re: Middle class in Louisiana… how much?

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I think people might see other people who are theoretically in their socioeconomic class prioritizing their spending based on things they want.

Maybe their coworker spends a ton on traveling to LSU games and they don’t realize they drive a 15 year old paid off vehicle. Or maybe they are always on their boat and having parties at their lake house but don’t account for the fact that they bought a house 10 years ago and their mortgage is $600 and energy efficient.

There could be so many things. People see middle class as an ideal rather than an income bracket.

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exactly, they see it through an emotional lens

most grew up middle class and have this distorted view

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You sound like you don't know what it costs to live in New Orleans with children these days.

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no i do...you sound like you have a spending problem and dont want to admit it.

you are single and make 200k under no circumstances should you be living paycheck to paycheck

lol, you really don't know what housing costs and school costs in New Orleans are, do you?

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I can't even imagine what life would be like at $40k a year with kids.
After tax, that's gotta be close to only $2,500 a month. OUCH.

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There's a lot of people who make that salary with kids. Not everyone makes six figures. Let's say you're a married couple, husband works and makes $40K, wife stays home with the kids, so there isn't any daycare costs involved. They could live in a trailer they paid less than $100K for so their mortgage is around $900. Add in $250 for utilities, $600 for food. Probably have a used car note of $300.

There won't be much left over and playing with fire and hope nothing breaks, but people do it every day.

The median home price of Louisiana is so far below the national average that the median household income would be considered poverty in states in like CA, MA, and NY

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Gas for 2 cars a month is more like $400 a month.

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Maybe for some people, but if you live in a city and work in that same city, you can definitely have a lower gas bill than $400.

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That’s 2 5 year or older cars. If you purchased a modest new Nissan, Honda, or Toyota

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Should your average middle class family have two vehicles that are both newer than 5 years old? I feel like this is where we jump the shark, a middle class family doesn't "need' a 400k house and two new vehicles with car notes.

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Even with your employer paying 50% of the cost, medical insurance for a family is going to run you $800 a month min.

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I don't have the best health insurance, but mine is only ~$500 per month for my family.

Some of the numbers are off, but they are a rough estimate and I think where he went lower on some estimates he made up for that by going higher on other estimates.

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so how is someone that is in the 82nd percentile as far as household incomes in this state....barely middle class?

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People live in a bubble and don't realize how much money they have compared to people who live outside of their bubble. They probably send their kids to private school, save a decent amount of money in retirement, drive new vehicles, have a >400k house, and think that they are "middle class".

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Paychecks not lasting as long as they used to…. Savings slowly being drained…

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I feel your pain.

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you make 175k in Louisiana and are struggling to get by you are doing something very wrong

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this Most of our misery is self chosen. No one should be struggling at that amount. You can’t have everything you want but you can live a nice life.

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this Most of our misery is self chosen. No one should be struggling at that amount. You can’t have everything you want but you can live a nice life.

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People in that income range often stretch themselves thin with 60k SUVs and such.