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Old 01-02-2012, 03:44 PM
PDD
 
Location: The Sand Hills of NC
8,773 posts, read 18,387,152 times
Reputation: 12004

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Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterPickle View Post
Who appointed u the forum police buddy? Or did I miss the post where you bouth all the stock in an IPO? THis isn't politics, my post was a response to the lady complaining about IRS taxes. If you don't like my response, time to move on ...
Actually it was in response to your asinine post about illegals moving into Piscataway in great numbers but somehow I accidentally dropped the post here.

Of course you are entitled to post stupid comments, what was I thinking?
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Old 01-02-2012, 03:53 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,138,516 times
Reputation: 12920
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u View Post
Thanks,I appreciated the post.
But I've already realized I'm not in the middle class,not anymore.But,I enjoyed it for the few years I was in the middle class.
Don't get caught into "i gotta have this" thing with the perception of middle-class.

I have a very comfortable income for NJ and I don't have dish network. In-fact, most the rooms in my home are completely empty -- no furniture. My internet, phone, cell phone bills are all lower than yours. I've adopted some changes so I can feel more at ease with my cash-flow. I have a huge 6-figure debt that I'm working on... and I mean huge!
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Old 01-02-2012, 04:35 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,567 posts, read 84,777,093 times
Reputation: 115083
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
Don't get caught into "i gotta have this" thing with the perception of middle-class.

I have a very comfortable income for NJ and I don't have dish network. In-fact, most the rooms in my home are completely empty -- no furniture. My internet, phone, cell phone bills are all lower than yours. I've adopted some changes so I can feel more at ease with my cash-flow. I have a huge 6-figure debt that I'm working on... and I mean huge!
Exactly. And she doesn't have to move back to the ghetto--just cut back on a few things--cut out some of the fat--in that budget.

I'm also trying to get out of debt, and I'm annoyed that my Phone/Internet/TV bill is now at $137. I'm taking the advice of some on here who said to call Comcast and get a better package, otherwise I'm thinking of just canceling Cable TV for a while (which means NO TV).

Your Phone/Internet/TV is $260 total. That's an easy bill to cut, and even if you brought it down to what I have now (that feels too much for ME), that's $120 less. Do you really need that much TV? Of course not.

Being middle class doesn't mean you just get to buy whatever you want. It does give you more choices than "poor" does. Live in the ghetto with 500 channels or in the burbs with 60?
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Old 01-02-2012, 05:33 PM
 
Location: Vermont
5,439 posts, read 16,860,945 times
Reputation: 2651
you might be able to get some stations over the air. try AntennaWeb and it should tell you what you can receive. the tv stations in yellow should be pretty easy to get. they are all digital now, so no fuzzy signals!
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Old 01-02-2012, 06:40 PM
 
85 posts, read 215,442 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by tahiti View Post
$800 is excessive for food,etc. we are a family of 4 and are at maybe $500. Make a weekly menu based on market sales, clip coupons. There is no earthly reason you can't save $3000 a year on groceries based on that strategy.

$350 seems excessive for your car payment. In the future, buy a reliable used car.

I concur with the other posters about the other expenses. You may not see it, but you have a lot of room for improvement in your budget.
We're a family of four

$150 every week.

Spend an hour a week looking through the fliers for coupons and you will find everything you need (Yes, even snacks) for cheap. Also, costco can be cheaper for some things (such as buying snacks in bulk, we recently picked up a variety bag of candy, 5.6 lbs of candy, for $12)

Also for home phone/internet/TV/Wireless (2 smart phones, one regular cell phone) it's ~210 a month all from verizon.
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Old 01-02-2012, 08:09 PM
 
143 posts, read 302,446 times
Reputation: 84
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u View Post
5 years ago I lived in the ghetto,in Newark.
So moving to a nice area,having health insurance,having enough food to eat,cable,a car to drive are things I didn't imagine 5 years ago.

When I was growing up neither parent drove,we often didn't have food on the table, so I'm used to being poor,and frankly I got tired of it so I moved up. But now it looks like I have to go back to the ghetto.

I thought having those things is what middle class was being all about. Guess I was wrong.

Now I know its hard to move up.
Back to where I started. I'm depressed.
Are you kidding? You have it made! With that salary you should be doing well.

My boyfriend and I live together on less than $30,000 a year! Yes, in New Jersey. We live in a nice suburb with no crime!

We live simply: I have no car. I share his car when I need it.

He pays the Verizon (internet/cable) bill, I pay the electric bill. I pay for a gym membership. That is my only luxury. Oh, I did have a manicure during the holidays. We occasionally have haircuts.

We have no home phone. Our only phones are old cell phones, and we are on his family plan. Bill every month for the cell phones: $0.00. (His sister pays for the family plan). We get free phones every few years.

We also have a Skype account for about $3.00 a month. I use this for my home business.

We have no credit cards. We have no debts. Living simply is so comforting.

It's hard to save on so little money but we do. Even a little amount each month helps.

You could drastically cut down on your expenses. You should be able to live really well on that salary. You're doing so well!

Call Suze Orman and ask her advice. You can tweet her or go to her website. You might even appear on her show! I watch her every week. She gives some very sensible advice. I learn a lot from her.
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Old 01-02-2012, 09:52 PM
 
9,007 posts, read 13,838,057 times
Reputation: 9658
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Rahrah View Post
Are you kidding? You have it made! With that salary you should be doing well.

My boyfriend and I live together on less than $30,000 a year! Yes, in New Jersey. We live in a nice suburb with no crime!

We live simply: I have no car. I share his car when I need it.

He pays the Verizon (internet/cable) bill, I pay the electric bill. I pay for a gym membership. That is my only luxury. Oh, I did have a manicure during the holidays. We occasionally have haircuts.

We have no home phone. Our only phones are old cell phones, and we are on his family plan. Bill every month for the cell phones: $0.00. (His sister pays for the family plan). We get free phones every few years.

We also have a Skype account for about $3.00 a month. I use this for my home business.

We have no credit cards. We have no debts. Living simply is so comforting.

It's hard to save on so little money but we do. Even a little amount each month helps.

You could drastically cut down on your expenses. You should be able to live really well on that salary. You're doing so well!

Call Suze Orman and ask her advice. You can tweet her or go to her website. You might even appear on her show! I watch her every week. She gives some very sensible advice. I learn a lot from her.

I'm not the OP. The difference between me and the OP is that I have 3 children.
My ex husband never worked,so I was the sole earner(and still am)
He lives with me now but just to help out with the kids,but then again he had no where to go either. There isn't any romance involved,he just sleeps on the couch.

Hmmm,the more I type, the more I see where my money is actually going. My ex eats a lot,so much that I often run out mid week. He is totally oblivious to my situation.



Thanks for the advice everyone. Will definatley check out Comcast.
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Old 01-03-2012, 04:48 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,567 posts, read 84,777,093 times
Reputation: 115083
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u View Post
I'm not the OP. The difference between me and the OP is that I have 3 children.
My ex husband never worked,so I was the sole earner(and still am)
He lives with me now but just to help out with the kids,but then again he had no where to go either. There isn't any romance involved,he just sleeps on the couch.

Hmmm,the more I type, the more I see where my money is actually going. My ex eats a lot,so much that I often run out mid week. He is totally oblivious to my situation.



Thanks for the advice everyone. Will definatley check out Comcast.
Ah, I feel your pain. I had one of those, too. I finally got rid of him--he was much too expensive to keep and made a big mess all the time.

Amazingly, once I kicked him to the curb, he figured out how to take care of himself after all.
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Old 01-03-2012, 06:17 AM
 
Location: Bergen County, NJ
1,602 posts, read 4,159,635 times
Reputation: 1851
I love Dave Ramsey ... He has helped me spend less, and save more ... it took a few years, but I have no real debt anymore, and I love that ... Oh, and I live in Bergen County, NJ, in a great, safe area on a lot less than 100k.

People should learn to be a minimalist and live within their means ... the more you make, the more you want ... Personally, I hate junk/clutter/and stuff and I'm far from materialistic. I never needed or wanted to keep up with the Jones. I never use credit cards, if I can't pay cash, I do not want or need it, and I put 15%-20% of my paycheck into savings each payperiod. Sometimes it's hard, but I force myself ...

Here's a good website for those who want to get serious about living with less.



http://www.fabulouslybroke.com
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Old 01-03-2012, 07:09 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,567 posts, read 84,777,093 times
Reputation: 115083
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImCurlybelle View Post
I love Dave Ramsey ... He has helped me spend less, and save more ... it took a few years, but I have no real debt anymore, and I love that ... Oh, and I live in Bergen County, NJ, in a great, safe area on a lot less than 100k.

People should learn to be a minimalist and live within their means ... the more you make, the more you want ... Personally, I hate junk/clutter/and stuff and I'm far from materialistic. I never needed or wanted to keep up with the Jones. I never use credit cards, if I can't pay cash, I do not want or need it, and I put 15%-20% of my paycheck into savings each payperiod. Sometimes it's hard, but I force myself ...

Here's a good website for those who want to get serious about living with less.



http://www.fabulouslybroke.com

I want hot water. I haven't had any since Saturday, and while I've survived washing my hair with cold and bathing the rest of myself with water I heated on the stove, I am willing to go into debt to have this luxury. The nice man is just about finished installing my new water heater, and that will be my first new debt of 2012. The second new debt will come later this week when I add on to the loan I need for my daughter's spring semester at college.

I don't like junk/stuff, either, but I do like hot water and I want my daughter to get an education because I didn't finish college myself. So, I will go into debt to get those things.
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