Tips/ ideas for middle class

mig100

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 2:05 pm

Queen Of Hearts wrote:

Are you referring to the insane amount of taxes we have to pay? And all the programs people get which we are not eligible for? At wits end

Yes and all the recent threads about families earning 200k+ a year and barely making ends meet. It's crazy

amother

Clear

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 7:36 pm

Not sure what types of tips may be helpful to you but let's try to list a few... Smile

Bank Account
Make sure that your savings is in a high-yielding savings account that accrues 4%+ interest (Due to inflation, the interest rates are pretty high.)

https://www.nerdwallet.com/bes.....ounts

Budgeting
Create a budget and adjust as needed for the first 3 months. After, really try to stick to it. Many sites/apps that have a template.

Vacations
Only go where you can pay with cc points. Save up cc points for a day away.

Shopping
Shop with a list so you only buy on the list
Try not to buy little baggies, buy big and put into smaller ones
Try not to use disposables, buy glass pans to reuse and plates that can be put into dishwasher
Buy toys/games secondhand
Buy next year's season while on sale this year
Have children who are making salaries buy their own clothing etc.

Cooking
Try to use ingredients from your pantry- shelf-cooking
Try to stretch by making carbs and starches to supplement protein

amother

Peony

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 7:41 pm

This is such a vague question.

We are middle class. We manage our bills, including full tuition for all the kids, but not a ton left over for extras (which always astounds me as I think we bring in nice salaries). But one thing I learned from my father and I have always insisted DH and I do is the "pay yourself first" principal, which means we decide how much we want to save and put that aside from each check no matter what. If we would first pay all our bills and buy all the stuff we need and then see what's left to save, we would never save a dime.

Not sure if this is the sort of thing you're after. Or more like how to stretch a pound of meat to feed a large family dinner kinda tips.

amother

Broom

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 7:57 pm

mig100 wrote:

Yes and all the recent threads about families earning 200k+ a year and barely making ends meet. It's crazy

Hi, that's us.....
The craziest part is that many/most people around us, do all types of tricks to be on as many government programs as possible & they don't begin to understand the value of money. They think we're just stingy.
They're "poor" and living on standards we cannot afford.
It's a crazy thing that there's no help for the poor middle class. The same people get all the benefits from organizations & they end up being better off then the middle class.

amother

Broom

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 8:02 pm

justforfun87 wrote:

I've given up trying to save money so I just focus on increasing income. Is there a way to pick up a side gig?

Increasing income is not always the answer. Increasing incomes means increased taxes as well.

Amarante

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 8:28 pm

amother Broom wrote:

Increasing income is not always the answer. Increasing incomes means increased taxes as well.

You only pay a percentage of your income for taxes so you are always netting more if you earn more. 🤷‍♀️

Also FICO taxes stop at a certain salary level which I believe is about $160,000 so that is an immediate reduction in taxes of about 7.5% on higher incomes.

amother

Seagreen

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 8:48 pm

I think all the organizations that help kollel/chinuch need to be extended to the middle class as well ( at least the lower middle class). Things like DWD for clothing/shoes, food distributions, gift cards and vouchers, help when making simchas etc

It's crazy because some chinuch people don't even need it (like they are rich because of family money or something) while people who are middle class and really need it cannot get it

I see this very clearly pesach time. The Klei kodesh people getting tons-gift cards to all diff stores, food/supplies distributions from multiple source, envelopes with cash....while dh and I cannot access any of it. Our kids aren't getting any new clothes and we are not buying any expensive fish or meat. Our meals are basically gonna be gefilte fish and chicken soup

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:00 pm

amother Seagreen wrote:

I agree, but its very easy to complain when we see what others have/get. Try not looking at others and look for sales, deals, ppl selling things second hand. Build a plan with a budget for upcoming expenses (yom tov, vacations, simchos etc)
I know it sounds easy while I write it - I am struggling with this too!

amother

RosePink

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:06 pm

Amarante wrote:

Everyone pays FICO until the cutoff. Then you don’t pay it anymore so your paycheck gets bigger. But every January everyone’s paycheck goes down, depending on how much you make it takes time until you hit the cutoff.

amother

Amaryllis

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:07 pm

amother Scarlet wrote:

A lot of this is grossly exaggerated, dh is in kollel and we don’t get any gift cards, no distributions of food/supplies, no dwd sales, and most def no envelopes of cash. Most of my friends and neighbors are in KK as well and with the exception of dwd sales (most kollels seem to participate in that) and Chasdei Lev for the rebbeim they don’t get any of what you listed. Not sure where this all exists but definitely not in my large “in-town” city

amother

Moccasin

Tue, Apr 02 2024, 7:32 pm

amother Seagreen wrote:

I teach and my husband is learning and I don't get any of these things. Don't overgeneralize. Neither am I on programs. I work super hard at a second job and I'm struggling along with the rest. DWD was open to the public - I wasnt invited privately. Got no food distributions, gift cards or vouchers. definitely not envelopes with cash - who gets that? Hashem gives every person what they are supposed to get. I'm so gratified to live the life I live but financially it aint easy and I dont see anyone making it easier for me.

Amarante

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 1:53 pm

amother RosePink wrote:

I don't understand this as a response.

That you start paying FICA again in January has no impact on your net income as it will again reach the cap at some point if you are a high salaried person.

If cash flow is an issue, one can theoretically change withholding so that less is withhold in terms of income tax so long as one readjusts it at some point if one doesn't want to owe taxes in April.

Of course getting a tax refund is actually poor financial planning because you have given the government an interest free loan for a year on what your refund is.