7 things the middle class can't afford anymore.

1. Vacations

2. New vehicle

3. To pay off debt

4. Emergency savings

5. Retirement savings

6. Medical care

7. Dental work.

But if they had no debt to pay off, they could better afford 4,5,6 and 7 at least. They should teach the perils of accumulating debt and paying interest in school, IMO. Instead, we encourage kids to start using credit cards right out of school.

I agree schools should teach kids about finances, taxes, loan applications, retirement savings. I was lucky and my parents taught me. I pay off my credit cards each month. But I still have to give up things on that list. No vacation this year so my daughter can get braces. My biggest problem at the moment is property tax.

You’re fortunate for having sensible parents.

No, it’s still not easy for me, but at least we’re not swimming in a pool of debt living beyond our means like most everybody else.

Amen to that Shybutkind, and the problem isnt just that they dont teach it in school , they dont teach the parents that too, if one is fortunate enough to have parents or grandparents who are financial savvy then its a little easier.

But you are right they should be teaching it school, and its a catch 22 situation, if you dont have credit you cant get a mortgage or a car loan at prime and if you cant get it at prime you give opportunities to predatory lending

Its just a vicious circle.

I feel the for the middle and working class of today who are stuck between a rock and a hard place, its a choice between doing something for the family together and having fun vs getting braces for your child .

It’s a horrible rumor that debt leads to high credit scores.

My credit score is 820 and I’ve never paid interest in my life.

How? I use my credit cards often and pay them off every month without fail. In fact, Coffee, gum and donations to a jar are the only things that don’t go on a card. I pay no interest and get 2-5% rewards back on just about everything I purchase, by using the right card toward its biggest reward.

Dave Ramsey may preach against it, but only because he knows most people will not be strict enough with themselves to pull it off. It takes a lot of self control at first, but once it’s a habit, it’s financial bliss. Or for a family, a free vacation.

8. A Life

I agree with you I added my own..hope that's o.k..there was an article today that had talked about the destruction of the middle class leading to the closing of a lot of retail stores..sad to say ..As far as education ..well what can one expect people to do or be when they give you 12 years of dumbing down..and having online education allows some to cheat their way to a degree..truth is I don't use and never had a credit card ..if I don't have the money then I don't afford it..it's not easy and that means I go without,but I can understand why a lot of people do..with wages stagnated or not even close to what they should be when one considers the cost of living and the fact is that a lot of this was part of a plan to destroy the U.S from within..and all this was to make us slaves to debt in order to control..and this is exactly what Trump is trying to show people..You have freedom ..but it could be and should've been a whole lot better..

People need to understand that minimum wage sets the bar..you hold down minimum wage and you hold down the wages above it..There are three things that make up minimum wage unemployment..the cost of living.. and inflation..how many are given a cost of living increase every year ..If you told someone that you as a minimum wage worker should be getting lets say 12 to 15 dollars an hour..the first thing someone making 12 to 15 dollars an hour is going to say is "I make 12 to 15 dollars an hour you shouldn't be getting as much as me"..what they don't see is that if minimum wage was 12 to 15 dollars an hour as it should be that they should be getting 5 to 7 dollars more an hour making 17 to 22 dollars an hour..

You see by holding minimum wage down they also held down the wages above it..causing a trickle up effect rather than a trickle down effect..and that is why we have no money and the elitists do..But because we have over time held down the wages we can't just "over night" correct it..so we the people in some ways at just about every level have been stagnated and forced to rely on credit cards and loans..and the poor and middle class suffer the burden the most..Cuz we have no damn money..And when one thinks about that which has been stolen over time..one could see where their life and the affordability of the things to make it better has been taken from them..but instead enslaved to credit making the rich even richer..nothing more than Modern Day Slavery ..of sorts..and of course this is just my opinion..But then one has to ask themselves how was it that people could afford more back then than they can now..IMO it was because wages weren't adjusted according to the cost of living and inflation so over time we could only afford less..It's not so much that we live beyond our means its that we have no means on to which to live.. but only exist..truth is we will never get back to a fair minimum wage ..again JMO..

The only adjustment I see for now as far as getting ahead is to try and find a better paying job and live as cheaply as possible and in closing let me just say this..amoritized loans on homes is the biggest rip off and just a way of getting pass usury laws..I think I'm done now.. ..

Absolutely true, and hopefully one day they will work themselves to the middle class. When they do, it’s important they learn how to manage their budgets to get the most out of their hard work. Who will teach them, if not parents or school?

Only a small percentage will even realize there has to be another way than paycheck to paycheck and turning to debt for emergencies. I know my parents only taught me from their struggles that there had to be a better way. I had to discover it or repeat the financial prison they constantly found themselves in, even after rising to middle class incomes.

I dont know who Dave Ramsey is but everything else you said is dead on, I totally agree, Ive never paid one dime in interest on my credit cards and Ive had my Royal Bank visa since I was 21 and my American express since I was 27.

I buy things, pay the balance when my statement comes in , collect my reward points .

I was fortunate enough to have parents and grandparents who are good with money to teach me and my siblings.

And it sounds like you had a good mentor too.

I wish that all of our citizens have financial training to help them.

Klc,

I think you and shybutkind are correct

Shy , and I dont speak for her obviously is talking about the average middle class family, you are talking about the poorer working class family

many middle class and upper middle class family do live beyond their means, while many working poorer class are barely surviving.

I do agree a lot of those working poor who budgets for a living can teach the upper middle class a thing or two on how to budget and survive on less and not try and keep up with the joneses.

A question..how was it we were able to afford a living before credit cards?

My budget comments are only about the middle class and what I see in my area.

The struggling lower class coukd certainly teach budgeting tips to the middle class. I come from a family that struggled their way to the middle class myself. There was still a lot about finance I had to seek knowledge on past what they knew. As savvy as Mom was on how to economize beans rice and applying pretty knee hole patches, and Dad at teaching how to change my own oil and make tools instead of bying them, they didn’t know much about credit or financing.

Keep in mind that everyone’s view on poverty is different too, and we can only know about it what we’ve seen around us. I realize there is poverty out there in staggering numbers, I don’t see them econoizing the way my own family did. The poor in my own city tend to by soda and pizza instead of more economical beans and rice. The majority of poor in my town chose to buy cell phones and tablets for theor kids instead of food and health care.

So, while I’m aware many impoverished families could teach home economics, many others could use lessons.

The middle class living beyond their means negatively effects the price and availability of everything that touches those in poverty too.

whatever class, people who are 'responsible enough" can afford all of it

my son, makes 3000 per month, he pays 900 for rent. He takes vacation twice a year. replaces his NEW cars at least every other year. is current on debt, has savings for both emergency and retirement, and has medical care

Dave Ramsey is an American financial guru of sorts. He preaches the importance of living within your means to not get caught in the credit trap so many find themselves in today. One of the things I love about him most, are his views on giving back to your community.

is that net or gross? and why rent when you can own a home? that doesn't make sense to me.

vacations twice a year, well it depends on what you call vacation, some people think Vacation is going to the in-laws or relatives in another state, and some people vacations in other countries.

we all have different interpretations of middle class and poor it seems

That is gross.

He does not want to be tied to a home at this time in his life.

He vacations to other states. And he has taken two cruises.

Middle class as defined here, is the income level smack in the MIDDLE of all the incomes, which in the US is 56 grand, roughly.

They make it hard now when even buying affordable insurance is based on a credit score. If that weren’t the case, I’d probably never have opened my first credit account myself. I learned how much more I paid for car insurance and learned to play the credit game.

Based on that number, I’m pretty low on the middle class spectrum myself. It would be easy to see, that by not employing the money management methods I use, I would not live half as comfortably as I do. Which is still a fairly simple lifestyle. It sounds like your son is doing a great job.

oh so he is like , what was her name ??I think Suzie Orfman or something like that.

Giving back to the community is what successful thoughtful people do and he is right .

I know, we do that up here too, most of us just chooses not to advertise it because we do it from the heart.

I will check out his Dave Ramsey fella as he sounds like one of the good guys



the problem with national average is, $56K in New York city means your eking out a living

$56K in Kentucky, Mississippi or Oregon and you're living very well.

Just like up here, in my city if you earn $56K a year, you're doing okay eking out a living, but if you earn $56K and you're living on Prince Edward Island, you are in the 1% bracket.