Seattlest: House Votes to Up Unemployment Benefits

TroyJMorris

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:17:04 -0800

Added bonus, you can get a free flex car membership and some credit for filing for Unemployment and going through the system (helps get to interviews in a ... well... zip).

TroyJMorris

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:15:42 -0800

Not every one on Unemployment gets that much. That's just the minimum. You also have to take into account, some folks may have been in a lease, so just picking up and moving isn't always an option. It's also important to keep in mind that by claiming unemployment your tax returnn will be significantly less. Mine was 1/5 of what it normally would be for claiming unemployment (yes, taxed) for 2 months. Of course, I got a heck of a lot more than 100-someodd dollars a week.

grid

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:54:12 -0800

here's the list of shared rooms i got the values from: http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/roo?maxAsk=400 most of the shared housing type arrangements there include electricity, water, garbage and heat. the biggest problem is that i'm not sure how feasible shared housing is for many people. the more "stuff" you have to start with, the more difficult the arrangement is to swing. i see the new amount as "workable", but the previous amount was a bit of a stretch.

MvB

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:43:14 -0800

grid, you took that question to the mat! But yes, the increase is a big deal. I have a really hard time imagining who (in an urban area) the previous minimum amount would have helped. To your otherwise exhaustive list, we should add utilities (electricity, water, garbage, heat)--mostly not included in rent these days. Plus, that $516 was taxed!

grid

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:59:31 -0800

i think an important thing to note is that increasing the benefit by $180 a month is very significant when compared to the very small initial amount. subtract $180 from the rough budget i whipped up above, and everything becomes much more difficult.

grid

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:20:20 -0800

$620 a month? hm. craigslist has a fair amount of shared housing options at $250. let's budget $320 for that, to provide a little flexibility in terms of location, leaving $300. monthly puget pass for peak hours fares will run $72 a month, leaving $278. assuming you use the library or job center internet to look for a job, you'll need a cell phone to receive calls from employers. virgin mobile gives you 200 minutes for 20 dollars on their cheapest plan. probably should budget at least $30 for this, leaving $268. that's shelter, transport and basic communications with $268 left over. budgeting $50 a week for "food", we're leaves $68. now, where do you put that $68 dollars? an internet connection if you have a computer already? maybe try to turn that bus pass into gas and insurance for a car you already own? maybe slightly improved accommodations, although under $400 in the puget sound area and you're still probably going to be sharing with people. this is all very back-of-the-envelope, and i'm probably under-budgeting, but presuming that you don't have any "stuff" and are living with other people, that's as about as far as $650 a month will get you.