Who's living a middle class life on < $50k in LCOL area?

[zetta]

wincrasher had an interesting thread on how much it took to have a basic middle class life. I thought it would be fun to see how people are actually living for comparison. I'll start separate threads for HCOL and LCOL areas.

Here are the parameters for answering this thread. You're married, with 1-2 preschool-age kids, living in a neighborhood without crime or violence in a LCOL area, and making it work on less that $50k.

What is your gross income?

What are you spending per month on the following:
Rent/Mortgage
Home Insurance
Car Payment
Car Insurance
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Phone
Internet
TV
Trash
Water
Electric/Gas
Groceries/Supplies
Gasoline/Oil
Other Entertainment /Fun
Retirement savings
Other Savings
Taxes

Describe your house or apartment, and the neighborhood

Describe your cars -- did you buy new or used, and for how much

How did you get to this point?

[MonkeyMama]

Well I am sure someone is.

[wincrasher]

Hmmm.....maybe my premise is not too far off.

[tulsa_sr5]

I guess this is where I'm closest to fitting so I'll play

What is your gross income? - 64k (yeah, I'm over, but could live this lifestyle on way, way less)

What are you spending per month on the following:
Rent/Mortgage 670 (techically not a mortgage, 5yr 401k loan)
Home Insurance 0
Car Payment 0
Car Insurance 50
Health Insurance 0 -work provides
Life Insurance 0 - ditto
Phone 50 incl cell
Internet 40
TV 0
Trash 15
Water 30
Electric/Gas 100? haven't seen a years worth of bills yet, 50 - 160 is the range so far
Groceries/Supplies 150
Gasoline/Oil 150
Other Entertainment /Fun 150
Retirement savings 1400
Other Savings 1000
Taxes ? most of the rest i guess, prop tax is about 500/yr

Describe your house or apartment, and the neighborhood
rural, decent doublewide on 2.5 acres. Going to build a few years down the road. Area is ok, near the lake. Homes range from nice 200k + on 10+ acres to burned out shells of crappy mobile homes. The area is a very easy 35min commute to downtown Tulsa.

Describe your cars -- did you buy new or used, and for how much
85 4runner and 86 toyota pickup that serves as my backup transportation and sometimes parts vehicle. each was about $750 but i've put a couple 1000 into the 4runner.

So I'm cheating by being single I guess, but have tons of wiggle room with all the money I'm sending to savings right now. Think it would work fine for a family of 4 here on 50k.

[swanson719]

Well, my wife and I and 2 dogs... no kids yet...

What is your gross income? $47K

What are you spending per month on the following:
Rent/Mortgage -$980
Home Insurance - Included in mortgage payment
Car Payment - Nothing - Both paid off
Car Insurance - $1134 every six months
Health Insurance - Nothing - Military covers
Life Insurance - Nothing - Military covers
Phone - Cell is $86
Internet - $86 for cable/internet/house phone
TV
Trash - trash and water on same bill for $25
Water
Electric/Gas - $100/month average... high winter, low summer
Groceries/Supplies - $150
Gasoline/Oil - $125
Other Entertainment /Fun - $100
Retirement savings - $200
Other Savings - $1000
Taxes - No idea...

Describe your house or apartment, and the neighborhood

3 Bedroom, 2 1/2 Bath, 2 Car garage, 1/3 acre lot, suburban mid-west

Describe your cars -- bought one new in 06 for $21,000 - paid off now... wife had a used one with $5000 left, paid that off

How did you get to this point? We had a total of $19,000 in consumer debt when we got married, and we've paid it all off in a year... bought a house, then refinanced 6 months later to save $150 a month on interest... Live close to the belt and put a lot into savings to build up the EF, then we'll throw it all at our Roth's

[LuxLiving]

I'd say we are but, it's close to the ragged bone of being the working poor. Only Hubster was recently laid off, so that classification won't fit either. Not real comfortable giving all my particulars but lots of the details are on my blog.