What Economic Class are you? - Page 3

[wendygrace]

By the Wiki definition we are then "Lower Middle Class". I guess I was lower class growing up but definetly didn't feel like it. LMC is ok by me. We are slowly moving up the ladder. Reducing our debt is making me feel much better. Hopefully within the next two years dh will move into "upper management" and we can start living the high life! LOL

[cappuccinosmom]

We are most definately low-income (but not low enough for welfare, quite). Dh has minimal college (in a different country), I have none. He works full time, I'm home. We live in a "disadvantaged" neighborhood (drugs/crime).

But we do break the mold in that we own two cars (junkers) free and clear and our home is owned free and clear (thanks to inheritance money).

[Bauhinia]

Probably middle class. I have a BA, dh just finished his master's...but he works for a church so doesn't make a lot of $. We have one car, a small house, and I SAH.

[lil'mama]

I voted middle, also. DH and I both hold master's degrees but he works in a church, so the salary is relatively low. I SAH with the boys. We own a home in a modest neighborhood and ours is one of the smallest in it. Our yearly income is about half of the average for our city. 2 cars--one is paid off and the other we make payments on still. No CC debt. Student loans are all paid off. We received WIC until last May when DH got a raise.

[jkpmomtoboys]

Upper class, according to wikipedia, but boy it sure doesn't feel that way in my town. Around here, we are definitely lower-middle all the way...

[Belleweather]

I voted other. Right now, we're poor. We live on $8000 per year income and student loans, and get medicaid and foodstamps and other state assistance.

On the other hand, we're graduating this year. I'll be an attorney, even though I'll probably be a broke public interest attorney, and my husband is a medical lab monkey, so we can expect to command a high-middle to upper-class income. On the other hand, we'll have 6 figure student loan debt, which I figure makes us pretty much middle class.

I also have always considered class to encompass not only how much money you make but a whole lot of other behaviors attached to how you view the world. In that sense, we're both pretty upper class people. We're frugal and we don't spend a lot of money, but we have upper class ideas about how to live -- travel, investments, risk-taking, making choices, even the books we read, films we watch, and food we eat reflect upper-middle or upper class choices, even though we don't have a lot of money. And I'm pretty sure a lot of people here at MDC are in a similar position... montessori, natural parenting, and whole/organic foods aren't exactly low-class, you know?

[lisac77]

Well I said middle class in my first post, but I'm revising it to upper middle based on the wiki definition. My salary alone puts us in that category. DH has a masters degree and I have a bachelors. We own our own home and own our cars outright. We have a small amount of personal debt, but a large business debt.

[oneKnight]

We're low income based on the fact that we have debt, so that our bills usually outweigh the income. Yet we couldn't get food stamps because we "make" too much money. It's not just about what you make, it's also about how much the friggin school and other debts take away. (We're doing much better now that we've paid some things down with the snowball.)
I still voted low-income, because we are.

[velochic]

I don't think in terms of income, I think in terms of net worth. I honestly don't know what class we would be. Dh has his Ph.D, I have my bachelor's. I left a job as Systems Analyst to be a SAHM, so we cut our income in half. Dh is a professor of computer science. We own our home and have no debt except mortgage, which we choose to carry (we could pay it off) because our rate is 5.85% and our investments do much better than that. We don't have much "stuff" because we don't really care about "things", but we do send dd to a private school because we value education above everything. We're basically savers - we save quite a lot of our income on top of the 16% that goes to retirement. Our mortgage payment is lower than our grocery bill. Based on our material possessions you might think of us as lower-middle class, but we have a high net worth.

[Village Mama]

We are considered to be low income at this point. Still, even with a better job. But most of the time we feel like we do really well! ( the winters can be a little tough sometimes... but other than that we have our needs met!)

[Myboysmom]

I have a degree but was basically out of the work force for ten years. I make the same salary I did ten years ago. Now I am a divorced mom supporting three boys (14. 10. 7) ex owns his own business and is able to "hide income" so child support is minimal. Thanks to refinancing when interest rates were low, I was able to keep my house (after refinancing for 30 years) and my vehicle is paid off.

BUT, I am one tragedy away from poverty.

[broodymama]

Hmm, I guess middle class here. I have a college degree and will be starting work on a graduate degree soon, was an engineer before I quit to be a SAHM while the children are young. DH makes a decent salary but doesn't really have autonomy in his job (military). We own our 2 cars outright, own our home but carry a mortgage, do have a small CC balance right now because of the new flooring we just had installed. We lost 2/3 of our income when I quit working.

[ashleyhaugh]

i would say we're lower middle class- dh brought home about 36-40k last year, but thats because he was deployed- his pay was tax free, and we had extra seperation pay and hazard pay and stuff like that, it equaled out to about en extra thousand or so a month, and because we're in germany we also get cola- which is cost of living allowance- to make up for the exchange rate, about 600 a month or so.....

his monthy pay is 2028.60 right now, before taxes, so we're really gonna take a hit when we get back to the states


however we do have free housing and health insurance, so i guess it evens out really....

still sucks though

[ashleyhaugh]

as for the rest of it, now that i finished reading

neither of us have college degrees, we dont have a lot in savings right now (i saved alot during the deployment, but it was all for things we needed, so its about gone now) but we're working on retirement savings- dh maxes out his IRA, and i put 150/month in mine. we have some "stuff" but not as much as some people- we just bought new living room and dining room sets with deployment money, as well as a toy for my dh- a 42" lcd flat screen tv, lol.
we have 2 cars- a 2000 saturn that we got a killer deal on- it was at a junk yard because it had some minor body damage and wouldnt pass inspection- german inspections are stricter than in the states. we bought it 2 years ago with 50,000 miles on it for 2k, then added another 1k or so for parts, most of which was shipping and customs fees. dh wanted a new car, so the only debt we have right now is a 15k loan we took out for a 2006 honda civic hybrid that was paid for last week and is waiting in states for us to come home next month. its a 5 year loan, but we plan to pay it of quicker than that

[instant coffee]

Middle class income, masters degree, very little debt aside from student loans.

Working class values, do not use credit, don't buy what we can't afford, value community, small business, local business and unions. We also do not own a house (live in >400 square feet for slightly more than a $1 per foot) and we have one car.

[Malva]

Funny the different perceptions of what this means.

I consider us middle-class.

A lot of what people have described as middle-class I would have put in the upper-class.

To me, low income means not enough to answer basic needs. Middle-class means enough to buy expensive cheese when grocery shopping. And upper-class would be newer cars, second home or perhaps maxed college and retirement savings.

[junipermuse]

I put upper class, but if we are then it's the very bottom rung. My husband makes 6 figures. I only work part-time but I make good money for the time I put in. We own a house that's worth more than 1/2 million dollars. We both have bachelors degrees. We own two cars both of which are paid off completely, but they are both economy cars that are 6 and 9 years old respectively. We take multiple vacations a year. We buy new clothes, new furniture, etc. We also live in an area that has a very high cost of living, so money still feels tight. I think the fact that DH and I are still in our twenties, makes me inclined to say upper class rather than middle. By the time we're in our midthirties I have no doubt that we will have passed the income limit for middle class. Also both of our families would be classified as upper class, and we get a lot of lifestyle upgrades just through that association. We go to shows, eat at expensive restaurants, stay at nice hotels, and are showered with expensive gifts because of our parents and ILs. However, we would still be able to afford some of those luxuries without their generosity. On the other hand my MIL thinks my husband is "cheap" because we haven't bought a new car yet, and because no one comes to clean our house. Though we do have a gardener who comes once a week. I suppose its all relative. If you came to our house, I think we would appear to be solidly middle class, but we spend a lot of our money on things others would see as a luxury. We are working on spending less and saving more, especially with a baby on the way.

[BookGoddess]

The Wikipedia article is very interesting. Thanks for the link, Melissa.

I would say we're Middle-Class to Upper Middle-Class. Some might put us as Upper Class though I don't feel we are because we live simply. I equate Upper Class with a fancier lifestyle than we have. We're both introverted homebodies who like reading and talking to each other over going to some chi-chi swanky place.

I have a BA and JD. He has a BA and graduate level course work in his field. We're both employed full-time. Other than his student loan and the mortgage, we don't have debt. I guess the debt we have is "good debt" if debt can be a good thing. Houses in my neighborhood go for $500,000+. Two years ago, my previous neighbor across the street sold his home for $700,000+ but this is not shocking considering we live in one of the most expensive areas in the USA. Even apartments here sell for over $200,000. OTOH, we have only one car and it was bought for cash from a used car dealership. DH relies on public transportation to commute. We're both avid savers. I shop at Goodwill and freely admit it. I recyle, reuse, and regift. Among my friends, I have the reputation for being the thrify tree-hugger and I don't mind.

We haven't been at this level for long. When we first got married, DH was still finishing his graduate level work and I was the only one working full-time. We would definitely have been lower class then. Those were some hard times. At one point, DH was donating his blood at some plasma collection place to make $150 a week!

[J's Mombee]

I dunno

I guess I would have to say lower-middle class. I hold a BA, my DH doesn't. I will begin grad school this month. All of our basic needs are met... we have some room to play around. We own a home in PA. We own 3+ cars (all used). I imagine solid middle class would be more comfy than that... But hey, we're okay & we're moving right along...

[barose]

I vote "middle class" though we live in the Bay Area so with the high cost of housing, that brings us down a bit. My income as an admin (sigh) is between 50 and 60K and SO has his own business so income fluctuates between 70K and 200K per year depending on the year. Me as a single person would be lower middle class. I’m 28 and he’s 49.

We both have savings, retirement, and very little debt. I did get into a lot of debt due to my past divorce, and out of pocket medical expenses so I spent the past few years playing catch-up. I'm in a better place now.

Not homeowners (wait to move out of California for that!). We cant afford our neighborhood, the cheapest house goes for about $800,000

My car is 19 years old and his car (luxury make though) is about 7 - though he wants to get a new one soon due to too many issues with his current one. I'm looking to get another one this year, but it will be a 90s make. I never had a car newer than early/mid 80.