gerald is right that the cost of living has increased and minimum wage does not cut it anymore.  I think that after 25 years of work, however, Gerald could have found a better job and could be making enough money.
6.  I think that raising minimum wage would put a lot of places out of business.  Although it would immediately help the poor, the economy should be built from the middle class out, not from the lower class up.
7.  The working poor are the poor people who work hard to try and live a happy life but they cannot achieve that goal no matter what they do or how hard they work.
8.  She realized how much they have in their real life that people like 30 day Alex and Morgan would kill for.  She never used to understand how meaningful just having a chair and a table is.
9.  First of all I would have been more careful in the first place so as to avoid getting hurt, but I would eventually have to go to the doctor.  If children were involved I would have taken my chances with the free clinic because it would be impossible to pay off the debt to the hospital and it would ruin their lives.
10.  I am really not surprised because if a homeless man was living there before them he clearly didn't pay his electric bill but at first he got electricity which was stealing from the electric company.
11.  Morgan and Alex got in an argument over finances not just because they couldn't afford buns but also because Morgan was getting to be the fun dad while Alex was forced to be the voice of reason and be less liked by the kids.