Nebby questions

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

As long as we are talking about "the rich" and "the poor" who are they? Are they you? This is a US-centric poll. It is in US Dollars.

(Click here to take a nebby survey)

I didn't use "livejournal poll" since I thought we'd see more honest responses if you could take it without having your answers tied to your username.

I will post the results in 24 hours. (I would need pay money to set it up so you could view them in real time. Ergo, I'm poor... or stingy. You be the judge!) Also, should I make an international version?


UPDATE:  I will make another survey that takes location in to account later. For now, just answer this for your region. I was curious to see the variability in answers, (and others may be too) I didn't think people would want to come up with an answer that makes sense for the whole nation. My mistake! I will still post results, graphs and such in 22 hours.

Comments

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Uh-- it's ugly out there. I know people who have been looking for six months.

I am very rich.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

But ten years ago one colourful arab whom I was introduced in Quatar, shocked me with his icebreaking question - how many camel bunches do I own.
I said none so he thought I am very poor.

And the morale is: whatever Al Einstein said.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

I cannot answer the first question.

Cost of living is far too variable.

My friends living in Brooklyn pay ~700/month (each, so ~1400/month) for a fairly small place in an alright neighborhood (obviously, they could pay less if they lived elsewhere)

But up where I went to college, my last year I lived off campus and paid ~230/month

Thus the cost of living is so vastly different, poor here and poor there are very different and thus I will not participate in your survey. Sorry.

I'll read the results with interest though, just to see how others think.

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

SO IS YOUR MOM.

/childish laughter
/I am 5

[reflaxion.livejournal.com]

My mother thinks I'm rich; my bank account says I'm poor. In reality, I'm neither, I think.

I haven't been following market baskets or income distributions well enough to give an informed opinion of what constitutes "rich" and "poor" so I will abstain from the poll.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Your poll isn't letting me answer how I want to, unfortunately. What's poor for New York City isn't what's poor for Manchester, New Hampshire, for instance.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Everyone knows class is about a lot more than money. You can be upper class and still only be making a pittance working as a artist in Soho, or you can be lower class while earning $100K a year as a plumber.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

I used to think that was true, but not anymore. I think class is only about money.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

Well, now you're just playing off the ambiguity of the word "class"

There's low-class *culture* which the 100K earning plumber might still embrace, and there's high-class *culture* which the artist in SoHo might embrace.

But then there is economic class, which, is strictly a matter of money, and which I had understood this to be about.

[ygrii-blop.livejournal.com]

What everyone else said. My house cost less than a new car thirteen years ago, but the same house in Bel Air might cost half a million dollars. Rather than tying labels of rich or poor to income, you could tie the labels to lifestyle. Sample questions might be:

How large is your home?
a. less than 1000 square feet
b. 1000 - 1500 square feet
etc.

Do you take vacations?

Where do you go on vacation?
a. to a nearby state park or other nearby attraction
b. to a small spa or resort within driving distance
c. overseas

Where do you stay when on vacation?
a. in my tent, RV or camper
b. in a low cost motel
c. in a low cost hotel
d. in a high end hotel

I thought I'd add some suggestions to my criticism. Maybe I'm out to lunch.

As for me, I'm solidly working class, though I do have an A.S. degree. I make more money than I ever thought I could, but I'm amazed at how much things cost. Wifey and I don't live paycheck to paycheck, but we do live month to month. On the months that car/home insurance is due, it gets very tight. Medical bills wiped us out last year, even with insurance.

So speak up, those of you not in the U.S. We're interested in how it is with you, too.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

this. the month-to-month thing drives me bananas. hopefully my SO will find permanent work soon and we can have a savings. right now if I get hospitalized we're probably screwed.

[thies.livejournal.com]

I think we might actually be part of that mythical middle class

[dierdrae.livejournal.com]

I answered as a student looking forward to living in the NY Metropolitan Area after graduation. Thus, my numbers will be skewed high.

[majortom-thecat.livejournal.com]

I couldn't answer most of the questions because there are too many variables. Something like $1200 per year could be comfortable for some people in some parts of the country, and it could be homelessness for others. Maybe questions about how much you spend on food would be more telling.

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

Where could someone live off of $1200 per year?

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

I answered it like someone living in the NYC area so it will probably make sense to you but for someone living in, say, Buffalo I would look like a crazy person.

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

my bare minimum guess is based on the idea that I could rent a room somewhere for about 500; not always feasible.

per mortgage calculators, you should not be paying more than 45% of your income in housing (rent/insurance/taxes for houses, rent/ins for apts). it used to be 1/3 but they had to increase the 'allowable' to make sure more people met the minimum.

I'm still wondering how many people don't make the minimum amount to live by themselves. 'household' income is different than individual. I've known huge families living in one house in a richer county so their kids can get a good education. of course then the kids have to deal with the peer pressure of rich kids. fun.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

lol, OK, I'll answer your poll now.

[cory-nickolatos.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be a full-time student living with family, so I suppose I might be classified more as a 'dependent' than poor. If I could get a job and leave the house, I would. There are no jobs in my town, and I won't be transferring to the nearest major city for a year or two. So I guess I'll be jumping from dependent > poor > middle class in a short span of time.

[weswilson]

I'm not getting any kind of recognition that I've completed it.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I didn't either. I just kept hitting "done" and hoped for the best.

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Meh, that place has horrible input controls. 100,000 is not a positive number?

Also, some answers need to be more specific: parents income should be adjusted for inflation and things like lowest income should be "recent" or we'll all put down the minimum wage we made in high school. :P

I'd like to be able to ranges in for things like middle class.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

it hates commas

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

seriously, the parameters areway too slack.

You wanna know what my parents earned?
Todays prices, in rel terms - or pack in the day when a loaf of bread was a few pence?

I note that there is 'poor' then 'Middle class.'
Wuh? what about working class income? I call myself blue collar - but I'm Middle class by the income I get. Workers with skills in the right industries can have no formal qualification outside the industry, but still earn £24k- I do.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Too America-centric. ;-(

[pmax3.livejournal.com]

And the Merkins don't seem happy with it either :P