Can we stop referring to households making $200 or 300K a year as "middle class"?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

Or live on a metro line.

DW works from home. She goes into the kids room where her desk is while kids are up and about. She moves to the kitchen table at nap time. You can buy a cheap car for $10k and use it for commuting for years. You will never get the extra$1k you ay every month for rent.

It can be done. You are choosing not to do it.

I should add, DW also had $125k in law school debt. We have been paying $2k every month for the last 4 years n an income that was $175 and is now $205. We have $5,325 left on her loans and we will pay them off in march.

[Anonymous]

Re: 3300 rent and 3br guy - I've run two companies from my dining room table. No one "needs" an office.

I also rent out a 2bd/2ba RH on the Hill for $2500 a month. So you are clearly living in the penthouse and crying poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: 3300 rent and 3br guy - I've run two companies from my dining room table. No one "needs" an office.

I also rent out a 2bd/2ba RH on the Hill for $2500 a month. So you are clearly living in the penthouse and crying poor.

Certainly not crying poor here. Just saying we are middle class at best in this area of the country, especially while making a 5k payment per month on student loans (which will drop to 3 once baby comes). Rent isnt the biggest elephant in the room here. The fact that we don't even qualify to write off SL interest on taxes warps my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

I'm the single mom above with the SN kid. I work from home a great deal, without an office, and live carfree in a very safe walkable location in an apartment that costs me under $2K a month. We have 2 good sized bedrooms. If DC was crib sized, I'd probably do one of the 1 bedroom plus den places in my community that are more like $1,500 a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

I'm the single mom above with the SN kid. I work from home a great deal, without an office, and live carfree in a very safe walkable location in an apartment that costs me under $2K a month. We have 2 good sized bedrooms. If DC was crib sized, I'd probably do one of the 1 bedroom plus den places in my community that are more like $1,500 a month.

Where is this magical neighborhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

I'm the single mom above with the SN kid. I work from home a great deal, without an office, and live carfree in a very safe walkable location in an apartment that costs me under $2K a month. We have 2 good sized bedrooms. If DC was crib sized, I'd probably do one of the 1 bedroom plus den places in my community that are more like $1,500 a month.

Where is this magical neighborhood?

You can find apartments like this easily near the Bethesda, Takoma, Silver Spring, Grovesnor, and Rockville metros, and probably others that I didn't happen to look at when apartment hunting. I'm not going to name my particular neighborhood, but it's on that list.

[Anonymous]

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Where is this magical neighborhood?

Fairlington in Arlington. http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/apa/4840705375.html

There's also a 3br, 2b for $2,400. There are lots of units for rent here, many pools, tons of young families and significantly cheaper than what you are paying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

The world's smallest violin is playing for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

That was all that was available for a 3 bed in the nw, we need one bed for a baby, one for an office, and one for our bedroom. Also wanted to live in a safe area that's walkable/bikeable to stores and work.

That's want vs need. You don't NEED an office. You want walk ability. You pay for those luxuries.

An office is needed as one of us works from home everyday. Pay for walk ability or pay for a car...

[Anonymous]

A separate room just for an office is a luxury. I WAH 3 days a week, from a desk in my bedroom. It's fine. We have other priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wife and I make ~240k per year and are def middle class.

We have about 250k in student loans (wife's law loans), and a 3500/m rent with a child on the way. There is no way we will be able to afford a home in the foreseeable future. Nearly all of our money goes to student loans, taxes and rent.

Why on Earth would you need to.pay $3300 in rent?

I have the exact same question. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Try to find a 3bed 2 bath in the nw for under that...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to find a 3bed 2 bath in the nw for under that...

I am middle class. NW isn't even on my radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: 3300 rent and 3br guy - I've run two companies from my dining room table. No one "needs" an office.

I also rent out a 2bd/2ba RH on the Hill for $2500 a month. So you are clearly living in the penthouse and crying poor.

Certainly not crying poor here. Just saying we are middle class at best in this area of the country, especially while making a 5k payment per month on student loans (which will drop to 3 once baby comes). Rent isnt the biggest elephant in the room here. The fact that we don't even qualify to write off SL interest on taxes warps my mind.

But you don't get it. Just because you spend at least $1000 per month more on rent than you have to, and it makes your disposable income that much less, doesn't not mean you don't have the means. A true middle class person could not afford to live in a $3300/month apartment. PERIOD. You are an affluent (not rich, but between upper middle class and rich) family that chooses to spend your money on expensive rent. You will continue to live a middle class lifestyle because you prioritize the luxury of an expensive apartment over saving money. You can easily move a little further out and have the same apartment or go with a smaller apartment to have a rent below $2500 and put the rest into paying off the loans, then into savings so that you can truly afford a lifestyle more in line with your income. But you choose to spend your disposable income on expensive housing in a prime location. For that you pay.

This is like someone saying that they live on the upper east side of Manhatten, but because they spend $6000 on rent per month that they are middle class. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to find a 3bed 2 bath in the nw for under that...

Now you need a second bath too? For 2 people?

You are correct that there are large parts of NW where you won't be able to find an apartment that meets those criteria. That is because those parts of the city are the parts where wealthy people live. Middle class people live in other areas, farther from the city center. Sometimes the live close to black people. Sometimes they have to ride the metro under the homes of the wealthy people in NW. Or they live in apartments that don't have more bedrooms than people.