Minimum Wage Increased! For Seattle.

Earlier this week, the Seattle City Council approved the largest increase in minimum wage. The minimum wage in Seattle is $15 per hour (minimum wage in Illinois is only $8.25 per hour). The Seattle city council took a step toward balancing income inequality.

If other cities would follow the example, many people would not need to rely on credit as an income supplement. Instead, a person can budget to live within their means. When you are only making $330 per week (before taxes), using credit cards or payday loans as a crutch seems like an easy solution.

The problem is paying minimums means you are paying interest. The debt is not getting paid off and the balance might be increasing. So you are stuck in a bad cycle where you are current with the minimums but using credit because your income is going to paying the minimums.

Break the cycle and consider bankruptcy! You can file a bankruptcy and eliminate the debt allowing you to budget even with minimum wage earnings. So when your state or city increases the minimum wage, you have more income to save instead of paying toward high interest debt.