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re: Spinoff: How much does it cost to live a middle class life?
Posted on 5/13/15 at 3:07 am to deeprig9
Posted on 5/13/15 at 3:07 am to deeprig9
frick that lol. i need stripper and blow money lol
i'm like the fricking poster child for how not to save money
i mean i save money but no where near like i "should".
i'm a serial entrepreneur. I mean I make myself save at least, bare min, 500 a month but i would much rather invest my money in a new idea i have then put it in the bank. That's just how i'm wired. It's also why I make more than just about everyone in this thread lol
I mean I have enough money to where if I just could not work for a year i'd be fine but still. The thought of just have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and not building something with it is silly speak to me
i'm like the fricking poster child for how not to save money
i mean i save money but no where near like i "should".
i'm a serial entrepreneur. I mean I make myself save at least, bare min, 500 a month but i would much rather invest my money in a new idea i have then put it in the bank. That's just how i'm wired. It's also why I make more than just about everyone in this thread lol
I mean I have enough money to where if I just could not work for a year i'd be fine but still. The thought of just have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and not building something with it is silly speak to me
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Posted on 5/13/15 at 8:18 am to AUjim
Really depends on the location. I live in a small town 50 miles west of Atlanta. We have a 6 year old 4100 sq ft home with all hardwood(except basement which is acid stained concrete) and high end finishes. A house like that is only 300k-350k in this area and there are not many of them around. If I wanted a similar home the same distance away but due north of Atlanta, it would be a 450-600k home. Inside the perimeter on the north side of Atlanta and it would be 600-800k. In the city and you are looking at over a million.
In my area, 75k-100k income is solid middle class.
In my area, 75k-100k income is solid middle class.
Posted on 5/13/15 at 9:54 am to Dick Leverage
Yeah it really does depend on where you live. Both my wife and I are fairly recent college grads, live about 15 mins outside of Athens, and our salary together is about 72k. We recently bought a house, and its 8 years old and in great shape, with upgrades, right under 3000 sq ft and we paid 135k for it. We have no other debt besides the house and finishing off the last of my student loans. Once that is done, we will be putting money aside, and paying off the house like crazy(goal is paid off in 10 years or less). We live very comfortably, and go out a good bit, as well as take a few vacations a year. Now granted, we don't have kids, but we also don't want kids anytime soon, if ever. We are also smart about not having car payments, and not having CC debt and all of the other things that drag people down. All I'm saying is you don't have to make tons of money to be comfortable, but most people are just so bad at spending their money...
I'm glad I'm learning the right way to do it, at an earlier age.
I'm glad I'm learning the right way to do it, at an earlier age.
Posted on 5/13/15 at 5:55 pm to cokebottleag
quote:
USHYX. the ttm (12 month trailing) Yield is only 5.5% right now, it was better when I started a few years ago. Hadn't checked it again until now. Thanks Obama.
Hmmm Junk Bonds. I've never thought about investing in junk bonds. Looks like I missed the boat though.
Also that minimum $50/m contribution is a little seedy. I use and trust USAA, but that just seems a little ponzi-ish, especially when they state they use capital appreciation as one of their income sources.
Know what I mean Verne?
Posted on 5/14/15 at 5:33 pm to 3nOut
quote:
I always wonder who makes in between 250k and 1 million. You don't hear much in that salary range advertised. Doctors in my area make 200k and except for a random few, they're the wealthiest people I hang out with. I only hear something like 700k for like a D1 baseball or mid major football coach.
My wife and I make between 300-350k, combined.
How do you know what doctors in your area make?
Posted on 5/18/15 at 3:42 pm to tiger114
quote:
Thank you. This whole thread begs the question of "what is middle class?". I do not live lavishly. I drive a 10 year old car. Wife has a new one. We have a nice house, but those are our only major expenses. I made $250k last year and didn't save a dime beyond my 401k. We have 3 kids that we try to provide what we can for, but no way in hell could I make a decent life for us on anything less than $150k. And it wouldn't be much on that. Life is expensive these days.
Not sure what you're doing wrong, but last year I made about $190. I'm the only one who works for a paycheck in the family as the wife stays at home with my three year old. My wife and I both drive 2011 vehicles. Both vehicles have been paid off now for the last three years. We save about $70,000/year to a combination of a savings accounts and the 401k. We paid off my student loans which amounted to about $70,000 about three years after I graduated from grad school. We're sitting on about $200,000 in cash right now outside of Roths and 401k. We also pay 10 percent tithe to my church.
We're flush with cash, and I make less than you. I also have three children.
Something seems amiss with how you're running your money. Granted, we don't spend lavishly and I'm very meticulous with our finances, but your post makes it sound as if you're barely scraping by.
This post was edited on 5/18/15 at 3:57 pm
Posted on 5/18/15 at 4:30 pm to StreamsOfWhiskey
Income matters, but where you start also matters.
If you are making 100k/yr but have 50k in student loan debts and started out with nothing, it will take you longer to get to zero.
The biggest factor in achieving middle class status is getting to zero debt and having enough RE equity to keep your house payments to a reasonable level. That, and not having a useless bitch spend you into poverty.
If you are making 100k/yr but have 50k in student loan debts and started out with nothing, it will take you longer to get to zero.
The biggest factor in achieving middle class status is getting to zero debt and having enough RE equity to keep your house payments to a reasonable level. That, and not having a useless bitch spend you into poverty.
Posted on 5/19/15 at 7:02 am to wmr
Coming out of grad school we had about $1500 total to our name in liquidity plus about $35,000 in our 401k. We owed about $90,000 on my home and were carrying $70,000 in student loan debt; hence, my net worth at the time was roughly negative $128,000 (factors equity in the home). My starting salary was $90,000 right out of grad school, but I was paid a $20,000 sign-on bonus. We took the sign-on bonus and paid all of my floating rate student loan debt off at once. Over the years, we've made some decent moves in the commodity and real estate markets, which has definitely helped, but we're where we're at today because we live frugally. Our net worth has grown over the course of the last 9 years by about $800,000 dollars.
There's no reason a man pulling $250,000/year cannot raise a family with three kids. If he has children with severe medical issues, that's one thing, but if not, he probably needs to take a look at where his money is going and reprioritize.
As far as your wife comments, I would agree that having a wife that is on board with the money philosophy definitely helps. My wife is more frugal than me. She cuts coupons, shops at three different grocery stores to find the best deal, etc. This definitely helps - a lot.
There's no reason a man pulling $250,000/year cannot raise a family with three kids. If he has children with severe medical issues, that's one thing, but if not, he probably needs to take a look at where his money is going and reprioritize.
As far as your wife comments, I would agree that having a wife that is on board with the money philosophy definitely helps. My wife is more frugal than me. She cuts coupons, shops at three different grocery stores to find the best deal, etc. This definitely helps - a lot.
This post was edited on 5/19/15 at 3:07 pm
Posted on 5/19/15 at 2:46 pm to StreamsOfWhiskey
Can I ask what you do to make 190k??
Posted on 5/19/15 at 2:48 pm to AUjim
$75 means you have liability. And assuming a $200 or more car note would require you to have full coverage.
Posted on 5/19/15 at 3:05 pm to DrewDawg13
Oil and gas - commercial work.
Posted on 5/19/15 at 3:08 pm to StreamsOfWhiskey
This thread is making me more thankful for what I have. I guess I'm above middle class at $160K combined.
Posted on 5/19/15 at 3:09 pm to AUjim
You can live comfortably on 60k with a family with a little planning and self control. The problem is, most don't have any. When you get a new car every 4-5 years, take annual vacations on credit cards, live in a bigger house than you "need", buy the latest and greatest phone/tv/computer, have a cable bill that's $100+ coupled with a cell phone bill that's $100+, eat out at $40-$80 a pop, it's hard to get ahead.
Posted on 5/20/15 at 9:33 am to AUjim
I pay maybe $50 a month in gas. If I didn't drive anywhere else besides work and home I wouldn't even touch half of that.
Posted on 5/20/15 at 9:33 am to AUbagman
quote:
You can live comfortably on 60k with a family with a little planning and self control. The problem is, most don't have any. When you get a new car every 4-5 years, take annual vacations on credit cards, live in a bigger house than you "need", buy the latest and greatest phone/tv/computer, have a cable bill that's $100+ coupled with a cell phone bill that's $100+, eat out at $40-$80 a pop, it's hard to get ahead.
This. If you'd told me how much my wife and I would combine for when I was 21 years old, I'd have thought we were rich. But we aren't. Or at least we're not WEALTHY. That's primarily our own faults, though, as we aren't smart/conservative with our disposable income.
We did Financial Peace University to get a grip on it, but Ramsey's techniques didn't really take for us. My brother in law makes about triple our salary, and they still live like freaking paupers (other than having a large house). But they're also going to be WEALTHY. My wife and I have a lot of fun with our kids and go on vacations and give our kids a lot of advantages in life but we're never going to be WEALTHY.
Anyway, we're pretty realistic that even if we tripled our income, we'd probably just adjust our lifestyle to match it. Drive better cars, get a swimming pool, go on more vacations with the kids, have more, better toys (mountain bikes, kayaks, air stream trailer, property, 3rd vehicle like an old land cruiser, etc..). Whereas my brother in law could triple his income, and he'd still keep living the same, conservative way and still keep accruing more wealth. We're just different types of people.
Anyway, we've managed not to accrue crazy debt, and we're sustainable at this level. My wife would love to be able to do more as far as vacations and have more, nicer things, but she doesn't really understand that you have to make temporary sacrifices to achieve those sorts of long term goals.
This post was edited on 5/20/15 at 9:36 am
Posted on 5/20/15 at 9:38 am to AUjim
In a low cost of living area, you can easily live a middle class life on 50k a year if you budget/spend wisely.
Posted on 5/20/15 at 11:19 am to AUbagman
quote:
You can live comfortably on 60k with a family with a little planning and self control. The problem is, most don't have any. When you get a new car every 4-5 years, take annual vacations on credit cards, live in a bigger house than you "need", buy the latest and greatest phone/tv/computer, have a cable bill that's $100+ coupled with a cell phone bill that's $100+, eat out at $40-$80 a pop, it's hard to get ahead.
When we were starting out, my brother-in-law made three times what I made, but we still lived better than him and my sister. They hemorrhaged cash. They could not control themselves. We made a third of what he did, but had much more stability and emergency funds than they did.
My sister used to give me a hard time about being such a miser. "We enjoy our lives" was what she used to say. The implication was that because we did not spend our money frivolously, we did not enjoy our lives. Years later, my sister's family has fallen apart. She divorced my brother-in-law, and her kids have been negatively affected by all of it.
"Two ways to be wealthy: one is to have more, the other is to want less."
Posted on 5/20/15 at 12:09 pm to deeprig9
It's $50 minimum per buy after the entry, no monthly requirement. Fairly standard for mutual funds.
You didn't miss the boat. The fund stays in the $7-$9.50 range, I've used it since 2006, no complaints.
You didn't miss the boat. The fund stays in the $7-$9.50 range, I've used it since 2006, no complaints.
Posted on 5/20/15 at 1:03 pm to Evolved Simian
quote:
150k puts you in the top 11% of all tax filers (including married). Anything less than that, and you're poor.
This is no longer middle class because the upper class has skewed the numbers so badly. 10 Million in NYC and you are a nobody. It is not the 1% that everybody talks about that are now the upper class but the 1% of the 1% who really have the wealth and power to live the good life.
Most of the "middle class" is so racked with debt spending what they do not have that they are probably 2 weeks from bankruptcy at any given time.
I have never had a car payment in my life (granted I have driven some pretty crappy cars) and I only had 1 mortgage on my home which has now been paid off. I may not have much but I also have no debt worries over my head at night.
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