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You can't, unless you don't have a family at all and are willing to spend 25 years saving for your house.
Well So many are saying that the middle class is Oxnard is at that amount of money. I keep saying that Oxnard is not really middle class and to live in the middle class with the cost of living in Oxnard it would cost way more. My projections are that we would need to make about $200,000 to live in the middle class. What people may not realize is that many when they hit those numbers in Oxnard end up moving to another part of the city, lets say the River Ridge track, Victoria Estates, or the beach. Or they end up leaving Oxnard for Camarillo, Moorpark, or Thousand Oaks.
I realize for fly over country that is hard to grasp or understand. When you can buy a home for $100,000.00 , raise a family, take a vacation every so often, have money in the bank, fund your retirement, save for a remodel of your home, buy a new car once in a while, all on $48,000 and you feel rich then maybe you are a part of the middle class.
When you barely get by on $48,000 and can't afford to buy clothes for you or your family, when you shop at thrift stores for everything and are happy that they put in another .99 cent store, when you could care less about health insurance because you know you qualify for the free stuff, when you don't have to worry about what your kids are going to eat because your income allows you to have them eat for free at the cafeteria at school, when you are hoping that the tires last on the car untill your tax refund comes in, when you hope the gas in the tank will last because you can't take the bus to work, or when the tank runs empty and your wondering how the bus system works and how far you will have to walk, when you are wondering how you will feed your kids in the summer when school is out because breakfast and lunch are no longer covered, when you could care less about thinking about retirement because with your income that is a fantasy, when you do check the couch, laundry, and any other place for change and paper money that you may find because you want to get a gallon of milk, when all those things happen and you are only making that $48,000 that is supposed to have made you a part of the middle class then you start to realize that you are far from the middle class.
feel free to come on out here to lowly Oxnard California and try to live a middle class lifestyle on $48,000. My wife and I tried living on $60,000 and barely made it. We lived within our means and did not have smart phones, we did have 2 pay as you go phones. we had free cable, no internet at home. Oh and yes we did have all those kids at home, five of them are still at home with us. Now that we make a lot more we own a home. we could have never done that on $60,000 here in Oxnard. We did buy our home as first time home owners, to do that we had to have a low income. Guess what the state considers a low income for Oxnard? We were not allowed to make more than $120,000 when we bought our home or we would have been making too much. Even the state considers $120,000 low for a home owner.
Well So many are saying that the middle class is Oxnard is at that amount of money. I keep saying that Oxnard is not really middle class and to live in the middle class with the cost of living in Oxnard it would cost way more. My projections are that we would need to make about $200,000 to live in the middle class. What people may not realize is that many when they hit those numbers in Oxnard end up moving to another part of the city, lets say the River Ridge track, Victoria Estates, or the beach. Or they end up leaving Oxnard for Camarillo, Moorpark, or Thousand Oaks.
I realize for fly over country that is hard to grasp or understand. When you can buy a home for $100,000.00 , raise a family, take a vacation every so often, have money in the bank, fund your retirement, save for a remodel of your home, buy a new car once in a while, all on $48,000 and you feel rich then maybe you are a part of the middle class.
When you barely get by on $48,000 and can't afford to buy clothes for you or your family, when you shop at thrift stores for everything and are happy that they put in another .99 cent store, when you could care less about health insurance because you know you qualify for the free stuff, when you don't have to worry about what your kids are going to eat because your income allows you to have them eat for free at the cafeteria at school, when you are hoping that the tires last on the car untill your tax refund comes in, when you hope the gas in the tank will last because you can't take the bus to work, or when the tank runs empty and your wondering how the bus system works and how far you will have to walk, when you are wondering how you will feed your kids in the summer when school is out because breakfast and lunch are no longer covered, when you could care less about thinking about retirement because with your income that is a fantasy, when you do check the couch, laundry, and any other place for change and paper money that you may find because you want to get a gallon of milk, when all those things happen and you are only making that $48,000 that is supposed to have made you a part of the middle class then you start to realize that you are far from the middle class.
feel free to come on out here to lowly Oxnard California and try to live a middle class lifestyle on $48,000. My wife and I tried living on $60,000 and barely made it. We lived within our means and did not have smart phones, we did have 2 pay as you go phones. we had free cable, no internet at home. Oh and yes we did have all those kids at home, five of them are still at home with us. Now that we make a lot more we own a home. we could have never done that on $60,000 here in Oxnard. We did buy our home as first time home owners, to do that we had to have a low income. Guess what the state considers a low income for Oxnard? We were not allowed to make more than $120,000 when we bought our home or we would have been making too much. Even the state considers $120,000 low for a home owner.
True, but only to a point. What's considered a middle class lifestyle has become inflated. From the 1950s to the early 1970s, the oft considered glory days for the middle class people typically:
--got married and stayed married (much cheaper)
--didn't have kids out of wedlock (a financial disaster)
--had more people per household
--more often only had one car per houshold (instead of 2 or more).
I agree. People's lifestyle expectations are overall much higher today than they were 50 years ago. People now have urban-style amenities in many suburbs. And even the average house has a lot more square footage now.
However, these changes are things that a lot of people either don't realize or want to admit to.
A friend sent us an email one day from a loan broker that deals in first time home owners. It is a Cal HFA program. You come up with 3% of the purchase price for your down payment. Your interest is fixed for 30 years at a low rate. Ours is set at 3.875%. We did not need perfect credit to get into our home.
Here is what I expect from a middle class lifestyle.
1. Being able so spend rewarding time with your family, during weekends and on holdidays.
2. Home ownership or on the way to homeownership.
3. Ability to afford to maintain the home.
4. Ability to save for upgrades and maybe even additions to the home.
5. Ability to save for retirment.
6. More money in the bank then month at the end of the paycheck.
7. Successfully building a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund. Even if that is a hundred a month, just working on it.
8. Ability to maintain a car or two.
9. Living within your means
10. Ability to take a modest family vacation once a year.
11. Since I live near the ocean, ability to save for and own a modest boat.
12. Ability to give back to others, help others, give to charity.
That is how I grew up and I expect the same lifestyle. I am not asking for a lot. we live in a modest home that we happen to love. It was built in 1962 and other than being well maintained the home is the same as it was back in 1962. Yes the plumbing was replaced and the electrical, but the home needs new windows, we want new doors, could use a new kitchen, and we would love to replace the master bath. Plenty of things that we want to do to our home and their is no way to do that on our current income. We live within our means.
Here is what I expect from a middle class lifestyle.
1. Being able so spend rewarding time with your family, during weekends and on holdidays.
2. Home ownership or on the way to homeownership.
3. Ability to afford to maintain the home.
4. Ability to save for upgrades and maybe even additions to the home.
5. Ability to save for retirment.
6. More money in the bank then month at the end of the paycheck.
7. Successfully building a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund. Even if that is a hundred a month, just working on it.
8. Ability to maintain a car or two.
9. Living within your means
10. Ability to take a modest family vacation once a year.
11. Since I live near the ocean, ability to save for and own a modest boat.
12. Ability to give back to others, help others, give to charity.
That is how I grew up and I expect the same lifestyle. I am not asking for a lot. we live in a modest home that we happen to love. It was built in 1962 and other than being well maintained the home is the same as it was back in 1962. Yes the plumbing was replaced and the electrical, but the home needs new windows, we want new doors, could use a new kitchen, and we would love to replace the master bath. Plenty of things that we want to do to our home and their is no way to do that on our current income. We live within our means.
How would you expand that definition to accommodate people who don't want a family?
Here is what I expect from a middle class lifestyle.
1. Being able so spend rewarding time with your family, during weekends and on holdidays.
2. Home ownership or on the way to homeownership.
3. Ability to afford to maintain the home.
4. Ability to save for upgrades and maybe even additions to the home.
5. Ability to save for retirment.
6. More money in the bank then month at the end of the paycheck.
7. Successfully building a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund. Even if that is a hundred a month, just working on it.
8. Ability to maintain a car or two.
9. Living within your means
10. Ability to take a modest family vacation once a year.
11. Since I live near the ocean, ability to save for and own a modest boat.
12. Ability to give back to others, help others, give to charity.
People want or take for granted much more than this list in their middle-class lifestyles today.
For example, you can have almost all of those things you listed far away from the Southern California coast. But would you be willing to make the move for that?
How would you expand that definition to accommodate people who don't want a family?
True, not all want a family, not all people can have children, not all people want to get married. I have a brother that is gay. He has no interest in many of the things that I want out of life. He has the ability to get what I want out of life and many of the things that I want he already does have. I would say that having the ability but not the desire for the same things would still get someone into the middle class.
People want or take for granted much more than this list in their middle-class lifestyles today.
For example, you can have almost all of those things you listed far away from the Southern California coast. But would you be willing to make the move for that?
I know many that have given up on ever having a middle class lifestyle in Southern California and have done just that and moved on.
A close friend was telling us that a 2,800 square foot home on a half acre lot that had been built in 2006 was for sale on their street in the Springfield Mo Area for about $168,000. Looked beautifull from the pictures that I looked at. This home was outside of Springfield in another city. Still within driving range of Springfield. Yes I was tempted, I even asked if they had hospitals in the area. No my wife would not go for it. LOL
My four sisters and one of my brothers followed my parents to the Phoenix area because of housing cost. They all can live a less costly life there than here on the coast. My parents had sold their home here on the coast, cashed out, bought a brand new home back in 2003 and still had close to $200,000 left over from the sale price of their old home. All of my sisters and my brother bought homes in the Phoenix area.
My wife and I are too close to getting the kind of income that we need to live the kind of life that we want here in Southern California. I just don't see another area offering me the kind of job I would need to make the kind of money we are making. Realize I will be making on my own this year what both my wife and I made last year.
My wife and I have most of the things on the list now. We are not where we want to be with our home, the boat, and a few other areas. Still we are close.
Here is what I expect from a middle class lifestyle.
1. Being able so spend rewarding time with your family, during weekends and on holdidays.
2. Home ownership or on the way to homeownership.
3. Ability to afford to maintain the home.
4. Ability to save for upgrades and maybe even additions to the home.
5. Ability to save for retirment.
6. More money in the bank then month at the end of the paycheck.
7. Successfully building a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund. Even if that is a hundred a month, just working on it.
8. Ability to maintain a car or two.
9. Living within your means
10. Ability to take a modest family vacation once a year.
11. Since I live near the ocean, ability to save for and own a modest boat.
12. Ability to give back to others, help others, give to charity.
That is how I grew up and I expect the same lifestyle. I am not asking for a lot. we live in a modest home that we happen to love. It was built in 1962 and other than being well maintained the home is the same as it was back in 1962. Yes the plumbing was replaced and the electrical, but the home needs new windows, we want new doors, could use a new kitchen, and we would love to replace the master bath. Plenty of things that we want to do to our home and their is no way to do that on our current income. We live within our means.
Would you say that all of the above are necessary components of a living wage?
If not, which are necessary and which are not?
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