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[jtsmr]

a colleague of mine was just offered an adjunct spot for 3 classes, being for the quarter 5, 280.

I told her to go for it, though she doesn't work anywhere else.  Would this amount be enough for her, a single woman, enough for anyone?

Thanks you guys and gals :)

[slac_vap]

I'm not sure what you're asking here.  Is that $5,280 gross for the sum of three classes (i.e., $1,760 per course)?  And are you asking if a single woman can live on that amount for three months?  So, can she make it on roughly $1,320 net per month?

How much is her rent?
How much are her basic utilities?
Does she have insurance?
Does she need a car?
Does she have clothes to wear?
How much does she eat?

I don't think I can answer this with just the information you provided.  Can you provide more context?

[jtsmr]

I'm not sure what you're asking here.  Is that $5,280 gross for the sum of three classes (i.e., $1,760 per course)?  And are you asking if a single woman can live on that amount for three months?  So, can she make it on roughly $1,320 net per month?

How much is her rent?
How much are her basic utilities?
Does she have insurance?
Does she need a car?
Does she have clothes to wear?
How much does she eat?

I don't think I can answer this with just the information you provided.  Can you provide more context?

Hi, slap vac.  Well, yeah I suppose she has to eat.  How much? I don't know. I also knows she wears clothes. There will be rent or a room, I figure, which would include utilities. The $5,280 is for a total of 2 or 3 classes, yeah. I told she'd be fine, if she budgeted properly.

I hope that canda clears it up a bit. No biggie though. I told her I'd push her concern here.

[sjsmith]

I'm puzzled by this question.  Usually people only ask the "can I survive on this" question if they are moving somewhere else or there is a drastic change in personal circumstances e.g. having a child where they are not sure what their future costs are.  In a case like this, surely the OP's friend should know roughly what her costs per month are and thus should easily be able to figure out whether the pay will be enough to live on.  None of us here can answer this question for her because it is entirely dependent on her own circumstances.   

[jtsmr]

I'm puzzled by this question.  Usually people only ask the "can I survive on this" question if they are moving somewhere else or there is a drastic change in personal circumstances e.g. having a child where they are not sure what their future costs are.  In a case like this, surely the OP's friend should know roughly what her costs per month are and thus should easily be able to figure out whether the pay will be enough to live on.  None of us here can answer this question for her because it is entirely dependent on her own circumstances.   

I agree. But most, if not all of the posts on "adjuncts" "adjuncting" "adjunct pay" usually are snarled at, as they probably should be as adjuncts are the most abused, nonessential departmental elements. But to discredity your point: what some people snarl at or hold in disdain, others tolerate and use to advantage. Incidentally, I snarl at adjunct things and things adjunct.

I think that any question about "surviving on adjunct pay" is relative because we never know people's "living habits" or anything about them.  I can't speak for anybody but myself at the end of the day, but I wager my hu colleague in question has cold feet simply.  And that's understandable.

[sjsmith]

No offense, but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.  I'm not trying to be snarky but is this thread purely technical in nature (i.e. can X live on Y dollars for 3 months?) or is it supposed to be a more general discussion on the fairness/unfairness of adjunct pay?  I was under the impression it was the first one.  However, if it is the second one, well, I guess that leads the potential answers along a whole different path. 

Oh and by the way slac_vap, you forgot one of the most important things of all to a newly minted PhD on the list of expenses: how much are the student debt and credit card repayments :)

[nardo]

She can live on that. In a box.

[polly_mer]

She can live on that. In a box.

Not a nice box, mind you, unless she gets a roommate.

The quoted rate seems a tad low for three courses, but I agree with the other posters that knowing nothing about expenses, we simply don't have enough information.

[lassboni]

a colleague of mine was just offered an adjunct spot for 3 classes, being for the quarter 5, 280.

I told her to go for it, though she doesn't work anywhere else.  Would this amount be enough for her, a single woman, enough for anyone?

Thanks you guys and gals :)

And you must be her accountant?
Her bookie?

[tamiam]

I think that we all need to remember our context here.

I'm a graduate student and in my department the stipend ranges from about $10K a year for half time to $20K for full time. No way could I survive on that. But students coming from places where cable TV and a car aren't considered necessities do just fine. And clearly the OP isn't from the U.S., so perhaps his buddy isn't from here either.

Yes, OP, some people live in non-urban, college towns on that salary. Hell, some people live in NY on that salary.

[slac_vap]

Just curious, tam... how'd you determine the OP isn't from the U.S.?

[jtsmr]

I think that we all need to remember our context here.

I'm a graduate student and in my department the stipend ranges from about $10K a year for half time to $20K for full time. No way could I survive on that. But students coming from places where cable TV and a car aren't considered necessities do just fine. And clearly the OP isn't from the U.S., so perhaps his buddy isn't from here either.

Yes, OP, some people live in non-urban, college towns on that salary. Hell, some people live in NY on that salary.

Yes, it's a question of financial priorities; and a car and cable, I know for a fact, are not my hu colleague's "needs."  Not to "dis" American values, but you are perceptive, tamiam.

To the other poster, not I'm not the hu in question's bookie, flunkie.  You seem to know more about that than I.  Been an adjunct, have we?

[bamabound]

Yes, it's a question of financial priorities; and a car and cable, I know for a fact, are not my hu colleague's "needs."  Not to "dis" American values, but you are perceptive, tamiam.

To the other poster, not I'm not the hu in question's bookie, flunkie.  You seem to know more about that than I.  Been an adjunct, have we?

jtsmr,

I don't know who you are or where you come from (and I don't really care) but your nasty response above is derogatory towards adjuncts.  And your English is terrible, so you shouldn't be so quick to harpoon anyone. 

Being an adjunct doesn't make one stupid.  However, your posts above don't put you in line for any genius awards.

 

 

[iomhaigh]

I'm puzzled by this question.  Usually people only ask the "can I survive on this" question if they are moving somewhere else or there is a drastic change in personal circumstances e.g. having a child where they are not sure what their future costs are.  In a case like this, surely the OP's friend should know roughly what her costs per month are and thus should easily be able to figure out whether the pay will be enough to live on.  None of us here can answer this question for her because it is entirely dependent on her own circumstances.   

I agree. But most, if not all of the posts on "adjuncts" "adjuncting" "adjunct pay" usually are snarled at, as they probably should be as adjuncts are the most abused, nonessential departmental elements. But to discredity your point: what some people snarl at or hold in disdain, others tolerate and use to advantage. Incidentally, I snarl at adjunct things and things adjunct.

I think that any question about "surviving on adjunct pay" is relative because we never know people's "living habits" or anything about them.  I can't speak for anybody but myself at the end of the day, but I wager my hu colleague in question has cold feet simply.  And that's understandable.

My memory may be playing games with me, but methinks perhaps there are multiple "contexts" which we need to consider, and not just the solid one that Tamiam mentions.  After all, if the answer "is relative," then why on earth are we having this discussion? 

History, dear forumites, history. 

That said, of course people can live on $1300 a month.  It's $8.00 an hour.  $15K a year.  Lots of people live on that salary.  It's called working for more than minimum wage.  A single person is not considered "poor" on that salary (no earned income credit for your friend OP.)

[nardo]

When I was ABD, I took a job as a graduate resident advisor at a dorm with a training table (free food) and also tended bar while I wrote; my GTA stipend paid a lordly $500/mo.

You find a way . . . but, if you bargain with life for a penny, that's likely what you'll get.