News, A Bay Area couple with two kids can't make it on $50,000 a year. (San Francisco: apartment, rent)

[John1960]

Maria Frias thinks of herself as middle class.

She works as an office manager for Bay Area Legal Aid, where she draws a salary of about $27,000 a year. Her husband, Ricardo, drives a laundry truck and takes in about $26,000.

But all they can afford is a $750-a-month, one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco's Excelsior neighborhood. They sleep in the same room as their daughters, Stephanie, 10, and Andrea, 6. They have no telephone. And Frias has to set aside about $400 a month to pay off a credit card balance that went into collection.

A Bay Area couple with two kids can't make it on $50,000 a year

[City Boy]

Did 53k Ever cut it in SF for a family? Are they forgetting after Taxes you bring home hardly anything. Maybe if SF stopped building so many unfordable condos for the rich and built more moderately priced places this would not be so much of an issue. But pushing out the working class is exactly what San Francisco is about.

[gizmo980]

To be fair, both of their salaries are considered "below poverty" (or pretty darned close) for California... even combined, the income isn't good - especially for a family of four. Sad, though, how little $53K will get you here & other big cities.

[jscore]

Old news to me. 50k is nothing in bay area (especially if you have two dependents).

[kel_be]

My husband & I bring in $80k and can't afford it here. I know how that family feels.

[Milliano]

This comment summed up what I was wondering:

ar1 wrote:

This family makes $53,000/year. They pay $9,000 rent/year. I don't feel any sympathy for them as they're left with $44,000/year for expenses, that's about $4,000/month extra money after rent. And they can't pay for food, clothes and muni with that? Do they shop at Saks 5th Avenue? And they can't afford to live on $4,000/month? Some people make less and $1,000/month and make do. What do they do with these $4,000 or so a month?

Posted 10/17/2007 7:13:23 AM

Personally I think Americans generally complain way too much about income, because they don't know how to use their money. Wealthiest nation on Earth, you know? Too caught up with the idea that they have to have something just because other people have it.
I'm sure showing this article to impoverished people around the world, who live on $500 a year, would assume it's a joke. $50k?

[fizbin]

Originally Posted by Milliano

This comment summed up what I was wondering:



Personally I think Americans generally complain way too much about income, because they don't know how to use their money. Wealthiest nation on Earth, you know? Too caught up with the idea that they have to have something just because other people have it.
I'm sure showing this article to impoverished people around the world, who live on $500 a year, would assume it's a joke. $50k?

Comments made by folks ignorant of the reality of feeding, housing and clothing a family of four in the Bay Area. That is poverty level for this area. Crap housing in crap neighborhoods with crap schools while feeding your kids crap while holding down crappy jobs.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Milliano

This comment summed up what I was wondering:



Personally I think Americans generally complain way too much about income, because they don't know how to use their money. Wealthiest nation on Earth, you know? Too caught up with the idea that they have to have something just because other people have it.
I'm sure showing this article to impoverished people around the world, who live on $500 a year, would assume it's a joke. $50k?

That was a ridiculous viewpoint. Just because you make 53 k does not mean you bring home 53 k. You act like people do not buy food, clothes, transportation, utilities, bills etc. The comparison to some 3rd world nation is pointless and irrelevant.

[jscore]

Originally Posted by Milliano

This comment summed up what I was wondering:



Personally I think Americans generally complain way too much about income, because they don't know how to use their money. Wealthiest nation on Earth, you know? Too caught up with the idea that they have to have something just because other people have it.
I'm sure showing this article to impoverished people around the world, who live on $500 a year, would assume it's a joke. $50k?

Huh? That makes absolutely no sense.

[TwinMom06]

Originally Posted by Milliano

This comment summed up what I was wondering:



Personally I think Americans generally complain way too much about income, because they don't know how to use their money. Wealthiest nation on Earth, you know? Too caught up with the idea that they have to have something just because other people have it.
I'm sure showing this article to impoverished people around the world, who live on $500 a year, would assume it's a joke. $50k?

I think he is trying to say that many Americans seem to feel entitled to have certain things, just because they see their friends and neighbors with them. Designer or name-brand clothes, newer car, plasma screen tv, eating at restaurants, vacations, nice things that may be considered luxuries in poorer nations. For example, my cleaning lady carries a Gucci purse and drives a Mercedes and brags to me about how she took her mom to Chez Panisse for her birthday, but she lives in a 1-BR apt with her 3 kids....

The advantage the family in this article has is the low rent that they are paying. They just need to learn to make their dollar stretch a little more with more careful budgeting and finding more economic ways to do things. If you only cook at home and bring lunch to work/school, you can easily feed 4 people with healthy meals for $500 per month. They don't get into the details of their spending habits. Granted, childcare can be expensive, but I get the feeling that the family in the new story has been living beyond their means for some time. If you need to make a payment of $400 on your credit card, can you imagine what the balance might be?