That Sounds About Right! Ahahaha
Posted by Didujustcallmejobin@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 60 comments
Posted by Didujustcallmejobin@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 60 comments
Liveandletlive-11@reddit
I now make what I would have thought was rich in the 90s. I grew up poor and struggled through my 20s. I think I make what most millennials would have thought of as a goal income now but I live in a high cost of living area so yeah I’m just barely over what it takes to be considered paycheck to paycheck.
Balthierlives@reddit
Yeah I’m basically where I should have been out of undergrad financially if I was on track for a 4 person family with a detached house and car and abundant retirement money.
But I’m more than twice the age.
Well at least my savings are doing pretty good except no family….
New_Stats@reddit
And companies are making record profits
Moxie_Stardust@reddit
In 1970 the worker to CEO pay ratio was \~1:20, in 2020 it was 1:400.
Didujustcallmejobin@reddit (OP)
And that sounds conservative!
GarblingCumfarts@reddit
I remember in the 2000's thinking I'd be so well off if I just made $25/hr, which is what I make now.
I feel like I'm still making $12/hr like I did in the 2000's. I think I had a couple years of feeling like I had finally a bit of financial freedom and that's just squandered.
Busy-Dig8619@reddit
You got inflation adjustments to your salary... which kept pace with inflation.
5-6% raises (in most years) are just treading water.
Affectionate_Ask_769@reddit
3% is the norm here
p4rc0pr3s1s@reddit
In what world does pay increase match inflation?
Busy-Dig8619@reddit
In exactly the scenario the person I replied to was describing. Making much more now, still in same living conditions.
GreyTigerFox@reddit
5% we are lucky to get 2-3%.
GreyTigerFox@reddit
Yep. Look at the Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla inflation index.
No-Acanthisitta7930@reddit
Stopped at Taco Bell yesterday and got ONE crunch wrap. Why that bitch was 8 dollars...
Didujustcallmejobin@reddit (OP)
Ahh yes. Heavy Correlation to the McDonalds Value Meal Bell Curve.
elphaba00@reddit
In the 2010s, I felt like I was doing really well. Now, I feel like I really squandered all that. I was living too large. I was laid off a couple of years before COVID, and it took forever to find something. I ended up getting a job that paid what I was getting in 2002. Now, that's humbling. I'm now at 2/3 of what I was making at my high point.
Kid_Kameleon@reddit
And don’t forget his partner in crime shrinkflation, we’re getting burnt at both ends
Didujustcallmejobin@reddit (OP)
More for less thats what I say! I said that once.
Rust_Bucket37@reddit
Well make that twice... keep it up and you have a motto or at the least a catchphrase
ObliraCaelithyn@reddit
we’re getting hit from both sides at this point 💀
FionaGoodeEnough@reddit
I bought Mr. Bubbles bubble bath. The bottle is the same size, but they watered down the formula. The last bottle said to use “1-2 capfuls,” and the nee one says “2-3.”
ConnectKale@reddit
I got an unexpected 10 % raise at work. My student loan payments went up almost the same amount.
noonesaidityet@reddit
I got a raise last week that I can only describe as insulting. I try to go into work everyday with a good attitude, and I put on a good face for the rest of the crew, but the amount of work I have to do to keep the business floating isn't worth the money. And, with the state of things right now, changing careers feels like a giant step backwards. I can not make less money than I do now. We moved to a new house 3 years ago to get out of a money pit, but the new house has cost us over $30,000 this year alone in unexpected repairs that even the home inspector somehow missed, our savings has been nearly drained and I feel like I am running on nothing but fumes and I'm mentally exhausted and just want to drop everything and go away. And this is what my life will be for next 27 years of mortgage payments. We are stuck with this house that now won't even sell for what we paid. I'm looking for a part-time job that I can go to after my 50+ hour a week job so we can stay afloat at home.
The only income my family had growing up was my dad's. My mother was a SAHM (she was lazy and did nothing at the house except watch tv, but that's a different story) but we had a nice house, car, went on awesome vacations every year, and always had everything we ever needed. My wife and I both have full-time+ jobs, never spend money frivolously, we go on a nice vacation once every 10-12 years, I alone make more than my dad ever did dollar-wise AND taking inflation into consideration, and I feel like I'm living with one nostril above the water. We have don't have kids, and I have no idea how anyone could afford to. Money can't buy happiness, but you know what it can alleviate? The stress I have constantly from just paying bills.
I'm fucking tired.
ICLazeru@reddit
Me listening to a gen Z conversation.
"Man, can you believe first we had covid, and now we have this war?"
Me: "Gulf War...Dotcom bubble...9/11...War on Terror...Great Recession...welcome to the club, kids...get used to it."
cheeker_sutherland@reddit
Gulf war…. Remove that. The gulf war was legit and necessary.
ICLazeru@reddit
While the invasion of Kuwait was bad, I included because the US had provided significant support to Iraq immediately before that so they could fight Iran in the Iran-Iraq War...which was happening because of the revolution that occurred in Iran in response to US/British meddling trying to gain access to the oil in the area.
The proximal cause of the conflict may have been just, but entire stage had been set by intervention after intervention beforehand, leading up to the Gulf War, which later spawned the second Gulf War, the much more weakly justified intervention that led to the installment of a notably more pro-Iran regime in Iraq.
Yes, it is all a mess.
Switchbladekitten@reddit
Yup. 🥲
Scioptic-@reddit
Middle class doesn't exist anymore. You're either wealthy, earning money via passive incomes where you don't need to graft, or you're working class, because you need to work to survive. The sooner people realise that and especially vote accordingly, the better.
Abidarthegreat@reddit
I didn't realize I didn't exist. Weird.
cheeker_sutherland@reddit
Welcome to Reddit buddy.
absentlyric@reddit
Vote for whom? Neither side has your best interest as working class.
Moxie_Stardust@reddit
Working Families Party is trying to get more of their people elected, could be worth looking into.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
We're cooked all the way. No one has a solution.
Scioptic-@reddit
Given you're talking about only having 2 sides, I'm going to take a guess that you're in the US? I'm not. If you're only options are shite, then people need to create new options.
Busy-Dig8619@reddit
For a whole bunch of reasons having to do with how first-past-the-post and our congressional caucus system works -- that's very not viable in the US. It's only happened once in about 250 years.
What happens here instead is that folks come in and take over one of the two existing parties and change direction.
Broken-Sarcasm-Meter@reddit
Middle class exists. But it should be viewed in wealth and not income. Completely stupid to consider a retired person making $50k/yr in dividends while owning their own home and having lots of assets the same as some 20 year old apprentice electrician making $50k.
HumansMustBeCrazy@reddit
Not if you make middle class money, but live a working class lifestyle.
hbi2k@reddit
"Working class" just means that you exchange your labor for money. A rich, famous musician or actor or celebrity is still working class.
You can be upper, middle, or lower class and still be working class.
On the other hand, let's say you own a couple houses and you make your money by renting them out. You might make just barely enough money for food and shelter, so you could be lower class, but you're still not working class because you don't make money by working.
PrttyPussSoupp1@reddit
A hard lesson, but one I had to learn,apparently.
Millennial_Falcon_85@reddit
I remember growing up and playing life and getting the $100k/year salary card and thinking how rich I would be if that happened in real life. $150k later and three kids and I’m still broke…..😒
ItsDominare@reddit
As of this year I now earn more than either of my parents ever did, and while I am fortunate enough not to have to worry about money too much I feel a lot less well off than our family did when I was a kid.
Separate_Counter9427@reddit
Oh man, you guys must have children.
Want the secret to early retirement? Don't have children!
I'm content being the Uncle, and calling their mom to scoop when we're all sick of each other, hahaha
Charger2950@reddit
Same here. They all share the same amount of my familial DNA as if I had them myself. It’s a life hack. Lol.
Long-Strike9408@reddit
This may actually be the saddest comment I’ve ever read.
SeahorseRevolution@reddit
Every time I make some progress the market races 10 steps ahead. Been happening since 1999
St3llavorynexia88@reddit
Remember when we thought making 40k meant we had finally made it? Now 40k is the new "congrats on not living in a shed." We're the generation that got promised the American dream but ended up with a subscription model. And inflation keeps raising the price every month.
Didujustcallmejobin@reddit (OP)
40k buys you paint for a shed. Thats about it.
rando1459@reddit
Is anyone else enjoying their life in a low COLA area?
nirreskeya@reddit
When I'm able to be there, absolutely.
Charger2950@reddit
I’ve had a lot of struggles in my life. Health problems, self-esteem problems, depression, broken home. You make it. I was a late bloomer in both looks and personal/professional job growth.
I was a “loser” until age 30. Finally willed my way out of it and decided to get a professional license for a certain career, and had a key connection that helped me.
I was building up in 2016-2020. Was not self-sufficient yet, but I was on the cusp. Things weee good. I was mentally happy. Them Covid hits. MASSIVE depression. 2021 hits. MASSIVE inflation….my money is now worth pretty much half as much.
It’s also hard to get new clients because in this type of business, it’s very face-to-face and no one wants to meet. Pretty much wiped out.
In this world, it’s just like, no matter what we do, they are always just wiping us out we dry 7-8 years or so. How do you build up when it’s like this? It’s all out of our control.
It’s so fucking demoralizing.
KingCarnivore@reddit
Our household income is about double what it was 10 years ago but it doesn't really feel like we're making any more.
TomPalmer1979@reddit
My GF and I are both in what would be considered I guess mid to lower middle class? I'm 46, she's 38 and our combined salaries are about $100K, maybe a little less. We just watched a show from the 90s that mentioned how expensive things were at the time and we realized on the salaries we make now, we would be straight up upper class/rich.
Hell I remember being in high school in the 90s finding out that teachers, who usually owned nice little homes in good suburban neighborhoods, did so on a salary of around $25K. That is, nowadays, below the poverty line.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
I'm taking this frugality thing 14 years longer, I'm gonna retire. Self sacrifice ends at 55.
Separate_Counter9427@reddit
Same page brother!
absentlyric@reddit
I thought I'd be excited when I finally saw 6 figures on my w2s.
But as a single dude, I still can only afford to live in a 2 bedroom 800 sq ft house.
Southside_john@reddit
People will likely shit on this comment but back in the day $175k seemed like I would have been balling. But with a wife that doesn’t work and a kid it’s comfortable but not great. We own a small house and I want to upgrade but anything that isn’t a cookie cutter is $600k+ and is going to leave us house poor
Busy-Dig8619@reddit
On the other hand... there's a reason salaries jumped suddenly. It is not because you suddenly became a much more valuable worker. That's inflation too.
p4rc0pr3s1s@reddit
Middle class is a myth.
Abidarthegreat@reddit
Why couldn't I have been a cool myth like a dragon? Instead, my mythological ass has to be a lame middle class person. Ugh.
GuitarNerd_@reddit
Story of our lives in this generation!
brodievonorchard@reddit
If I was making the money I am now even just in 2021, most of my money problem would be solved. I'd still be renting with no hope of ever buying a house or having a comfortable requirement. But man would I be able to afford some cool toys.