What do you consider middle class?

[ToomuchStuff]

Hey Rob, why haven't you come back and posted your views in this, you started the discussion!

[iris lilies]

When kids came along and we ended up as a one-income family of five, I thought of ourselves as Upper Lower Class - financially. Now that the kids are independent, dh and I are both working with half way decent salaries, and almost no debt, i think we may have moved up to at least Lower Middle Class - if not closing in on Middle Middle class - again, financially.

As far as material things - if you all haven't figured it out by now, I am not a decorator. I have things that are functional, most have been free, and they get used until they can't be used any more. One of the kids, in describing the household, said it was "eclectic", which was a nicer way of saying "early American yard sale". LOL.

Part of being secure in myself probably has to do with no class angst. My parents are middle middle class. I have no desire to move out of that. I am middle middle class. I mean I’m right smack dab in the middle. I like it that way. We probably have more money than a lot of middle middle class people because we are old and we saved a lot. But that doesn’t change our overall place in American society.

In the United Kingdom class is so much more stratified, identified by your accent, and your school and your profession. I read that Kate Middleton, despite her family’s wealth and appropriate educational choices for their children, is still not considered upper class. She’s just a commoner and a middle class one at that.

[LDAHL]

Who cares about status? I care about paying bills, having an okayish standard of living, having savings, and being able to buy a few things I don't absolutely need because I want them. That requires at least a middle class income pretty much though.

I don’t see how one person’s preferred package of goods and services can be used to define a class.

This country, being founded largely by rejects and refugees from other places’ post feudal class systems, never really had much of a tradition of class of its own. The crooks, fanatics, second sons, failed rebels and starving families who came here largely came to escape that sort of thing. We have had people try establishing themselves as a superior class: Boston Brahmins, the Southern Slave Aristocracy, etc., but only with limited success.

[cx3]

Jocular guideline:

If you rent your furniture, you are lower-class.
If you buy your own furniture, you are middle-class or new money.
If you have ancestral furniture, you are comfortably upper-class, even if you are poor

We still haven't defined middle class, although bae has done well with this description.
I have a coworker who recently got a loan for a $25k used minivan that will put a strain on his monthly finances. He went this route because he didn't have $2,000 cash to buy a used car from an individual. I'd call this working poor.
I also have a cousin who until recently delivered pizzas for a living. He built a multimillion dollar net worth in his lifetime through real estate. Don't know what class I'd put him in.

[iris lilies]

I heard a report on NPR about department stores that traditionally serve the middle class having financial trouble. Part of that is the shrinking middle class, part of it a dying mall culture, part online shopping. But another part, according to the reporter, is that middle class folks are shopping downline at Walmart and Dollar General in addition to buying upscale products like Ralph Lauren.

They go low so that they can go high.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I heard a report on NPR about department stores that traditionally serve the middle class having financial trouble. Part of that is the shrinking middle class, part of it a dying mall culture, part online shopping. But another part, according to the reporter, is that middle class folks are shopping downline at Walmart and Dollar General in addition to buying upscale products like Ralph Lauren.

They go low so that they can go high.

Ummmm......this middle class person remains low. It's been too difficult getting here and I don't have the basic faith/trust in this society to upgrade my standard of living much.

That said, I do use soap made by a neighbor that is really high quality and is not cheap. I also have a heavy silver chain that I gifted myself for my birthday. I may wear it if the guilt subsides. Rob

[iris lilies]

Ummmm......this middle class person remains low. It's been too difficult getting here and I don't have the basic faith/trust in this society to upgrade my standard of living much.

That said, I do use soap made by a neighbor that is really high quality and is not cheap. I also have a heavy silver chain that I gifted myself for my birthday. I may wear it if the guilt subsides. Rob

I think your self flagellations are silly.

Certainly, we all need to guard against the dehumanizing pull of avarice, but a “silver chain” hardly rises to that occasion. But you do you.

[Alan]

I don't think middle class has anything to do with luxury items or silver chains, I think of middle class as those who enjoy a certain comfort level. If you can go through life without worrying much about how you'll pay your living expenses, if your needs are met and you're able to splurge a little now and then on wants and have enough resources available to put aside for the future and handle minor emergencies as they arise, you're probably middle class.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Hey Rob, why haven't you come back and posted your views in this, you started the discussion!

Fair question, TMS. Fair question. For me it's so foreign to have money left over to (hoard) invest and save - this kind of money - that I expect the other shoe to drop any day now. My life has known little stability in the sense of not being immune to constant financial fear that would have been less in one of the better countries. So the concept of being middle class is - is - is like a trip, you know? Just a trip. Mind you I'm not complaining nor do I care to go back to where I was - it's just that it's a trip. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I don't think middle class has anything to do with luxury items or silver chains, I think of middle class as those who enjoy a certain comfort level. If you can go through life without worrying much about how you'll pay your living expenses, if your needs are met and you're able to splurge a little now and then on wants and have enough resources available to put aside for the future and handle minor emergencies as they arise, you're probably middle class.

I think this is a pretty good definition of middle class. Thank You, Alan. By your definition yes, I'm middle class. Rob