'An economic divide that is widening': Almost one third of Americans earning $150,000 a year or more say they're living paycheck to paycheck and many rely on credit cards to close the gap(finance.yahoo.com)

Bottom barrel health insurance is a LOT more expensive than it is for people who make less. Drive a Honda Civic, but I still pay more for car insurance than my buddies that make less and drive Mustangs/Chargers/etc. My mom got WIC. I don’t. My mom qualified for Affordable Housing. I don’t.

I mean… I endorse you punching up, but I don’t think you aim those punches high enough, which makes you look like the kind of asshole who it makes sense that you can’t find actual gainful employment to advance yourself.

If this conversation proceeds, I need to know if you have reproduced, if you have been divorced, and if you are on any form of public assistance.

I’m no divorce/no kids/ can’t qualify for public assistance and my rent, food, and insurance costs have me living paycheck to paycheck.

At a current household income of, specifically, about 130k, far higher than I ever thought I’d pull off, there is NO shot at me getting a mortgage and I’m still living at the standard of life whose tax statements include kids, divorces, far lower paying jobs, and public assistance.

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algorithmae@lemmy.sdf.org

2 points

1 year ago

Aha so you ARE taking it personally, I had a feeling. I’ll go through the math with you for the sake of discussion, name calling aside.

I have no kids, no marriage, no car payment, no student loans, no public assistance.

Take home pay after taxes and benefits is about $2500. Housing is $1500. Utilities are $250 including A/C during summer. Car insurance I’m rounding up to $150. Gas is $150. Food is ridiculous of course, looks like $250 for groceries and let’s say $150 for combined coffee/sometimes lunch/maybe a pizza here and there. Add em all up and I’m at… $2450. Like I said, I barely make it work. :)

There are many other details I’m leaving out for the sake of anonymity, and I will admit I did get lucky in some regards, but I can imagine my figures are quite extendable with someone who has a roommate or two, who got handed down a family member’s car, who has a decent side hussle, who reaps the benefits of minimizing their bills, etc.

If made 3x as much as I did, with the same monthly costs, I would be in a ridiculously better place financially. I would have a decent amount of savings and could eventually have enough for a mortgage down payment. I could even have a good set of investments that would further contribute to my income. There would be no excuse to still be struggling, hence my hostility. Not saying to not eat the rich, also not saying our system isn’t fundamentally fucked and that our current and future generations might not ever be homeowners, but I feel my original point still stands.

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