Are YOU Middle Class?

I had thought we were middle class, till I read this. We earn less than the low dollar amount and have a six-person family.

For the 50 percent of families in the middle of the scale, household income ranges from $51,000 to $123,000 for a typical four-person, two-parent family. The median is about $81,000.

Granted we live in a small town, but our house is two and a half times less than this and we could have had our house paid off in 5 years:

For two-parent families, the typical home is worth about $231,000, accounting for $17,600 in mortgage payments and other costs per year.

Our 1998 minivan was paid off a long time ago.

...the typical family spends about $12,400 per year on two medium-sized sedans or the equivalent, with a new-car value of $45,000.

This could be why we are below average:

In 76 percent of two-parent families, both parents work.

And this is just disturbing:

What's your top priority? In a 2008 poll by the Pew Research Center, it wasn't healthy kids, a strong marriage or a great career; 68 percent of respondents said it was free time.

Thoughts about the "Crisis" and the "Bailout"

So, we are to have a new Bank of the United States. I thought Andrew Jackson got rid of that in 1836. $700 billion. That’s $700,000,000.00. I don’t know if you got the email I’ve received a couple of times, but if you take that amount and divide it among all the adults in the United States, we could each have something like $280,000. Each. That’s after taxes.



HEY CONGRESS! You want to save the economy and help people? Send us each just $200,000. A lot of us would pay off our house and that would send cash flowing into the troubled banks. Others would be able to catch up on their back payments. The poor could finally afford a few nice things, like a house, a car, a college education, and 400 channel cable TV. Oh wait, a lot already have the cable.

And, with 200 million Americans spending that money on a new house or an addition to the house, a new car, new appliances, beer, decent clothes, CDs, DVDs, and so on, the economy will automatically kick up a notch. Yes, some people will waste the money and in two years will be no better off than they are now, but think of the few fun years you in Congress provided. What better way to buy votes? Much better than only helping the executives that drove their company into the ground.

But, since this plan makes too much sense and sounds too much like socialism (unlike the government running the banks, which apparently is not socialism for some reason), this brilliant idea was not even considered in Congress or by our Presidential hopefuls.

Seriously, one of Jackson’s reasons for killing the Bank of the US, is that it had too many foreign investors. The US Government is in debt. To who? To foreign investors and foreign banks. This puts the US in a horrible disadvantage. Many of these countries are in a precarious friendship with the US. If something should happen that would cause a break in relations, what happens to the money supply? I admit it is all too complex for me, but I know enough to be worried.

The US needs to stop spending so much, even for “good causes.” “The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be intrusted to man…” We need to chop pork and make people and companies pay for the services they use. Maybe more of our interstates need to be toll roads, though those that use them will complain mightily. Maybe we could do away with a few government departments. Maybe someone in Congress needs to read the Constitution and see what the Government is supposed to do.

The banks are in a mess for two reasons. 1. The Clinton Administration thought it would be nice to let “the poor” (i.e. people with insufficient means) buy a house so they loosened the regulations. A “good cause.” 2. Greed, pure and simple. Banks were more than happy to extend credit to anyone, and to extend more credit than warranted. When we moved to our current town, we went to get pre-approved for a house loan. It would be our first house. I was going to be making $38,000 a year and I am the sole support for a family of six. The bank said, “You are approved for $200,000.” I said, “Are you nuts? Did you see how much I will be making? I didn’t get an A+ credit rating by being stupid.”

But, too many people were stupid. Others lost their jobs or had other unexpected hardships. They bought too much house (or too fancy a house) and when hard times hit, then they really suffered. The banks were stupid, they should suffer. Now the Nation is suffering, and that extends to the world. Other than sustenance farming, I don’t know what to do about it, I just needed to rant.

Buy my book: How to Fix-up Your House to Sell.

Big Willie Says Buy American!

I always buy American when I can, if not, I buy North American, then South American, then European, then non-Communist, then as a last resort, I buy Commie-made crap. All the big-box stores have Commie-made crap all over the place. When I was buying a circular saw, I didn't expect to find anything but Commie-made in my price range, but as I was standing there looking at a Commie saw, I glanced over and on a box it said "Made in USA." It was only $10 more, so I jumped at the chance to buy an American-made tool. It is a great saw. I'm glad I found it (saw it? ha ha). Yes, it cost a little more, but most Americans have too much junk anyway. Better to buy less and higher quality than to have more junk. Now if you are Canadian or whatever, you should buy Canadian- or whatever-made. I fully support everyone buying local-made products wherever you live. I just happen to live in the middle of the United States so I buy American. My thought for the day.

Small Town Living

Why are small towns dying? Why are companies moving out of small towns and into big cities? What do the cities really have to offer? Lots of people, congestion, pollution, bad tempers, high crime, etc.

People in small towns, especially in the Midwest, are hard workers. And we are much less likely to have a terrorist strike us, though we are not immune. Bad things do happen here, people are people, but there are more moderating influences here.

BTW, this has nothing to do with race. People in small towns are surprisingly open minded about race, they tend to take each individual or individual family on its own merits.

Not that small towns are perfect, there is not as much to do, but my sister moved during high school. In a city of 350,000 she complained of being bored, same as she did when she lived in town of 10,000. If you move to a town of over 10,000, then you can avoid much of the "everyone knows everyone else's business" that many people worry about with small towns.

Another problem with small towns today is the ubiquitous Wal-Mart. Although Wal-Mart probably makes prices less in actual terms, it severely limits the selection. There are other options however, many small towns also have chain hardware stores, auto parts stores, and other places one can find things like windshield wipers, paint, rakes, and the like.

Is the absence of a mega-mall really a negative thing? In truth, many small towns actually do have a mall of sorts.

Cost of living is less, but so is the pay, however you still come out ahead. I bought an 1800 sq ft brick ranch house for $85,000. My wife's cousin lives in LA and said our house would go for $260,000 in his area. There is no way that I could get a job that would make up that kind of difference without becoming involved in the entertainment biz.

Concerts don't come around here very often, mainly bands who’s last hit was in 1988. But that's a good thing for those that want to cut back on spending. If I lived in a big city I would constantly be tempted to go see bands that may or may not be worth the money. If I go to a concert now, It takes 2-3 hours of driving, so I have to really want to see them. Or win free tickets! (Hasn’t happened yet.)

With internet, cable and satellite TV, there isn't much in the way of home comforts that are denied in small towns.

Overall, one comes out ahead in a small town, unless you feel compelled to drive to the city to do your shopping. Many people here head towards a town 45 minutes away that is about 75,000 people, around 3 times our size. We never leave town for shopping. There really isn’t anything that we need that isn’t here.


I would like to encourage business to consider the pluses of small town life, and instead of relocating to a megalopolis, promoting the pluses of getting away. Towns of 10,000-75,000 within two hours of a major city are all over the place. Pick one with a college or university and there is more likely to be a culture that many people like.

Small town living is also more green. Less driving, means less fuel to burn. Where I live is 4 blocks from the elementary school, and 10 blocks from work, so I walk or ride a bike most of the year.



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Small Town Life, Wal-Mart, Small Towns, Frugal Living