Those are the sorts of things that get an explicit line-item, and don't get blurred into discretionary spending, lest you establish a 'budget' that completely collapses the moment the ostensible subject of the budget fails at living as a monk.
Further, the intent of the outline is rather orthogonal to the stark math that it illuminates. Even with the most ridiculously optimistic assumptions[1], the budget throws a spotlight on the fact that one person effectively can't live on a full-time minimum-wage job.
The closest they could aspire to, is to have a bunch of roommates and tread water until an unexpected expense throws them into debt.
[1] two jobs, single person (making low rent plausible), a car from 'somewhere' that's only costing $150 a month in combined payments/repairs/maintenance, farcical insurance costs, etc.
Does anyone expect there's a family/kid/own vs rent answer that results in a more-plausibly-livable budget for a full-time, minimum-wage worker? Absent "live with parents" at which point the job is, as stated elsewhere, essentially an unpaid internship.
People only look at the output, the wage or the price, and they blame that on the businessman. It's surprising to see that on Hacker News. Start a business, especially in the physical world like retail, and you will immediately see the one hundred different ways in which government hamstrings you, taxes away the money you would have preferred to pay as compensation, and then saddles you with the blame as the mustache-twirling top hat.
Ask yourself this: is there any business which has ever taken anywhere as much of your paycheck as the US government? Where is all the money going, after all?
Or as proof, simply go to the breakdown of each line item and ask what it would be without tax, regulation, or "monetary policy". For example: does 60% of a post-IRS/tax paycheck going to rent sound like the fault of McDonald's or the Bernanke? A runup in real estate (rental and purchase prices) is the desired and intentional effect of Fed policy.
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-19/bernanke-faith-i...
Bernanke said that “one important difference now is that
people are more optimistic about housing” and surveys show
they expect prices to climb further.
“And that, you know, compensates to some extent for a
slightly higher mortgage rate,” he said.
Home prices in 20 metropolitan areas soared 10.9 percent
in the 12 months through March, the biggest gain in seven
years, as residential real estate is also bolstered by an
influx of institutional buyers, limited supply and an
improving job market, according to S&P/Case-Shiller index
data released May 28.> "Of course, minimum wage workers aren't really entirely on their own, especially if they have children. There are programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and the earned income tax credit to help them along. But that's sort of the point. When large companies make profits by paying their workers unlivable wages, we end up subsidizing their bottom lines."
Disagree. The article is clearly of the opinion that McDonalds was forced to assume a 2nd income in order for any sample budget to be feasible.
Sure, you could always squeeze a few dollars out of rent & cable, but balancing any monthly budget on an income of $1,105 is quite difficult - particularly for those who have never earned higher and had the chance to accrue property, goods and appliances.
Why the core claim is wrong:
McDonalds explains that this is not a projection of the typical McDonald's worker's financial situation (which would be useless unless it was particularized to e.g. "Do you have children?", "Do you have a spouse? Do they work?", "Do you own? Rent? Live with parents?", etc -- all answers which vary quite consequentially across the McD's workforce). Rather, it is a simple example of "This is what a budget looks like. You add income together on the top, then subtract expenses. Here's an example filled with fake data:"
From the horse's mouth:
In an effort to provide free, comprehensive money management tools, McDonald’s first used the Wealth Watchers International budgeting journal when this financial literacy program launched in 2008.
As part of this program, several resources were developed including a sample budgeting guide, an instructional video and a web resource center that had additional tools and information.
The samples that are on this site are generic examples and are intended to help provide a general outline of what an individual budget may look like.