#Lower middle class

[mattmurdockismyspiritanimal]

[hellshire-harlot]

Categorically, I’m one of the lucky ones. Both my parents are employed, and I have an employment opportunity coming up quite soon. We own our house, I’ve never had to go hungry, and we always have heat, electricity, and Wi-Fi.

and yet. AND YET.

We are barely above the poverty line. Some years I had to go without school lunches because we couldn’t afford the fees. We save money wherever and whenever we can. Going out to eat at a burger joint is a special treat for special occasions because we can’t afford it often. Some of my favorite foods and snacks- pomegranates, veggie straws, chips, hell, even lemonade -are luxuries because we just don’t have the money to spare for it. The attitude has rubbed off on me so much that I go out of my way to avoid spending money and I feel guilty when others spend money on me, even for things like gifts or fucking therapy.

If any of our phones were to break, it would probably ruin us. If any of our cars broke down it would be even worse. One of the reasons I got into achievement hunting and building and exploring in video games is because buying new games is almost always a luxury we can’t afford. I use achievement hunting and making complex builds and finding all the Easter eggs as a way to squeeze out every last bit of enjoyment I can from a game so I can last until we can afford to get new ones. All of our clothes are thrifted or second hand. Same for most of our furniture. We stay in our house all day not only because we don’t like going out often and there isn’t a lot to do, but because WE CANT AFFORD TO DO FUN THINGS MORE THAN A FEW TIMES A YEAR.

I worry constantly about how my basic needs affect my family’s wealth. And we’re the lucky ones, because I’ve never had to worry about being homeless. I don’t consider myself very lucky, actually. My family worries constantly about money. They hate their jobs. They can’t afford to get new jobs because going without a paycheck is too risky. And how would they get new jobs? Neither of them went to college, and we don’t have the money for any of us to go. I’m basically unemployable in my current mental state, and that’s not liable to change. We’re lucky. Most of my friends have it way worse than I do. And yet I don’t feel very fucking lucky.

Everyone talks about poverty in the context of not being able to eat or receive reliable healthcare. Obviously those are huge fucking issues that need to be immediately addressed, and I don’t mean to minimize them. But I hardly see anyone talking about the kind of poverty that gives you just enough to get by a little comfortably- but no more than that. You have the money for your home, your food, your car. But you don’t have money for games. You don’t have money to go out and eat something nice. You don’t have money to buy toys for your kids. You don’t have money to see a movie, or buy that new phone that would be such an improvement over the secondhand one you have now. You don’t have money for anything that would put you at ease. And yet, you’re made to feel lucky, that you should be grateful. You’re not poor, poor people can’t put food on the table. Stop complaining. Be grateful. You could have it so much worse.

No one even addresses that yes it could be worse. But it sure as hell could be a lot fucking better, too. And that kills me.

[wordsarefakeokay]

I may not have much

But the rain will always smell like home

[popcornoncemore]

We got a trial of one of those hello fresh boxes and man do I feel better when I have one recipe for a portioned meal with protein. I forget to eat all the time, so it's been nice to actually have set dinner. I have always been told that our family eats too much, but I have found that if I eat less of the portion given to me, then I feel hungry still. Actually having balance helps so much. It's just hard to afford to eat healthy, it's easier to cook one pot of one thing and eat that until you're full. It's making me realize that we're not a family of gluttons like my parents have always felt guilty about, we're A family who isn't eating a balanced diet.

[tigergingicat]

$65K per year is absolutely what minimum wage should look like. That's a monthly wage of $5400 before taxes are taken out. Only 30% of any gross wage should go to rent, and that rent would be $1625. If you're supporting a family of 4 and live in a 2-3 bedroom house in my area, you'd be paying at least $2600, plus electric, gas, internet, phone, groceries, insurance, upkeep of the car... you're lucky to get a cheap dinner out once a month. So yeah, $65K/year should be the MINIMUM.

(Many, many sympathies to all of you working your asses off for much less.)

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[afleur-de-peau]

What’s the trauma where you feel like you can’t have nice things because you’ll break or damage them and then you wait 7 years before buying a new winter coat literally just finding winter coats somehow along the way and then you buy one and the first day you wear it you drop greasy chinatown skewers on it cuz u we’re trying new things and wanted to do something fun and then you take it to the nettoyeur and they say it might not get rid of the stains and also it’s 50$

[generallyunskilled]

One thing about generational poverty that is super useful, that I feel pretty bad for those who are new to being poor and lack, is lower middle class/working class dads always know a guy. In the same way rich parents have connections to get their kids nepo jobs, a poor dad will know a guy that will totally change your oil filter for a case of natty ice. His old buddy at the mill used to be an electrician and can take a look at your breakers for half what a licensed guy would quote.

It’s what’s gotten many working class kid going and managing what would otherwise be a catastrophe, and it’s dying with the loss of community support that’s been happening now, especially in modern areas. But people who maybe lived more comfortable middle class lives, but fell into poverty later (especially youths who have been kicked out or disowned due to being queer or having different political views than their parents) typically lack such an experience. And I think that’s what makes modern poverty so difficult. Being poor in a time where helping out others was welcomed and encouraged is becoming increasingly a thing of the past. There’s no solidarity, even among neighbors.

[mousenoseopera]

The lower middle class isn't middle-class anymore

"Put bluntly, life simply got worse since the turn of the century for the lower half of the middle class."

Via Nag On The Lake.

[venux777]

percy hazel and leo looking at each other after the rest of the crew agreed to spend over $500 on fuel for the argo ll

[72crowe89]

A Thought Experiment (Be Honest)

[donotdestroy]

"The financial media site Investopedia has done the math and calculated that achieving those milestones now costs a staggering $4.4 million—over $1 million more than most Americans will make in their lifetime, according to the researcher."

[thermodynamic-comedian]

i was relistening to tmagp episodes again and i was like "huh. weird that alice and lena have somewhat similar accents, but gwen has a noticeably different one. i thought they all lived in or close to manchester." but then i remembered that english accents, much like finnish dialects, can also signify class. so that's interesting

[rambrandt-the-painter]

Insane that I was going to make jolene French before people on here started assuming she was a southern belle

[dunmeshistash]

So sorry to nitpick off your notes, but you mentioned in the reblog of that Chilchuck post that some of his family rents from him and therefore may not be that poor. I’m gonna argue that means they’re MORE likely to be poor. It’s very common where I’m from for family to rent at an EXTREMELY discounted price from family. This is usually a setup between a poor family and 1 slightly less poor or middle class family member, so paying for their rent altogether is less of an option, it’s usually a large discount but nothing more. I always read that as a hint that Chilchuck was the most successful in his family, but that easily could’ve been reading into it on my end!

Could be! My thoughts was that since it was a big house it probably meant they could afford to live there? And that they could afford to live away from family?

It's all interpretation tbh, him renting a house to family def points out to him being the successful one but he runs a guild and is EXTREMELY competent to the point the high rates he charges are acceptable so he is extraordinary in that sense.

Also it's fine to nitpick the things I say! (as long as you aren't mean to me)

[humanityscompaniondaily]

day 109: denim

[t00thpasteface]

whenever i do or don't touch on religious subjects/themes in my art, yall need to understand that this is the background i'm coming from, because i don't want anyone to go around assuming i have anything personal to say on the topic, because i don't. LOL