How I live like a king on $13 an hour

$13 an hour, or roughly $26,000 a year is not a lot of money to live on in Miami, or any major western city, yet I never feel wanting. Often, I feel happier and healthier than friends who earn triple what I make. This is how I spend my money.

Before we talk numbers I want to clarify a few things:

1. I am not trying to normalize low wages. The wage gap is a real problem and people are suffering. As someone who has lived more than 90% of their life below the poverty level in the United States I know this first hand.
2. My job has no benefits, no overtime, no retirement, no healthcare, no sick days, no time off. My boss makes sure I never work more than 40 hours per week and there is no hope of advancement.
3. I own a business and have lived previously as a full time as a professional artist. However, now, none of that money goes into my pocket. Living full time off that income in the past killed my business as I had to balance my personal expenditures with the needs of the business. I felt guilty buying everything and never had enough money for anything. Now, I reinvest back into the business to feed growth.
4. I have been debt free since I was 25. I paid off $30,000 in two years by moving in with my mom and working 84 hours a week at a factory. Again, barely making above minimum wage.

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash