Broward Commissioner budgets for one week on minimum wage salary

Broward Commissioner budgets for one week on minimum wage salary

First stop: grocery shopping on $40/week

Broward County Commissioner Martin David Kiar grocery shops on minimum wage budget of $40 per week food.

By Kimberly Maroe Public Information Manager

Using coupons, buying sale items and carefully examining the prices of everything, Broward County Commissioner Martin David Kiar began the week shopping at the grocery store on his self-imposed minimum wage salary.

“I budgeted forty dollars for the week for food. I will also bicycle when feasible and use public transportation. There won’t be any going to the movies or eating at a restaurant,” said Commissioner Kiar. “I’m doing this to bring attention to the need for an increase in the minimum wage. What concerns me is that thousands of people every day worries about feeding their families even though they’re working fulltime. Sometimes they have to choose between eating and buying medication for their children and it shouldn’t be that way.”

In Florida the minimum wage is currently $7.79 per hour. The average cost for housing in Broward County is $890 per month. Subtract the annual housing cost of $10,680 from the annual minimum wage income of $16,203 and you have $5,523 remaining for the year or $106.21 for food, transportation and other costs.

“I have three children and I worry about feeding them,” said Marc Gattereau, who works for a maintenance company at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport. “There’s no room for sickness, vacation, anything. It’s stressful; I have no way to save.”

A 2011 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago study showed that a $1 hike in the minimum wage increases spending by $2,800 a year in households with minimum-wage workers. Raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of people to spend on basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. This is money that will be spent and put back into our economy.

“People who work for a living should be able to support their families and live off their wages. Increase a person’s salary and they’ll spend more, putting it right back into the economy. It’s a win-win situation. I support a living wage that is based on the cost of living in the community where you live,” said Commissioner Kiar.