What do you define as rich?

[VOLatile]

At 50K a year, your parents are roughly at or above average in income per household in America.

If you like where you work and are willing to settle for $7.50 a hour then it's hard for me to muster up much sympathy for your situation. I'd suggest a second job at night to save money faster.

Don't want sympathy, it's useless. Without divulging too much info on my family and my personal life, my parents don't see much of that money and I'm guessing that I even overestimated by ~10K. My mom had always worked two jobs, nearly 80 hours/week until this year.

There are definitely people that have it way worse than we do, those people need more help than my family.

 

[droski]

People that live in New Castle, England, don't drink Newcastle Brown Ale. However, they're happy that you do.

they probably drink budweiser like the rest of english white trash.

 

[Vol423]

they probably drink budweiser like the rest of english white trash.

Actually, they drink pretty much everything except New Castle.

 

[VOLatile]

Actually, they drink pretty much everything except New Castle.

Why not? I have an English buddy that all he drinks is Newcastle. He's actually the one that turned me onto it. I drink a 6 pack of Newcastle every 2 weeks or so when I go to a party.

 

[droski]

let's just say i'm not sure their palette is superior:

Beer in England - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carling, which is owned by the American/Canadian brewing giant Molson Coors Brewing Company is the highest selling beer in England and is mainly brewed in Burton upon Trent. Meanwhile the largest brewery in Britain today, Scottish & Newcastle, which has three main breweries (Manchester, Reading and Tadcaster) brews Britain's second highest selling beer which is the lager Foster's.

 

[VOLatile]

Foster's is terrible.

 

[droski]

yup. id' drink miller or coors ANY DAY over fosters.

 

[Vol423]

Foster's is terrible.

...and the Australians don't drink that crap either. They just export it for other countries. They drink Victoria Bitters (which is made by the same company as Fosters) or Coopers. They export the Fosters, but don't export the VB (at least not to America).

With respect to New Castle, I don't know. I think that it's a decent enough beer. However, when I've been there, I have found many better beers in the pubs.

 

[tigervol9802]

Don't want sympathy, it's useless. Without divulging too much info on my family and my personal life, my parents don't see much of that money and I'm guessing that I even overestimated by ~10K. My mom had always worked two jobs, nearly 80 hours/week until this year.

There are definitely people that have it way worse than we do, those people need more help than my family.

So what is the definition for does or doesn't need help?

 

[NEO]

If you are trying to be a productive member of society and have fallen on hard times or you want to go to college but cannot afford it I would say that does qualify.

All others don't.

Sorry, I know the questio was not for me.

 

[VOLatile]

If you are trying to be a productive member of society and have fallen on hard times or you want to go to college but cannot afford it I would say that does qualify.

All others don't.

Sorry, I know the questio was not for me.

I have to agree here. If you're productive but just can't make it then you can get help. If you're living of the state and just pumping out kids (half of my family -_-), then you don't deserve to be on welfare. It's not a reward system, it's a safety net.

I'll be the first to admit that the welfare system in America is flawed, I'm not even close to being qualified in suggesting how it should be fixed.

I've always been one to say that education needs to be put above anything else, that by educating everyone most of societies problems will work themselves out (given that people are willing to be educated).

 

[volinbham]

Just an anecdote from my parents. In the early 50s, their combined income was just under $400/month (about $200 each for full time work). They had a crappy apartment that went for about $40 a month.

My dad was drafted and the moved to El Paso. My mom didn't work then and they went to about $150/month in total income. They used to go to the grocery and look at meat. They rarely if ever bought it because they couldn't afford it.

The thing is; they didn't expect anyone (including the govt) to help them. Growing up, they had bread with coffee poured on it for dessert.

Times have changed.

 

[VOLatile]

Just an anecdote from my parents. In the early 50s, their combined income was just under $400/month (about $200 each for full time work). They had a crappy apartment that went for about $40 a month.

My dad was drafted and the moved to El Paso. My mom didn't work then and they went to about $150/month in total income. They used to go to the grocery and look at meat. They rarely if ever bought it because they couldn't afford it.

The thing is; they didn't expect anyone (including the govt) to help them. Growing up, they had bread with coffee poured on it for dessert.

Times have changed.

My parents were/are the same way. They didn't expect or want help. My mom just wishes John Deere would hire her on instead of wasting her time as a temp. $9/hr as a temp vs. $13/hr as a Deere employee would take a lot of her stress away. Instead, they just keep outsourcing jobs around her.

 

[volnation2217]

define "great lifestyle?" try living in LA where a nice house is easily $1.5 mil, private school is a must, etc etc etc. you aren't poor at $250k, but you aren't flying first class everywhere either.

You hit on what most people miss.

I live in Columbia, Tn where the median family income is $43,500. That represents 104.4% of the state median income level. So, Columbia is a little above most of the state. The average price for a new brick home in a nice area will run around $100 to $125 per foot. Most new homes built in my area are around 1,800 to 2,500 feet. Therefore, a nice new home will set a man back $180,000 to $300,000. Move into a cookie cutter neighborhood and drop the price into the 95,000 to 125,000 range. That's cheap housing. The utility rates are also pretty cheap. If we move our ***us to entertainment venues, that is where the difference really shows up. A lower level ticket to a Yankees game will set a man back several hundred dollars. My lower level season ticket to watch the Vols is roughly 50 bucks and my Titans tickets are like 60. Fine dining in Nashville wont run two people over 150 bucks (tip included). These are all very important factors in deciding what makes an income equal rich.
I made nothing close 250,000 bucks last year. More like just over $100,000, but I can probalby live a lifestyle that competes with that of someone making 250,000 in a larger metro area. With all of that being said, $250,000 does not equal rich. No matter where you live.