I am one person, making one salary, supporting 3 people and
2 dogs. I have savings and disposable income for going on vacation or just
going to the movies, or that unexpected stray dog that I end up adopting
because he’s the cutest thing ever and he needs medical help. I have money if
something happens to my car and it needs repair or replacing. I have money if
something should happen to my job and I have to survive for a few months
without it. Or, when a 7cm cancer tumor had to be cut out of me, I paid for it.
I sometimes feel “broke” and feel like I’m living paycheck to paycheck, but I
still have money in the bank. How can that be? How can it be that I can have or
do these things when I make $20/hr alone, and they make $100,000.00 a year or
even $7.25/hr with two incomes?
The main reason that a two income family can have less
disposable income than me is, other than I don’t live beyond my means, is this,
THEY SPENT IT ALREADY:
1. They had to have 2 of the newest
model of whatever the newest cool car is every year that guzzles gas like it’s
going out of style and belches out its by product into the atmosphere instead
of investing in and maintaining a reliable car that will not only get them from
point a to point b, but also be gas, environment and money friendly in the long
run.
2. They had to have the biggest 96”
wrap around/3d/flat screen tv that costs about the same as the above mentioned
reliable car does, but they have to put it on credit because nobody has $36,000
for a tv right now, instead of doing research on a reliable high quality
television that is perfectly suitable for the 6-8 hours a day they spend in
front of it watching “reality” tv or babysitting their children with.
3. They had to have the newest “i” product that costs about the same
as one month of a mortgage or rent or sometimes more than that and will be
obsolete in a year because it’s an “i”
product and it comes with a hefty monthly bill for use because the “i” product is only available on one
carrier, instead of doing the research and finding a reliable, high quality
phone that doesn’t lock you into a contract with false promises, but delivers
exceptional coverage, unlimited use on data/text/minutes and can be used
internationally without additional costs for about ½ of what they are paying
and last longer.
4. They had to have “the name” on their
clothes, or their children’s clothes, on shoes, purses, sunglasses, perfume, furniture,
napkins, you name it, and spent $50 on one tee shirt, instead of thinking
logically that “the name” clothes will become mired in some overseas slave shop
scandal and fall out of favor closing forever with their money, the kids will
grow out of the clothes or be ridiculed within a couple months because it’s not
the newest name and they have to back to the store and spend more of their
money, the shoes will wear out for everyone because they got a scuff and no one
takes their shoes to be repaired but spend more money on the new design of the
same shoe that will be obsolete in 6 months, the sunglasses will be forgotten
on the bar next to that last drink they had to drown out the misery of being
broke, the furniture will go out of style or the kids will spill kool aid on it
because it didn’t dawn on Country Club Britni that white suede was probably not
the best choice with a 3 yo toddler who has a nanny that is sitting by the back
door sneaking cigarettes while “watching” the kid, and they never think to purchase
high quality lasting or classic styles that will transition through time or
donate the clothes they have grown out, or tired, of to those who need it.
5. They have to shop at , eat at , drink at , instead of going to their local run farmers market or hometown
grocery store and spending 3x as much for prepared food or items that they can
make themselves at home with minimal effort, but the tv in the kitchen is so
big there is no counter space, and the stove doesn’t work because there is a
difference between bake & broil and what do you mean I have to clean the
oven when there is a spill because I put the frozen pizza on the top rack
without a baking sheet and now it’s burnt to the metal and the bottom so I
can’t use it and I have to buy all my food prepared because it’s not my fault
the oven is broken.
6. They had to have a 5-bedroom house
for 3 people in Super Expensive Subdivision, USA.
7. They had to have 1000 satellite channels
of nothing in their homes and their cars.
8. They had to have weekly
manicures/pedicures/hair appointments/facials/cosmetic surgery.
9. They had to have every credit card
ever and spend every last dime on them for ALL. THE. THINGS.
10. They did not want to take on the power
and responsibility of earning/gaining/having money seriously until it was too
late and now, it’s everyone else’s fault and they expect someone else to fix it
and blame society for all their ills.
Oddly enough, it is society that is the root of all of this.
If everyone, I mean everyone, would start to except responsibility for their
actions or inaction, their apathy, their gross neglect of contributing
something to this world except whining about how they are owed this or that and
really work for what they have and understand that it’s not about the biggest,
newest, most expensive thing, that it’s about living a good, decent, honest
life full of joy and pain, triumph and failure, love and heartbreak, and not
look to place blame for any of it on anyone but themselves and the choices they
make, then maybe, just maybe, that American dream would become a reality
again.
(I’ll probably write
about what the “American Dream” actually used to be in my next post.)
~ Tet
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