Senior News Line: The shocking costs of … everything

I was recently asked to complete an anonymous survey about income. The survey would be used to collect information about how many seniors in our area fall into the low and moderate income ranges.

Curious about what those dollar ranges are, I went on an internet hunt for incomes in our area. Color me shocked to discover how low “low income” really is.

I then went on a hunt of other websites to compare and contrast this area with others across the country.

MIT has developed what they’re calling the Living Wage Calculator, and it’s quite the eye-opener when it comes to what they claim are “livable” wages.

Another site has costs of living for towns and cities across the United States. Mine is 5% higher than the national average.

I found yet another site that calculates the maximum I should be paying for rent plus utilities based on my income. It’s a good thing I own my home and it’s paid for, because there is no way I could afford to rent anything in my town.

And never mind trying to buy — Best Places calculates the cost of buying a home in my town as being 130% of the national average.

My goodness.

There really are people here in town who are paying those sky-high prices. And it casts a new light on the sheer volume of people who line up at the food bank each week.

I’ve cut back this past year on donating to the food bank, but I need to start again. It might not be much, but I can help a little.

When I buy something on sale at the grocery store, perhaps I can buy two, or maybe three. Once I accumulate a full bag of canned and dry foods, I’ll run it to the food bank.

How about you?