What do you suppose the Salary is for middle class? (1 Viewer)

[Alan Erceg]

This got me thinking...

I'm 20(Almost 21), and my g/f is 22...we plan to get married in a few years...

I make roughly 22k/year and she probably makes about 24k/year...

So lets say 45k/year or so total gross income...
so thats rougly 3700$ a month or so gross...say 3000$ a month net..

My bills at the moment:

Car(220/month, but should be paid off by the time we get married.)
School Loans(110 a month)
Cell 50
Internet 50
Car Insurance 100 month

She has pretty much the same bills as me(we both still live at home)..minus high speed internet(she has dialup)

I keep trying to tell myself that we can survive off both of our incomes when buying a house...but I cant help to worry about it...

Her Sister and her husband got married a while back, and have about the same income as us combined, and seem to be doing fine after buying a pretty nice house(just under 100k) without problems...

I just cant help to worry about stuff like this..but to put the cost of living in perspective, I live just outside of Pittsburgh, PA..so the cost of living here is much less than the cost of living in NYC or LA...

Any thoughts?

 

[Mark Sherman]

Mortgage 586

Condo fee 268

Electric 18

phone 25

cable 42

cell phone 15

total......954.00 per Month


CC and Car paid off when I refinanced. Oh and I have a roommate who pays me 450 per month in rent.

Monthly Bills 954.00

Rent from RM 450.00

Out of Pocket 504.00


Based on a 55K salary


Looking to sell my condo and buy a house in Sept.

 

[Jon_Gregory]

Alan, it can be done. I did/do it right now on less than your combined income. My only advice to you right now is to save as much as you can for a down payment and extras when the time comes to purchase a house and getting married. A good down payment on a house is a good way to bring the monthly payment down. There was so much stuff that is needed when a house is purchased and when you get married that is simply forgotten about when thinking about money.

I have been living on my own for a few years now but my wife lived at home till we built our house and then we got married a month later. By her saving most of her income while living at her parents house, this helped out so much when the time came.

For example:
Mower (if you have grass)
Bedding
all kinds of kitchen stuff
mailbox (new home)

I could go on and on listing all the little things that needed to be bought that I had not even thought of when budgeting our money. It seemed like the little things added up very quick.

Save, Save, Save now while you can and it will make it that much easier when the time comes. I know it helped us out so much.

 

[LaMarcus]

Jon is speaking bible right there. Buying a house does come with a lot of expenses that you don't even consider when you livin a apartment.

Some that killed me we lawn mower, trimmer, lear blower, fridge, stove, wahser and dryer, curtains. That stuff adds up, not to mention tools for fixing up stuff. The little stuff will get cha.



I never thought of new money like that. Because if I got it I would know how to show I had some class. But I've always thought of "new money" as being racists. For example I used to work at a country club when I was a teen (in the kitchen of coarse) and club policy was your wealth had to be 10 generations old to become a member. So if you won the 100M lottery yesterday, your ass can't be a member today.

I always thought it was racists because what minortiy in this country has money that old? But thinking of it the way he put it, it could just be a matter of how a person would conduct themselves in higher soceity and that would apply to anyone. (Hmph)

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - Everyone was intrigued by Mark's post and his job, but did anyone read the key sentence in his post:BINGO!

No kids and No girlfriend has lead me to amount a very large savings account. When I was dating my ex, I had over $10,000 in credit card debt. After I broke up with her, I was able to pay them off in less than a few years.

 

[Holadem]

What the hell does "less than a few years mean?"

I was going to similarly reply to Mark Sherman... same income, but I spend at least the sum of all his bills (~ $1000) on my daughter. Nevermind my college credit card debts. Big difference in financial comfort.

--
H

 

[Lew Crippen]

Mark, I never knew 'til now that you were a 'DINK'

The biggest raise my wife and I ever got was when our son graduated from college.

 

[Karl_Luph]

I'm at the $21,000 a year level too. It doesn't allow me to have any vacations or new cars, or much of anything really nice. I've also learned that most women aren't very interested in guys who don't make much money,lol! Needless to say, I've never been married and have no kids. At this income I probably wouldn't be able to provide enough even if I was married.Needless to say,I will probably work all my life , will never be able to retire.I know one thing, car insurance and health insurance is eating up what little I bring home. Ouch!!

 

[MarkHastings]

I got it down to about $2,000 in a year and a half (Whew! What a tough year that was of not being able to buy anything major). I could have finished off the rest, but I had some other expenses to tend to and it took me a few more years to finish off the debt. Ever since 2000, I haven't had any CC debt.

 

[Leila Dougan]

You just have to find the right one. Believe me, we aren't all golddiggers. You'e just got to find a woman that values money the same way you do. In fact, when I got married my husband was unemployed and had been for a while.

For me, the biggest raise I ever got was to get married (hubby got a job a month later). Now that we only pay one rent/mortgage, one set of utilities, etc we have a lot more spending money than I ever did all alone. Of course we don't have kids yet so all that's bound to change sooner or later.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Fascinating. I think I should now apply to the Institute of Technical Education here, get certified as a plumber and emigrate to the UK

But seriously, it is interesting: a friend once commented that if you wanted to emigrate to Australia from here -- and many Singaporeans do -- by their point system, you'd be a shoo-in if you were a panel beater, but have trouble as a professional.

As for class distinctions, I guess it's the difference between a relatively "old" society, where it's institutions have been in place for a millenia, as compared to a "new" one built and populated by immigrants. Singapore has much the same attitude in that your "class", such as it is, is governed more by your wealth than any other societal standing -- no titles, and not much "old" money either. Having said that, the traditional Asian respect of the professions does allow doctors to lord it over the rest of us as primus inter pares...

I'd echo those who've said credit card debt is the killer. I first got one upon starting my first job after graduating; that was 11 years ago and I have NEVER carried over debt. 2% per month will kill you. Aside from home and car, the two big ticket items, I have no other debt.

The "trouble" is I'm already 34, and I've hardly looked towards saving for retirement -- I have a decent insurance policy, but apart from that, zip. Cash savings in the bank are reasonable, but nothing great. Oh well, my insurance agent has been bugging me to meet up to discuss endowment plans, so I guess that fits in.

As for HT, maybe I spend too much on DVDs? (Don't we all?) But having just dropped a large chunk of change on a new display, I think most of the big-ticket items on my HT are set. I might want a new DVD-P, but that would probably be it.

Reading this thread also re-affirms the mindset the missus has been trying to drum into me regarding the car: whilst a BMW would be nice, what's the point of spending so much on 4 wheels to get you from A to B? Especially since here a 318 is going to cost around S$140K (around US$82K). So I'll stick to my dinky little Lancer :/

 

[Leila Dougan]

Yee-Ming, you just reminded me of something I meant to say.

I think most of us like something that's nice and a luxury. I think as long as you only have one or two of those things and are resourceful about the rest, you'll be okay.

Most of us here at HTF, obviously, like Home Theater. We probably each spend much more on HT and related items such as DVDs than the average Joe. Even on a small income, it's very possible to spend considerable money on these items and still be able to put a lot of money away.

For instance, my husband and I spend an ungodly amount of money on HT and DVDs (I'm sure you all understand, LOL). But we drive basic cars and bought a modest house. We save our pennies and control spending on everything else. It works for us because HT is important to us but many other things (like cars) are not.

Now, there are people I know who do the same thing, except they spend their money on their cars. Either they buy a luxery car or spend a lot of money on upgrading their current cars. This can get very expensive, but when they come home from work they sit down in front of their 27" TV and watch rented VHS tapes from Blockbuster. They can just as easily save for retirement as I can.

So I think the big trap to avoid is purchasing expensive luxery items for everything. If you stick to HT, or cars, or whatever your hobby is, you can most definitely make it work. But when you're driven to purchase the best of the best of every item, you'll quickly get sucked into the consumer debt hole. Unless of course you have the income to support it but that would not be middle class.

 

[LaMarcus]

Personally, since I've gotten into HT, I find spending money on anything outside the house, stupid (for lack of better word.

Leila hit it on the head when she said "they come home from work they sit down in front of their 27" TV and watch rented VHS tapes from Blockbuster."

Because I see guys with $4000 dollar systems in their car with tv's and such. But the shittiest setup at home. How much time are you going to spend in your car versus your home? I don't regret spending allot on HT, because it's going to make the place I spend the most time at comfortable. So having a fancy new car isn't the big of a thing to me, because trust me if I had a choice between upgrading my car and upgrading my HT for the same price, it would be the latter.

 

[Holadem]

What you're doing is no better than people who look at your "shitty" car and wonder how one can even drive that.

Understand that there are people out there who get as excited about new rims on their cars as you do about . They are no more wrong than you are.

Leila, good point about one or two luxury items. Mine are HT and travel. HT everyone here gets. For travel, I would rather have enough cash to jump in a plane every couple months than to drive a nicer car and be stuck here all the time.

--
H

 

[CalvinCarr]

What's funy is it's all relative to each individual. I pay my ex wife $20,000 a year in child support. I have a friend who is a doctor who pays $12,000 a MONTH.

 

[Dan Hine]

Some things in this thread make me sad...some make me scared...

Sad:


Need? You don't need that stuff. You want it. Think of how many people need clothes or even a pillow to lay their head on. I'm not saying you have to run out and give money to charity but come on...realize the difference between need and want.

- Dan

 

[CalvinCarr]

That's exactly right. As long as you are happy that's what counts. When I was younger all I needed were my surfboard and someplace to live. Now that I am older I want more for my wife and kids. You can never go backwards though. That sucks...

 

[Garrett Lundy]

The secrets to living on $20,000/year.

ALDI: This bargain-basement grocery store is the main reason 60% of the population has fat-asses (myself included). With a combination of store-brand Chef Boyardee, chicken fingers, pasta, and hamburgers, its easy to live off $40/month/person on groceries. Yes, spaghetti tastes bad eight days in a row, but try not eating for two days.

Wal*Mart: The evil Pan&Scan supplier is ruinging entertainment, but $10 pairs of pants and $.50 socks are what keeps america clothed! Salvation Army never has anything that fits, or I'd shop their more often.

K*Mart: sneakers for $18! Sweet!

1996 Mitsubishi Mirage S-coupe (with dent on trunk): Bought used and paid-off. Insurance runs me a whopping $97/month but thats OK. I can and do walk to work (a whole block away), and this keeps the gas usage down.

2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 800: OK, this "toy" is costing me $200/month, but it is my primary transportation eight months out of the year. Buying it at 3.9% helps alot. (My last bike was a Harley-Davidson sportster. This new bike is a HUGE upgrade qualiy-wise).


Again, having no kids helps.

 

[LaMarcus]

That was a joke, I guess some didn't get it.

 

[DaveGTP]

I don't think of myself as a HT spender, but I do have some upgrades I would like to do. My GTP was/is a luxury (I do like cars a lot), but once it is paid off, why would I want a new car?
I've got leather, climate control, heads-up display, power/heated seat, power sunroof, on-wheel stereo controls. And with a supercharged 280 ft/lb of torque, and 240 HP, it's only a few tenths of a second slower than a base-level Mustang with a V8.

I'm keeping it until it dies My next luxury is the HT. Right now I've got a starter level HT I'm happy with, but an upgrade from my X1 to a 4x DLP projector, some Paradigms, and a real subwoofer, will be my next luxury.