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[john7994]

THIS^

Middle Class varies WIDELY depending on where you live. Averages $52,200 - $156,600. So here on a broad forum there could be people making at each extreme and still be middle class. Many folks make over $100,000 and because of where they live and how many children they have live a life closer to the same as someone making $50,000. One should not assume things based on someone's gross income.

AND everyone defines vacation different so say it is camping on peaceful lake, you might be able to go for a total of weeks on end each year BUT if your definition is Disney World or a Cruise you might go once every other year. Very difficult to define vacation for "middle class".

And I understand a conversation on a forum going sideways from what an OP intended, and I get people speak in ways one may not appreciate BUT Reporting needs to be reserved for truly harmful comments ... not because you don't like the comments.

I tried to provide the Pew Research Center's definition on the first page, but it was shot down pretty fast, so I gave up ...

 

[BeautyBeastAndNemo]

Husband is active duty military.

I tried to provide the Pew Research Center's definition on the first page, but it was shot down pretty fast, so I gave up ...

Because the whole thread was based on those making 100k or less per year. It was clearly stated that was the income for the whole of the discussion.

 

[ArielFlounderSebastian357]

a yurt is a circular structure that assembles like a tent-most rentals have beds, some have electrical hookups, some even have small bathrooms-fancier ones are popular with 'glampers'.

A yurt is a round structure...I almost stayed in one over the summer but opted for a no frills cabin...I wish I had taken the yurt-just to say I stayed in one lol

This. A yurt is more enclosed than a teepee, and are typically on a platform (I think of teepees as being on the ground). Where we used to go skiing, they had the main lodge, then a yurt next to it. It was a large, enclosed structure that had a heater in it--not quite as warm as the lodge, but plenty comfortable to take off a ski jacket and have lunch. Much cheaper to operate than a full-blown cabin, but also easy to take down. I could see camping in one--I'd prefer a cabin, but a yurt would be a step up from a tent.

thank you all

cabins can get expensive, i once looked at disney's. wow didn't know there would be this many who knew what a yurt was. that could be fun maybe somewhere not bad on weather would be a good place to start if it's not enclosed. I think my friend would be like you 1420elexismc staying in one to be able to say it.

 

[ArielFlounderSebastian357]

My in-laws have a membership to KOA campgrounds if you know what that is. Now they have a 5th wheel so they look for places that have hookups, places to get rid of waste, etc. They have an RV group they go with and have tons of fun.

If you can go with your friend it will help out on the costs. I've slept in a tent before in a cold October Midwest nights but wouldn't recommend it if you're not into roughin' it (and we had a house we went into for the bathroom lol).

Barkley I'm sure can answer the yurt question, I've never seen one myself

will look at koa. agree about the weather

 

[georgina]

Some need to review the rules: 1) Stay on topic 2) No fighting/sarcasm.

This is the DIS. Nothing stays on topic!

 

[Lumpy1106]

TL : DR the whole thread, and I can see it's spiraled, but wealth is such a relative thing. In CA, $1 Million will not buy you a house in a decent neighborhood. In Kansas you can probably buy 3 houses in a good neighborhood with a good sized piece of property for each for that much. Gas is about to eclipse $5/gal in CA too (again).

But hey, let's tax the rich, amiright?

 

[DCLMP]

There's an entire thread (very active too or at least really long) on the DIS you're def. right there's a whole community for that. Personally churning is not something my husband and I are interested in doing. I just wanted to call it out as I would consider churning to be the extreme side of people using CC's for rewards, it takes even more savviness lol than just your average person using or getting a CC to get rewards which are quite use

However because rewards CC's are incredibly common now (as opposed to when I got a CC at 18 back in 2006 where that was just not at all the norm) the conversation about using a CC for purchasing of things like vacations needs to change too. Even my bank CC added rewards some years back.

I’m an avid churner. I’ve sitting on the sidelines for about 6 months. I plan on getting back in the game starting next month. I’ll find out right away if Banks’s are limiting credit.

It’s a fantastic way to take free vacations. It takes more effort than most people are willing to do and there is still the negative stigma with credit cards.


I couldn’t afford a lot of the vacations I’ve taken over the last years without the miles or points. I’m flying to Rome in a month. The only part of the vacation I’m paying for is the cruise. Flights, hotels and excursions were all covered with miles, points and cash back rewards.

 

[john7994]

There's an entire thread (very active too or at least really long) on the DIS you're def. right there's a whole community for that. Personally churning is not something my husband and I are interested in doing. I just wanted to call it out as I would consider churning to be the extreme side of people using CC's for rewards, it takes even more savviness lol than just your average person using or getting a CC to get rewards which are quite use

However because rewards CC's are incredibly common now (as opposed to when I got a CC at 18 back in 2006 where that was just not at all the norm) the conversation about using a CC for purchasing of things like vacations needs to change too. Even my bank CC added rewards some years back.

What's a churner? Sorry - I think I might know what you are saying, but interested if that's what I do?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I tried to provide the Pew Research Center's definition on the first page, but it was shot down pretty fast, so I gave up ...

I missed your comment but agree.

Household median income for my county is listed by the U.S. census from 2021 is listed as $96,059 but I live in a metro that has a lot more than just my county (it straddles two states) and my county is the wealthiest out of my state in particular. For the whole metro (which includes the other side of the state line) HUD says for 2022 figures low income for a family of 4 is listed as $77,450.

Our biggest crisis in the metro is affordable housing even if the income is a bit higher to help account for it it's something that really could be worked on. But try my figures in a different area and see what you get, it's just a hard conversation to box people in IMO.

 

[john7994]

I missed your comment but agree.

Household median income for my county is listed by the U.S. census from 2021 is listed as $96,059 but I live in a metro that has a lot more than just my county (it straddles two states) and my county is the wealthiest out of my state in particular. For the whole metro (which includes the other side of the state line) HUD says for 2022 figures low income for a family of 4 is listed as $77,450.

Our biggest crisis in the metro is affordable housing even if the income is a bit higher to help account for it it's something that really could be worked on. But try my figures in a different area and see what you get, it's just a hard conversation to box people in IMO.

Very interesting, now I need to go look at mine! Although, I am in one of those weirdly shaped counties that pull in all the tax income from the North and aggregates it with a large metro area.

 

[DCLMP]

NOPE. One of the rules is to "Stay on Topic." Many who commented with starting "I make over 100k a year" didn't stay on topic. Comments like the Michael Scott comment are not on topic. I WILL report all those that break the rules, because some are just plain bullies!

I told you wouldn’t get a lot of responses from people making under 100k because there’s probably not many people posting on this board that make less than that.

If you want to have an active discussion. Why not open it up to everyone that falls into middle class for their geographical area and has the things you mentioned like mortgage, car payment etc.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Very interesting, now I need to go look at mine! Although, I am in one of those weirdly shaped counties that pull in all the tax income from the North and aggregates it with a large metro area.

I probably sound like a broken record sometimes when I bring up HUD figures but they really do make a difference and usually I mentioned them when it comes to threads discussing affordability of vacations. You tend to learn a lot about how COL varies between people. And like your area some places can be structured in odd ways.

 

[barkley]

I’m an avid churner. I’ve sitting on the sidelines for about 6 months. I plan on getting back in the game starting next month. I’ll find out right away if Banks’s are limiting credit.

It’s a fantastic way to take free vacations. It takes more effort than most people are willing to do and there is still the negative stigma with credit cards.


I couldn’t afford a lot of the vacations I’ve taken over the last years without the miles or points. I’m flying to Rome in a month. The only part of the vacation I’m paying for is the cruise. Flights, hotels and excursions were all covered with miles, points and cash back rewards.

too complicated for me but i'm in awe of those who do it well. that said-anyone who does it should make detailed notes in the event someone has to deal with their finances short or long term. a family member had to deal with his in-law's finances at one point and apparently the guy was a world class churner but my family member couldn't make sense of what was going on ('the credit cards keep coming, there are fees coming due on cards i didn't know he had, why does he have auto pay set up on so many different cards...').

 

[DCLMP]

What's a churner? Sorry - I think I might know what you are saying, but interested if that's what I do?

Open up cards for sign on bonuses. Close them when the annual fee comes due unless you get offered a retention bonus. Take advantage of all the offers they send to add points.

Some people launder money through their cc buying visa gift cards and some other techniques. I don’t get that carried away. Banks will shut you down if you get ahead of your skis.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What's a churner? Sorry - I think I might know what you are saying, but interested if that's what I do?

I think DCLMP can describe it better as they are in that but basically it's the process of signing up for CCs usually ones with higher bonuses for the purpose of gaining those bonuses and other benefits then you'll often close those accounts quickly. From my limited understanding there's a lot of transferring of points going on and merging to maximize your amount. If you've ever seen the quick videos of people on FB flying the best of the best cabins on Emirates for example many probably are using just gobs and gobs of points but earned likely through churning.

It can get quite complicated (part of why we're not interested in it) but none the less it works very well for people who enjoy doing it.

Here's the main thread (well it seems to be) https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...2023-see-first-page-for-addl-details.3905155/

 

[john7994]

I think DCLMP can describe it better as they are in that but basically it's the process of signing up for CCs usually ones with higher bonuses for the purpose of gaining those bonuses and other benefits then you'll often close those accounts quickly. From my limited understanding there's a lot of transferring of points going on and merging to maximize your amount. If you've ever seen the quick videos of people on FB flying the best of the best cabins on Emirates for example many probably are using just gobs and gobs of points but earned likely through churning.

It can get quite complicated (part of why we're not interested in it) but none the less it works very well for people who enjoy doing it.

Here's the main thread (well it seems to be) https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...2023-see-first-page-for-addl-details.3905155/

Ahhhhh thank you thank you. Never heard it called that before, but understand the concept now.
I suppose I have thought about it - but not something that I thought I would be good at.

 

[john7994]

Open up cards for sign on bonuses. Close them when the annual fee comes due unless you get offered a retention bonus. Take advantage of all the offers they send to add points.

Some people launder money through their cc buying visa gift cards and some other techniques. I don’t get that carried away. Banks will shut you down if you get ahead of your skis.

Thank you - just saw your post as well.
So dumb question, does the opening and closing of cards wreak havoc on your credit score - or is it a nominal impact?

 

[Minnie1222]

Just finished reading but what is the reporting???? Why are we just reporting people so much????

Looks to me like someone was reported for having a sense of humor.

 

[DLgal]

I’m an avid churner. I’ve sitting on the sidelines for about 6 months. I plan on getting back in the game starting next month. I’ll find out right away if Banks’s are limiting credit.

It’s a fantastic way to take free vacations. It takes more effort than most people are willing to do and there is still the negative stigma with credit cards.


I couldn’t afford a lot of the vacations I’ve taken over the last years without the miles or points. I’m flying to Rome in a month. The only part of the vacation I’m paying for is the cruise. Flights, hotels and excursions were all covered with miles, points and cash back rewards.

I just was instantly approved for a Platinum Amex Delta Skymiles card last week. That makes my 6th card opened in about the last 2 years, and probably like the 20th in my lifetime. I don't even have a job. Just my husband's income. But I have a stellar credit score. Probably because of all the cards I use and pay off every month for the points/miles/bonuses.

I scored, essentially, free airfare for 3 to MCO this summer by taking advantage of the instant $400 airfare credit along with the 50,000 bonus miles sign up offer.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Hopefully “no sarcasm” is not an actual rule, as being from the UK I tend to engage in that quite a lot, like when I praise Disney for their brilliant IT, for instance. “No mean-spirited sarcasm directed at other board members”, however, would be a rule that I would concur with.