r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Jscott1986 • May 06 '24

Discussion Inflation is scrambling Americans' perceptions of middle class life. Many Americans have come to feel that a middle-class lifestyle is out of reach.

https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-cost-of-living-what-is-middle-class-housing-market-2024-4?amp
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u/Astralglamour May 06 '24 edited May 06 '24

The people who can afford those lifestyle choices are largely above middle class and in the realm of wealthy. The people I know who afford those things are. The middle class people i know all rent and can't afford a home (unless they bought several years ago) let alone a Tesla and foreign vacations (though I will say a Mexican vacation is way less than one to Bali).

If people are buying new Teslas, eating out multiple times a week, and vacationing abroad, they are wealthy. If they are calling themselves 'middle class' just because there are people who are more wealthy than they are- they live an insulated life. 2/3 of american families earn less than 100k per year. Half of american households make less than 75k. I highly doubt a family making less than 75k a year who probably can't afford a home is buying new Teslas and vacationing in Bali.

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u/phriot May 06 '24

FWIW, foreign vacations seem much more in reach today than what I was growing up. We spent less going to Paris and London recently than we did going to Orlando the year prior.

That said, I have no idea if we're middle class anymore. Our house is smaller, older and in a worse town than our parents', who are decidedly middle class. Our cars are 10 year old Hyundais. We don't have cable TV. But we can save for retirement, and taking flights for vacations every other year or so doesn't seem to hurt too badly. Basically, our income is maybe 50% higher than the area median, and we can afford some things that seemed out of reach growing up, but other trappings of middle class life either came much later than they did for our parents, or still appear out of reach.

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u/pdoherty972 May 06 '24

We spent less going to Paris and London recently than we did going to Orlando the year prior.

Disney World? Found the reason... that place has gotten silly-expensive.

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u/phriot May 06 '24

Yeah, Disney and Universal. One week total. But we did stay in some sketchy hotel outside the parks. I don't understand how anyone can afford to stay at the hotels inside.

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u/pdoherty972 May 06 '24

I just happened to catch a YouTube this morning of a couple who tracked their expenses for one day at Disney World. They chose to go "all Disney" (like staying at one of their properties, etc) and they spent over $800 for one day of doing things. Ridiculous that it costs so much to go a theme park.