Post by juliagoulia on Sept 15, 2014 12:22:41 GMT -5
We are above middle class. But instead of a roll of toilet paper made out of $100 dolla dolla bills we could only make like.... A family cloth made out of $5s. That would be dedicated to #1 only because some months we may need to let it dry out and use some of it. Middle class in rural Pennsylvania doesn't get you too far.
I think it's easier for me to recognize that we are upper-middle because I grew up pretty poor and the difference is obvious.
If you grew up middle/upper-middle, it's harder to see how many "extras" you actually have, because to you they are a given. (Like paying for preschool or having your kids involved in sports or music lessons). If you are doing the same/worse than your parents, I guess it's harder to see that you are still doing better than "middle."
My husband grew up very comfortably and I grew up poor. We're now living on one salary because I'm a SAHM. He tried to say that we are the working poor. I said 'please don't ever say that out loud ever again'. We don't have much left over after bills (if anything). But not being able to just go to a butcher and buy whatever steaks we want whenever we want doesn't give you the right to compare yourself to people going to bed cold and hungry. It's easier for me to see because, even though we had plenty when we had twice the income, doing without is not unfamiliar to me. It's extremely unfamiliar to him.
I wish they did this by county and number in household. I think it is interesting to compare it county wise but it feels ingenuine when we aren't figuring that we have a dual spouse household and two kids.
Would that make us appear richer or poorer? I am not sure lol.
Are all the jillionaire doctors and poor as shit students fucking up our stats?
Yes and we have a very sizable poverty level population as well. For how small we are we have such a huge range of the have and the have nots.
Lemme tell you when I stopped reading MM. Last week, someone asked how much they have left over after paying bills each month. The majority had 2500+ left over. Left. Over. I don't even bring home 2500 a month
Post by EllieArroway on Sept 15, 2014 12:27:32 GMT -5
After I pay for my house in a great neighborhood, private school and daycare for two kids, two newish cars, two or three vacations per year, and a few expensive hobbies, as well as fully fund my retirement accounts and add a little to savings each month I am practically poor. How dare you suggest that I am upper middle class.
This always gets me all riled up. I mean, talk about entitlement. The fact that "above middle class" doesn't look like "the rich kids in every John Hughes movie" or "being Doris Duke" doesn't make you middle class.
Okay, now I'm straight-up laughing at, "This is America. Virtually everyone is middle class."
I bet she can't even see outside her bubble.
Fyi this person probably makes well over $200,00 year and lives in a county with the following "middle class" income range Middle class in New York County, New York is
$50,261—$91,758
Oh come on. You guys aren't reading.
I never said that I was average or fell right in the middle of the middle class. I very obviously do not. I just think that "upper class" is something different. That's all.
After I pay for my house in a great neighborhood, private school and daycare for two kids, two newish cars, two or three vacations per year, and a few expensive hobbies, as well as fully fund my retirement accounts and add a little to savings each month I am practically poor. How dare you suggest that I am upper middle class.
Plus - someone in your town probably drives a nicer car than you. So you will never be upper middle class. And if you're in a HCOL area your circumstances are special because that's never taken into consideration.
Fyi this person probably makes well over $200,00 year and lives in a county with the following "middle class" income range Middle class in New York County, New York is
$50,261—$91,758
Oh come on. You guys aren't reading.
I never said that I was average or fell right in the middle. I very obviously do not. I just think that "upper class" is something different. That's all.
Well, it's "above middle class."
So, uh, what else could you mean? Do you mean "heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune"? That's called "super rich."
Exactly. I am not middle class for my county (pretty above it). But I grew up poor -it is still amazing to me that I can go to Target and spend $50 and not stress out about it. And I realize that many people cannot do that.
My sister is like this at times. She tried to complain about taxes or something (while I am a tax accountant's nightmare since I have no kids and own no property). I just looked at her in disbelief - you live in a $400K house, send you kids to private school (not super expensive, but still) and you stay at home! Really?
Surprisingly, we are actually a bit above middle class for our city. It seems like there are so many wealthy people around here that I figured we'd be middle of the middle.
I will say that while I do feel "rich" in many ways, our income is predominantly from my husband's blue-collar job.
There are many ways that we don't fit in with others in the same income bracket, simply by virtue of the fact that my husband does not have a college degree.
So I do understand people saying that they don't feel like they are middle class/ upper class.
Having finally hit 6-figures HHI last year, we are just above middle by income, but there are other factors at play that make it difficult to feel upper-middle.
I don't understand the reluctance to be considered anything other than middle class. Everyone wants to be rich, but no one wants others to *consider* them rich.
This is what is driving me crazy about the whole conversation.
Fyi this person probably makes well over $200,00 year and lives in a county with the following "middle class" income range Middle class in New York County, New York is
$50,261—$91,758
Oh come on. You guys aren't reading.
I never said that I was average or fell right in the middle of the middle class. I very obviously do not. I just think that "upper class" is something different. That's all.
We all read perfectly well. You just aren't liking the reaction you're getting.
Just because others have substantially more than you does not mean you aren't rich or above middle class. In my county the range is $70,529—$112,385. I know a lot of people who make waaaay more than this and way more than us but just because they are bajillionairs does not negate the fact that we are able to live comfortably here. You don't have to be queen richie of all richies to just cop to being comparably well off.
I never said that I was average or fell right in the middle of the middle class. I very obviously do not. I just think that "upper class" is something different. That's all.
You seem to be moving the target of "upper class" constantly in order to ensure it doesn't define you. First it was someone who made way more than you; next it's some undefinable "elite" quality. The simple fact is that economically you are a part of the upper class. It's disingenuous at best and insulting at worst that you keep insisting you're middle class.
Um, no. First I said I wasn't upper class because I am not an oil heiress and have to work for a living; later I said because I am not a household name/Forbes lister. Those are kind of the same thing?
I just think that the middle class encompasses most Americans (whether they're lower middle class, or middle middle class, or upper middle class, or upper upper middle class). And I think I fall somewhere in that list.
It really all is semantics about what "upper class" is. I think people can be plenty rich while still being somewhere in the upper middle class, socioeconomically.
I seem to have the opposite feelings of many people. We are pretty solidly middle class based on the income calculator thing, but I consider myself upper class in some ways because I am highly educated with upper class parents.
Considering the millions of people in this country who go hungry, or live paycheck-to-paycheck, or who have to pick and choose which bills to pay every month, it seems like the absolute height of arrogance (to say nothing of ignorance) to claim to be middle class while making upwards of $200k.
Post by prettyinpearls on Sept 15, 2014 12:47:11 GMT -5
I took the quiz twice -- once for the county I work in and then again for the county I live in (20 minutes apart from each other) and I was shocked to see the difference in the middle class range between the two.
That being said, I feel middle class and it turns out that I am.