MovieChat Forums > Sling Blade (1997) Discussion > Can you really support youself + a son i...

Can you really support youself + a son in a dollar store?



Just curious: It seemed that Frank's mom worked part time in the dollar store.
Can you support a kid, pay for a house & bills on that salary??

I know its fiction, but still...?



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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Short answer: No.

Part-time jobs hardly pay for a phone bill, much less money for food, lights, gas, water, rent or mortgage, car insurance, clothes, gas. Perhaps that's part of the reason why she had Doyle around - to help her get caught up.

I know people who work part-time and have a mortgage, but then again they have other people in their home working part-time/temporary jobs to help pay for bills. Someone by themselves trying to stay afloat making $7 a hour with a child? Unless they were thrifty, no chance. They could get by with food stamps, WIC, donated items and some money for first months but after that, they're on their own.

Perry: "You, stop multiplying!"

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I do know that you can't raise anyone on it, but thanks for the reply. I agree with it. I was being half-rhetorical half incredulous at this part of the film.
I mean, are we to believe that Linda raises a son in a decent house on a part time dollar store job? Pul-eeze!
Even fiction isn't that fictional, right?


"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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[deleted]


Doyle said he would be paying the bills AFTER he moved in, which is later in the film.

Even Frank says early in the film to Karl that even though Doyle has a good job in construction, he never helps Linda out with any of the bills.


"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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Perhaps they were living off the deceased father's life insurance. Otherwise, I don't see how anybody could afford to pay a mortgage on a decent house in a middle class neighborhood on a job that probably barely pays above minimum wage.

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I wondered that myself about possible insurance. But I know that most life insurance companies have a "Suicide Clause", meaning you get NO money if the insured commits suicide.



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

reply

I always took it that Linda and her husband were married for a few good years, financially I mean, and payed the house off or perhaps the house was in the family? It also mention's at some point that Von help's Linda and Frank out some financially.

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That's not true, or at least not entirely. The no suicide clause usually only exists in the first two years of a life insurance policy. I just took my certification test to be an insurance agent and that is one of the things I had to learn. They set it up that way so people don't just go open a policy and then kill themselves the next week. The thinking is that if you want to end it all you probably won't wait two years to do so.

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by Skrbi (Sat Jul 14 2012 22:46:10)
Were you out getting popcorn when Doyle says that he was paying the bills? Do you really think Frank's mom loved Doyle?


Were you out getting popcorn when the kid said Doyle DOESN'T help the Mom with the bills?

"Make like that's a nipple"John Bernard Books

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Depending on the bills, it actually is possible. Especially if the house is paid for.

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

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Depending on the bills, it actually is possible. Especially if the house is paid for.


Yep. People also have to realize that houses in dinky small towns in Arkansas are cheaper than they are in most places.

http://www.youtube.com/anotherschmoe

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I agree with AnotherSchmoe. They lived in Arkansas in what is presumably the mid-to-late 90's; their mortgage, cost of living, food, and gas costs would've been very low.

Also, I remember that in the early 90's I visited a childhood friend in St. Cloud, Florida and at the time, his mom worked PT at a gas-station mini mart. The father was out of work, yet she managed to support her husband and two kids. Naturally, I didn't ask questions about her personal finances, but she did tell me that their 2-br apartment was $265/month. Different times.

The key word here is "survival". Remember that Frankie had to do the wash at a laundromat and drag it home from quite a distance away. That tells me that the mom couldn't afford the repair.

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Yeah I've lived in Arkansas for the past 8 years now, money goes a long way here. You won't live extravagantly on little money, but assuming you've lived a debt-free life, you can get by quite easily. A home that costs $200,000 in California might cost $50,000 in Arkansas, for basically the same thing (and you'll probably end up with a bigger lawn here), yeah I'm totally pulling that figure out of my butt, I didn't check any source, just giving a ballpark guesstimate based on what I've seen. In cities and more 'popular' states, you end up paying out the nose for the location more so than the actual building. In Arkansas you're mostly just paying for the house itself, because land is relatively cheap here.

http://www.youtube.com/anotherschmoe

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Were you out getting popcorn when Doyle says that he was paying the bills? Do you really think Frank's mom loved Doyle?

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Doyle was NOT paying the bills. Were you out of the room when Frank told Karl while at the lake, that while Doyle had his own business...he STILL DID NOT help out with any of the bills.

Doyle only says he will pay the bills AFTER he tries to kick Karl out, near the end of the film.




"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

reply

As a single mom, she could get her rent and utilities paid by Section 8/HUD, food stamps, and a small cash payment from the state. If she got all this assistance, she would be better off working part-time so her benefits would not be cut and she oould get EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit).

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You can if you get an Obama phone, Food Stamps, AFDC, Medicaid and free housing...MMMMM

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Here's some info on the so-called "Obama phone."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/09/28/crazy-for-obam a-phones-but-are-they-for-real/

Hint: The program didn't start under Obama.

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