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Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Regardless of why the OP seems to think that poor people can afford everything, we (wife and I) live off our Social Security only. Both of us only worked for places that did not have a pension plan (our own choice !).
We did save quite a bit during our working years and lived rather well within our means, meaning, we did not buy what we needed, unless we could pay for it at least within three months (saves you interest costs).
Now we have everything, and we do own everything we have, except for the house we live in, and do not need anything. Because of what we have, we have almost no *wants*
If you want me to make a list of what I *want*, that list would take up three pages of your computer screen at least ...
So yeah to the OP, we do have everything, and probably more than you have !
Can we afford everything ?
No !
Some of it is fear of the unknown, some of it is inertia, plus a lot of other variables. Retrain yes. But for what? And at what cost?
In my profession I'm priced out now, hell I was priced out 15 years ago (the last time I seriously looked at a move). Why hire me when a school system can get two 1st year people for what they'd have to pay me? I could do a couple other things I have certs for but now I'm bumping up against an age barrier. Besides you don't really see me complain about costs or taxes (except when mentioning some of the tax or spending policies in MD).
People from high cost more urban areas have to be very careful when moving to a more rural, low cost area. Many have never been to a rural area and culture shock is extreme. I see that almost daily here in my corner of Southern Maryland.
We get it here too. They move up from the DC area, and then complain about the cows and the locals. Well, gee...what do you expect?
The free cell phone for the poor gives them about 8 minutes a day of calling time. If you can live with that, get a TracFone for $80 a year. It's a choice of a free cell phone, or a $10 a month discount on their land line.
Yep...I have TracFone which rarely gets used. It is mostly in case of emergency while driving. I have no other electronic gadgets and have no desire for any. I'm single with no children so I know my situation may be different than most. Still have the old analog TVs, which seem to last forever...they are working just fine. Was considering getting a 40" TV but decided it wasn't worth the Black Friday hassle when the analog TVs are working. No mortgage or other major expenses and most goes directly into savings.
My situation is also different in that I am caretaker for my parents and live in their home. I do all the driving to take them to Dr. appointments, church or where ever they need to do. I now do all the grocery shopping and most of the cooking. (Sorry to get off topic)
We get it here too. They move up from the DC area, and then complain about the cows and the locals. Well, gee...what do you expect?
But don't you feel lucky, enlightened and blessed that they're now your neighbors and you officially live in "an up and coming" area? Not to mention that the agitation for that Nigerian cuisine restaurant is sure to be successful.
Family and extended family should form their own little economies - just like in the old days...now it seems that there are forces that don't like the value of families or family values. Keep your business private...work at something...survive...If I am hungry I just go up the street to my wives place for a meal and to relax...If I need some money- there are my kids I can mooch from but not to much...if they need my council and support...I am there for them...I am older and experienced and understand the world and it's systems...we can all trade our services - first it starts with family...and marriages are useful...My son married a Spanish woman and now he has contacts in that circle...respect- I help you - you help me...don't expect the government to create jobs..they are spenders not generators of money.
When I read on CD how much people pay for housing in some areas, I'm just astounded and sickened.
If you have high "bills" in a place like New Jersey, then why don't you just pull up stakes and move someplace where the cost of living is lower and you can have a better standard of living for less money?
No one can ever convince me that there's a reasonable reason that someone can't move to another part of the United States in order to improve their life.
Sure there is. I've done two big moves (one 2K miles away and one 3K miles away) in the past year and a half and if you don't have a moving bonus (like we did) from your company then it is really expensive.
Let's assume you're a moderately skilled middle class person with a kid and a spouse, and you want to move to a cheaper area. Say from NJ to GA. In order to move you first have to have a job in the area you are looking to move to. In order to do that you either have to find a company that is willing to only do over the phone interviews or you may end up scooting back and forth for interviews.
Lets say you get the job and are now going to be making a pretty big move and you're not going to be getting any housing assistance. You're going to sell your house and rent a u-haul. From NJ to GA that rental would be apx 1200. You also have to consider how much it will cost for gas, food, and hotel stays. Because you don't know the area in Atlanta you have to stay in an hotel with your family for a few days while you check out an apartment. That adds up, especially when you can't make meals. When you find an apartment you'll have to pay the deposit for the apt as well as for your utilities (phone/cable/internet, water, power, gas if you have it). Plus you still have that house in NJ that you haven't been able to sell yet because the housing market sucks and no one is buying right now. So you're still paying the mortgage on that as well as your rent.
Or, let's say you had been renting in NJ. What if you were only half way into your lease and you had to break it early to move? Your spouse and kid could stay behind and finish out the rental time but then what would you do for housing Atl? And breaking the lease is expensive.
It may be less expensive if you move from like NJ to PA or something like that. But it still adds up. It all depends upon the person's situation. I mean suppose in NJ your mother in law took care of your kid while you and your spouse worked - if you moved to PA you wouldn't have that and would either have to pay for daycare or one of you would have to stay home. That may not be affordable long term.
It's easy to say "just move somewhere cheaper" but it is harder to do these days. Not everyone is going to land a job with a company that offers moving assistance.
Even with moving assistance from the company our cross country move ended up costing us 5K - we've both lived on the cheap and spent more money on continuing education and training so that jobs that do provide perks like housing assistance would be interested in hiring us. There is also the problem of "one of us is getting offered a better job! But..one of us will be unemployed upon arrival.
But don't you feel lucky, enlightened and blessed that they're now your neighbors and you officially live in "an up and coming" area? Not to mention that the agitation for that Nigerian cuisine restaurant is sure to be successful.
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.)?
First off. For a dual earner house, that's totally doable, even with kids.
My ex supports a couple of children on 30K. Here's how you do it...
-Live in a poor neighborhood.
-Live paycheck to paycheck, borrow money when you need to, and scrape by when you need to.
-Be late on bills all the time, screwing your credit for life.
-Hand me down clothes for yourself and your children.
-Borrow $ from your sheltered boyfriend to pay for car repairs.
People who have never been poor don't think of these things, like living in poor neighborhoods. That will save you half on rent right there. There's so many things you can do to cut down on cost of living. I really respected the way she handled things.
from my exp...the reason that most people live paycheck to paycheck is because they are not good at budgeting and managing their money. Everyone's, got to have their starbucks and smokes. I usually don't buy starbucks coffee cause its $4, there is no value in that when i can make my own at home or buy one at mcd for $1. I have friends that make 100K + but still live paycheck to paycheck. Its not how much you make but how you manage your money. i make enough to be considered top 1% but I only live off 25% of that. It is true that most rich or upper class got there cause they know how to manage their money, and have a value proposition. If starbucks was the only coffee that i can get, maybe it is worth $4, but it isn't. The rich look at value not the dollar amount .
lololol tons of people pay no taxes and get tons of freebies from the govt
I know. I stand behind them at WalMart and ask them to check out my purchases for me, so I don't have to add sales tax. And I get them to pump my gas for me, so I can get their tax-free price. I get my phone and cable in their name, so I don't have any tax added to the bill. It's really nice to have friends who don't pay taxes, to get all those tax-free items for me.
I have a friend who is a single mom, disabled, living on $660 a month SSI with her ten-year old daughter. It's really unfair that tax is never added to the price of anything she buys.
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