'An economic divide that is widening': Almost one third of Americans earning $150,000 a year or more say they're living paycheck to paycheck and many rely on credit cards to close the gap - eviltoast
  • Joelk111@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I’m a software developer, a couple years outta college. My girlfriend and I are living together, and make about $120k/yr combined. We have no problem, I save a lot of my income and still have a bunch left over for hobbies. She has maybe a couple grand in student debt left and I’ve never been in debt in my life. I’d be willing to bet that a large portion of the issue is car payments and payments on a house that’s fancier than they need.

    It’s also wild that roughly the same percentage (36%) of people making $50k-$150k are also living paycheck to paycheck. Live within you means. It isn’t hard.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Now live in San Francisco, have 2 kids and a house.

      Probably not even possible on 120k

      Edit: im not in San Francisco, but I don’t think you could own where i am with a dual income of 120k and have a place that would work for 2 kids. At least moving here today. 5-10 years ago it’d work no problem. Cheapest 3 bedroom condo is 525k with $620 monthly fees, but almost all of them are 700k+ (in CAD)

      • Joelk111@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        If I had kids, I wouldn’t live there. If I lived there I wouldn’t have kids until I was able to move.

        It obviously isn’t as simple as that, and it’s a personal choice, but that’s how I see it. Kids isn’t just an emotional choice, you’ve gotta be able to raise them within your means.

        Where I live, we could own a house and have a couple kids, but it makes more sense to rent right now. Where we currently live, we could have a couple kids, and they’d each have their own room, but it’d be a bit tight.

        • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          That’s part of the problem though. We should all be able to have a house and kids. Those are not luxuries. The fact that you’re arguing that income is fine if you forego those means the corporations and billionaires have successfully convinced you to fight against your own class and self interests.

          • Joelk111@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I’m not arguing that it isn’t bullshit, I’m just arguing that it’s possible, considering the situation. Just because it’s bullshit that I can’t afford kids doesn’t mean I’m going to accumulate credit debt by having kids.