Abelardo Enriquez

1.) How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period?

     They were good on how to handle their money for most of the movie.  They bought what they needed and not what they wanted. When the kids visit them, they did spend money on stuff they did not needed but other than that, they were pretty good on limiting their budget.

9.) Why do you think that Alex became so emotional about the service that were given to her and Morgan at the free store?

     Alex got so emotional at the free store because she was getting furniture that made her fell better. She thought about the people that actually live in poverty their whole life and stores like this( free store) that might be their only chance to get house things. For them getting furniture and clothes makes someone feel mentally successful you could say. 

      

     

Vicki Kosiba

#3- Race plays a bigger part in aspects of everyday life that most people want to ignore. There was a study done to showcase how a single name can be a factor. A hispanic man put his given name on countless applications for jobs and housing. He then filled out the same applications with a simple name that gives no sign of a cultural background like John smith. The applications with smith on them were then accepted even though the other applications were identical. It is more likely for an employer to give the job to someone who is white because they are seen as “responsible” or “trustworthy”.  Because Alex and Morgan looked a certain way they were able to gain those privileges a lot faster than most would. White privilege is a power that allows white people (the group in power) to have advantages over others which they then choose to ignore or are unaware of it completely.  It’s also easier to rent to couples who don't have kids. Kids are loud and messy which is unappealing to someone who is renting out their home. That is a little harsh, but it's true. It is just an easier way of life without kids.

#12- I think that the connotation of money is different for every individual. Money is what makes the world go round, but the way each one of us uses it paints a different picture. From Alex’s perspective it seems that money should be used for survival and more of the need items. Morgan feels that money can be used to live life, not just support it. On one end you need to be able to support yourself and live a healthy life, but doesn’t that compromise some aspects of what makes us happy? In an ideal world,  money would not men as much and some of these ideas can be fantasized, but in their situation (and in most American’s) you need to meet your basic needs and then move forward.

Sophie Civetta

Sophie Civetta

7.) I believe that Sen. Ted Kennedy is correct that if we raise the minimum wage many families will benefit. Many people in this country are living off of every penny. If we raise the minimum amount of money they can make, then that is more money in their pockets for food and other daily necessities. The minimum wage was created at a time when prices were lower. Now prices have gone up, but the minimum wage has stayed the same. This makes it extremely harder to live off of the minimum wage. Other folks (big U.S. coorperations) don't want to raise the minimum wage, because the money used to raise it would have normally gone in their pockets. This means that they are losing money. They make so much money, however, that I believe it is more fair for people with nothing to get more money instead of the rich getting richer.

12.) Morgan and Alex are very different people. Alex is a more serious person. She is very serious about money, and she saves it in whatever way she can. She is very strict when it comes to budgeting. Morgan on the other hand is more childish than Alex. He is wiling to spend a little bit of money on little presents, whether it is for his niece and nephew or for Alex's birthday. He isn't as strict about budgeting as Alex is. They are opposites in terms of how they spend their shared money. This can cause conflict. They both have very different, but very strong, views about money and budgeting. These strong opposite opinions clash and cause conflict between Alex and Morgan.

Coby Dodelson

6. Gerald's words on how his pay has not progressed to his liking over the pass twenty years is significant because nobody should be earning less then they were 25 years ago in this country, especially when the cost of living is constantly rising. However, his argument is not completely reliable because we do not know what has happened in the past 25 years that led to Gerald not moving up in the economic ladder.
9. I think Alex became so emotional when The Free Store helped her out because she has never or not recently been in a situation where money is as tight as it was for her then considering her husband is a movie star. Now that she is in this predicament and needs helps, receiving support means a lot to her.

Marcus J Hopson

         How good was Morgan and Alex's budgeting over the 30 days? In the most honest opinion, I think that they both could have improved on their spending. because at some moments of the documentary the couple was in debt by a couple hundred dollars, but although they managed to pay back all the money they still wasn't accounted for the bills they had to pay at the end of the month. at times Morgan became careless and a little to celebratory and spent too much money such as when his brother's children came to visit him and Alex for one weekend.and following that weekend was Alex's 30th birthday so with Morgans bad planning he managed to almost spend all the money and at the end of it all they came home with $2.96 at the end of Alex's birthday. If Morgan was to go with Alex's budgeting techniques then I strongly believe that they would have at least had a solid $150 or more from savings. So to rephrase the question was Morgans Spurlock's budgeting over the 30 day span healthy? no it wasn't at all and if he was to continue this experiment for another month than he would have owed more than a hundred dollars at the end of the second month.

         what do you think Gerald's reasoning regarding how the cost of living wage his devalued over the last 25 years and what that means for his current employment statues? The cost of living has indeed devalued but because the products and whatnot that we buy there pricing has increased and business don't want to pay more to their works because then they would be losing money so the common work gets paid a reasonable amount that the company has decided so it could rack in big bills while their works barely get buy on life also the countries economical state has changed since Gerald has been working the big car manufactors in the last 25 years. in my opinion i think that big companies such as wal-mart target they have became more like sweat shops because they are getting the most out of their works because to most companies they could easily be replaced and the company wouldn't lose not a single dollar so companies only care if the person is going to bring in money
 

Sofia Mejia

                                                                                 

7.   I agree with Senator Ted Kennedy's argument about raising the minimum wage. I believe it gives families a more of an opportunity  to get to a better living state. At the time of the film, and even now, the minimum wage was designed to help people earn the bare minimum to not starve and have a roof over their head, not to progress their life into something more. I believe if people who are "well off" are able to give a little out of their pocket to help less fortunate families then they should. "Big US companies" oppose raising the minimum wage because they don't want to pay workers more. This is simply being money-hungry. However, raising the minimum wage can help families not live pay check to pay check. It should be helping families and people progress out of that living state, not keeping them in it. 

 12. Morgan and Alex easily get into arguments over  money and spending. I think this is because Morgan is not used to living on a budget. He has money, so to him, he doesn't need to save. Even when Morgan's  niece and nephew went to stay with them, Morgan spent money they couldn't afford to spend. Alex, on the other hand, believes you should live on a budget and manage your money whether or not you're rich or poor. Morgan doesn't necessarily know how to do this and it's the cause of the conflict between them .        

         

Annie Hedges

Question #1: How good were Morgan and Alex at budgeting for the 30 day period? 

Alex and Morgan were overall pretty good when it came to budgeting.  At first, they were not sparing any money to buy anything.  They would say that they were really hungry, but they didn’t buy any snacks or food because they didn’t have money to spare. They couldn't afford furniture so they slept on an air mattress and ate what they could get.  Eventually, they got furniture from a store that supplied furniture to people who might not be able to afford it. As the days passed, they got jobs and were able to stay out of debt for the most part.  But when they had kids, Morgan bought them candy and took them out to do fun things, which did not help them financially.  They barely had enough money to begin with, and when he started to spend money on things they didn't need, things got tighter. Also, Alex was a lot more cautious when it came to spending money, and when Morgan started spending more she got stressed.  But overall, they budgeted their 30 days well.  They were prepared and tried to spend as little as possible.

Question #10: Describe how you world make the decision regarding going to the doctor vs. trying to keep the finances in the black. What if children were involved -- would that change your decision making process? If so, how?

I think that the decision to go to the doctor should be decided carefully.  When Alex went to the doctor, she was diagnosed with an infection that she needed medicine to cure.   But when Morgan went to the doctor, all they told him to do was to be careful using his hand.  If they had had the kids at that time, Morgan’s visit would just be a waste of money because he could have rested it on his own without someone telling him what to do and charging $500.  They were also already struggling financially, and going to the doctor put them in debt when they got their hospital bills.  They were lucky that they didn’t have kids at the time because it would have been even harder to pay for their visits.  I think that if it were me, I would try to hold off on going to the doctor for as long as I could because I need to keep my finances down and save as much money as I can for real emergencies.