barnson.org Half-baked opinions, served lukewarm.

For a long time, I've had qualms about saying how much I make. It felt as if it were somehow boasting. But I realized the other day that I'm certain there are a lot of middle-income Americans in the same boat as I am. As one middle-classer to another, here's a shared data point I wrote in response to an email from a friend.

On Thu, October 9, 2008 16:58, Sue wrote:
> Yes, this money thing is SO depressing. Especially for people in your age
> group. I see some of my kids truly struggling to keep it together on
> salaries
> (adjusted for inflation) that were great when my Ex and I were in those
> young years. There are a dozen studies that prove that income has not
> increased
> at the same rate as inflation and cost of things. It's about 1/3 less!! No
> wonder everyone is struggling so hard!

Here's a breakdown:

I earn $80,000 per year. I thought that was a great salary when I got it in 2000... and it kind of was. But it has not increased one cent since then. As of last year:

I paid $12,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes. Note that I've been at the cap for Social Security for ten years, and this money is basically wasted at this point as the Congress uses it as a blank check of IOUs to my retirement.

I paid $10,000 in state and federal taxes... AFTER my income tax return, not before!

I paid $26,400 on my home. Most of this, of course, was interest, though some small part was principal.

I already own both of my aging vehicles free & clear, but I really can't afford to replace them right now.

I paid $15,000 towards my wife's college education.

I paid $1000 toward electricity, and counted myself lucky that we had a small, energy-efficient home.

I paid $1000 toward water, sewer, and garbage, and was glad I had a tiny lawn.

I paid $600 for Internet service. The thing that saved our budget last year was freelance work on the weekend and evenings, and this was a big part of that, so I don't regret a penny.

I paid $1000 for hosting my web sites; this also has brought me freelance work, and is money well spent.

I paid $350 for phone service.

I paid $3000 for gasoline; 70% of that was my 35-mile commute to work in my 50-MPG Honda Insight, and the rest was for our minivan to run kids and my spouse around. This year is worse; luckily, my main job is allowing me to work from home a day or two a week to reduce the expense.

That left $9,650 for the budget to feed and clothe a family of six... and I'm certain I left a few things out. Kudos to my wife for making that budget work, since she does most of the clothes-shopping and food-purchasing around here.

This is why I had three jobs last year. And now I'm back to looking for a second and third one, so that I can bring in the critical extra dollars to improve our quality of life rather than just surviving.

And we count ourselves lucky that the only debt we carry is our home. We are better off than some of our neighbors who are really barely scraping by... or not making it at all.

--Matt