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7 Things the Middle Class Can’t Afford Anymore
CheatSheet ^ | March 31, 2015 | Erica Rawes

Posted on 04/01/2015 2:07:23 PM PDT by entropy12

1. Vacations 2. New vehicles 3. To pay off debt 4. Emergency savings 5. Retirement savings 6. Medical care 7. Dental work

(Excerpt) Read more at cheatsheet.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: economy; livingstandard; middleclass; unaffordable; waronmiddleclass
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To: IllumiNaughtyByNature

10-4! We budget for all of these items. No problems.


21 posted on 04/01/2015 2:54:34 PM PDT by enraged
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To: Tudorfly

Those items you listed are part of what socialism is. It is big government who knows better how our money should be spent than us.


22 posted on 04/01/2015 3:05:27 PM PDT by entropy12 (Real function of economists is to make astrologers look respectable.)
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To: blueunicorn6

A fair tax (consumption based tax) instead of income tax will go a long way towards fixing cheating.


23 posted on 04/01/2015 3:07:24 PM PDT by entropy12 (Real function of economists is to make astrologers look respectable.)
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To: jsanders2001

Asian crap are excellent if you have them in your area.


24 posted on 04/01/2015 3:10:33 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: Karl Spooner

Asian crap is terrible, I don’t care where you live.


25 posted on 04/01/2015 3:25:28 PM PDT by cornfedcowboy
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To: entropy12

1. Vacations - My son did a destination wedding last year. Right after the ceremony it started to rain and didn’t stop until a week after we left. Other than that, no vacations.

2. New vehicles - Bought my Jeep new in ‘08. Expect it will be the last new car I own.

3. To pay off debt - I am actually counting on elderly relatives to die and leave me something to dig myself out of my debt hole.

4. Emergency savings - I just checked - $435.67 in savings

5. Retirement savings - A little better, about $26,000, but then I’m 52, so retirement ain’t gonna happen.

6. Medical care - I earned so little that I didn’t even qualify for an Obamacare subsidy. They put us on Medicade

7. Dental work - Haven’t seen a dentist in over 10 years.

In 2005 I lived in a half million dollar home and earned six figures. Today I live in a $200K home (if I’m lucky) and earn $23K between my wife and I.

Thank you, Obama.


26 posted on 04/01/2015 3:25:46 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: Karl Spooner

Same thing with carp.


27 posted on 04/01/2015 3:25:58 PM PDT by cornfedcowboy
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To: Karl Spooner

“Crap?”


28 posted on 04/01/2015 3:26:19 PM PDT by Lou L (Health "insurance" is NOT the same as health "care")
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To: cornfedcowboy

They are very tasty here in Illinois. Especially the grass carp species.


29 posted on 04/01/2015 3:36:45 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: DeFault User

No but they always had new cars.


30 posted on 04/01/2015 3:37:35 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: entropy12
Dental work and guns...

Man, that WAS a tragic boating accident...

5.56mm

31 posted on 04/01/2015 3:38:30 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: Crusher138

The one thing I did right was retirement. I wasn’t expecting to get a pension when I started.


32 posted on 04/01/2015 3:39:49 PM PDT by AppyPappy (If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: IllumiNaughtyByNature

So, it’s all actually the fault of those self-indulgent middle class. Couldn’t be because the economy has been turned to shit over the short period of the last 6 years now could it.

How democrat of you.


33 posted on 04/01/2015 3:42:11 PM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: entropy12

Correct on ALL counts.

Ten years ago, ALL these things were in my reach.

Not today.


34 posted on 04/01/2015 3:54:44 PM PDT by joethedrummer
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To: IllumiNaughtyByNature

I MUST disagree with you, partner.

Things ARE a LOT worse financially in this country than they were just a few short...umm maybe 6 years ago!

Never had to do it before, but yep, I am forced to REALLY be careful at the grocery store these days - avoiding the meat sections...

Prices have shot up in that time. I’ve been laid off a few times in that time too, after decades of solid work...


35 posted on 04/01/2015 3:59:10 PM PDT by joethedrummer
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To: Karl Spooner

> Remember the good old days? “Beef, its what’s for dinner”!

Yeah. I am so tired of chicken but hey it’s better than nothing...: )


36 posted on 04/01/2015 4:08:13 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: cornfedcowboy

Best line on this thread! Large guffaws and 2 good belly laughs.


37 posted on 04/01/2015 4:16:25 PM PDT by doberville
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To: M Kehoe

I had to have a 4 tooth bridge couple of months ago. The cost was $3200. My insurance paid $2000, and the dentist wrote off $500, so out of pocket $700 for me. But without insurance, I don’t know how middle class person can afford it.


38 posted on 04/01/2015 4:18:12 PM PDT by entropy12 (Real function of economists is to make astrologers look respectable.)
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To: IllumiNaughtyByNature

So you deny that healthcare and dental costs have risen? You deny that all costs have risen? You deny that wages have basically been frozen for most professions?

Perhaps you don’t deny it, you just think the middle class should have planned for Obama and tightened our budgets which misses the entire point of the article. Sure I can still buy those things but some other items in my budget will be cut to cover the increases.

That is what the article is about. If I sadly didn’t have places to cut from, then I wouldn’t be able to afford them.

Glad to see you have sympathy for hard working people.Not.


39 posted on 04/01/2015 4:19:48 PM PDT by snippy_about_it
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To: AppyPappy
The one thing I did right was retirement. I wasn’t expecting to get a pension when I started.

Me too. I retired after 33 years in oil and gas. Walked away from a middle management job.... picked up a real estate license to keep me busy. I have rental property etc. I play golf every day. I have a 3 handicap now. I volunteer at my church a lot. I retired at age 53. I pay WAY less taxes now than I did. WAY LESS. We have no debt and all we'll need for the rest of our lives.

There is more to life than working 50 to 60 hours a week so you can give thousands and thousands of dollars to a government that completely wastes it.

40 posted on 04/01/2015 4:19:50 PM PDT by kjam22 (my music video "If My People" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74b20RjILy4)
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