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Originally Posted by proverbs23and7 I guarantee you will not see people with a net worth of a least $1 million spending money like crazy on black friday.
Poor people often make good financial decisions. They don't have the option to "live outside their means" so it often causes them to save what little money they do have.
Those who can afford to live more lavishly, do just that and soon live outside their means.
My husband is a security guard, I don't work and we have two children.
These are our monthly bills:
Mortgage: $975 (includes taxes and homeowner's insurance)
Utilities: $200 (varies by month, this is an average for electric, water and trash)
Phone: $107
Internet: $65 (daughter goes to virtual school so this is a necessity)
Netflix: $10
Car ins.: $77 (two vehicles, both paid off, one has full coverage and the other doesn't)
Groceries: $400 (includes soap, toileties, paper goods, pet food, etc)
Misc: $100 (includes clothes, shoes, towels, etc)
We save money where we can...I shop at the thrift store, cut my husband's hair, groom my dogs instead of taking them somewhere, etc. When we have a little extra, we usually put it in our savings account or buy something we've been needing.
There's not a noticeable difference between my house and belongings and my sister's stuff, and she and her husband make at least 40K more than we do, and they have no kids. They spend a lot on entertainment and meals at restaurants, and we don't.
When I was making less money, I never had any problem. Matter of fact, I think my life was pleasantly simple when I made less money And no, I never took tax payer subsidies or needed help from family.
I just shopped for value, cooked all my meals, ditched the TV, walked places instead of driving... Many of those good habits followed me even today. Sometimes, I think folks would be better off if they started their independent living poor. 60K does not make you part of the 1%, but some folks don't seem to realize that...
The figures are drastically off though. I am low income (family of 3) and we get $200 a month food, free lunches, medical assistance for the two children and EITC of $2300. We do not get cash money, heat assistance or housing assistance. I have never made more than $30k and we live in a medium to high cost of living area.
my sister said that she is having trouble paying the bills and she makes 60,000 a year so shes middle class i was wondering about the lower class of like 20 or 30,000 a year how can they afford everything?(mortgage,tv,phone, internet,car bill,gas,insurance,clothes,food,electirc or gas heating air condtion,dental bills, etc.)?
Why don't you ask a "poor" person?
Your sister seems to be a good candidate since $60,000 a year in many cities is like making less than $30,000 a year.
my sister said that she is having trouble paying the bills and she makes 60,000 a year so shes middle class i was wondering about the lower class of like 20 or 30,000 a year how can they afford everything?(mortgage,tv,phone, internet,car bill,gas,insurance,clothes,food,electirc or gas heating air condtion,dental bills, etc.)?
I don't know about a lot of other "poor people" but our rent is $680, internet $20, and then we have netflix, our phone is discounted through his employer(now) Our cars are old beaters, bought and paid for, hubby does a lot of the work on them. The kids are on CHIP and we don't have insurance yet, but that's set to change soon. I buy almost all our clothes at the thrift stores and the rest on clearance...get some good deals at Kohl's.
My car insurance is low because I'm a good driver, I use coupons, and garden...we do get SNAP, that will change as soon as he gets a raise, and our borough bill (water, sewer, trash, electric and gas heat, runs about $150-$250 p/month.
I've learned to be frugal, and ya know what, even if we had more money I would still be frugal
I make $36,500 in one of the highest cost of living areas of the country. To cut spending, I live with 2 roommates (we each pay $566 for rent and around $100 a month for utilities - higher in the winter because of oil heating), cook all of my meals - as many as I can with my boyfriend who is on food stamps (suffering from advanced glaucoma at age 28, grew up in the foster care system with no family support, generally has been dealt a poor hand) because my cooking know-how and couponing can stretch his SNAP to cover both of us, and forgo a lot of necessary medical procedures.
My big expenses now are car-related expenses and medical bills for cancer treatment a year ago. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I was told I could not take public transportation due to the germs - not to mention I didn't have the energy to walk around the block most days. I made the mistake of getting a leased car because there was no downpayment and lower monthly payments than if I had bought a car outright (something I was saving for, but I had not planned on getting for another year at least - and I had not factored in the expense of cancer). If I had the time to save for a car before getting sick and paid for it outright as I planned, I would have a lot more breathing room.
Instead of going to weekly therapy, I spend more money on faster internet and Netflix so I can watch lots of comedies as treatment (SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than my copays and not bad when split with the roommates). I skip doctor's appointments that aren't 100% necessary. I got my first new pair of glasses in 5 years last week because I wasn't safe to drive anymore with my old pair. I haven't been to the dentist in 2 years. Visiting my grandparents 40 miles away for Thanksgiving is the last time in 6 months I have made an unnecessary trip (and before that it was to a free week long cancer retreat - so the tank of gas I spent going to and from was the equivalent of the tank I would use going to and from work for the week). I grow a lot of my own herbs in window-gardens and want to start growing my own mushrooms.
About the only thing I splurge on is having a cat because I adopted him before I was thrown into financial turmoil and I couldn't imagine giving him up. I pay a little more for better, wet cat food (which I shop around for and buy in bulk on sale) to save on vet bills later on.
When I took an early retirement at age 49 with a small initial partial U.S. Government pension and we could no longer afford to live in Northern California anymore, we just sold everything we owned and moved overseas where we could live comfortably and never have to work again! We didn't have any children so it helped to make our decision to move overseas. 12 yrs later we're still here, doing fine and still enjoying our retirement and more so especially when I started to collect my other pensions and Social Security!
my sister said that she is having trouble paying the bills and she makes 60,000 a year so shes middle class i was wondering about the lower class of like 20 or 30,000 a year how can they afford everything?(mortgage,tv,phone, internet,car bill,gas,insurance,clothes,food,electirc or gas heating air condtion,dental bills, etc.)?
Contrary to popular belief, they can't and don't.
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And no, I never took tax payer subsidies or needed help from family. 
