All people have different abilities and different life circumstances. And each person has their own needs. Some people are used to living large, while others have to save literally every penny. How to live on living wage? Find saving secrets below.

Living wage

Officials in our country have very good salaries. They send their children to study abroad, go on vacation several times a year and have beautiful palaces in picturesque areas of the capital. But while the elite lives in grand style, a certain segment of the population is forced to live on very modest income. This category includes pensioners, disabled people and people without education. These people have to survive on the minimum allowance that the state pays them. From May 1, 2018, the minimum wage is 11,163 rubles. How to live on a subsistence level, not die of hunger and allow yourself to have fun at least once a month?

Is it possible to survive

All people have different needs, this is quite understandable. But all people want to eat every day and walk, if not in fashionable clothes, then at least in clean and seasonally selected ones. Can people who earn 11,163 rubles a month afford this? How to live on a living wage? Experiments were carried out by many compassionate citizens. They created a situation for themselves in which they tried to live on a very limited budget. Some people succeeded, some didn't. Do you think the difference is in the requests? More like luck. Those people who were able to live for a month on 11 thousand did not get sick and lived alone. Imagine a situation in which a single mother must support herself and her child at a subsistence level.

The situation with the minimum wage being too low was made public, after which the deputy decided to experiment. He lived on the subsistence level for only a month, and then he didn’t make it to the end of his term. He managed only because he knew how to fish and for the last week he had been on an exclusively fish diet. After such an experiment, the deputy decided to increase the minimum wage, but his comrades did not turn out to be as compassionate. Therefore, answering the question of how to live on a subsistence level, we can say that you should save on everything you can. But living in such conditions will be almost impossible. It will be more like survival.

Strict financial accounting

If you find yourself in a hopeless situation and you have no options, how to find a way out of the current circumstances? How to live on a living wage? You should get into the habit of keeping track of your finances. You can download a specialized application to your phone or record all your purchases in a notepad. It doesn't matter which way you choose to control your budget. A person must achieve full awareness of how much money he spends and on what. At first, don’t deny yourself anything. Live a month recording your expenses. If you can't record purchases, collect receipts. Get into the evening habit of writing everything down in a notebook. Remember that a penny saves a ruble. Write down all your expenses, even if you bought a pie somewhere for 15 rubles, don’t consider it a trifle. Getting into the habit of writing everything down will help you track where your funds are going.

Purchasing a travel pass

Is it really possible to live on a subsistence level? Yes, many people confirm this. If you become smarter about your spending, you will definitely succeed. The first thing a person can save a lot on is buying a travel card. By buying daily metro rides or bus tickets, you will spend on average 1000-2000 rubles more than if you purchased a travel card at the beginning of the month. If you have to travel a lot for work, then buy a pass for all types of transport.

Is the office where you work a 20-minute walk from your home? In this case, it is not necessary to buy a pass. You can walk to work. Do you think this is unrealistic? It may be difficult for you to get up 20 minutes earlier at first, but realizing that just 20 minutes will help you save 2,000 rubles a month will be a good motivation. You also need to walk from work. Yes, there will be times when you cannot do without public transport. But once you get used to walking, you will realize that you can travel much less than you previously did.

Plan your purchases in advance

A person often buys a lot of useless products in the store. Why? Because when you go to the store hungry, it seems like you're going to eat everything you buy. Make it a rule to eat first and then go to the store. Is it really possible to live on a subsistence level? If you learn how to write shopping lists, it will be easier for you to save your budget. The human diet does not change much from season to season. Therefore, if you go to the store often and cook for yourself, then you know your main consumer basket. If you don't deviate from it, you can save a lot. For example, you know that you eat rice more often than pasta, then take 2 packs of rice and one pasta. There is no point in taking only two packs. Extra products will only eat into your budget and clog your shelves. Don't buy products that catch your eye but are not listed. Did you want to buy fish, but decided to buy meat at the store? Don't make such spontaneous decisions. If you come for fish, buy it. You will buy meat when it is on your list.

Saving on promotions, discounts and cheap goods

How to live on a subsistence level in Russia? You need to save on everything you can. You should start with food. Today, many large supermarkets offer discounts on products, and they also have seasonal sales. Before going to the store, check out all the promotions in the nearest shopping centers. You can view current prices for products on the store’s website or in a special application on your phone. By comparing prices, you will know where and what to buy. In this way, you can save not only on food, but also on household chemicals.

You can save on groceries and at the same time get the maximum vitamins from food by eating according to the season. If it's summer, buy tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches and cherries more often. And in winter, pay attention to tangerines, persimmons and bananas.

Replace expensive branded products with cheaper ones. Don't fall for the tricks of marketers who place expensive products at eye level. Cheaper analogues will be located either on the lower or upper shelves.

Get discount cards or borrow them from friends

Any large supermarkets have their own customer loyalty system. If you constantly buy groceries in the same store, get a discount card for it. It will help you buy goods with an additional discount. Take the time to find out how your card works. Some stores award bonuses for a specific product category, while other chains award bonuses for all purchases.

You should also buy clothes and shoes from bonus card store. If you don't have it, ask your friends. Such a card will help you buy, for example, boots 20 or even 50% cheaper.

Cook your own food

Is it possible to live on a subsistence minimum? This question is asked by people who are used to living in grand style. People who know how to save know that the first category where a lot of money is spent is eating out. Buying food and preparing it yourself is much more profitable than eating in any, even the most budget canteen. Side dishes that cost 30-40 rubles will cost you 10-15 at home. And soup is a dish that can be prepared from a minimum set of ingredients, and therefore the cost of the first course will be very low. If you want to save and replenish your budget, then do not waste time. Prepare food in advance and take it with you to work. This way you can save significantly on food.

Look for free entertainment

A person cannot sit at home all the time, he needs to have fun. But sometimes there is no money left for entertainment events. Is it possible to live on a subsistence level and not die of boredom? The solution will be this: look for free entertainment. For example, in almost all major cities, admission to museums is free. You just need to find out what days. Plan your day off so that it falls on a weekday. Then you can become spiritually rich without spending a penny.

Planning to spend time with friends? Invite them into nature. Take tents and go to the forest. Such entertainment will give a lot of impressions, and it will cost quite a budget. You will only have to spend money on food.

Want to hang out at a party? Find events with free entry. To save money, you will have to go to the other end of the city, but there you can visit the club for free.

On your day off, you can go for a walk in the park or go to a free theater performance. If you spend a little time, you can find fascinating lectures, interesting concerts and musical evenings by budding artists, for which you will pay with good feedback and sincere gratitude.

Visit more often

You can spend time with friends not only in a cafe. You can go visit. Such an entertainment event will not require any financial investment from you. According to the rules of decency, should you bring something to the owners of the house? Bake a pie. Every good housewife has a simple recipe. Homemade baked goods are several times cheaper than store-bought ones.

What living wage will help you live normally? Each person will have their own amount. But if you visit more often, you won't have to worry about your budget. Good-natured friends will not only feed you, but also entertain you. So make more friends. Friends will help you pass the time and have a delicious dinner absolutely free.

Save on electricity and water

The living wage of the population is not that high. Therefore, wasting money unnecessarily is a luxury. On changing some of your habits. How much water do you use? Do you turn off the water when you're not using it? No? But the counter is ticking. Are you washing the dishes, and then someone distracts you from this process, and you are already standing and talking? Don't forget to turn off the water and continue the conversation.

The same can be said about electricity. How much electricity do you use? For example, do you have a habit of turning off your computer when you are not using it? In standby mode or while playing music, the computer consumes a lot of energy, for which you will have to pay. To avoid stupid expenses, turn off equipment you are not using.

Get rid of bad habits

A person does not always realize that he is throwing money away. Smokers do not understand that their bad habit takes away not only their health, but also their money. A person who smokes half a pack of cigarettes a day can save from 60 to 100 rubles. Does the amount seem insignificant to you? But a month turns out to be 3,000 rubles, which you can definitely find a use for.

Think about your drinking habits. How often do you drink? Every day? If this is the case, then it is not surprising that you do not have enough money to live. A bottle of beer costs on average 40-100 rubles, and wine - 400-800 rubles. By giving up the habit of drinking alcohol, you will improve your health, get rid of addiction, and also save your budget.

A teacher from Sterlitamak, Dara Goldberg, is conducting an interesting experiment on whether it is possible to live on the officially established subsistence level, which at the beginning of this year in Bashkortostan amounted to 9,142 rubles for the working population. The experiment began in March of this year and will end in September - during this time the minimum value in the republic is insignificant. If the six-month experiment fails, Goldberg promises to donate a thousand rubles from each month to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and if the experiment succeeds, to the presidential campaign of Alexei Navalny.

According to the law, the subsistence level in Russia includes “the minimum set of food products necessary to preserve human health and ensure his life,” “non-food goods and services,” as well as “mandatory payments and fees.”

In accordance with federal law"About the consumer basket as a whole Russian Federation", the annual consumer basket of a working-age Russian should include 100 kg of potatoes, 126.5 kg of bread, pasta and cereals, 60 kg of fruit, 58 kg of meat, 210 eggs, etc. In addition to food, the basket also includes non-food products that are assessed half the amount spent on groceries.

Utility bills and other services are also taken as 50% of the cost of the food basket. At the same time, the cost of living is calculated separately for each region for three groups of the population - children, pensioners and able-bodied citizens. Many independent economic experts believe that the officially established cost of living in Russia is underestimated by two to two and a half times compared to the real one. In their opinion, the authorities are artificially lowering it, while saving on social benefits.

The course of the experiment is described in detail by Dara Goldberg. on your channel on YouTube. In an interview with a correspondent from Idel.Realii, Goldberg spoke about the material and psychological difficulties she faced and what conclusions this experience led her to.

- Tell us, what is the meaning and purpose of your experiment?

When I conducted this experiment for the first time a couple of years ago, I was just curious whether it was really possible to survive on this minimum or not. Then my experiment lasted only a month. I told my friends about it - they looked at me like, what is your feat? Many of them then told me: “But we still live on that kind of money.” One friend said that she lives on six thousand rubles a month, another - on eight thousand. I thought that there was a serious socio-political background to this, and decided to conduct the experiment a second time.

This amount correlates very poorly with the real level of prices for products and services

This time the point was to get people to seriously think about this problem - when there is an amount on which, in the opinion of the state, a person should live for a whole month. In fact, this amount correlates very poorly with the real level of prices for products and services. Reduce prices? Unreal. This means that the amount needs to be increased. We must talk about this at every step so that leviathan can hear us.

- How did you plan the experiment? What conditions have you set for yourself?

- I decided that this time I would conduct it for six months. I started in mid-March, and will finish in September - in time for my birthday. The conditions are as follows - I tried to live according to the layout presented by our government in the subsistence level that was in force at that time in our region. This is 4,400 rubles for food, 3,000 for housing and communal services and other services. You cannot go beyond these limits.

In the layout of the living wage there is no such column as leisure

I’ll say right away that it wasn’t very possible to do this, since much more is spent on food. Another condition that I set for myself is that if there are any unforeseen needs - for example, you need to go to a friends birthday with a gift and so on - in this case I just go and earn extra money somewhere. Since I am a teacher, it is not difficult for me to do this - for example, take tutoring.

In the layout of the living wage there is no such column as leisure at all - apparently, the developers of this minimum sincerely believe that a person does not have to go to the cinema, theater, relax, or celebrate something with friends or relatives.

- How much is included in this minimum for purchases such as clothes and shoes?

It happens like this: it’s raining, you walk and think it would be nice to buy yourself rubber boots. And you understand - well, what kind of boots are there?! My budget doesn't allow me to buy them!

- There is very little budgeted for this, and I haven’t bought almost anything for myself yet. I'm trying to hold on. It happens like this: it’s raining, you walk and think it would be nice to buy yourself rubber boots. And you understand - well, what kind of boots are there?! My budget doesn't allow me to buy them! Walk, wet your feet, dry your socks on the radiator... Well, it is clear that such a living wage will not allow you to buy any household appliances - a refrigerator, a TV, a washing machine. And he will not allow you to purchase them on credit.

- What difficulties emerged in the first months of your experiment?

The first month it was wildly difficult for me to cope with everything, because I had absolutely no idea how much money should be spent, for example, on groceries. In the first days, I went to the supermarket, picked up food, as usual, and saw that I had already spent almost my entire monthly budget. I thought - no, that’s not good. I began to consult with friends who, as I mentioned, live on such a minimum. They shared many secrets with me - they told me about sales, advised me to look at what was on sale, at promotions in the chains "Magnit", "Semerochka", "Pyaterochka" and so on. Since then, I have been successfully practicing all this - I no longer look at goods with a regular price tag - I take what is at a discount.

I no longer look at goods with a regular price tag - I take what is on sale

Another difficulty is with travel. I am, of course, very lucky in that I live close to work and I don’t have to spend money on transportation. But it so happened that I had to go on a business trip to another city, and there I spent quite a lot of personal money on public transport.

Then it was difficult to remember that at the end of the month I had to pay for the Internet - 400 rubles, for mobile communications - 300 rubles for two phones, for housing - public utilities. Although I pay little for housing - only 925 rubles a month for a place in a hostel.

I will add that since I am not married and have no children, the experiment applies only to me alone. By the way, about another goal of the experiment - I was interested to see how one person could carry it out. I looked at layouts on the Internet for such experiments - there were precedents when they were carried out by families with one child, with two children, but so that the experiment was carried out by a person alone - I did not find this.

- How much did you live on before the experiment began?

Hemoglobin in the blood has dropped slightly - it is clear that the body does not have enough meat and proteins

- I had a full teaching salary - I received about 25 thousand rubles a month with bonuses. And almost everything was gone from me - I managed to save either a thousand rubles or two. I didn’t borrow money; my parents helped only with large expenses - for example, car repairs. I’ll add that I hardly spend money on gasoline - if I go to other cities, I take travel companions for a fee, and I try to walk around the city. This is also good for health.

- By the way, about health. What physiological changes became noticeable during the experiment?

A month ago I shaved my head bald - and it’s not hot, and I don’t have to spend money on shampoo

- You know, throughout my life I have always eaten quite little, and in terms of weight I have not had any changes - I still weigh 45 kg. But hemoglobin in the blood has dropped slightly - it is clear that the body does not have enough meat and proteins. Then the hair began to dry out longer and fall out. According to the conditions of the experiment, it is impossible to compensate for this - you either need to eat well or take complex vitamins, which cost 600-700 rubles per jar. It is clear that there is no money for this. A month ago I went and shaved my head bald - and it’s not hot, and I don’t have to spend money on shampoo. Of course, I wear turbans and scarves to work so as not to shock people.

But there are also some advantages - in order to diversify my food, in the summer I started going to the forest to pick mushrooms and various herbs. It’s easier in the summer - you can fish, I know how to fish. In general, I had to remember my grandfather’s methods of survival. As a result, my health improved - for example, my nails stopped breaking.

I had to remember my grandfather’s methods of survival

To maintain my health, I play sports - mainly cardio exercises - running, walking. But now I have less strength - shortness of breath has appeared, it has become difficult to walk a lot. The lack of meat products in the diet affects. Although, maybe vegetarians will not agree with me...

- Have there been any changes in psychology, in character?

Yes. If there were few physiological changes, then the psychological ones were stronger. You come to the store and walk past all these “temptations” - you try not to pay attention to them - you go straight to where the goods are on discount and take only what you really need, and do not blindly rush to the discount. At first it was not easy, it was uncomfortable, but then I got used to it.

Honestly, this is the philosophy and way of thinking of a rogue ( smiling) - you start thinking all the time about what you can save on. You think about it every day. For example, I don’t pay for electricity in a hostel, but if I lived in an apartment and paid for energy, I think I would charge mobile phone and a laptop at work to save money.

Some friends also give similar advice: go to the shopping center, to the cinema - go to the toilet, tear off more paper, pour liquid soap into a jar... This is all sad. This kind of psychology has been shaped by our legacy of past difficult years.

You fall into a depressed state. You realize that for our current state you are simply an “ideal” citizen.

I read that some people during such experiments admitted that they began to go to friends' houses to eat.

This happens to me sometimes too, but not on purpose, of course. It’s not that I’m asking for it, but friends invite me - come and visit for borscht. I refuse, but they are offended.

- What thoughts and feelings arise during such a life?

Good is not enough. You fall into a depressed state. You realize that for our current state you are simply an “ideal” citizen - you go to work, eat, sleep and nothing else. You don’t allow yourself any activity or leisure. The cultural and intellectual components disappear from life almost completely, and without this it is very difficult. You really turn into some kind of vegetable who goes to work only to earn money for food. He comes, eats, goes to bed and that’s it. This is the most difficult psychological moment. And the most, in general, creepy thing is that you get used to it. You get used to following a simple algorithm: work and lie down at home, work and lie down at home. There's no point in going anywhere anymore. The only thing that saves me is that I have good friends - they take me out somewhere, pay for me to see a movie, try to bring something colorful into my life. But this is already going beyond the scope of the experiment, a forced exit.

You really are turning into some kind of vegetable who goes to work only to earn money for food.

- What helps you hold on?

Moral support from relatives, friends and even strangers helps a lot. They write to me and give me some advice. A girl from Dubna recently wrote and put money on her phone. People themselves are not rich, but they still try to help as much as they can. And I also have this incentive - when starting the experiment, I decided that if I don’t meet the subsistence level, then I’ll donate one thousand rubles every month to the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. And I really don't want to do this ( laughs). If I do, I’ll donate a thousand rubles to the presidential campaign. Alexei Navalny. On this moment good statistics in favor of Navalny: five months - five thousand rubles. There's only one month left to go.

- Your experiment ends soon. What conclusions do you come to?

The most important and first conclusion is that this is an unaffordable amount for survival. In addition, it is absurd from the point of view of world practice. This minimum must, of course, be increased. And the balance between food and other needs needs to be distributed differently.

Let’s say that pensioners have the lowest subsistence minimum, but they buy an order of magnitude more medicines. Working people spend much more on food and travel, children have their own expense items - they grow quickly, they need clothes and shoes.

Another conclusion - I clearly felt and understood that many people live on this minimum their whole lives, considering this the norm. But in addition to basic physiological needs, people also have others - cultural, intellectual - they must be satisfied. It’s not even about pampering yourself, but simply going to a birthday party, a wedding, subscribing to a newspaper, subscribing to a paid, interesting YouTube channel.

Then they are surprised that corruption flourishes everywhere

Equally important is the formation of thinking. When a person has little money, and on TV they show him a beautiful life and advise him not to deny himself anything, he begins to think about what he should do to get it all. And many take the easy route: yesterday I saw an advertisement for a multicooker, today I’m taking an exam, and a couple of students are pushing envelopes. What a lucky coincidence! They themselves offer - why not take it? Then they are surprised that corruption flourishes everywhere. And it is from here - from the discrepancy between desires and possibilities - that her legs grow.

In general, the experiment did not only lead me to such pessimistic thoughts. Of course, there were also some advantages. Firstly, I can save some money now because I spend less on food. Secondly, there was a revision of the nutrition plan. Products such as cereals, potatoes, etc. are cheap and healthy at the same time. There is no money for junk food, such as fast food. Thirdly, you learn to cook deliciously from a minimum of ingredients, bringing to life the saying “porridge from an axe.” Finally, you learn to correctly calculate spending money over a long period of time, you understand what you really need and what is just a whim.

Since you mentioned the political component of your experiment, I want to ask - can such a survival experience influence the formation of certain political views? In particular, isn't there greater sympathy, for example, for socialist ideas?

The state should not remove itself from the lives of citizens and tell them to hang in there and be in a good mood, eating on four thousand a month

​ - If you live in a situation where there is a super-rich layer, and the majority of people are poor, it simply survives. The easiest way out of this situation is to take everything away and divide it. But it is clear that this will not work in the long term. There must be other ways. It is clear that a person must make an effort himself, work hard honestly, improve his qualifications, and not be afraid to quit his usual but low-paying job. Only this is one side of the coin.

On the other is the state to which we pay taxes and which trades our common natural resources. It should not withdraw from the lives of citizens and tell them to hang in there and be in a good mood, eating on four thousand rubles a month. We want to live a normal life, not hold on and survive!

Subscribe to our channel atTelegram . We talk about what others are forced to remain silent about.

People who, for a number of reasons, have limited funds and therefore know how to count every penny, are sure that using the word “live” here is somehow inappropriate. Rather, it is about surviving.

"At the bottom":XXI Century

According to official data provided on the website of the Administration of St. Petersburg, the cost of living in the city on the Neva in the fourth quarter of 2013 for the working population was 7,874 rubles 40 kopecks. (Decree of the Government of St. Petersburg No. 137 of March 13, 2014).

According to official data, the cost of living in the city on the Neva in the fourth quarter of 2013 for the working population was 7,874 rubles 40 kopecks

No more recent data could be found. This, however, did not cause much surprise: information on the cost of living for October-December 2013 was made public only in March 2014. Following logic, we can assume that information on the cost of living for the first quarter of 2014 can be expected soon.

However, for the results of this analysis, the novelty of the data is not of fundamental importance. Even if a hundred or two are added to the cost of living in 2014 (no one has canceled inflation in the country), this will not have a significant impact on the overall picture.

So, I have 8 thousand rubles at my disposal, that is, the amount of the subsistence minimum. It needs to last a month. For the purity of the experiment - one, like Madame Broshkina.

Therefore, you will have to subtract 3.5 thousand rubles from this amount (rent, utilities, telephone). 4.5 thousand rubles remain. They should be managed so that there is enough for everything.

Buying metro tokens for 28 rubles is expensive for me, a working person, in such a situation - it makes more sense to buy a card for 945 rubles (40 trips for 30 days). After this, 3555 rubles will remain in stock. If you subtract 200 rubles from them for mobile communications, then the remainder will “lose weight” even more. Total: 3355 rub.

In April 2014, the cost of the minimum set of products in St. Petersburg was 3571.8 rubles, so I almost managed to fit into this framework.

However, you should understand that 3,355 rubles is the entire amount available for the month. Therefore, you can safely deduct from it about another 1 thousand rubles for shampoo, soap, washing powder, cleaning products, medicines, shoe repairs and other small expenses that you cannot do without.

Poverty is not a vice?

You can spend only 2,355 rubles on groceries. In recalculation per day it comes out to 78.5 rubles. You can still buy a carton of milk and a loaf, but everything else?

You can spend only 2,355 rubles on groceries. In recalculation per day it comes out to 78.5 rubles

In such a situation, buying chewing gum, a bottle of sparkling water or a pack of cigarettes is akin to a financial disaster. However, lack of money is a good reason to quit smoking. Don’t spend 1.5 thousand rubles a month on cigarettes!

Having only 78.5 rubles at our disposal, which can be spent in a day, and there is no question of going to a cafe or canteen during a lunch break at work - we take “what God sent” from home.

During the period of life under conditions of austerity, you will have to forget about entertainment, buying new clothes and shoes, not to mention appliances and furniture. After all, the remaining money is only enough for food, and the cheapest food from the cheapest stores. You will have to fall in love with porridge, pasta, and buy blue whiting for 60 rubles per kg. And always save on everything!

You can forget about an active lifestyle. Instead of going to the cinema or theatre, going out with friends, going to a fitness club, taking tourist trips and much more, you will have to watch TV, read books or wander around the outskirts of your neighborhood.

It turns out that living on a subsistence level is a sad and miserable existence. Only work, a store with the cheapest products, home and TV. Even having a cat is risky. Cat food in such a situation is an unaffordable luxury...

It turns out that living on a subsistence level is a sad and miserable existence. Only work, a store with the cheapest products, home and TV

However, not everything is so sad if you don’t get stuck in a situation of poverty for a long time. Some wealthy people deliberately “forget” their wallet at home so that during the day there is no temptation to make impulsive purchases. This way you can better save money and even save a certain amount.

Those who have been forced to live on a subsistence level will not have to engage in self-education in this way when the financial situation improves. Lack of money teaches you not to waste it. Agree, this is a useful experience.

I can honestly say that I was able to live on 78.5 rubles a day for only a week: I lost 650 grams, started going to bed earlier and falling asleep to the displeased rumbling of my stomach, colleagues at work, watching what I ate at lunch, offered to give me money duty and treated me to chocolates. By the way, now I know that there is a regional landmark five kilometers from my house.

Shopping: real hardcore

It was not an easy attraction - to live for a week on 549.5 rubles. Moreover, a week is not only five working days, including Friday, beloved by all the “office plankton,” but also Saturday and Sunday. Here, don’t even go to a fortune teller - it’s clear: this is bordering on fantasy.

For the purity of the experiment, I cleared a shelf in the refrigerator for my new life and promised myself not to even look at the products from other shelves. Only 549.5 rubles per week, hardcore only!

Taking this exact amount with me, I went to the store to stock up on groceries for the week. Frankly, I don’t even remember when I felt so “humiliated and insulted.” There is abundance on the shelves, and my financial limit is 549.5 rubles. And I need to live on them for a week!

Attention immediately began to focus on the cheapest products. “So, a loaf for 20 rubles. I probably need three loaves of bread for a week. Total - 60 rubles,” the “calculator” turned on in my head when the first loaf went into the basket. - I’ll immediately deduct the weekly “bread” money. And I will buy for 489.5 rubles. - I decided.”

I decided to put the remaining 2.5 rubles aside. After all, every person should have savings!

Next in the basket went a bottle of sunflower oil for 50 rubles, a jar of salt for 24 rubles, a bag of pasta for 32 rubles (500 grams), a bag of buckwheat porridge - 60 rubles (900 grams). After some simple calculations, it became clear: I still have 323.5 rubles at my disposal. “Yes, I’m rich! - I caught myself thinking that I was starting to think in other categories. And look at money a little differently. - For 323.5 rubles. You can buy a lot, really!”

Next, I stocked up on bags of instant soup for 14 rubles. Walk like that - I took 7 pieces. For the whole week. Then I chose the cheapest tea bags for 16 rubles. I bought 5 processed cheese “Druzhba” for 9 rubles, a dozen eggs (55 rubles), three cans of sprat in tomato sauce (32 rubles each).

Realizing that I had 13.5 rubles left, I stopped. What should I spend it on? Not enough for a bun. For 100 grams of caramel - too. “Doshirak” noodles cost as much as 25 rubles!

As a result, I put a bag of instant porridge in my basket for 11 rubles. I decided to put the remaining 2.5 rubles aside. After all, every person should have savings!

Echo of the 90s of the last century

During the Soviet era, there were no such concepts as a living wage or a consumer basket, so people didn’t even think that someone might be living on the brink of poverty. Or even a beggar. We lived as our means allowed. And they took it quite calmly. They say that everyone lives like this, says economist Evgeniy Sizenov. - For the first time, people started talking about the cost of living and the consumer basket in our country in 1990. Citizens have a reason to think and compare their incomes with the figures designated as minimum. Then many realized that they were living on the brink of poverty. And all they have is the minimum necessary for physical survival.

During the Soviet era, there were no such concepts as a living wage or a consumer basket, so people didn’t even think that someone might be living on the brink of poverty

Since then, for many years in a row, experts have regularly carried out analyzes to find out what minimum set of products, things and services a person needs to live. These calculations are needed mainly to determine the amount of social benefits, pensions and the minimum wage. In addition, the concept of a living wage allows you to analyze the level of well-being in the country, to understand how many citizens live on the verge of poverty or even below it.

Today in the Russian consumer basket you can find only the most necessary products available to people with minimal incomes. These are bread, flour, cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish (mainly herring), dairy products, etc.

If the country becomes richer, citizens will begin to live better: they will get used to a different standard of living. Then, perhaps, the cost of the consumer basket will increase significantly. More expensive products and fewer cheap ones will appear in the basket. This will affect the increase in the cost of living, which, in turn, will affect the growth of benefits, pensions and the level of the minimum wage.

Poverty as a lesson in fate

If a person finds himself in a situation where he has to live on a subsistence minimum, this is a reason to think about it. Something definitely needs to be done about this. But what exactly is everyone’s personal choice. Some give up, complain about fate, curse the authorities and lose faith in the best. And for such people, as a rule, nothing changes. Others act like truly adults and mature people: they take responsibility for the situation. They understand the reasons that led to this and think about what can be done to get out of poverty. In a word, they act! - says psychologist Alexander Streshnev. - The main thing is to understand: where a person finds himself is not the result of a random coincidence of circumstances or the variability of fortune. Only he himself is responsible for his own life, and not an insidious neighbor, the government or the oligarchs. The present is the result of the path that a person has gone through. The result of what he did or did not do.

In a difficult situation, you should understand that “this too shall pass”

It is important to realize that any situation is a kind of lesson, a reason to understand why you should go through such an experience. Be able to see exactly how it can be useful in the future. Any difficult situation is a gift for which you should thank fate. Losing your comfort zone and changing your usual life scenario give great opportunities for self-development. It is only important to see them.

Life is a long road. You cannot stop, become despondent, or get carried away with self-justification. In a difficult situation, you should understand that “this too shall pass.” Move on, try new things. And then the period of life during which you have to save on everything, having an income in the amount of the subsistence minimum, will not last long.

For 2017, the Azerbaijani government approved a living wage of 155 manats per month (about 90 US dollars). This is 3-3.5 times less than the average salary, which is about 500 manats per month. Compared to the previous year, the cost of living increased by almost 14%: previously the cost of living was only 136 manats ($80), and for children and pensioners it was even less, 115 and 118 manats, respectively.

But is it really possible to live on this money, and even in the Azerbaijani capital? 28-year-old resident of Baku Nurane Akhundzade (she works as a meteorologist) decided to conduct a bold experiment on herself. She tried to live for a week on the money that officials consider sufficient to support life, but not die of hunger.

First of all, Nurane subtracted from 155 manats the amount that she pays every month for utility costs. In Baku in winter this can be a fairly large expense item. On average, for an apartment in an old building (Nurane lives in exactly this), city residents pay about 75-80 manats to public utilities, that is, almost half of the subsistence level.

She divided the remaining money over four weeks and allocated one of the parts for the experiment. After calculations, it turned out that the girl would have to live for a week on just over 10 US dollars.

Calculations have shown that with such a budget, Nurana will have to walk, rather than travel by transport: after all, one trip by metro or bus in Baku costs 0.2 manat or 0.1 dollar. I also had to use the Internet less: the cost of living for it simply did not provide for it.

As for food, Nurane went for the cheapest option and almost did not buy goods in large supermarkets, where prices are higher than in markets and small shops. According to her, she had to buy vegetables individually - one cucumber, one pepper, one eggplant. Groats - in small portions, but she had no money left for meat at all.

I had to give up cheese, dairy products and even fruits: many of them, even local grapes and pomegranates, cost 2-4 manats per kg in Baku.

Market sellers were skeptical about her experiment, says Nurane. Many said that the amount of food she bought was something a normal person would eat in one day. She had to “stretch” the diet for a week.

The chef helped the girl create a balanced menu that would provide the maximum amount of calories. There was a place in it for stewed potatoes with vegetables, semolina porridge, bread, and even fish dishes.

But it turned out that even with his help, Nurana was unable to stretch out the food for the whole week. Already on the sixth day of the experiment, she had to go to her neighbors with an outstretched hand, so she was unable to successfully complete the experiment of living on a subsistence minimum.

How many people in Azerbaijan are forced to live from hand to mouth on a subsistence level not just for one week, like Nurane, but permanently? Even official statistics show that there are quite a lot of them. There are 1.3 million pensioners in Azerbaijan, of which 0.9 million receive a minimum pension of 140 manats. At the end of last year, almost 34 thousand more people were officially unemployed and received benefits, the average amount of which was just over 240 manats.

The Azerbaijani authorities believe that only about 5% of the population are poor in the country, but independent experts believe that about 20% of the population live below the poverty line today - this is exactly the percentage of residents monthly income do not exceed 220 manats.

For pensioners - from 6,785 rubles. up to 7916 rubles, children - from 7899 rubles. up to 9489 rubles, for the working population - from 8885 rubles. up to 10,404 rub. It is assumed that with this money you can live a full life in our country: eat, buy medicine, shoes, clothes, pay for utilities, travel by transport, relax, etc. I belong to the category of “working-age population”, which means I have to meet the deadline. RUB 10,404 I immediately subtract 2,150 rubles from this amount, which must be paid for utilities (the second part is for the husband), and 8,254 rubles remain for living. per month, or 275 rubles. in a day. Not much…

You can survive...

Realizing what kind of austerity awaits in the near future, I went to the economy supermarket in search of cheap food for breakfast and dinner during the working week. I decided to have lunch at a public catering facility - if it doesn’t work out, I’ll bring food from home.

In the store it immediately became clear that I would have to give up coffee. As well as fresh vegetables, fish, meat and confectionery - everything is very expensive. For breakfast I bought half a kilo of oatmeal for 14.34 rubles. (the cost of a snack is 3 rubles), for dinners - a kilogram of cottage cheese for 174 rubles. (dinner - 34.60 rubles). Taking the metro to work and back costs another minus 46 rubles. (it’s good that at the beginning of the month I bought a pass for 60 trips; if I had purchased single tickets, it would have been 100 rubles). As a result, only 191.4 rubles remained for the day. Is it possible to find edible food in the center of Moscow for this money? It turned out that yes. Next door to the office there was a Soviet-style canteen, where lunch of puree soup, vegetable stew and buckwheat cost only 105 rubles. The next day, local cafes were examined, and the search led to a sushi bar, which offered a business lunch for 159 rubles.

...can't live

You can survive on a subsistence minimum, but not for long... If you don’t get sick, don’t wash, don’t do laundry, don’t buy clothes and don’t go to the movies. Well, what summer new clothes can you save up for if your budget is 275 rubles? in a day? What can we say - the tragedy suddenly became the end of the toothpaste! The cheapest one with a nasty taste cost 32 rubles, a more or less decent one cost more than 60 rubles! The next day I had to wander around the city for public transport, and almost all the money was spent on travel. I also have a small child who sometimes wants his mother to please him with a new toy. I went into a children's store, looked at the spectacular boxes and realized: either I will buy this little plastic thing, or tomorrow I will be left without lunch... Even a chocolate egg with a toy costs a third of the daily subsistence level! By the end of the week it became quite sad, because there was a need for urgent purchases. We've run out of toilet paper, washing powder, kindergarten They gave me a fat allowance for 1600 rubles. It also turned out that the child has hay fever (an allergy to pollen) and only one drop, without which the baby will not be able to breathe, costs 850 rubles.

In general, we had to urgently end the experiment and be happy that the salary was still above the subsistence level. But, according to Rosstat, in 2014, 11.2% of Russians had an income less than the minimum and 13.3% - only 1.5 times the minimum. Almost a quarter of the country's population lived every day in a state of economic experiment! And, taking into account that this year the minimum wage has “increased” and wages have practically not been indexed, the number of low-income people has become even greater. How can they survive and raise children?!

"People's basket "AiF"

How prices changed in May 2015							Year to date
City (federal district)	Products	Doctor- stva	Housing and communal services	Trance- port	Total
Moscow
Ryazan (Central Federal District)
Krasnodar (Southern Federal District)
Vologda (NWFD)
Khabarovsk (FEFD)
Novosibirsk (Siberian Federal District)
Nizhny Novgorod (Volga Federal District)
Chelyabinsk (Ural Federal District)
Stavropol (North Caucasus Federal District)
Countrywide						-2,7%	+10,1%
Official data						+0,3%*	+8,3%*
*Rosstat data as of May 25, 2015