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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]200k and can't afford a house I'd actually want to live in. I consider us solidly middle class.[/quote]

And I expect you are typical of people who think they're middle class when they are clearly not. It's not enough to own a home, you have to own the perfect home, with at least one more bedroom than you need, a kitchen updated in the last 5 years to your exacting tastes, the right location, the right schools, etc etc etc.

Middle class means you compromise and you do without. Kids share a bedroom. The kitchen is 15 years old or more. The floors are carpeted, and the bathrooms look like your grandmas. And you live with that because you have other financial priorities - and you simply can't afford to renovate.

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That is not a life I would choose to live.[/quote]

I'm guessing in a home where kids are sharing bedrooms and carpet is 15 years old, the parents aren't making an income that involves advanced degrees.  So they probably don't have student loans.  And maybe mom doesn't work or took a few years off, so they weren't dropping 2-3k/month sending two kids to daycare.  In a way, their income may go further than another more affluent dual income family.

I think the problem in the DC area is that there are so many well educated people who didn't work as hard as they did to live the lifestyle you described.  And I don't think it's fair to claim these people are out of touch for wanting a decently nice house with good schools within 30 min.

And FWIW, I keep seeing Silver Spring thrown out as a great middle class area for Maryland.  There really isn't an equivalent for those of us in NoVa.  The typically middle class suburb people name is Burke, which is outside the beltway.  Those of us with a bit more money can afford Fairfax, Oakton, or Vienna.  Everything closer-in Virginia is getting out of reach.  Even S. Arlington is starting to get really expensive. [/quote]

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