Why is $275k hhi now so poor?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
You’re an idiot. |
Anonymous
If you make $275K as a single person income your hair needs to be presentable and not have 3 inches of visible roots and dry ends to keep that job |
Anonymous
The roof example was ridiculous, but lots of the other points are valid. OP, you seem to have a very warped view of what constituted middle class. I am 52, and the child of two public school teachers - pretty much the definition of middle class. Adjusting for inflation, they made a lot less that $275. A lot of the things you apparently believe were middle class stables just weren't. My parents moved 50 miles away form my father's job in order to afford the house that they wanted in an area where they wanted to raise kids. My father drove 100 miles a day for three decades, and brought a thermos of coffee (and his lunch) every day. I didn't get on a plane until I was in high school, and the first time I flew more than once in a year I was 26 years old. I never went on an international vacation with my parents. We changed the oil in our (very old) cars ourselves, and my parents didn't buy a new car until they retiremed. I didn't get food delivered until I was in college. My mother never had a housekeeper or cleaner in her life. The list goes on. Now, our life was good - don't get me wrong. And also, a lot of the things that they did aren't really options now, and there are significant expenses now that weren't necessary back then (everyone in the family having a cell phone, for example). And today's planned obsolescence culture means that you have to replace expensive items that 4 decades ago could be fixed, and used for much longer. I get all that. But the point is that you have this picture of a middle class lifestyle that really isn't accurate, and it is affecting your perception of how well you are doing, and how well you should be doing. |
Anonymous
Fine and when you move to Texas don’t pay $500k over ask because “wE hAVe ThE MoNEy” 🙄 |
Anonymous
Ahhh yes.. first they blamed Millennials for killing napkins, now they blame Millennials for inflation. Good lord, I hope one day when Millennials take over the govt they cut your boomer medicare and social security bennies in half as retribution for ruining the country. |
Anonymous
I have the skills to put on a new roof---helped parents while growing up---dad did everything except HVAC. Sure, I can read and figure it out, and I used to when we were young. But now I happily outsource all of that to highly qualified people. It's called contributing to the economy. My spouse makes close to $500/hour. They are defiantly not interested in spending their free time doing house repairs. So we pay people to do it. It's called prioritizing |
Anonymous
Or just don't start coloring your hair in the first place. I make way more than that. Never colored/highlighted/done anything except haircuts and styling. You can make yourself beautiful without $500 of haircare monthly |
Anonymous
| My husbands dad was a janitor so not even middle class. But he taught my husband so much about home maintenance! We have definitely saved a lot over the years with my husband installing the water line for a bidet, maintaining our furnace, doing minor auto repairs. It scares the crap out of me when he insists on doing electrical stuff - but it’s doubtful that we could have afforded our summer house if we had to pay for things like tiling the laundry room, front foyer, etc. But even with that expertise we don’t do construction just repairs. |
Anonymous
Agreed! MC meant you lived in a basic home, if you were lucky there were 2 bathrooms and maybe AC. You took your lunch to school daily (or had to use your allowance/babysitting money to pay for your lunch yourself). My parents always took their lunches/snacks to work. We ate out maybe once every 2 weeks, and that was take out pizza or Sizzler (where each person had unlimited food for $5-6). Our vacations were always driving with the popup camper where we used the public facilities. My parents never flew, except for a job interview (we moved a lot). I think their first flight for Pleasure trip was for my siblings wedding when they were 50+. Their first color TV was when I was 25 (I'm the baby). They never had cable or any luxuries. I got a clothing budget of $100/year and had to make it last. I usually added to it with the $25 I got for my bday and xmas so I had $150 to spend. I had 1 pair of shoes for school and 1 pair of dress shoes for church and that was it, unless I spent my own money. I can recall having a "party phone line" when we lived in a rural area. I was in college before my parents had anything other than a rotary dial phone (it was cheaper) The list could go on and on. But point is what many consider "needs" today are really wants and many MC people don't have them. |
Anonymous
|
LOL you don't what poor is! SMH
Appreciate what you have. You are so blessed. Why is all you can see lack??? This has to do with your mind, not the money. |
Anonymous
|
Wow, so many mid people ITT who don't even realize how mid and pretty poor they are.
The entire economy requires consumption. If middle class people stopped spending like people ITT keep promulgating, then the entire economy would collapse and you'd all be out of jobs, lol. |
Anonymous
This is a good point. People complain about how expensive rent is, but the places that are 2.5K+ for a 1 bedroom are new buildings with huge windows, a nice gym, game room, work from home pods, and "luxury finishes." While it is true that luxury apartment buildings are now 50%+ of the supply in DC, the new generation doesn't want to live in an apartment building from 20 years ago with linoleum floors. In addition, I don't think people felt required to go to the nail salon every 2 weeks, or go to Starbucks every day, or grab take-out instead of cooking yourself. These things were considered treats, not staples. My family was middle class and we didn't take any trips until I was in middle school. The only international trips were with my family, after I went to college, and when my parents were making more. Now I take an international trip at least once a year. I think we tend to forget that, in some respects, we're doing a lot more than our parents did when they were our age. That said, I still agree with OP. I would have thought that 275K HHI would go further for DINKs than how far it actually goes. I would have at least expected that OP could go to Starbucks every day with some money leftover after purchasing only a 650K home. |
Anonymous
| OP is definitely doing things wrong. Family of 4 with a lower HHI and a few million net worth. If they received a college degree, they should ask for a refund. |
Anonymous
Stay poor then with your constant spending while we pile up our assets. Just don’t cry over your inability to ever retire. |
Anonymous
Easy to do when you probably had mommy and daddy money to pay for your crappy English and LA degrees. |