Times have changed. Few People really own any personal property today. We have little equity in our homes and if we do get it, we take out a second mortgage or equity line of credit. We want to drive new model, not paid for cars and trucks. Those annual vacations and holidays often end up being charged (as is our education). While the recent economic downturn has forced some reduction in our habits, as with our national debt, our level of middle class might just be measured by our personal debt. If you're carrying more than you should, your probably middle class - for the time being.

according to this I'm not middle class. There are 4 people in my household making an "income", but here's the thing. One is disabled and gets a paltry $700 a month, when she spent the better part of 35 years working 40 or more hours a week, most times in physically demainding jobs (which contributed directly to her disability). One gets $800 a month from a stipend, the third works part time and I'm the only one working full time. We make less than 40,000 a year.  We hardly ever take vacations, all of our vehicles are over 5 years old, and we shop at WalMart simply because it happens to be the closest store. My whole life I've always been in the spot that people forget to mention, where you barely make enough to pay the bills but you make too much to get any help and you just have to fend for yourself. I just recently (within the last year) was able to AFFORD healthcare. And starting in January, my deductible is $500 higher and I have to meet it before my insurance pays ANYTHING, so if I GO to the doctor I have to pay $180 for the visit until I have run up medical bills in excess of $1500 for a single person.

the key is planning and trade offs.  an rv home costs about $5,000 used, Parking-utilities-up​keep,

for about $4,000yr.  This makes living near childrens colleges, (or vacations) greatly reduced.  By

using this as a basic model, tweeked

There were TWO awfully wrong stereotypes among the 9 ways.

One is "You Shop at Target."  Most of the best low-priced places like Aldi, Ollie's, The Dollar Store, etc. were pointed out to me by people making well into six figures.  When my wealthy, Mercedes-driving cousin comes from out of state to visit, we can't drive past Dollar Tree, etc. without her ordering me to pull over so she can check it out.  I know people who say they're embarrassed to be seen at such places, but NONE of them are wealthy.  I'm still Middle Class, but comfortably retired with a greater income than most working people make. So if someone sees me coming out of of such stores I figure they'll say, "See: that's why he's got more than a couple pennies to rub together."  If not, what do I care?  I love my $14.77 Walmart athletic shoes and they're as good, come in widths, have pronation control, etc, as the $179 Nikes and New Balance's I used to buy when I was a high school track and cross country coach.

The Second is, under vacations, the remark that "the South of France is for the 1%."  You can spend 4-days at Cannes, France in late Spring or Summer for just a few hundred more than spending the same time at some Atlantic beach resorts - and that includes round-trip airfare from the East Coast.  I did.  There is a big free public beach, and you can also sneak onto some of the private ones late in the day - that's how we got to experience the most exclusive, Carlton Hotel's beach.  Air France runs some cheap air-hotel deals (sometimes less than $1000 and you can find them and similar ones in Budget Travel magazine or online) to various French cities and it's easy to find cheap one-day tours in English either through the hotel or by exploring the town a little.  For example, if you're in Paris, there are little shops offering cheap, one day tours one the right bank along the Seine near the Louvre.  We spent 5 days in Paris and took a one-day bus (a couple hours of driving each way) tour for less than $50 each to the Loire Valley to see a few Grand Chateaus of the old French Kings.  We also considered similar tours to places like Normandy.

A year's smoking at a pack a day costs as much as a trip for two in the Spring for 4 days in Rome including the hotel & meals, round trip airfare, and 3 long tours.

Many of my fellow Middle Class relatives have taken several big tours as I have. My travels have included two weeks touring China (Great Wall, Terra Cotta Warriors, 5-day Yangtze Cruise), a week in Egypt (including a 4-day Nile Cruise), a week in Israel, 9 days in France,  two weeks in the Aegean (3 days in Athens, 7-day Aegean Cruise, 3 days in Istanbul), and an Alaska Cruise. I never spent more than $2350/person for any one including meals and all the side-tours.  In the next decade I expect to do several $2K to $4K per person vacations, including climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiking the Inca Trail from Cuzco to Machu Picchu, visiting Mexico City and the Yucatan, touring the Galapagos Islands, and do a cruise of Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica.  I retired early because of leg problems which are mostly healed now at 62, so I may not make the two climbs, but if not there are plenty of other things I want to see!

Guess we rate someplace around diddly squat, living on retirement income but thankfully we don't take any "assistance" and stay afloat, the word "vacation" is not in our vocabulary but we did save for our kids for college when we both worked and we paid 2 years for each (4) of them plus our house is paid for. I don't shop at Target, long ago gave up on them after going with a list of  8 things I needed and they had none of them too many times, Walmart and Costco maybe. But we have each other, decent health, heating oil in the tank, food in the 'fridge and no debt so I don't care how the world "rates" us......

I've always considered myself middle class.  My income doesn't fit in the story's parameters though because its higher.  But, I shop at Walmart all the time, Target once in awhile.   No student loans because its been 25 yrs since college.  No kids.   In exchange for all that and being debt free, the Federal and State take about 43% of my income in income taxes alone.  So, some of you complaining about no cash left over, then think about the alternative---the government will take your cash once you get out of the middle class anyway, so not sure how much better off it will be.  Yea, it's better than where I use to be, but not that much better.

What a bs story.