Being lower middle class and living well

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01/03/2015 00:43

Subject: Being lower middle class and living well

quote

Anonymous

I'm getting a little tired of everyone in this country, and especially this rich-people forum, complaining about how hard it is to be middle class nowadays. Yes, there are some problems - wages haven't risen with cost of living, taxes are higher, etc. But I'm a single, middle class young woman in DC, with a take home of about $2,600 a month, and I not only get by very nicely, but feel like I can live in the DC metro area in comfort and happiness and a feeling of well-being. I'm a lawyer with thankfully no debt (parents paid for my undergraduate education at a small, cheap state university, and then I went to a third tier law school at around 90% scholarship and my grandparents chipping in for the rest + living expenses). I work for a low-paying employer (trying to maintain anonymity). Here is how I cut down on my expenses and live really well:

My health, dental and vision insurance is taken care of by my employer. I live with four roommates in a lower-middle class neighborhood either on the edges of the city or in MD/VA, and my rent is around $650. I pay utilities like gas and electric and Internet splitting it up with roommates, but we do not bother with paying for cable. I instead have Netflix on my laptop, which is $8/month. My roommates and I share the Netflix account and even split that cost, so guess what I'm paying for Netflix per month? $2. And I get to stream anything and have lots of fun.

I do not own a fancy smart phone, just an HTC Evo 4G which I got for $99. My cell phone provider is not Verizon or AT&T or T-Mobile, but a tiny independent carrier called FreedomPop, where I pay a flat fee of $20 a month for unlimited talk, text and data (well until a 1GB limit, then the speed drops).

My car is a very old late-90s model (unwilling to divulge details) with plenty of miles on her but carefully tended to, tweaked and strategically upgraded over the years (new wheels, new brakes, tuning engine to get more power,etc) for less than $4,000. I save on gas by limiting my driving through combining errands, and carpool to work when I can. I also walk a lot and this way I also get my exercise. I do a LOT of walking when I can - to friends' houses, to the library, etc. Walking is also a romantic date activity for my boyfriend, in fact!

My food and medication are all generic brands, and I remain as healthy as a horse. Lots of non-organic veggies are perfectly safe to eat. I almost NEVER eat out at restaurants. That's right, never. Why spend $20 on my food and then being forced to tip on top of that? Or wasting money with to-go deli sandwiches that are overpriced and I can make at home? I take a brown bag to work. I have a coffee flask so I haven't visited a Starbucks since law school. I can buy enough food at my non-fancy grocery store, and I'm an experienced and creative enough cook, that I can make restaurant-worthy meals in my own kitchen. I buy a lot of stuff in bulk. I think the last time I went out to a restaurant was around seven months ago. And I almost never buy alcohol - it's expensive, has empty calories, bad for my health, and not something I need to have fun. However I'm happy to drink if an employer or client is paying.

I do drink tons and tons of water though, which has not only changed the texture and tone of my skin but is also completely free! I don't buy soda, I don't drink much juice, and I buy very little coffee because I can get free coffee at work. I also make my own snacks and take them everywhere with me.

How do I socialize when I don't buy drink or food outside? I manage! For date nights with my boyfriend, we usually cook together and then watch a movie, either at my place or his, or we go out and do something relatively cheap or free (concerts in the park, etc). I go to bars with my friends and just drink water (I don't even want to spend $2 on a beer - you'll be shocked how quickly that adds up plus I don't like the taste of beer much). I invite friends home for a potluck dinner and cook a couple really good dishes as the hostess. My friends are misers too, so if we want to eat outside, we can always cook our own food and grab a picnic table at a public park.

There are also tons of free events around town, which I enjoy going to with a friend or a date. Even museums have free admittance days.

I also don't buy books unless I can't find them in the library and I really want them.

I take care of my clothes meticulously, and only shop at thrift stores or on sales and clearance racks at stores like Marshall's or TJ Maxx. I have rewards cards at stores like this. I also find that online stores can sell really cute clothes for very competitive prices, because they have no physical infrastructure to pay for. I buy holiday presents up to eight months in advance sometimes, meticulously searching for dirt cheap deals on items that I know my loved ones really want for birthdays or Christmas or Valentine's Day.

My holidays are always domestic and sometimes even local. I haven't gone abroad in about 5 years and I don't feel I'm missing out. I have a lot of fun with my family members, roommates, friends or co-workers, whether I'm back in my parents' house or out camping in a gorgeous park. Most recently my boyfriend and I drove down to colonial Williamsburg, which isn't far from DC and is a wonderful weekend trip for history nerds like us.

My savings, which is in the range of $1,400 per month, go into a high-interest savings account where compound interest makes sure my net worth doesn't fall behind inflation. In 2016 I'd like to move in with my boyfriend (who earns about the same as I do and is just as thrifty), but currently we're saving aggressively in our cheap living arrangements.

Eighty years ago the culture of eating out, traveling wildly, and having all kinds of unnecessary luxuries at home or in your lifestyle wasn't expected of the middle class. I think we need to change some of the expectations we have regarding what kind of lifestyle is considered "middle-class".