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biggestofbears t1_j4bto0i wrote

Reply to comment by Derstilweedndat in Homeless in Maine, part 2: Struggling to survive even with a paying job by benpinette

My point is that he doesn't make enough money to pay for rent. The drugs aren't a factor, just his take home pay is $1200/mo. There isn't any place in Maine that would rent that amount, but even if there was, he'd still need money for transportation/food/electricity. You can't just belittle the problem down to "drugs" because it's more than that.

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RuinTrajectory t1_j4c3pnh wrote

"the drugs aren't a factor" that is just one of the most naive statements I've ever heard, good lord. Addiction is extremely costly in about every way imaginable. It absolutely IS a factor, and you're straight up disconnected from reality if you don't understand that.

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biggestofbears t1_j4c40s0 wrote

If you remove the cost of drugs, he still doesn't have enough money though. So no, they aren't a factor.

If he became sober tomorrow. No more drug expenses. But surprise! Still can't afford rent.

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coforbs t1_j4c5gu3 wrote

Not trying to be pedantic but your spending habits are absolutely going to factor in to your budget.

In this instance, not only does addiction factor in to the budgetary considerations but it factors in to thing like mental/emotional well being, ability to pursue different avenues for work, social/familial relations, and on and on ad infinutm.

If your trying to say rent is high and pay is low, just say that. To say the drugs arent a factor is just blatantly incorrect.

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biggestofbears t1_j4c63es wrote

But we're not talking about any of that. The first comment was specifically saying the money is going to drugs and that's why he's homeless. If he stopped using drugs, he could afford an apartment. I'm specifically talking about funds, not mental health or well being. Financially speaking, drugs are not a problem in the same way "millennials eating avocado toast is what's stopping them from buying homes" is not the problem.

Drugs as a whole, absolutely a problem we need to solve. But this person quitting drugs won't fix their homelessness problem.

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RuinTrajectory t1_j4c7dwz wrote

a factor vs. sole factor. Meth is extremely addictive. Meth causes rapid decline in both physical and mental health. Addiction in general causes a multitude of problems, and is indeed why he lost his presumably higher paying utilities job. You can point to the wages all you want but being an addict sure as shit isn't a non-factor in this guy's diminished quality of life.

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UncertainOrangutan t1_j4cgndy wrote

The sequence of events is just as important... as one of the parent commenter suggested, drugs are used for an escape and it is entirely possible they are using it to cope with already being homeless.

>But drugs don't help with the budget

I agree. But $1200 (the amount they hypothetically made) tax free usually doesn't cover rent and food in a lot of Maine. So they use a portion of it to escape their reality.

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coforbs t1_j4ce1c1 wrote

^this guy understands the definition of the word "factor"

Salute

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AnythingToAvoidWork t1_j4cyqvz wrote

You're both arguing two very similar but different points past each other. That's why this is going nowhere lol.

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RealMainer t1_j4bvkke wrote

I pay $800 a month for rent in Lewiston. Everyone I know who rents pays less than $1,000. It's also pretty easy to find a job paying $15-$20 an hour with no experience if you live in a more expensive area, but of course if you are an addict you probably wont get hired at those jobs or last long if you do.

I know rent prices suck but it's still very doable.

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