Why I Was Happy with Less Than Minimum Wage

Updated on: by Miranda Grimm

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Okay I know many came here to tell you and me that working for anything less than our worth is just not acceptable.

I understand that mindset and in most ways I agree. But sometimes four dollars an hour is better than zero dollars an hour.

The more people work for less than minimum wage, the more these companies are getting away with underpaying. However, unfortunately working online means our competition is greater than our community, greater than our country- we are competing with everyone who has internet access. If you don’t take that $3.50 an hour job, by golly there is someone in India who will snatch it right up.  It’s unfortunate but it’s reality.

So, you have a choice to make. Either take the low wage gigs until you find better paying work or continue your search while making nothing.


My first paying home job was working for ChaCha. At that time they paid much better than they do now but after the first pay cut I realized I was working for under five dollars an hour. I was fine with it honestly. I had diapers to pay for and when I considered the savings I found by avoiding daycare and traveling, I felt I was getting the better end of the whole deal.

Many of the low paying home based jobs do not require any experience and many of them don’t even need you to apply, you just register and start working. Some of the common low-wage jobs are:

SliceThePie
KeyforCash
Quicktate
ChaCha
PostLoop
Mturk 

What do you think? Should people stop working these low paying jobs? Or should we be thankful for them?

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Anna

May 8, 2012 at 6:53 am

I was actually just thinking about this the other day! It often irks me when I see someone on a forum or a comment on a blog where another person gets told they’re crazy for working so cheaply. One person even commented on my blog once that it was just “sad” that anyone would write for less than three cents a word (or something like that).

I think that ultimately people do what they need to do. As you said, $3 or $4 an hour is far better than $0 an hour. Another thing — to some people, $7 to $8 an hour is a low wage and unacceptable, but to others that’s quite a bit of money. It all depends on the individual person and their situation.

Miranda Grimm

May 8, 2012 at 12:03 pm

Yeah, we definitely all have our different ideas on what is low wage and what is not. I am sure our region differences can influence that. Where I live, the cost of living is low enough that working from home for eight dollars an hour is a good job! When you add in the savings for many of us (daycare, travel, tax deductions etc) eight dollars an hour becomes more like eleven an hour.

Sarah

May 8, 2012 at 8:16 am

I agree with you about $3 to $4 an hour being better than nothing!

It does get frustrating when you are trying to make a decent wage, though. ODesk and Elance kill me to see people offering jobs for $.50/hr or $1/hr. It bugs me that people think that’s okay, not really that people will work for that.

The people that talk about how “sad” it is to take those low rates kind of bother me. I see that a lot in writing forums from people that consider themselves “real” writers. Maybe to them I am the one taking the low wages and so the companies think that’s okay?

Gotta do what you gotta do, though, right?

Miranda Grimm

May 8, 2012 at 12:05 pm

Yeah I agree! It is frustrating when you are trying to make a good living and you keep finding jobs that pay so low it seems ridiculous. Keep at it though. I was once happy to even work for three dollars an hour and I just kept searching and searching until I found better. That three dollars an hour kept me afloat until I reached my goals.

Bonny

May 8, 2012 at 8:55 am

There are an unfortunate amount of ‘elitists’ in the writing world. They may or may not realize how hurtful their words are. It’s like standing in a group of friends and talking about how they would never buy second hand clothes while one of their buddies is there wearing only things from a thrift store. Why would you do that? It’s not always as easy as going out and getting a high paying gig, especially when you’re starting out.

Plus, some of those low paying jobs pay out quickly and that can be the difference between getting your kids to school that day or getting that last bit of money for a bill. Their response to that would likely be something along the lines of “Well, you need to prepare better,” and my response would be “Well, **** happens.”

Miranda Grimm

May 8, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Yeah there are, I am not even sure why they seem to care so much.

Goodwill Treasure Hunting has made it nearly impossible for me to shop departments stores anymore!! lol

Bonny

May 10, 2012 at 7:46 am

Shoot, I love thrift store shopping. I think that if I was rich, I’d still do it all the time. It almost feels like treasure hunting.

jennifer

May 16, 2012 at 8:49 pm

I agree about the 3.00 is better than no dollars. in the last couple of weeks, I have worked enough to purchase my daughters diapers for the month so one less expense weighing in on my husbands income. plus, with higher pay comes higher pressure to perform and be on a more regimented schedule. With what I have been doing lately, I hope on, work for 15 minutes and hop off do some stuff around the house and play with the kids.