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Well, I think of upper middle class as the well educated middle class who work for their money, and make plenty of it. Don't ask me for numbers. It probably depends on the area you live in.
Class is elastic in this country. It's funny that members of the same family will consider themselves to be in a different social class than their relatives depending on income.
So I suppose class isn't social in this country but economic?
Haven't been to this site in a while and was just checking back in. Didn't realize the thread I started a while back was getting so much attention.
The post wasn't meant to be snarky. It was meant to get a realistic picture of what one could expect by living in NYC off of that income. Coming from Texas there is a huge difference in COL. I also don't believe the cost of living calculator converters because they seem a little off.
In Texas you live like a king on that income. In NYC I know you definitely do not but was just trying to get some perspective. I apologize to anybody who took my post the wrong way.
Anyways, we are leaning towards NYC at this point in time simply because it seems like the logical next step and things like shows, restaurants, coffee shops, and just the general feel of the city seem to make up for the cost.
And the person who asked about debt, the answer to that is my parents paid for my undergrad and then scholarship for law school.
Hi, I was wondering if anybody in the forum who made around $200K a year if they could give me a general idea of what kind of lifestyle one could expect on that income?
I'm married with a wife and am around 25 years old with zero debt if that makes a difference.
i would say with 200k.. u would be set for a while in nyc bro... i mean a average person that makes 80k a year would live decently meaning renting out a house or apartment. everyday foods to eat, and treating yourself with electronics.... for you it would be more like shopping.... down payment on a house and car... saving up and eventually get used to the nyc lifestyle because many people who usualy live in nyc and move elsewhere come back to live in nyc again..
Are you from NYC? 200k is not "Very Upper Middle Class" here. Not at all.
To go back to something I said on one of these threads a few months ago, if you have troubling getting by making that kind of money, the problem here is you. I believe a poster asked about this in regards to making $70,000 in NYC. Rent is what is going to take a lot of your money. I make $35,000, live in a studio in the South Bronx, have clothing (buy on sale), eat out a lot at low to moderately priced restaurants, and have some savings, great credit, and have never failed to pay my rent or other bills. I live alone.
Now, if you are making almost twice my salary or more and are "just scrounging by", you seriously need to reevaluate your lifestyle and learn to live within your means. The problem here may not be so much "survival" as it is learning to accept living within your means which is not paying $6,000/mo. in rent, buying $18 cocktails, eating at 4-star restaurants all the time, and wearing all designer clothing. Why do you think that guy in Queens earning $80,000/year is having his house foreclosed on? Living beyond your means and living on credit. Grow up, people, please and learn to take responsibility.
To go back to something I said on one of these threads a few months ago, if you have troubling getting by making that kind of money, the problem here is you. I believe a poster asked about this in regards to making $70,000 in NYC. Rent is what is going to take a lot of your money. I make $35,000, live in a studio in the South Bronx, have clothing (buy on sale), eat out a lot at low to moderately priced restaurants, and have some savings, great credit, and have never failed to pay my rent or other bills. I live alone.
Now, if you are making almost twice my salary or more and are "just scrounging by", you seriously need to reevaluate your lifestyle and learn to live within your means. The problem here may not be so much "survival" as it is learning to accept living within your means which is not paying $6,000/mo. in rent, buying $18 cocktails, eating at 4-star restaurants all the time, and wearing all designer clothing. Why do you think that guy in Queens earning $80,000/year is having his house foreclosed on? Living beyond your means and living on credit. Grow up, people, please and learn to take responsibility.
My point is that I think that people misread the OP. He did not think he would be "just getting by" on 200k - he wanted to know what type of lifestyle he would have. $200k in TX and $200k in NYC is a very different lifestyle. In TX, you could have a large luxury living space, 2 cars, multiple dinners out a week, shopping, etc. Whereas here, you'd have to downscale that, as your rent/dinners/parking, etc will likely cost twice as much.
You said 200k, 1/5 of a million a year before taxes warrants a middle class lifestyle. If That's all you can afford, you're doing something wrong. 200k, even in New York, is NOT middle class. I don't know who told you otherwise.
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