When I worked at Carlisle (a tire factory) I made 35K in my final year there. I was married and had a pet. I will tell you this- we were NOT middle class. That is with no kids.
No kidding, especially when you live in a bigger city.[/QUOTE]
Depends on the city I guess. Out of college that was my starting salary. I lived a pretty darned comfortable life. I wasn't balling, but I was able to make ends meet, and still afford to go out for drinks or buy some game whenever I wanted to, and never had to worry about not making a bill (while still able to contribute to my 401k). To me that qualifies as middle class. Granted that is at the very low end of the spectrum, but I think that's what the middle class is.
Now, when you are talking about a city like San Francisco or NYC or some other place where the standard of living is obscene, its a different story. The way I see it, just living in a city like that is a luxury, and its a luxury that people pay handsomely for.
In Krisken's case I'm guessing you were working in Dallas. The cost of living there is pretty darned reasonable. You can get a basic but decent apartment for what, 550? Lets say a 2 bedroom for 750. Its not going to be in the sexiest neighborhood, but it would be decent and safe. Lets assume both of yall were making 35 a year (as that would be the minimum I would qualify as middle class). At that income (~2.2k per month per person after taxes) you could pay for the 750 with less than one weeks pay between the two of you (roughly 1.5 weeks pay per person.) That's considerably less than most people consider the limit for housing ( I've read that you should spend less than 1/3 of your income on housing.) That should still leave room for 2 car payments (300$ total, remember I said not balling), car insurance (200$), food (300$), utilities(100$), gas (150$), health insurance (500$), retirement savings (400$), phones (100$) that still leaves 1600$. Lets say another 800$ went to all the other expenses I didn't mention, that leaves you with 800$ for entertainment.
That's making the assumption that your wife was bringing in the same amount. A single person with 35 income will have it tougher, but will not be spending as much on certain items. Rent (550), car payment (150), car insurance (100), food (150), utilities (100), gas (100), health insurance (250), retirement (200), phone (60), that leaves 540$. Much tighter budget. So you may only have like 200$ a month to go towards entertainment.
hrm. Maybe 35k for an individual isn't middle class. I guess it also depends on benefits. I pretty much assume that anyone middle class either has benefits provided by their employer or they make enough money that it isn't hard for them to pay for it out of pocket. So, lets change the 35k to 35k + benefits. I think that would be middle class.
