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Biggest Challenges

Different people had different reasons for failing the challenge. In nearly every case, it was an
unexpected expense that put them over their budget, but those expenses fell into several different categories.

The tricky areas included the following:

Transportation. Schakowsky says “a big chunk of her budget” went to- ward a 140-mile car trip for her granddaughter’s birthday party – even
though she counted only the cost of gas and not maintenance or insu- rance. Mbanusi writes that he started buying just $10 worth of gas at a
time, rather than filling his tank, and a $24 bill for routine maintenance nearly wrecked his budget for week one. And Strickland describes sho-
wing up late for a meeting because he had to walk from his apartment
– in 90-degree heat – rather than taking a cab.

Food. Nearly everyone who took the challenge says eating healthy food was a problem. Only a few say they actually went hungry, but most
say their diets were less varied and less healthful during their mi- nimum-wage week. Strickland says he couldn’t afford most fresh fruits and
vegetables and had to rely heavily on cheap staples like bread, bo- logna, bananas, and peanut butter. Schakowsky reports that she and her
husband “stretched a package of romaine and a few tomatoes to last the week.”

Health Care. Mbanusi says his budget went off the rails in week two when he had to pay $40 for a doctor’s appointment he’d made weeks
earlier. Ryan notes that the first big stumbling block in his week was a
$25 charge for vitamin D drops and a few other items for his newborn baby. Strickland, in an interview on the left-wing website ThinkPro-
gress, says he was lucky to have medicine at home when
he caught a cold early in the week; otherwise, he says, “I don’t think I would have been able to buy that Afrin nasal spray.”

Kids and Pets. For Ryan, the expense that finally knocked his budget off track was his 10-year-old daughter’s summer camp. Schakowsky
says she learned that “pets are luxury,” as one of her biggest expenses was caring for her dog Lucky, who is disabled.