Visual for How the Average Consumer Spends the Paycheck

[dvcgirl]

In ALL our married lives my Dh and I have never made over $38,000.00 so I find $63,000.00 totally unrealistic!!!

That's likely a true figure as the visual also says that the age is 48.8 years old.

The overall median household income for Americans is right at 50K or so. By 48.8 that median would go up to about that 63K number.

You probably live in an area with a lower cost of living so can't imagine anyone making 63K. In my area of the country a family would struggle making 63K....

 

[eliza61]

Does anyone else find it disconcerting that they refer to a family as a "consumer unit?" I guess that's all we truly are these days. Not people, but consumer units. And we wonder why the economy is so out of whack.

That was funny. Basically that's what we are consumer units. Our economy used to be based on consumerism.

 

[eliza61]

In ALL our married lives my Dh and I have never made over $38,000.00 so I find $63,000.00 totally unrealistic!!!

Reading material comes from .25cent books at garage sales or I borrow from friends!!

I have to shift bills around to see who gets paid each month to keep the bills paid.

But Rent all ways gets paid on time as does electric to keep a roof and lights and heat on. The other stuff can be moved to different pay days to get paid.

once again I think it's pretty regional. No way in NYC could you survive off of 38,000. My dad was a policeman in NYC and he probably made ~78,000 and we were squarely middle class.

What's scary is there is no room for savings.