This guy ONLY makes 80 grand a year.

[Ronnie-]

Anonymous post - SonicBabble - Where America Debates America!

Saw this on another message board, and just started a thread on it at sonic.

Turns out this guy got his pay cut to 80 grand, and is having some hard times.

 

[lakebum431]

I find it hard to believe that anyone that takes a 50% cut in pay wouldn't have a very hard time making ends meet for awhile. I know that if all of a sudden I made 50% of what I make it would be a huge change in life style!

 

[pro96]

Yup 50% off my annual company revenue after all expenses would keep me in the low 60's sux

 

[JimMcC]

For the most part, the important thing is not how much you make. It's how much you spend(and save). There are people that make $150,000 a year and are broke, and in debt up the wazoo.

 

[jayn_j]

It also depends on benefits. My last job paid very well, but no benefits. No Health insurance at over $1k/mo, no 401K, stock plan, profit sharing, vacation, holidays. Further they forced contractors to take off without pay on their furlough days. If you are contracting as a 1099, you can cut another 15% off the top for employment taxes.

I would take $80k employee with benefits over $110K as a contractor any day.

 

[lakebum431]

For the most part, the important thing is not how much you make. It's how much you spend(and save). There are people that make $150,000 a year and are broke, and in debt up the wazoo.

But that's the point. As a general rule, the more you make the more you spend. If the amount you make gets cut in half it has a serious impact on your lifestyle in almost every case.

 

[Van]

Yea my pay got cut %50 this year when I transferred but do you think the cost of my benefits went down %50 as well?! Yes even for this guy it would be a difficult situation to deal with when your living a $160k yr life and all of a sudden its cut to $80k yr so yes I can understand his misfortune.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I can understand as well, before he had the means to pay for his nice house and car etc. But now with his salery cut in half he cant make ends meet.

Its not like he can dump the house, no one is buying houses these days especially nice expensive ones.

I dont understand this feeling thats going around that if you make good money and live in nice houses that your some kind of pig. I feel everyone has a choice in life on what they can and want to do. If you really want to be a doctor you can do it, but it take a lot of work, studying and patience. I don't think we should think bad of anyone because they are successfull and have good things, they worked for them. I am getting tired of some people always looking for a hand out instead of a hand up.

I honestly think 2009 has been a hard year for almost everyone. I know it was a hard one for me. Here is to a better 2010 for everyone. Merry Christmas to all!

 

[Bobby]

I can understand as well, before he had the means to pay for his nice house and car etc. But now with his salery cut in half he cant make ends meet.

Its not like he can dump the house, no one is buying houses these days especially nice expensive ones.

I dont understand this feeling thats going around that if you make good money and live in nice houses that your some kind of pig. I feel everyone has a choice in life on what they can and want to do. If you really want to be a doctor you can do it, but it take a lot of work, studying and patience. I don't think we should think bad of anyone because they are successfull and have good things, they worked for them. I am getting tired of some people always looking for a hand out instead of a hand up.

I honestly think 2009 has been a hard year for almost everyone. I know it was a hard one for me. Here is to a better 2010 for everyone. Merry Christmas to all!

:up

 

[lakebum431]

I can understand as well, before he had the means to pay for his nice house and car etc. But now with his salery cut in half he cant make ends meet.

Its not like he can dump the house, no one is buying houses these days especially nice expensive ones.

I dont understand this feeling thats going around that if you make good money and live in nice houses that your some kind of pig. I feel everyone has a choice in life on what they can and want to do. If you really want to be a doctor you can do it, but it take a lot of work, studying and patience. I don't think we should think bad of anyone because they are successfull and have good things, they worked for them. I am getting tired of some people always looking for a hand out instead of a hand up.

I honestly think 2009 has been a hard year for almost everyone. I know it was a hard one for me. Here is to a better 2010 for everyone. Merry Christmas to all!

Wow, Scott. You summed my feelings up very well. I honestly could not have said it better :up

 

[nsaspook]

I can understand as well, before he had the means to pay for his nice house and car etc. But now with his salery cut in half he cant make ends meet.

Its not like he can dump the house, no one is buying houses these days especially nice expensive ones.

I dont understand this feeling thats going around that if you make good money and live in nice houses that your some kind of pig. I feel everyone has a choice in life on what they can and want to do. If you really want to be a doctor you can do it, but it take a lot of work, studying and patience. I don't think we should think bad of anyone because they are successfull and have good things, they worked for them. I am getting tired of some people always looking for a hand out instead of a hand up.

I honestly think 2009 has been a hard year for almost everyone. I know it was a hard one for me. Here is to a better 2010 for everyone. Merry Christmas to all!

Well said.. A toast to the New Year, I can't wait..

 

[Van]

Yea you would be amazed at how hard daily life gets when you loose half your monthly income, I can tell you right now that it is really the pits trying to survive on %80 of the current poverty level and all while going to school in an attempt ( potentially futile one at that ) to land a better paying job and hopefully a career. You have any idea how hard it is on your spouse and child(ren) as well? The difficulty in paying bills as well as putting food on the table on top of having to deal with your child getting sick repeatedly and trying to cover the cost of visits to a pediatrician and clinics plus medicine ( thank god for $4 generics at walmart ) and scrape up enough money to have a family splurge once in a while it gets hard. We've hit the beach so many times this year since moving to Virginia Beach to indulge in the free aspect that it became boring and now that its to cold to go there we're left with little else to do. Christmas this year is incredibly short on the gifts for our daughter and we have kept it to a few small things for ourselves, had it not been for extended family and the help of the salvation army things could have been more dismal.

I'm not gonna bash anyone who works hard at what he or she does and makes much to considerably more than I do when they find themselves suddenly in rough waters. There are those I would who are smug about their excessive wealth and how they got it through ruthless and underhanded albeit legal ways but thats for another rant thread. Take a moment to consider what your going to say because the next person who suddenly looses half or all of their earnings could be you.

 

[emtpud]

Van-Well said! Good Luck. Paul

 

[Ronnie-]

I am not going to argue against a half wage pay cut being a huge adjustment, there is no doubt whatsoever that it would. For darn near anyone.

My take on it, ONLY from the info that the OP gave, is that he is still in the top fifth (at least top two fifths) of wage earners in the United States at 80 grand. Would he be able to live a lifestyle equal to what he had? Of course not.

However, with some proper financial planning before hand, and some cuts (perhaps rather large ones) after, $80,000 (coupled with any savings that he "should" have) is more than sufficient to keep food on the table and power on for a family of 5.
That is what boggles my mind about the situation. And my opinion is not to bash him in any way, it is just that. An opinion. One that could very well change if other factors were obvious (such as health problems, caring for extended family, ect..). From what we have though, that is not mentioned.

NickG posted this at Sonic, and saddly, the reverse of what he did describes a large number of people in the US in his position. Does it describe the OP? Can not say for sure, but Nick makes a great point IMHO.

Look I understand it living it up....Right before my wife got pregnant I was looking at the new Audi R8. However, I was in a position where my current auto was paid for and the only real debt I had was a mortgage. It was the first time in my life that I could truly say I had made it from where I came from and I wanted a status symbol to show it....

Trust me I get it...

I was all ready to slap the ink on the paper and put my order in for a $100K+ car...Then my wife told me she was pregnant....Then all of a sudden it was even more stupid to drop that kind of money on a car, especially one that you can't even put a car seat in....So I traded my old F150 in on a brand new one, and bought my wife the SUV she wanted and still came out way cheaper. Anyway..the point is you have to decide what's more important...Keeping up with the Jones' or being able to pay for Harvard if that's where your son wants to go. Do I still want the R8? Sure I do, but not enough to threaten the future of my son or my retire by the age of 50 plan.

It's called responsibility and triage...What's more important now and in the future...Alot of people can't see past the 65" Plasma and Blu-Ray they just put on the 15th credit card they just got approved for...Because the others are maxed out.

 

[goaliebob99]

You guys are arguing over 80,000 a year! OMFG How spoiled are you guys! I support my entire family, make morgage payments, pay student loans, pay all the bills and just bearly afford the skin of my ass on 37,000 a year that the state of illinois pays. On top of that, I take care of my mother too! If this guy cant make it on 80,000 a year then something is seriously wrong! If I can do all that on 37,000. Imagine how well off I would be on 80,000! I would love to find a job that pays that kind of money but in these parts that few and far between!

Im not digging on those who are successful, by all means if you can make that money thats great for you! It's just the fact of the matter that the single mom of two earning less than 32,000 can get buy so can this guy! Hell I do it now!

 

[vurbano]

Its probably just the imagination of some left wing DailyKos yahoo.

 

[Van]

You guys are arguing over 80,000 a year! OMFG How spoiled are you guys! I support my entire family, make morgage payments, pay student loans, pay all the bills and just bearly afford the skin of my ass on 37,000 a year that the state of illinois pays. On top of that, I take care of my mother too! If this guy cant make it on 80,000 a year then something is seriously wrong! If I can do all that on 37,000. Imagine how well off I would be on 80,000! I would love to find a job that pays that kind of money but in these parts that few and far between!

Im not digging on those who are successful, by all means if you can make that money thats great for you! It's just the fact of the matter that the single mom of two earning less than 32,000 can get buy so can this guy! Hell I do it now!

Your missing the point Bob, when this guy was making $160k he was living in a house and driving a car and probably paying on a vacation home at the income that allowed him to do so. Cut to a few months later when his salary is cut he's still having to pay on those mortgages and notes because no ones going to buy his houses at their pay off value and the bank is probably fighting against him trying to turn the car in to them. I applaud you doing what you do with your salary both for your family and your mother, it takes a lot for someone to care for more than themselves and their spouse and child.

 

[Ronnie-]

That may be true Van, and that is what I, and several others at sonic are talking about when we say proper financial planning.

Sounds like he was tapped, or close to it, when he had the higher salary. He could afford it sure, and most do the same, but when things like this happen it can leave someone in a serious bind.

 

[lakebum431]

The thing you really have to consider is what his "fixed costs" were. I think it is fair to say that most people have fixed costs of more than half of their monthly income. I would hope that he had some savings and I totally hear what your saying about proper financial planning (and agree). But it wouldn't take long for most people to burn through their savings when they are only making half what they did before (no matter what the starting point is).

 

[Ronnie-]

True, we do not know how long ago this happend before he posted. It may have been sufficient time for him to blow through the savings he may or may not have had. Who knows, this may have happened a year ago. I would think it would have to be that long ago to have blown through any significant savings AND still making in the top two fifths at least, to get to the point where you cant buy food or power, which is what is most shocking to me.

One would think that would also be time to change his living situation somehow though. Cut back some other things to compensate.


Thats just it, we dont have any of that info.