Just the other day I was whining to Sparky about money, as I often do. The amount of time I spend complaining about money is inversely proportional to my bank balance, and since ye olde checking account is thinner than ever, I've been complaining quite a bit lately.
This day in particular, I was ranting about how I can never afford to take a nice vacation. By "nice," I mean something adult. Perhaps involving a white sands, a villa, or a Michelin-starred restaurant.
I'm totally exaggerating. I'd settle for a trip with a plane ticket costing more than $400. As opposed to the glorified long-weekend vacations I have planned for 2007 which 1) keep me chained to the Eastern seaboard; 2) were in part made possible with transport by Peter Pan Trailways; and 3) though incredibly cut rate, will still put me into debt. Not that I didn't have a lovely time, but note that my weekend in DC with Russ involved sharing a hotel room with her and her husband, Bunches—not that there's anything wrong with grown employed adults 30+ years of age sharing a hotel room in this manner!! Is there?!
Well, lo and behold, as part of their continuing research into NYC's disappearing middle class, the Drum Major Institute has released results of a survey that confirm what I long suspected: I'm poor!
Granted, "Saving Our Middle Class" is an opinion poll, and the results were tabulated from only about 100 responses from NYC civic leaders. But, as you know, beggars can't be choosers, so we'll take the survey results we can get.
The respondents were asked to define what they thought consituted a middle class standard of living. Most agreed that it entailed: holding a full-time job, sending kids to a high-quality public school, having health insurance, and saving for retirement. Many others added: owning a computer with internet access, after-school care for children, and the ability to take annual vacations. In terms of housing, middle class NYCers should be able to live alone or with family and pay less than 30% of their income toward rent.
And here are the income ranges they agreed upon to fit into the middle income bracket: Single person, $45,000-90,000; Family of 4, $75,000-135,000.
You do realize I'm half joking about my own level of poverty? I really and truly appreciate the fact that I can afford to go out to eat, buy chain store clothes made in Bangladesh, pay my student loans, pay rent on my hovel, and have broadband internet access. All these wonderful things, with only a moderate amount of credit card debt; and it's a figure I can say out loud without having to whisper in an embarassed tone.
But I have been thinking lately about ways to increase my economic viability. I believe in the American Dream! I want to be middle class!
So, these are the ideas that have been rolling around in my head. Let me know what you think.
1. Take my dad up on his offer to send me to finishing school with the goal of marrying a nobleman from a small European principality.
2. Take my dad up on his offer to fund a family business venture, an American-style bakery in inner Mongolia, to be run with my cousin (whom I've never met).
3. Take my dad up on his offer to partially fund graduate school: med school, law school, or business school. (My choice!)
4. Take my dad up on his offer to have me move back home; free room, board, and vehicle in exchange for cooking one meal a day.
4. Scratch off and mega millions.
5. Get hit by city bus and file law suit.
6. Move to a studio in Marine Park.
Sad that my dad's ideas seem better than mine...
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8 comments:
I completely agree with you, R2B2, and I live in a far more affordable city. I know my problems are partially due to poor money management, but I also sincerely feel that my money does not go as far as it should I am able to live a comfortable life, but feel that the sword of damocles is hanging over my head (I can't even think that phrase without getting that song from Rocky Horror stuck in my head for the rest of the day) - it's the feeling that if even one semi-major thing goes wrong with my house, car, whatever, we would be basically ruined. This is not good, considering that houses and cars are both ticking time bombs. We moved into our awesome pad in September of '06, and have already had to call the garage door guy out once and have a huge hole in our bathroom ceiling and the water shut off in one of our bathrooms due to a leak that caused said hole. The freakiest thing is the future - my parents are considerably more well-off than my husband and I will ever be, and they worry all the time about retirement, long-term health care, etc - how the hell are me and Bunches supposed to cope. My very wise mother says that her generation of baby boomerss are all getting old at once and will no longer stand for this shit - not like the poor and feckless oldsters we have now. But the AARP is already the largest lobbying group in the country, and it still sucks major ass to be old and anything less than wealthy and healthy.
The travel thing is huge too - I have many dreams of visiting exotic and far away places - China, Africa, Argentina, Memphis - and all seem out of reach for the conceivable future. I have a good friend who is a diplomat posted in Ghana, making this the perfect time to visit Africa, yet I cannot foresee a time in the near future when such a trip will be financially feasible.
I feel spoied for whining like this - I nknow there are millions worse off - but I am educatyed, come from a good family, and work hard at a full time job, so why do I feel constantly afraid of financial ruin?
Let's not even start with the panic that ensues when I think of having children! It's a good thing I don't much care for the little bastards.
Regarding option #4, what would the vehicle be?
Considering you refuse to drive, I am voting for old scholl bicycle with the one giant wheel. That or the redneck child mini dune buggy I saw when I got lost on the way to a redneck wedding last weekend.
The mental image of R2B2 riding one of those ye olde bikes around the Crofton Parkway with her glasses on (on their chain) just gave me my first real belly laugh of the day. Thanks, Russ!
ps. I'll bet you can guess who this "Anonymous" is by my intimate knowledge of the Crofton Parkway. Sorry to dispel any mystery.
Here's another mental image. CT riding my 3 speed around the Crofton Parkway. There is nothing like being in 6th grade and having your friends tell you they saw your dad riding your bike.
First, I'd just like to say how much I enjoy your blog. I feel like I'm back in NYC with the endless list of injustices - boy do I miss our bitch sessions. Up here in the north people are mostly hippies so they're all pretty positive. Good cynics are few and far between so it's refreshing to read your comments.
Anyway, I wanted share my own little slant on the disappearing middle class from up here in Massachusetts. You think you have it bad in New York? All the young achievers of Massachusetts are fleeing the state as fast as they can. They take that Harvard degree and they get the hell out because they know that if they stay the most they can hope for is some dumpy clapboard house on a street with potholes that will take years to repair. If you're Boston old money then of course you don't have to worry because your income just continues to grow. Check out the results of this recent study, I think you will enjoy it:
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/northeast/
view.bg?articleid=190371
Yours in solidarity,
KM
Sad to think that cynicism is dead in Boston!
Sisi-san, how about being in 6th grade and having your friend's mom say that she ran into CT at Giant buying day-old baked goods? And he had no idea who she was!
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