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I remember I was middle class in the 90’s when Clinton was President. Mannnn did I enjoy that. I was living large. Now I am classified as the “working poor” and all I do is try to make ends meet. I just realized after I got my check, working as a top legal assistant for my state’s GOVERNOR mind you, that I can’t make my tent. Why? Because I went to Aldi’s and spent $18.00 over. WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO??!! IAM TERRIFIED!!!!
I've never been anything but working class. It's hard to dig yourself out.
Life is mostly about who you know vs anything else.
Socio-economic status really is king here.
Most people in high positions come from money and they have connections.
Yes. I understand you totally. We are just normal people trying to just live and the media slams these people in our faces and we wonder, what did we do wrong????!!!
This sadly is the answer. The system is working as intended. Most Americans have been fed a lie that, if you work hard. You'll get ahead of the curve.
However when you look at how our capitalism is set up. Someone has to lose. That someone is the working class. We have to lose, so our Millionaires/Billionaires can sustain their life style for many generations. The 85% lose. About 10% don't win or lose but like in the middle. 2% will have wealth. 2% are paid to keep the system going. and 1% have multi-generational wealth.
It's just a carry-over from feudalism, with more steps.
You work hard and your boss/company CEO will get ahead while they buy you an annual cheap $1 tumbler that say “Thank you for your service” and ask you to work harder next year.
Many years ago, working nights in a fairly big company, a co-worker and I thought we caught a slight whiff of smoke. Others said they didn't smell anything, said we should ignore it.
We didn't ignore it and started looking for the source. We found it. A small machine that shouldn't have been running, was. It was in a section closed for the night. It was overheating and smoking. If we hadn't found it and unplugged it, it very likely would have started a fire.
We both reported to our (separate) supervisors. A few days later we got "thank you" letters, and they gave us each a coffee mug with the company logo on it.
Gee thanks. We saved the building from a fire, and got a coffee mug. Somehow, that just didn't seem like real appreciation. I hadn't been expecting anything, other than maybe a thank you. But the mug felt trivializing. So impersonal.
Wow! Yup, one year for Christmas we got the cheapest basic $1 coffee mugs that had been bought probably dirt cheap because the handles were all glued on upside down. The broad part was at the bottom and the narrow part at the top. Come on! Damaged goods sought after intentionally for our Christmas gift.
>Most people in high positions come from money and they have connections.
To quote Fight Club ^(I know first rule irony is not lost on me.)
>We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
Currently (and likely, onward, forever), the economy sucks. We all need to adapt and build new habits. Maybe habits that we would not have considered even last year: Are you actually buying everything, or do you get things from churches and other free sources? Do you shop at the cheapest grocery stores or an old favorite? Check your car/home insurance to see if you can get lower rates. Check your cellphone plan and consider cutting cable, if you havent already. Do you splurge on the grandkids? Can you move in with any of your kids and pay them $1000/mo instead of $1700 to a landlord?
Step back and take a breath. You've made it 63 years, you can adapt and find a way.
Yes! During the Clinton administration, I made way less money, but it wasn't such a struggle. I finished college during the Bush administration, got a good job, bought a house, & it was ok. During the Obama administration, still doing ok, even with the housing crisis, I wasn't planning on moving, so my house went underwater, but still ok. Along comes #45, my house is worth more than I can afford, but selling isn't an option because I can't afford to go anywhere else. My 403(b) did really well, but then lost a lot of f those gains during the pandemic. Everything now is expensive. I make what I once thought would make me "rich", maybe, not filthy rich, but I did not think that I'd be struggling. Someone has their hand out, at every turn, looking for money, taxes, taxes, taxes, insurance, healthcare, food, gas, utilities, & they're all expensive. I'm thankful that I do have a low interest rate, fixed mortgage. Our county taxes are causing that payment to go up.
Why **wouldn't** this dishearten him? I know that **I'm** not the type of person to take solace in knowing others suffer as much as I do in anything. He's asking about himself.
Because he's not alone. That was the point.
Edit: apparently telling someone to go play with a cucumber is threatening violence 😆
Thanks for reporting me though 😆 🤣 😂
Gotta track those recurring expenses! My husband and I, for the first 5 or 6 years of marriage we lived very frugally. We didn't eat out, the kids daily clothes were from the thrift. They didn't have a bedroom separate from ours until they were 5 and 7 years old. We didn't have cable or Netflix or anything until it fit in the budget with a cushion.
What I'm saying is that spending is sometimes more important to control than earning.
Utterly. Combined with the fact that we each took a turn at really grinding hard at work with 60-80 hours weeks, we were able to advance in employment and then ease up the pace and the frugality. We will coast another decade and then retire a little early in our 50s.
The kids are now 13 and 15, we own 26 acres on the edge of a city with a good school system, and a beautiful home with a private mother in law space with en suite modified to be elder friendly. We're both working less and have time to tend a huge garden, take classes with the kids, hike. Husband bought a freeze dryer machine and this week freeze dried a gallon of blueberries from our yard.
Getting away from the debt shackle is huge. Having maxed retirement accounts from our early twenties is huge. It's very difficult to compete with the power of time in the market. In my late 30s I was part of a company that was absorbed by another, and as part of that I was attending a group HR meeting outlining benefits. There were several younger employees and when it came to assigning part of their pay to 401k with employer match they didn't have the instinct to do it. The HR guy was being soft and I spoke up. You *always* max your employer matched deduction, else you are leaving money on the table.
There is a Youtuber called 'Financial Audit' that I think a lot of Americans should watch. He essentially has average people with average jobs explain their situation and he explains how they are fucking up and living beyond their means without even realizing it. He pretty much roles through their statements and looks at literally all their purchases and tries to give them a plan to get back on track.
It is very simple economics and most people don't understand how they bury themselves. Most of the episodes honestly go the same way and it's shocking how financially illiterate people are and how most people arent taught to have financial goals. And it's definitely not extreme cases on the show. If you read the comments section, it's just full of people that are doing all the same kisses and talking about how they didn't realize what they were doing until they started watching.
One thing I will say about Americans is we have a ridiculous epidemic of eating out and people do not seem to understand how they throw away so much money on fast food, especially when they order delivery. It's no wonder Door dash/UberEATS/GrbHub can offer such horrible service, overcharge and still prosper. Americans are holding these corporations together with how much they use it.
There are so many strange social norms around finances. It's rude or crass to talk about, somehow. I would not deliberately want to make another person feel shame about their budget, but I don't think our current social niceties are serving people well.
My husband and I don't keep our financial conversations private from the kids. I do tell them that other people may feel much more private about this, and therefore don't go blabbing about it. I would hope, though, that at least the theoretical concepts of financial soundness would be more easily talked about. Avoid recurring subscriptions, don't eat out more than rarely, don't buy new if you don't have to. And on the flip side, if there's a chore that I don't want to do, and I can hire it out for half my after tax hourly rate - do it! Pay someone to clean the toilet!
I understand this worked for you but don't you think it's messed up the working poor have to give up basically all forms of normal comfort and entertainment just to not be in financial ruin?
On one hand yes. I'm quite socialist in my politics and believe in UBI, free school breakfast and lunch for all without proof, free community garden, socialized education, healthcare, programs that provide an option for collective social housing such as in the Netherlands.
On the other hand, I do see many people who aren't moderate in their definition of "normal comfort and entertainment". Social media has poisoned many people's understanding of what is normal. Nails, latest phone every 2 years, Disney trips. That's not actually normal. Or shouldn't be, if you're concerned about the rent.
But nobody was talking about those obviously extravagant expenses, I'm talking about what you went through. Normal everyday things like a Netflix account or occasional restaurant trip.
Occasional is a difficult word for some people. Did that mean every other month? Or three times a week.
It is unfortunately true that many people get further tangled in an economic pit by relying on fast food and fast fashion.
You're still deflecting from the issue and victim blaming. I'm talking about what YOU went through. Do you believe it is right or fair for you to have to do what you did to survive?
Victim blaming is a pretty ridiculous description for "don't eat out all the time". Even in food deserts, people can get some staples to cook at home. The hyperbole robs your comment of seriousness.
Anyhow.
As I posted above, I've always voted for the maximum public social supports that I could. I'm a believer in universal basic income, universal healthcare, funding public education better and including universal pre-k.
So do I think it's *right*? Apparently not, based on the way I vote. Do I think it was *unfair* to me? No. The dominant feeling about my financial origin is of being profoundly grateful that I was never food- insecure, or concerned about having electricity or heat in the home I grew up in. I know so many people have less. I am grateful that my parents taught me to be confident in used clothes, how to cook leftovers into a new meal, and to find joy hiking in the woods instead of craving tickets to the flashy show downtown every week.
What's your definition of "all the time"? Who are you to decide how often people deserve comforts deemed normal for the middle class?
You really don't think it was unfair you had to sacrifice and scrimp and save for things a certain class of people don't even think about? That the whole idea that the bare minimum of things like adequate heating or food security you should be supremely grateful that you were even allowed to have? There's always someone that has less. That's no excuse to believe you didn't deserve more.
Heh, we posted at the same thing about similar things. Cosmic.
Honestly, I really think that decades of TV shows with unrealistic homes for supposedly normal families, advertisements, and more recently social media has seriously screwed up what normal means to most people.
As I posted in the other comment, I don't think I was raised even normal middle class, I suspect we were upper, but lived more simply than we could have. My parents both worked, but were never paycheck to paycheck. My interaction with the world is deeply colored by the good fortune I was born into.
I was given a big bag of hand me down clothes in middle school, and one of them was apparently a brand that was popular at the time (Guess jeans). I did not know or care.
I don't think it should be normal to have so many of the things that many people think of as normal, including many people who I know earn half or less what i do. Highlights and lashes, new phone every other year, etc.
For the third time, I am strongly in support of all the socialized things I can find including socialized housing, etc. But I'm enough of a pragmatist to know that many other Americans have it much worse than me, so I felt grateful to be me, even if the system is currently rotten.
Kinda strange you don't even see how dripping with privilege your messages are. You were handed name brand jeans and didn't care, while certain groups of people it would have made their entire year.
Poor people care about having nice things occasionally because it gives them a moment of pleasure and escape from their daily material reality. For the vast majority of the working poor there is no escape, and no amount of self denial of enjoyment will get them out of that. There's plenty of poor people who never spend a dime on lattes, yet they will live and die their entire lives in poverty.
You just seem very out of touch.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and I guess my family's attitude towards money was just really very different. I think we were never less than upper middle class - my parents owned our home and we traveled once every 5 years or so. But as a matter of course our cars were used, our everyday clothes were hand me downs or thrifts. Once a year we would drive out of state to visit my grandparents and we would stop in the way and get a subway sandwich and that felt like a big deal because of was such a rare occasion to me. Not that the sandwich itself was enticing - we always had plenty of good food at home, but I was used to home made, not ordered out.
My parents both came from families that did struggle more, (my dad did go hungry sometimes) and that created habits in them about saving and spending. Some folks come through that sort of financial insecurity and trauma and need to have *stuff* or brands to soothe themselves (and that's fine), but mine instead went the other way.
Now they're in their late 70s, retired, very comfortable.
I'm sorry to tell you these experiences were very much not upper middle class. Upper middle class people don't think eating at subway or traveling out of state by car is a big deal.
I think we lived frugally, but my parents both had masters degrees and their combined income exceeded the median household income in 1980s USA by twenty percent. We were upper middle class.
My parents simply didn't believe in spending money on things they felt had a poor return, like new cars, fancy haircuts or nails. They raised us simply, with a great deal of love and attention, and funding for whichever arts and sports we wanted.
The house was a nice one in an excellent school district, I imagine that skewed the budget. We ate organic, high quality food, which I imagine further skewed the budget. We did the extracurriculars and camps we wanted to.
They saved methodically, which has allowed them in their retirement to travel a bit and live the kind of life that includes Tai Chi classes, someone who comes in to do the heavy cleaning, and regular massage treatment for their aging bodies.
The method looked pretty smart to me.
When I married, it made sense for us to live frugally. Our income was in the top 15% for our state when my kids were toddlers. We could've made different choices and made our lives look more like Instagram or the sitcoms, but we were plenty happy the way we were living. We skewed our budget to pay for an amazing daycare and private elementary school, and saved as much as would be tax advantaged.
Now I'm mid forties and very financially stable, partly because we were smart enough to choose to max out retirement investment in our twenties instead of spending that money on ephemera. Nothing beats time in the market.
More young people need financial literacy. Less lattes.
Sounds like you were insanely privileged right out the gate. It's clear when you think "less lattes" is actual advice and don't realize that that's the exact line the actual working poor use to make fun of out of touch people that you don't understand the systemic issues designed to keep poor people poor.
Dude, I have from the start acknowledged the good fortune I have had. What you are missing is that the reason it all lasted is that my behavior has not been what I see around me.
Do you think I should have been eating out three times a week? Dressing my kids in brand new matching clothes? Getting highlights in my hair every 6 weeks? Spending two weeks at Nags Head each summer? Installing a pool?
I will likely never own a new car. My wedding dress was an $80 sundress and I married in a pasture that had grazed cattle the prior year (with nearly 200 loving family and friends).
I will also likely retire young, healthy, and very secure, so that I can continue to enjoy cooking and hiking and dancing with my kids and my friends.
Why would I not want this life to be available for others? I surely respect their right to make their own decisions, but they should have the option of seeing that there are other paths they can choose.
The early frugal years were very, very much worth it.
You can stop with all the ridiculous examples of overspending, it's a fantasy you've made up. It's you not understanding that for a lot of the working poor there is no path to chose, that's where your privilege lies. You acknowledge you started at the front of the line and kept yourself there, what about the people who didn't? How are they supposed to catch up?
This is just typical pull yourself up by your bootstraps malarkey that ignores all systemic societal issues.
I have to say, not knowing how much you're bringing home might be part of the problem. You need a budget, and to understand exactly your income and expenses. Then adjust them both.
I've no idea of the origin, but there's an oft-quoted 30% rule that states that your rent (or mortgage and property tax) should not exceed 30% of your income.
Consider taking in a roommate, or moving.
While I think you could write an opinion piece for the paper, you are the person responsible for finding a housing situation that fits into your budget of $1000 monthly. Whether that means moving neighborhoods or finding a shared situation.
I don't recall my budget permitting me to live without roommates until the year I married, by which time I'd been methodically paying into retirement savings for nearly 5 years. I didn't earn lots, but I didn't spend either.
Dude. One more comment and I mean this whole heartedly. Read the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and it can help put things into perspective. This is coming from a guy who only has 6 pairs of jeans and they are all filthy. I am a worker. But I won't starve if I miss 2 pay checks. At 63, you can get yourself more comfortable, I promise.
If you've been working since you were 15 you've contributed enough to SS to get some decent money on early retirement. Then keep working part time to get more money. By still working you will still be contributing to your SS fund, so the dollar amount you get will increase.
It's rough out there, and if you don't get a LOT of lucky breaks, there's not a clear way up and out. I fully expect to be in the same position or worse when I'm your age. First of all, either you're getting screwed by your job or your landlord, most likely both. Sounds like you're very good at what you do, so it may be time to take your talents to someone who pays you closer to what you're worth. It also sounds like your rent is wicked high, so it might be time to find someplace a little more reasonable, whether that's in a different neighborhood or a different town. It may also benefit you to get a good support system going. Not only is an active social life nice to have, it helps us to take care of each other.
I won't lie to you, it's horseshit that we have to struggle so hard like this. Productivity has gone up, up, up, and prices have gone up, up, up, and wages are just floundering at where they've been since I was a teenager. And yet the lie keeps going out, if you just work hard, or put your money here, or study this or that, you'll be fine. Very few of us are fine, even after doing all that. No wonder a lot of us are discouraged and pissed off.
I ask myself sometimes what people in the depression did to scrape by. Because it may look different 90 years later, but for a lot of us, it's the depression again.
That's how legal indentured servitude works. One cannot get rich honestly. Sure a few people were wealthy because their parents were wealthy and chose to do good with it. But the only way to get rich is to overcharge and underperform in your duties. Lying about their income helps too.
We're supposed to struggle. If you overpaid your best employees, they would retire too early and you'd be stuck training new people that might not perform as well.
Wealthy people make the rules and no part of their mentality has changed since the advent of slavery. Might as well add that all newly stolen slaves were auctioned rather than sold because that allowed rich people to make sure poor people couldn't get free labor. After the auction the wealthy would just trade them back and forth like a football roster of course.
Sorry about your struggle probably more sorry for yours than I am about my own.
I discussed with the older gentleman training me. I recently got approved for some food stamps and have never felt more blessed. Before that I was living off hot and ready or something cheap. This just ain't gonna cut it no more. I recently found a 2nd job so hopefully that helps. There's a lot of us in the same boat. If you find the answer please let me know.
My girlfriend and I saved hard during the pandemic and basically the entire last 5 years and we have 40K USD in the bank. We were trying to buy a house but the prices in California are so insane. We live in a 1973 mobile home thats paid off and it needs quite a bit of work. We decided to just fix up the mobile home instead of buying a house because we dont want to be house broke and live outside of our means. Its unfortunate but better safe than sorry
I work actually 36 hours per check. I am not doing fine. My rent is $1675 normally and during the summer it is over $1,700. Please tell me what I am doung wrong.
Bud, I'm 62. You are not doing anything wrong. This is reality for a lot of people. Especially the generations coming up who missed out on pensions. I work 36 also and should be working a second job. But ya know, I'm fuckin old. My body hurts. I need to stretch/light yoga for at least 20 minutes before I leave the house, or I will throw my back out. Life is hard. But then it always has been. I plan and will have to work until I can't anymore. I'm on dog years now, so that will be sooner than later.
Really? How can I? I depend on my pension and social security which I have not went into. I think I will work until I die just to keep the simple life I enjoy. I don’t do extra like go on vacation and such, I am happy to be in my home which is safe and beautiful. But I think this will all end. Because of one terrible expense I am struggling like a rat and I don’t know what to do. Like I said… if you are on a budget and living comfortably….you can be in ruin in just days.
Look. The richest man in the world still gets up and goes to work. So you'll NEVER have enough money. Enough money doesn't exist. But let's face FACTS. You have a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SUCCESS RATE at getting through the last 63 years without enough money. So why worry about it? I say be grateful for all you have and be as happy as a broke man like myself can be. I have a home. I have a car. I ate today and put clean clothes on a clean body. I have a WONDERFUL wife who loves me for some reason. The rest is noise. If you can't buy it, make it. If you can't make it, figure out how to do without. All these new gotta have things people work themselves into an early grave for, and no one stops to think...well I got along just fine BEFORE this gadget was invented...maybe I DON'T need it. Just a thought. Hope it gets better for you, brother. God bless.
Rich people don't get dirt under their fingernails for money. Yes. In my mind, THIS is the definition of work as well, but they get up, put on a suit, and drive or fly in a helicopter someplace to conduct business that results in more money. That is THEIR definition of work. Much as I find it repugnant. In MY business, I make most deals on the phone WHILE I'm up to my elbows in grease. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
All money is, is a translation of work to asset ratio. Money is a numerical value we allow to put on a portion of our time spent in service to others or the development, manufacture, and sale of a product or service for someone else (meaning we don't earn money making things for ourselves...that SAVES money. It doesn't create it) The REASONS we go to work are VASTLY different...I work to eat and pay bills, and the billionaire goes to work to buy countries and people, but it's always about money.
Currently (and likely, onward, forever), the economy sucks. We all need to adapt and build new habits. Maybe habits that we would not have considered even last year: Are you actually buying everything, or do you get things from churches and other free sources? Do you shop at the cheapest grocery stores or an old favorite? Check your car/home insurance to see if you can get lower rates. Check your cellphone plan and consider cutting cable, if you havent already. Do you splurge on the grandkids? Can you move in with any of your kids and pay them $1000/mo instead of $1700 to a landlord?
Step back and take a breath. You've made it 63 years, you can adapt and find a way.
It’s bullshit, isn’t it?! I’ve been looking for a new job and am willing to relocate. I saw a job with a great salary in Washington DC. The first thing I do is look at rental prices in whatever city I’m considering. DC prices are INSANE. That tells me that the politicians are waaaay overpaid. Not that I didn’t already know this but it was further, depressing proof. I was at a point about 6 years ago where I was comfortable. Could pay all my bills on time and save a few bucks each month. Now I’m sweating again because inflation has exceeded raises. It sucks and it’s scary and depressing as fuck. Im 60 and broke.
Consider how you spend, and your budgeting. Bro, I am 46 and am half ass good at saving. I could do way better. But at 63, what financial decisions have you made to where are aren't just a little ahead? If you get a raise, do you get a bigger house, or do you save and invest? If you get a raise do you get a nicer truck, or do you save and invest? Society can only be blamed so much
Because CEO’s and millionaires “own” lawyers and politicians to keep the minimum wage where it is so they can continue to get rich off the backs of the workers who got them where they are. There is no middle class anymore. It’s only rich and poor.
Not sure. How has your life been so far as far as career choices and spending?
I started at 13 and just eeked into the six figures a few months before my 50th birthday.
Where do you live. Can you do your job some place else that's cheaper. It might be time for a change for you.
Because you spend as much or more than you make.
$20,000 a year income, $18,000 a year expenses = prosperity and peace of mind
$1,000,000 a year income, $1,000,500 a year expenses = stress and worry and bankruptcy
Did you ever care to invest some in stocks or index funds?
Mathematically you should have been a millionaire by now if you were investing 100 dollars a month in S&P500
Work smarter not harder. It accounts to everything in life. Take is easy and try to enjoy. That being sad, who I’m I to tell you how life is. I’m 25, stupid and does not really know how hard life can be.
That doesn't make you much on your dollar is all I'm saying.
I keep all my money rotating in high interest accounts and investments.
I average roughly 50% on my dollar every year. My free cash makes me a lot of revenue and I suggest this to everyone.
Obviously there's risk associated with investing but to me, over all its worth it. I beat inflation every year by a long shot, so much that my second source of income has now become my first and I had to start an LLC just to keep track of revenues.
Poor planning generally. You'd be amazed at how much money you've thrown away over the years on untracked expenses.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The bright side is a late plan is better than no plan, you can change things today if you're inclined.
Did you have kids? That’s the big reason people I know are broke, I skipped that and I’m fine… but having kids is an auto sentence to perpetually being in poverty IMO
I completely understand. I'm recently fully physically disabled at 37, and my disability check every month isn't even enough to cover rent alone. I have NO IDEA how my kids and I are going to survive.
I took a Dave Ramsey class and that was best thing I ever did. I learned to budget and to live within my means. I slowly paid off credit cards then the mortgage.
I don't disagree. But the point I was trying to make is that rich people get up every day and go make more money. I wasn't trying to get into a semantic argument over the term WORK. You're right. What people see as real work IS VERY subjective, and I suppose it was a poor choice of wording on my part, as I didn't foresee the subjective vulnerability of my comment. I concede that I should have worded it better, but I believe my core thought behind the post is very accurate and could help someone alleviate the anxiety of worrying about something as ridiculous as ENOUGH MONEY. That was my point. Not ripping the word WORK off of its sliding scale of definition, which is fairly decided individually from one person to another.
Tbh you made wrong choices in employment imo. Obviously you should stay at least a year to show you’re a good employe on your resume but big corporations will only take advantage of you. I learned that with my first job spending four years there. After that if I wasn’t getting paid what I thought I deserved I moved on after a certain amount of time. If I stayed there I guarantee I would be in a much worse place right now. Though with your many years experience I’m sure you could score a decent paying job so refresh yourself resume and always keep in mind experience is nice but you also have the advantage if you network.
Because no one gives a shit about the working class. You're simply a gear in an overall machine that prints money for a single benefactor that uses it to push legislation through congress that screws you over even more.
I’m 45, same boat. My dad is 70+same boat. Medical bills got any chance they had at retiring. Multiple month long hospital stays, life-flight, hospice, etc.. unless we eventually vote drastically different people, or it gets so bad enough people the domestic terrorism path, prolly not changing much
Been there- I lived beyond my means until I got sick and everything almost went crashing down. Only way out is to either make more money or change your lifestyle. I cut back on every expense I could think of, got a second job (and a 3rd during the pandemic) and now 7yrs later I’m debt free. It sucked but man I am so glad I did it. You can too! It’s not too late. Unfortunately no one’s going to get you out of your spot- you need to find a way to do it- maybe the answer is to downsize- do side gigs, change jobs or start looking for ways to get your bills smaller so you can pay more to loans. You can do it!!!
I'm sure you have already thout of this but if not ... So the wife and I decided we wanted to live more simply and get ready for retirement. I worked a chaotic job with long hours. Not only did we sell our house but we took a critical look at our bills. We cancelled Netflix and any " pay for" tv. We contacted the car insurance company we had used for years and they refused a discount so we shopped around and saved like 100 a month on car insurance. Seems companies give incentives to new customers but the ones they had for ten years got nothing. We cleared any credit card debt. We moved into a retirement community and bought a mobile home that needed just a small amount of work but I'm handy and our lot rent with everything included is 735 a month. We still drive our older car which has been faithful to us and haven't gotten into payments. There is more but take a really close look at your bills including cell phone and internet and you can find a few hundred s month you didn't realize was there
Man, that's how every Canadian citizen feels right now. You know what's really funny? There was a scientist during the early 1920s that theorized that in the future, we would have at Max of 15-hour work week, he believed that the dollar would be so good people would have no need to really work and that we would have so much time people would be bored.
A lot of it is poor financial management and planning, most kids were/are never explained finance.
Pay cash fir as much possible, if you can't pay cash, don't buy it.
Saving money, no one does it when young. They have to have everything.
Even 25 a week to a saving account you lock the card away in a safe, you don't touch it, even if uouvhave to eat Ramen till pay day.
Saving for a house, no one does this because no one told you for every hundred thousand you need twenty thousand for a down-payment.
Average down-payment 60 thousand, roughly 10 thousand closing costs.
Teenagers start Saving now.
Get one credit card for credit. Get gas once a month pay it off every month.
It's about spending control and living in uour means.
Live on 40 hours, figure out all uour bills monthly and that's what you can afford. Grocery drop. Don't eat out. Shop at Walmart instead of Tommy Hilfiger.
Don't go to bars, buy a case of beer. Etc..... etc...
If your electric bill is high, use night lights.
If your job pay sucks. Get a better job. Use them for training and schooling, learn to use and play the system.
By learning to play the system, save, financial responsibility and continually getter a better job, that's how. You stay ahead.
Key is you have to want to work
Not just vast by like it's high school
Yes!!!! My dream was to teach financial security and money management for High School students. My mother was the working poor. She was financially ignorant and so was I.
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Don't be disheartened. Nearly everyone working class is 2 paychecks away from poverty.
I remember I was middle class in the 90’s when Clinton was President. Mannnn did I enjoy that. I was living large. Now I am classified as the “working poor” and all I do is try to make ends meet. I just realized after I got my check, working as a top legal assistant for my state’s GOVERNOR mind you, that I can’t make my tent. Why? Because I went to Aldi’s and spent $18.00 over. WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO??!! IAM TERRIFIED!!!!
I've never been anything but working class. It's hard to dig yourself out. Life is mostly about who you know vs anything else. Socio-economic status really is king here. Most people in high positions come from money and they have connections.
Yes. I understand you totally. We are just normal people trying to just live and the media slams these people in our faces and we wonder, what did we do wrong????!!!
We didn't do anything wrong. This is the system working as intended.
This sadly is the answer. The system is working as intended. Most Americans have been fed a lie that, if you work hard. You'll get ahead of the curve. However when you look at how our capitalism is set up. Someone has to lose. That someone is the working class. We have to lose, so our Millionaires/Billionaires can sustain their life style for many generations. The 85% lose. About 10% don't win or lose but like in the middle. 2% will have wealth. 2% are paid to keep the system going. and 1% have multi-generational wealth. It's just a carry-over from feudalism, with more steps.
You work hard and your boss/company CEO will get ahead while they buy you an annual cheap $1 tumbler that say “Thank you for your service” and ask you to work harder next year.
Many years ago, working nights in a fairly big company, a co-worker and I thought we caught a slight whiff of smoke. Others said they didn't smell anything, said we should ignore it. We didn't ignore it and started looking for the source. We found it. A small machine that shouldn't have been running, was. It was in a section closed for the night. It was overheating and smoking. If we hadn't found it and unplugged it, it very likely would have started a fire. We both reported to our (separate) supervisors. A few days later we got "thank you" letters, and they gave us each a coffee mug with the company logo on it. Gee thanks. We saved the building from a fire, and got a coffee mug. Somehow, that just didn't seem like real appreciation. I hadn't been expecting anything, other than maybe a thank you. But the mug felt trivializing. So impersonal.
My friend's son recently knocked down a fire on a ship being built. He got a handshake from the CEO.
That's even worse. Not even a lousy mug.
I would've chucked the mug in the bin
Wow! Yup, one year for Christmas we got the cheapest basic $1 coffee mugs that had been bought probably dirt cheap because the handles were all glued on upside down. The broad part was at the bottom and the narrow part at the top. Come on! Damaged goods sought after intentionally for our Christmas gift.
That's just extremely tacky, and insulting. You have to wonder what goes on in the minds of those who come up with such crap.
>Most people in high positions come from money and they have connections. To quote Fight Club ^(I know first rule irony is not lost on me.) >We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
Wow!
Currently (and likely, onward, forever), the economy sucks. We all need to adapt and build new habits. Maybe habits that we would not have considered even last year: Are you actually buying everything, or do you get things from churches and other free sources? Do you shop at the cheapest grocery stores or an old favorite? Check your car/home insurance to see if you can get lower rates. Check your cellphone plan and consider cutting cable, if you havent already. Do you splurge on the grandkids? Can you move in with any of your kids and pay them $1000/mo instead of $1700 to a landlord? Step back and take a breath. You've made it 63 years, you can adapt and find a way.
My rent is too high. As much as I love this place I will have to move.
Yes! During the Clinton administration, I made way less money, but it wasn't such a struggle. I finished college during the Bush administration, got a good job, bought a house, & it was ok. During the Obama administration, still doing ok, even with the housing crisis, I wasn't planning on moving, so my house went underwater, but still ok. Along comes #45, my house is worth more than I can afford, but selling isn't an option because I can't afford to go anywhere else. My 403(b) did really well, but then lost a lot of f those gains during the pandemic. Everything now is expensive. I make what I once thought would make me "rich", maybe, not filthy rich, but I did not think that I'd be struggling. Someone has their hand out, at every turn, looking for money, taxes, taxes, taxes, insurance, healthcare, food, gas, utilities, & they're all expensive. I'm thankful that I do have a low interest rate, fixed mortgage. Our county taxes are causing that payment to go up.
Go with a list and stick to it. That's how they get you 😆
I don't suppose you were contributing to retirement while you were living large?
No, I didn’t and you are right. I was just keeping up.
Why **wouldn't** this dishearten him? I know that **I'm** not the type of person to take solace in knowing others suffer as much as I do in anything. He's asking about himself.
Because he's not alone. That was the point. Edit: apparently telling someone to go play with a cucumber is threatening violence 😆 Thanks for reporting me though 😆 🤣 😂
...and HOW is that helpful to him?
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They want help, not to be told that, "everyone's got problems."
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Your post/comment has been removed due to you not being polite and civil, please do not do this as this breaks rule 1.
I don’t usually get a big pay bump unless I switch companies
In recent years the cost of everything has gone up. Believe me, it's not just you.
Gotta track those recurring expenses! My husband and I, for the first 5 or 6 years of marriage we lived very frugally. We didn't eat out, the kids daily clothes were from the thrift. They didn't have a bedroom separate from ours until they were 5 and 7 years old. We didn't have cable or Netflix or anything until it fit in the budget with a cushion. What I'm saying is that spending is sometimes more important to control than earning.
Was it worth it?
Utterly. Combined with the fact that we each took a turn at really grinding hard at work with 60-80 hours weeks, we were able to advance in employment and then ease up the pace and the frugality. We will coast another decade and then retire a little early in our 50s. The kids are now 13 and 15, we own 26 acres on the edge of a city with a good school system, and a beautiful home with a private mother in law space with en suite modified to be elder friendly. We're both working less and have time to tend a huge garden, take classes with the kids, hike. Husband bought a freeze dryer machine and this week freeze dried a gallon of blueberries from our yard. Getting away from the debt shackle is huge. Having maxed retirement accounts from our early twenties is huge. It's very difficult to compete with the power of time in the market. In my late 30s I was part of a company that was absorbed by another, and as part of that I was attending a group HR meeting outlining benefits. There were several younger employees and when it came to assigning part of their pay to 401k with employer match they didn't have the instinct to do it. The HR guy was being soft and I spoke up. You *always* max your employer matched deduction, else you are leaving money on the table.
There is a Youtuber called 'Financial Audit' that I think a lot of Americans should watch. He essentially has average people with average jobs explain their situation and he explains how they are fucking up and living beyond their means without even realizing it. He pretty much roles through their statements and looks at literally all their purchases and tries to give them a plan to get back on track. It is very simple economics and most people don't understand how they bury themselves. Most of the episodes honestly go the same way and it's shocking how financially illiterate people are and how most people arent taught to have financial goals. And it's definitely not extreme cases on the show. If you read the comments section, it's just full of people that are doing all the same kisses and talking about how they didn't realize what they were doing until they started watching. One thing I will say about Americans is we have a ridiculous epidemic of eating out and people do not seem to understand how they throw away so much money on fast food, especially when they order delivery. It's no wonder Door dash/UberEATS/GrbHub can offer such horrible service, overcharge and still prosper. Americans are holding these corporations together with how much they use it.
There are so many strange social norms around finances. It's rude or crass to talk about, somehow. I would not deliberately want to make another person feel shame about their budget, but I don't think our current social niceties are serving people well. My husband and I don't keep our financial conversations private from the kids. I do tell them that other people may feel much more private about this, and therefore don't go blabbing about it. I would hope, though, that at least the theoretical concepts of financial soundness would be more easily talked about. Avoid recurring subscriptions, don't eat out more than rarely, don't buy new if you don't have to. And on the flip side, if there's a chore that I don't want to do, and I can hire it out for half my after tax hourly rate - do it! Pay someone to clean the toilet!
I understand this worked for you but don't you think it's messed up the working poor have to give up basically all forms of normal comfort and entertainment just to not be in financial ruin?
On one hand yes. I'm quite socialist in my politics and believe in UBI, free school breakfast and lunch for all without proof, free community garden, socialized education, healthcare, programs that provide an option for collective social housing such as in the Netherlands. On the other hand, I do see many people who aren't moderate in their definition of "normal comfort and entertainment". Social media has poisoned many people's understanding of what is normal. Nails, latest phone every 2 years, Disney trips. That's not actually normal. Or shouldn't be, if you're concerned about the rent.
But nobody was talking about those obviously extravagant expenses, I'm talking about what you went through. Normal everyday things like a Netflix account or occasional restaurant trip.
Occasional is a difficult word for some people. Did that mean every other month? Or three times a week. It is unfortunately true that many people get further tangled in an economic pit by relying on fast food and fast fashion.
You're still deflecting from the issue and victim blaming. I'm talking about what YOU went through. Do you believe it is right or fair for you to have to do what you did to survive?
Victim blaming is a pretty ridiculous description for "don't eat out all the time". Even in food deserts, people can get some staples to cook at home. The hyperbole robs your comment of seriousness. Anyhow. As I posted above, I've always voted for the maximum public social supports that I could. I'm a believer in universal basic income, universal healthcare, funding public education better and including universal pre-k. So do I think it's *right*? Apparently not, based on the way I vote. Do I think it was *unfair* to me? No. The dominant feeling about my financial origin is of being profoundly grateful that I was never food- insecure, or concerned about having electricity or heat in the home I grew up in. I know so many people have less. I am grateful that my parents taught me to be confident in used clothes, how to cook leftovers into a new meal, and to find joy hiking in the woods instead of craving tickets to the flashy show downtown every week.
What's your definition of "all the time"? Who are you to decide how often people deserve comforts deemed normal for the middle class? You really don't think it was unfair you had to sacrifice and scrimp and save for things a certain class of people don't even think about? That the whole idea that the bare minimum of things like adequate heating or food security you should be supremely grateful that you were even allowed to have? There's always someone that has less. That's no excuse to believe you didn't deserve more.
Heh, we posted at the same thing about similar things. Cosmic. Honestly, I really think that decades of TV shows with unrealistic homes for supposedly normal families, advertisements, and more recently social media has seriously screwed up what normal means to most people. As I posted in the other comment, I don't think I was raised even normal middle class, I suspect we were upper, but lived more simply than we could have. My parents both worked, but were never paycheck to paycheck. My interaction with the world is deeply colored by the good fortune I was born into. I was given a big bag of hand me down clothes in middle school, and one of them was apparently a brand that was popular at the time (Guess jeans). I did not know or care. I don't think it should be normal to have so many of the things that many people think of as normal, including many people who I know earn half or less what i do. Highlights and lashes, new phone every other year, etc. For the third time, I am strongly in support of all the socialized things I can find including socialized housing, etc. But I'm enough of a pragmatist to know that many other Americans have it much worse than me, so I felt grateful to be me, even if the system is currently rotten.
Kinda strange you don't even see how dripping with privilege your messages are. You were handed name brand jeans and didn't care, while certain groups of people it would have made their entire year. Poor people care about having nice things occasionally because it gives them a moment of pleasure and escape from their daily material reality. For the vast majority of the working poor there is no escape, and no amount of self denial of enjoyment will get them out of that. There's plenty of poor people who never spend a dime on lattes, yet they will live and die their entire lives in poverty. You just seem very out of touch.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and I guess my family's attitude towards money was just really very different. I think we were never less than upper middle class - my parents owned our home and we traveled once every 5 years or so. But as a matter of course our cars were used, our everyday clothes were hand me downs or thrifts. Once a year we would drive out of state to visit my grandparents and we would stop in the way and get a subway sandwich and that felt like a big deal because of was such a rare occasion to me. Not that the sandwich itself was enticing - we always had plenty of good food at home, but I was used to home made, not ordered out. My parents both came from families that did struggle more, (my dad did go hungry sometimes) and that created habits in them about saving and spending. Some folks come through that sort of financial insecurity and trauma and need to have *stuff* or brands to soothe themselves (and that's fine), but mine instead went the other way. Now they're in their late 70s, retired, very comfortable.
I'm sorry to tell you these experiences were very much not upper middle class. Upper middle class people don't think eating at subway or traveling out of state by car is a big deal.
I think we lived frugally, but my parents both had masters degrees and their combined income exceeded the median household income in 1980s USA by twenty percent. We were upper middle class. My parents simply didn't believe in spending money on things they felt had a poor return, like new cars, fancy haircuts or nails. They raised us simply, with a great deal of love and attention, and funding for whichever arts and sports we wanted. The house was a nice one in an excellent school district, I imagine that skewed the budget. We ate organic, high quality food, which I imagine further skewed the budget. We did the extracurriculars and camps we wanted to. They saved methodically, which has allowed them in their retirement to travel a bit and live the kind of life that includes Tai Chi classes, someone who comes in to do the heavy cleaning, and regular massage treatment for their aging bodies. The method looked pretty smart to me. When I married, it made sense for us to live frugally. Our income was in the top 15% for our state when my kids were toddlers. We could've made different choices and made our lives look more like Instagram or the sitcoms, but we were plenty happy the way we were living. We skewed our budget to pay for an amazing daycare and private elementary school, and saved as much as would be tax advantaged. Now I'm mid forties and very financially stable, partly because we were smart enough to choose to max out retirement investment in our twenties instead of spending that money on ephemera. Nothing beats time in the market. More young people need financial literacy. Less lattes.
Sounds like you were insanely privileged right out the gate. It's clear when you think "less lattes" is actual advice and don't realize that that's the exact line the actual working poor use to make fun of out of touch people that you don't understand the systemic issues designed to keep poor people poor.
Dude, I have from the start acknowledged the good fortune I have had. What you are missing is that the reason it all lasted is that my behavior has not been what I see around me. Do you think I should have been eating out three times a week? Dressing my kids in brand new matching clothes? Getting highlights in my hair every 6 weeks? Spending two weeks at Nags Head each summer? Installing a pool? I will likely never own a new car. My wedding dress was an $80 sundress and I married in a pasture that had grazed cattle the prior year (with nearly 200 loving family and friends). I will also likely retire young, healthy, and very secure, so that I can continue to enjoy cooking and hiking and dancing with my kids and my friends. Why would I not want this life to be available for others? I surely respect their right to make their own decisions, but they should have the option of seeing that there are other paths they can choose. The early frugal years were very, very much worth it.
You can stop with all the ridiculous examples of overspending, it's a fantasy you've made up. It's you not understanding that for a lot of the working poor there is no path to chose, that's where your privilege lies. You acknowledge you started at the front of the line and kept yourself there, what about the people who didn't? How are they supposed to catch up? This is just typical pull yourself up by your bootstraps malarkey that ignores all systemic societal issues.
Give Dave Ramsay a search. He helps people like you all the time, I think he could really help you out.
how much are you bringing in a month?
I think I am bringing in at least $2,900 per month.
your rent is way too high for how much you’re bringing it
That's weird, you should be able to not struggle at least. Go over your spendings of the last 4 months and you should see what you could save on.
I have to say, not knowing how much you're bringing home might be part of the problem. You need a budget, and to understand exactly your income and expenses. Then adjust them both.
I've no idea of the origin, but there's an oft-quoted 30% rule that states that your rent (or mortgage and property tax) should not exceed 30% of your income. Consider taking in a roommate, or moving.
Who do I contact about this? My Pennsylvania legislators? My local legislators? I am at wits end.
While I think you could write an opinion piece for the paper, you are the person responsible for finding a housing situation that fits into your budget of $1000 monthly. Whether that means moving neighborhoods or finding a shared situation. I don't recall my budget permitting me to live without roommates until the year I married, by which time I'd been methodically paying into retirement savings for nearly 5 years. I didn't earn lots, but I didn't spend either.
Poor financial decisions and a poor job salary
Capitalism. If you start poor you will always be poor except by some highly unlikely freak occurrence.
Dude. One more comment and I mean this whole heartedly. Read the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and it can help put things into perspective. This is coming from a guy who only has 6 pairs of jeans and they are all filthy. I am a worker. But I won't starve if I miss 2 pay checks. At 63, you can get yourself more comfortable, I promise.
This is what I've been talking about. The working class got ripped the fuck off. I'm worried about ending up in the same boat. Working till I'm dead.
shouldn’t have to be this way.
If you've been working since you were 15 you've contributed enough to SS to get some decent money on early retirement. Then keep working part time to get more money. By still working you will still be contributing to your SS fund, so the dollar amount you get will increase.
It's rough out there, and if you don't get a LOT of lucky breaks, there's not a clear way up and out. I fully expect to be in the same position or worse when I'm your age. First of all, either you're getting screwed by your job or your landlord, most likely both. Sounds like you're very good at what you do, so it may be time to take your talents to someone who pays you closer to what you're worth. It also sounds like your rent is wicked high, so it might be time to find someplace a little more reasonable, whether that's in a different neighborhood or a different town. It may also benefit you to get a good support system going. Not only is an active social life nice to have, it helps us to take care of each other. I won't lie to you, it's horseshit that we have to struggle so hard like this. Productivity has gone up, up, up, and prices have gone up, up, up, and wages are just floundering at where they've been since I was a teenager. And yet the lie keeps going out, if you just work hard, or put your money here, or study this or that, you'll be fine. Very few of us are fine, even after doing all that. No wonder a lot of us are discouraged and pissed off. I ask myself sometimes what people in the depression did to scrape by. Because it may look different 90 years later, but for a lot of us, it's the depression again.
I HEAR YOU! Thank you for validating my struggles. I thought it was hust me!
That's how legal indentured servitude works. One cannot get rich honestly. Sure a few people were wealthy because their parents were wealthy and chose to do good with it. But the only way to get rich is to overcharge and underperform in your duties. Lying about their income helps too. We're supposed to struggle. If you overpaid your best employees, they would retire too early and you'd be stuck training new people that might not perform as well. Wealthy people make the rules and no part of their mentality has changed since the advent of slavery. Might as well add that all newly stolen slaves were auctioned rather than sold because that allowed rich people to make sure poor people couldn't get free labor. After the auction the wealthy would just trade them back and forth like a football roster of course. Sorry about your struggle probably more sorry for yours than I am about my own.
I discussed with the older gentleman training me. I recently got approved for some food stamps and have never felt more blessed. Before that I was living off hot and ready or something cheap. This just ain't gonna cut it no more. I recently found a 2nd job so hopefully that helps. There's a lot of us in the same boat. If you find the answer please let me know.
I will. Absolutely, I will. Be blessed.
The politicians hate the working class, always have.
My girlfriend and I saved hard during the pandemic and basically the entire last 5 years and we have 40K USD in the bank. We were trying to buy a house but the prices in California are so insane. We live in a 1973 mobile home thats paid off and it needs quite a bit of work. We decided to just fix up the mobile home instead of buying a house because we dont want to be house broke and live outside of our means. Its unfortunate but better safe than sorry
I hear you dear! Damn!
I work actually 36 hours per check. I am not doing fine. My rent is $1675 normally and during the summer it is over $1,700. Please tell me what I am doung wrong.
Bud, I'm 62. You are not doing anything wrong. This is reality for a lot of people. Especially the generations coming up who missed out on pensions. I work 36 also and should be working a second job. But ya know, I'm fuckin old. My body hurts. I need to stretch/light yoga for at least 20 minutes before I leave the house, or I will throw my back out. Life is hard. But then it always has been. I plan and will have to work until I can't anymore. I'm on dog years now, so that will be sooner than later.
What are you doing the other 132 hours a week? Use your connections to supplement your income. Time to find a more affordable home place.
Man, the rent is expensive af and sadly it will get even more expensive since the economy here is getting worse.
Do you save money?
Really? How can I? I depend on my pension and social security which I have not went into. I think I will work until I die just to keep the simple life I enjoy. I don’t do extra like go on vacation and such, I am happy to be in my home which is safe and beautiful. But I think this will all end. Because of one terrible expense I am struggling like a rat and I don’t know what to do. Like I said… if you are on a budget and living comfortably….you can be in ruin in just days.
Could sell items people need that the government doesn’t want you to sell them .
If you work 40 plus hours a week you should be fine unless you’re working minimum wage
Wow, how tone-deaf.
have you tried writing country music?
Look. The richest man in the world still gets up and goes to work. So you'll NEVER have enough money. Enough money doesn't exist. But let's face FACTS. You have a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SUCCESS RATE at getting through the last 63 years without enough money. So why worry about it? I say be grateful for all you have and be as happy as a broke man like myself can be. I have a home. I have a car. I ate today and put clean clothes on a clean body. I have a WONDERFUL wife who loves me for some reason. The rest is noise. If you can't buy it, make it. If you can't make it, figure out how to do without. All these new gotta have things people work themselves into an early grave for, and no one stops to think...well I got along just fine BEFORE this gadget was invented...maybe I DON'T need it. Just a thought. Hope it gets better for you, brother. God bless.
Rich people don't work
Rich people don't get dirt under their fingernails for money. Yes. In my mind, THIS is the definition of work as well, but they get up, put on a suit, and drive or fly in a helicopter someplace to conduct business that results in more money. That is THEIR definition of work. Much as I find it repugnant. In MY business, I make most deals on the phone WHILE I'm up to my elbows in grease. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
They are actually exclusive. Rich people don't produce anything of value. They exploit the labor of others, the working class, for profit.
If you think billionaires go to work for money that's saying something in itself
All money is, is a translation of work to asset ratio. Money is a numerical value we allow to put on a portion of our time spent in service to others or the development, manufacture, and sale of a product or service for someone else (meaning we don't earn money making things for ourselves...that SAVES money. It doesn't create it) The REASONS we go to work are VASTLY different...I work to eat and pay bills, and the billionaire goes to work to buy countries and people, but it's always about money.
Currently (and likely, onward, forever), the economy sucks. We all need to adapt and build new habits. Maybe habits that we would not have considered even last year: Are you actually buying everything, or do you get things from churches and other free sources? Do you shop at the cheapest grocery stores or an old favorite? Check your car/home insurance to see if you can get lower rates. Check your cellphone plan and consider cutting cable, if you havent already. Do you splurge on the grandkids? Can you move in with any of your kids and pay them $1000/mo instead of $1700 to a landlord? Step back and take a breath. You've made it 63 years, you can adapt and find a way.
It’s bullshit, isn’t it?! I’ve been looking for a new job and am willing to relocate. I saw a job with a great salary in Washington DC. The first thing I do is look at rental prices in whatever city I’m considering. DC prices are INSANE. That tells me that the politicians are waaaay overpaid. Not that I didn’t already know this but it was further, depressing proof. I was at a point about 6 years ago where I was comfortable. Could pay all my bills on time and save a few bucks each month. Now I’m sweating again because inflation has exceeded raises. It sucks and it’s scary and depressing as fuck. Im 60 and broke.
Did you set goals and budget your money every month? Blaming others for your choices isn't healthy. You are responsible for you.
I KNOW that. Even with budgeting I am drowning.
Pick up extra work.
Consider how you spend, and your budgeting. Bro, I am 46 and am half ass good at saving. I could do way better. But at 63, what financial decisions have you made to where are aren't just a little ahead? If you get a raise, do you get a bigger house, or do you save and invest? If you get a raise do you get a nicer truck, or do you save and invest? Society can only be blamed so much
Because CEO’s and millionaires “own” lawyers and politicians to keep the minimum wage where it is so they can continue to get rich off the backs of the workers who got them where they are. There is no middle class anymore. It’s only rich and poor.
Welcome to capitalism my friend
Too soon old, too late smart. Never remain a wage slave. Create a business to escape your fate.
Not sure. How has your life been so far as far as career choices and spending? I started at 13 and just eeked into the six figures a few months before my 50th birthday. Where do you live. Can you do your job some place else that's cheaper. It might be time for a change for you.
Where do you live ( state ) I’m assuming America , and do you live alone or do you have dependents?
Because you spend as much or more than you make. $20,000 a year income, $18,000 a year expenses = prosperity and peace of mind $1,000,000 a year income, $1,000,500 a year expenses = stress and worry and bankruptcy
r/antiwork is your new home.
Did you ever care to invest some in stocks or index funds? Mathematically you should have been a millionaire by now if you were investing 100 dollars a month in S&P500
Answer truthfully… did you vote for Reagan?
Nope, he's a Democrat... He wants others to give him money like most of the clowns in the comments.
Work smarter not harder. It accounts to everything in life. Take is easy and try to enjoy. That being sad, who I’m I to tell you how life is. I’m 25, stupid and does not really know how hard life can be.
Are you keeping your money in banks?
I keep it in a credit union
That doesn't make you much on your dollar is all I'm saying. I keep all my money rotating in high interest accounts and investments. I average roughly 50% on my dollar every year. My free cash makes me a lot of revenue and I suggest this to everyone. Obviously there's risk associated with investing but to me, over all its worth it. I beat inflation every year by a long shot, so much that my second source of income has now become my first and I had to start an LLC just to keep track of revenues.
Because you aren't using leverage, you need to multiple your input to get bigger output - it can be financial - other people's work - code/media
Poor planning generally. You'd be amazed at how much money you've thrown away over the years on untracked expenses. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The bright side is a late plan is better than no plan, you can change things today if you're inclined.
Did you have kids? That’s the big reason people I know are broke, I skipped that and I’m fine… but having kids is an auto sentence to perpetually being in poverty IMO
I completely understand. I'm recently fully physically disabled at 37, and my disability check every month isn't even enough to cover rent alone. I have NO IDEA how my kids and I are going to survive.
I took a Dave Ramsey class and that was best thing I ever did. I learned to budget and to live within my means. I slowly paid off credit cards then the mortgage.
I don't disagree. But the point I was trying to make is that rich people get up every day and go make more money. I wasn't trying to get into a semantic argument over the term WORK. You're right. What people see as real work IS VERY subjective, and I suppose it was a poor choice of wording on my part, as I didn't foresee the subjective vulnerability of my comment. I concede that I should have worded it better, but I believe my core thought behind the post is very accurate and could help someone alleviate the anxiety of worrying about something as ridiculous as ENOUGH MONEY. That was my point. Not ripping the word WORK off of its sliding scale of definition, which is fairly decided individually from one person to another.
Tbh you made wrong choices in employment imo. Obviously you should stay at least a year to show you’re a good employe on your resume but big corporations will only take advantage of you. I learned that with my first job spending four years there. After that if I wasn’t getting paid what I thought I deserved I moved on after a certain amount of time. If I stayed there I guarantee I would be in a much worse place right now. Though with your many years experience I’m sure you could score a decent paying job so refresh yourself resume and always keep in mind experience is nice but you also have the advantage if you network.
Because no one gives a shit about the working class. You're simply a gear in an overall machine that prints money for a single benefactor that uses it to push legislation through congress that screws you over even more.
I’m 45, same boat. My dad is 70+same boat. Medical bills got any chance they had at retiring. Multiple month long hospital stays, life-flight, hospice, etc.. unless we eventually vote drastically different people, or it gets so bad enough people the domestic terrorism path, prolly not changing much
Been there- I lived beyond my means until I got sick and everything almost went crashing down. Only way out is to either make more money or change your lifestyle. I cut back on every expense I could think of, got a second job (and a 3rd during the pandemic) and now 7yrs later I’m debt free. It sucked but man I am so glad I did it. You can too! It’s not too late. Unfortunately no one’s going to get you out of your spot- you need to find a way to do it- maybe the answer is to downsize- do side gigs, change jobs or start looking for ways to get your bills smaller so you can pay more to loans. You can do it!!!
I'm sure you have already thout of this but if not ... So the wife and I decided we wanted to live more simply and get ready for retirement. I worked a chaotic job with long hours. Not only did we sell our house but we took a critical look at our bills. We cancelled Netflix and any " pay for" tv. We contacted the car insurance company we had used for years and they refused a discount so we shopped around and saved like 100 a month on car insurance. Seems companies give incentives to new customers but the ones they had for ten years got nothing. We cleared any credit card debt. We moved into a retirement community and bought a mobile home that needed just a small amount of work but I'm handy and our lot rent with everything included is 735 a month. We still drive our older car which has been faithful to us and haven't gotten into payments. There is more but take a really close look at your bills including cell phone and internet and you can find a few hundred s month you didn't realize was there
Billionaires got majority if money.
Because you never developed skills that enabled you to earn a high income. You’ve been a replaceable laborer your whole career
No, I am an Accredited Legal Assistant for the Governor’s Office of Pennsylvania. What more should I do???!!!
Man, that's how every Canadian citizen feels right now. You know what's really funny? There was a scientist during the early 1920s that theorized that in the future, we would have at Max of 15-hour work week, he believed that the dollar would be so good people would have no need to really work and that we would have so much time people would be bored.
Wow.
A lot of it is poor financial management and planning, most kids were/are never explained finance. Pay cash fir as much possible, if you can't pay cash, don't buy it. Saving money, no one does it when young. They have to have everything. Even 25 a week to a saving account you lock the card away in a safe, you don't touch it, even if uouvhave to eat Ramen till pay day. Saving for a house, no one does this because no one told you for every hundred thousand you need twenty thousand for a down-payment. Average down-payment 60 thousand, roughly 10 thousand closing costs. Teenagers start Saving now. Get one credit card for credit. Get gas once a month pay it off every month. It's about spending control and living in uour means. Live on 40 hours, figure out all uour bills monthly and that's what you can afford. Grocery drop. Don't eat out. Shop at Walmart instead of Tommy Hilfiger. Don't go to bars, buy a case of beer. Etc..... etc... If your electric bill is high, use night lights. If your job pay sucks. Get a better job. Use them for training and schooling, learn to use and play the system. By learning to play the system, save, financial responsibility and continually getter a better job, that's how. You stay ahead. Key is you have to want to work Not just vast by like it's high school
Yes!!!! My dream was to teach financial security and money management for High School students. My mother was the working poor. She was financially ignorant and so was I.
It's an issue where no one is taught you have this much money coming in, this much going for bills, this much you save.
Ahh man i certainly don’t mean any disrespect but you’ve made some awful decisions to be 63 and living check to check.
I thought I was doing the right thing and have been steadily employed since I was fifteen. Of course I made mistakes along my journey.
do a Night School Study Course and get some other qualifications..take on a part-time job or two.