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??? ??? ??? In what universe? Rents in Portland are up 40%.
I was talking about buying it. I know rents are up.
My house in Chicago, which appraised at $800,000 at the peak, just appraised for $600,000. This is typical in my area and Chicago is a big market. I realize transaction prices are more relevant than appraisal prices but the latter is all I have.
Housing can't cost more than average in Vermont. That is usually the elephant in the budgets of low earners, so that is usually the best advantage for a low earner to have..
Whatever. People who make excuses will always make excuses.
Doesn't even make it into the middle class where i live.
You're living in a fantasy world. Where I live in Santa Clara County, CA, the median household income is under 100K, and we're the highest income county in the nation.
This goes right back to people only comparing themselves to those who have more and ignoring everyone else further down the economic ladder.
I'm still trying to figure out how you can join the middle class on $48,603 a year in Oxnard Ca.
I can tell you how. I live in Santa Clara County, which is more expensive than Oxnard, on around that salary. I'm sure you wouldn't consider me middle class, but I think your idea of middle class is incredibly inflated. The statistics are I gave in a previous post give objective credence to my point of view.
Here is how I live:
--In a studio apartment
--I live a block away from my job which enables me to......
--Drive an 18 year old car
--No cable TV
--No i-phone or expensive phone plan.
--Good benefits at my job, including relatively cheap health insurance
--I don't have any kids (and never wanted them....the silver lining to being gay)
I am 44 and my net worth (much of which is in my retirement savings plan at work, but also in IRAs and regular savings accounts and some mutual funds in regular taxable accounts) is over 7X my gross income.
Basically, I live the single gay male version of Mr. Money Mustache's lifestyle (who spends 25K per year for a family of 3, but his house is paid off), except I rent and eat out more. As he says, the typical middle class lifestyle in America is an exploding volcano of wastefulness, and I concur.
And yes, I would say I'm pretty happy. The lack of a commute adds a lot to my quality of life. Once the basics are paid for, happiness is an inside job.
I can tell you how. I live in Santa Clara County, which is more expensive than Oxnard, on around that salary. I'm sure you wouldn't consider me middle class, but I think your idea of middle class is incredibly inflated. The statistics are I gave in a previous post give objective credence to my point of view.
Here is how I live:
--In a studio apartment
--I live a block away from my job which enables me to......
--Drive an 18 year old car
--No cable TV
--No i-phone or expensive phone plan.
--Good benefits at my job, including relatively cheap health insurance
--I don't have any kids (and never wanted them....the silver lining to being gay)
I am 44 and my net worth (much of which is in my retirement savings plan at work, but also in IRAs and regular savings accounts and some mutual funds in regular taxable accounts) is over 7X my gross income.
Basically, I live the single gay male version of Mr. Money Mustache's lifestyle (who spends 25K per year for a family of 3, but his house is paid off), except I rent and eat out more. As he says, the typical middle class lifestyle in America is an exploding volcano of wastefulness, and I concur.
And yes, I would say I'm pretty happy. The lack of a commute adds a lot to my quality of life. Once the basics are paid for, happiness is an inside job.
Ha! I live in a room in an 8-person house with no car, no cable TV, and no i-phone or expensive phone plan. I'm sure you would never accept my level of frugality.
I can tell you how. I live in Santa Clara County, which is more expensive than Oxnard, on around that salary. I'm sure you wouldn't consider me middle class, but I think your idea of middle class is incredibly inflated. The statistics are I gave in a previous post give objective credence to my point of view.
Here is how I live:
--In a studio apartment
--I live a block away from my job which enables me to......
--Drive an 18 year old car
--No cable TV
--No i-phone or expensive phone plan.
--Good benefits at my job, including relatively cheap health insurance
--I don't have any kids (and never wanted them....the silver lining to being gay)
I am 44 and my net worth (much of which is in my retirement savings plan at work, but also in IRAs and regular savings accounts and some mutual funds in regular taxable accounts) is over 7X my gross income.
Basically, I live the single gay male version of Mr. Money Mustache's lifestyle (who spends 25K per year for a family of 3, but his house is paid off), except I rent and eat out more. As he says, the typical middle class lifestyle in America is an exploding volcano of wastefulness, and I concur.
And yes, I would say I'm pretty happy. The lack of a commute adds a lot to my quality of life. Once the basics are paid for, happiness is an inside job.
You seem to be doing well on a modest income, and you have made many thoughtful posts on the economy and related issues, but it's a stretch to call your way of life middle class. Some people have, like, kids and stuff. A house or large apartment in a good school district, one car per wage earner, and money for needs that really do come up when you have a family are basics of middle-class life.
And that blog post does not answer what might happen if everyone simply quit spending.
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People who make excuses will always make excuses.
