15 Things the Middle Class Can’t Afford Anymore 

I stay home with 2 kids (toddlers), and husband makes less than 75k. We are doing well. No debt except the mortgage and we don't spend like crazy. We also don't have Facebook or Instagram so there's no comparison or coveting games going on here. We are quite happy and most importantly thankful to the Lord for providing.

My son just graduated from college. I did have a 529 for him. However, he still went to a local junior college for his first 2 yrs to complete his GE. It was basically free here in California because of the JC scholarships. Then he transferred to UC Davis, which is also in state, helping to save a bit more money. No student loans was important to us.

Four walls is most of the budget during inflation. Thankful to have that.

I am kindergarten teacher. Preschool is important because the expectations in kindergarten are so, so high! However.... You do not need to pay for preschool if you can't afford it. If you make an effort to get your child prepared for school, they will do just fine. Should you do some formal academic work with them? Sure, but most of all just provide them experiences to learn. Play with them. Cook with them. Pretend with them. Do art with them. When in the car, TALK to them rather than giving them a tablet to keep them quiet. Go to the "free" library and read to them everyday. Go on nature walks. Work on self help skills etc.... Many states now have free public preschool that is not just for low income kids. If you qualify, great! If you don't and can't afford preschool, do it yourself. Just don't make ipad apps your child's preschool. Teachers have greatly seen a drop in social skills and attention spans with the immense use of screens. Use in moderation. Preschool is great, but great parenting can be just if not more effective.

As a single mom who is also a teacher, my budget has become tighter. I talked to one of my adult daughters and we are doing a food challenge. Basically, we discuss what we are going to spend in a week on food (ALL food groceries, snacks, coffee, fast food). Then we check in and see if we went over or stayed on track. This has really helped us 😊

We’re a 1 income household and expecting baby #3 this summer. We finished baby step 3 in 2019. I’m so grateful to have found the Ramsey team!

A large part of the middle class isn’t middle class anymore. They’re working poor.

Middle class is a mindset. You can be quite low income but still feel middle class. Similarly you can be quite well off but feel grounded with middle class values.

This is so interesting to evaluate. I'm late 30s and we look back at how our parents lived beyond their means to afford the standard Middle-Class Lifestyle in the '90s and early 2000s. I make much less money than they did but have chosen to fight to get out of debt and live below my means. Saving for the future is a huge priority for me now because I have seen that having the standard middle-class lifestyle built on debt doesn't work in the end. It's the everyday choice to work to keep choosing for my future self while cherishing simpler things now.

This kinda made me feel better. Our family has been cutting, but as cost especially of gas and groceries go up we are really feeling the squeeze.

I only make $54k at the moment and i save 1k and 1.5k each month with no debt, but like dave says, ppl wanna spend like they are in congress.

We're a single income 2+2 family on 60k/year with a mortgage, vehicle and living on 87% of the income (the balance is going to debt and eventually into savings). We don't live lavishly but no one is deprived either. We used to live above our means because we got caught in the "do what they do" mentality so it required some real groundwork to put everything back in balance but now that it's done, I shake my head at my past self.

I agree with other comments here that Rachel has a gift of making people feel calm and less anxious about their personal finances. It’s neat to see her find her own style that appeals to people in a different way than her dad does.

If you budget you can choose to set aside money for savings. Just be intentional. The money will add up. You can do it!!🎉

I’m a single person making $65k year. Thank goodness I purchased a condo back in 2014, otherwise how would not be able to afford such an increase on rents or mortgages not to mention groceries. The rents are outrageously high, my college son had to come back home and live with me bc he couldn’t afford the rent not even with a roommate 🤦‍♀️. This is so depressing and this administration is NOT doing a thing to control it! It’s sickening.

I don’t see how anyone making under $100k can fall within the 50/30/20 rule. Our needs are very high in this current economy and our wants are super low.

I've known a lot of parents who charge Disney just to say they went. I never did with my three kids. They survived. (Hershey park was very nice though) They told me in college they met other "no Disney" kids and a professor said she never went and realized how much marketing and "keeping up with others" has people spend recklessly to match them. I bet many at Disney can't afford it.

That childcare thing is vicious! I was spending the same on fulltime childcare as rent! over $14K a year

We live in the Midwest. No government assistance. 2 income family with 2 children earning around 120k a year. With the cost of food, healthcare, gas etc…we are always tight. We are a 1 car family and life in a modest 900 square foot home. I do not understand who is living in and buying or renting all the luxury apartments and new build homes cropping up everywhere around us. I thought for sure we were considered lower middle class. I just can’t imagine how other folks are making due.

I recently got a raise at work and I did the math and I’m going to make significantly more than before, so I’m working on my budget and putting more towards debt and savings. I’ve been meal planning lately and that definitely helps with money

Those sleeves are so cute!

Practice gratitude every day to see the abundance one has. What makes us feel deprived and feel impoverished is looking outward and seeing what everyone else has and trying to keep up with the Joneses. We are NOT what we have. The things we have that we go into debt for are traps. There's no doubt that things are more expensive now. I went to college in the 80's and I worked part time to pay my tuition and completed my degree without any loans. Now it's impossible without loans her help from parents. It's possible for adults to succeed financially without a college degree. Learning through apprenticeships to learn a trade is a real option. Mike Rowe is right.

If you work the baby steps, you will be just fine. My wife and I have been following Dave's plan our whole married life. She even stays at home with the two little ones while the two big ones are in school. I've had a few jobs changes which have dramatically increased my income, we have a good start on retirement and are a couple of years away from getting the mortgage completely paid. We are doing quite well thanks the following the plan.

Rachel's delivery of these concepts always inspires me, and makes me feel calm somehow & like I can actually do this! 🤣💖 Thank you yet again for another great vid, with your inspiring insights.

I just found this video this morning so I'm late to the comments. Ms. Cruze does not mention here two of the 15 things in the original video: living in a middle class neighborhood and living in a major city. The cost of housing has gone up much faster than inflation has, and this is especially true in major cities. My husband and I grew up in middle class neighborhoods in a major city, raised by parents who had high school-level educations and owned their own homes (his mom was a housewife, mine worked outside the home). Despite both of us having advanced degrees, being a dual income household, and being completely debt-free, we cannot afford the standard of living our parents had in the same neighborhoods. My parents paid $67,000 for their house in 1978. If housing costs had kept pace with inflation, my parents' house would now be worth about $333,000, which we could easily afford. In reality, homes on my parents' block routinely sell for $900,000 to $1,000,000, which we definitely cannot afford. Mind you, these are small, attached two-family houses. The only way we've managed to stay in the same general geographic area is by purchasing a two-bedroom apartment. For us, staying close to extended family and keeping our commutes reasonable were more important than having a big house. That being said, our son is growing up without things his father and I took for granted: a backyard, a washer and dryer, a garage of our own, a home large enough to host family get-togethers, etc. So yes, our "middle class" lifestyle looks very different than the ones our parents had.

Yeah, the "standard middle class lifestyle" has been gone for years.

Always inspiring!! Our family is living in peace in abundance. Thank you 🙏🏻😄❤️

Love, love, love your shirt, Rachel❤

Wife and I make nearly 200k combined but no way would we buy a new car...it's insane now. We buy used 5 years or so old and drive into the 200s and sell them. I'm glad we do this...cause inflation is going to get way worse this year and people are really going to feel it in the future.

Rachel, please convince your Mom to do another video with you!! You ladies are so fun and sweet together!!

The main reason going to a Disney park is unaffordable to the middle class now isn't simply because of cost of living; it's primarily because Disney keeps raising prices. Before Michael Eisner took over the company, the price of admission to the Disney theme parks was actually quite low. Once Eisner came in and transformed the culture to view them (and the company as a whole) as primarily a moneymaking operation, the prices began skyrocketing and have been ever since.

If you get rid of student loans, go down to one paid for car, pay off your mortgage, you can live really comfortably on 75k a year. (As an empty nest couple) add kids you need more.

My husband and I make $130k combined. We live modestly and rent in California. I’m pregnant and cannot stop stressing about the future and our finances with a baby on the way.

I agree! Our expectations are WAY too high! Nobody can get everything they want...

Disney theme parks were overrated when I was kid, and now, even more so. Better to spend less money and keep it local with a trip to Six Flags, Wisconsin Dells, Valleyfair, et cetera.

We decided not to put our youngest so in preschool and he did great in school...we had a stay at home dad at the time. Debt free except house since 2013. Did and doing pay as you go for college...didn't have room to save during their growing years

I have never had an interest in going to Disney world, I didn't even realize it was something people wanted that much, lol. I guess that's a good thing :-)

I think people are just very spoiled and don’t understand how to be content with their lives. One income family and I think we are beyond blessed. Lavish? No. Very comfortable yes!

I've been watching Epic Economist for over a year now. I love their videos.

Harder for single person making less than $26,000/year. Hello that's me, 60 yr old, disabled oay for 4 walls & worry about car upkeep, drs appts & medications. Rachel you have no clue about the real people

Dealing with inflation and debt add on health issues it’s just a nightmare. Some of us don’t have the physical luxury of working a second job to combat these issues. We feel stuck. 😢

Can’t have true peace without the Prince of Peace❤

Cable TV service is no longer affordable.

We have no payments and are able to save that money for the future! I totally agree with that…

We just went to Disneyland, it was awesome- had so much fun and memories forever with my kid. The only reason we got to go was because of bonus money. I never count it in my budget. If no bonus, dang I wouldn’t have been able to afford the monthly mortgage bill. So expensive (Disney)

Preschool is a COMPLETE waste of money. Studies show upper elementary school kids that did school work at preschool age fall BEHIND those who didn't.

2 used Honda Accords with 100k miles on them is roughly 70-100% of the average middle class yearly take home pay.... which far exceeds Ramsey guidelines.

Well, as we are noticing there are more 100 thousands suvs than the regular affordable accords on the streets , there are $700 thousands houses on the market today that being sold in 5 days ,So I don't know where the middle class lives

“Never say you cannot afford something. That is a poor man’s attitude. Ask HOW to afford it.” - Robert Kiyosaki

I totally agree with our expectations now. Homes in the80's and 90's were much simpler for the middle class, nice, but simpler, nothing fancy, just practical. HGTV changed the way we look at homes. Now a ton of U-tubers have followed suite. My middle class friends used to go to Disney every year. ( we were dairy farms, so poor and not time off). We took our kids when they were very little, however there are so many other amazing vacations you can take on a budget. We are not debit free, but we are working on paying off our stuff, no credit card debit and we've been paying cash for the last 3years. I hope to have just a house payment in 3years. My daughter is in community college and We've told my son he will be doing the same thing. Why pay all that money? I'm hoping that my daughter is able to commute when she goes to a 4 year school. I would love for her to have the experience of living on her own, but not with that price.

"I'm not paying that" is the most overheard Public reaction.

I don’t see anyone in my rural South Dakota community “cutting back” on non essential spending!!

I won’t go to Disney World because of its woke policies.

I went to a private college. It was significantly cheaper for me to go there and have everything included (room and board, textbooks, meal plan, all of it) than only tuition would have cost me at one of our state’s major public universities (that happens to be in my hometown). Plus I finished college in 4 years compared to the average 6 years it takes many people at our public university. AND I was able to study abroad twice for the exact same out of pocket costs as I would have been paying in a normal semester at my college. It wasn’t something only the rich could do. Private does not necessarily mean more expensive when it comes to college. It really only makes a difference in K-12

My wife wanted a BMW X3. I bought a used Nissan Quasquai. It was never driven or almost none. So it was almost brand new. It's never going to cost me as much as a BMW. It's very cheap to maintain and to repair. Also I wanted to invest more money in my investments accounts. But unfortunately I couldn't do it as much as I wanted. So I did stop taking money from the accounts. Yes I am very lucky. Now I just let interest doing interest on the interest. It's making a big snow ball. I think that you should always think before you do anything with your money.

Checking into accredited transferable online university/college courses could be an option to save $$$. Work full or part-time (full-time is better) while studying. The first and second year courses can often be taken on-line. Why forgo grocery/rent money for an entry level sociology, psychology or math class? Technology means we can do this. Good luck to us all !!

It seems the trends are moving towards mulitigenerational housing; going to be a hard pill to swallow, but many cultures seem to have no issue with it.

"Your mom goes to college"

My brother and his wife are always broke because of the poor money decisions they make. When that stimulus money was given out, they got extra because they have kids. Instead of putting that money aside for an inevitable emergency, they decided to take their family to Disney World…Shortly after they got back, their car broke down and needed expensive repairs; they didn’t have the money to get it fixed!

We live in the Midwest and we bought a house 30 mins outside the city so we could afford to even buy our first home, but it was worth it. We live on my husband’s income $55k plus overtime (gross) and my income we used to pay off some lingering debt and then next to invest. House: $1,500 and shop at ALDI mostly and sometimes Costco for groceries and bulk items. We have a dog and a cat. 2 vehicles a 2005 Honda CRV (outright) and a 2006 Toyota Prius (finish paying off a small loan on it this year). I think we’ll pay cash for a 2015 ish plug in Prius in the next couple of years. We garden and are getting chickens soon for self sufficiency and save some money on food. We live frugally and have a small house so we can save as much as possible AND it’s easier to maintain. We do our best to live a simple, stress free life on less vs higher incomes at stressful jobs in big cities. That’s our choice and we’re vibing 💖

I'm unapologetically going on a Disney Cruise soon.....

I feel like doing everything on this list has always only been in the realm of the upper middle class. But that’s just my own perspective.

So basically we're all on Baby Steps 1-3 together.

I Love Epic Economist!

Not that you should be using CC anyways, but interest rates back in the early 2000s were 5-10 percent. A reasonable amount you could dig yourself out of. Now it’s 35ish percent. Let alone the price of housing and the price of a car has skyrocketed. Owning a home in the next 10 years will be considered a luxury

I am 63 and have my social security no savings. Once in a while I work temp employment jobs to augment my income. I also sell items online, return bottles for deposit. I have never had cable, had internet at home for just a few months, will most likely never go to Disney Land or Epcot Center, never own a brand new car unless I win one and even then probably could not afford the sales tax. I rent, drive a 14 year old car, have cats instead of dogs as pets because they are less expensive, keep my clothing for many years [ I actually have a pair of 30 year old winter boots ] and will exist happily until The Lord decides otherwise. I do dream of having a small 2 bed 1 bath home with gardens, an orchard and dogs which may still happen. Either way, I am grateful and have peace.

A minimalist needs versus wants mindset will go a long way to solving most of these problems….and you will sleep better at night…😴

There is so much more beauty in nature that is free and surpasses anything you’ll ever see at fake over priced Disney. I grew up in Orlando and could stay in Orlando for free to take my kids to Disney and have zero interest.

I am far better off now than I was 5 or even 10 years ago and has nothing to do with inflation. I have learnt how to manage my money, lifestyle and dare I say it, ego! I am so fixed into making a difference for myself and family now. Inflation has effected me very little.

My preschool was expensive and supposedly it is good for our kids to socialize and get some early childhood education preparing them for the future. I couldn’t wait to get them into public school. Haha

I save 25 percent of my income. It's possible, I just don't spend much

If you lived in Florida and saw the arrests on television of Disney employees and what they are arrested for- there's no way you'd bring your child to Disneyworld. Not a big loss...

Middle Class is being phased out. Politicians want people dependent or donating.

No we don't want big instagramable homes. That's literally an instagram fantasy, not real life. The majority of us are never going to buy a home. We are looking at homes that are older than the homes our parents bought and are 3x times the cost.

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN MIDDLE CLASSS...and I have never had the cash for Cable TV, vacations/trips, or new vehicles. I never had a dishwasher or a new kitchen. Instead, I sent my sons to COOP pre-school (it was cheap them) and saved for my two sons college fund and paid for three life insurance policies every month. We could not afford long term care insurance and now at age 77 and 72 we wish we had long term care insurance and had our sons take out college loans instead. My husband never made more than $48,000 and I stayed home to raise my sons and had a small homebased business because I had severe endometriosis and was in pain 24/7. I could not have held a fulltime out of the home job between the pain, fatigue and exhaustion.

I can’t afford underwear anymore so I go without

Keep up the good work.

Standard of living is what gets everyone.

Here's the thing. People don't Want to give up their lifestyle that they've become comfortable with. They'd rather be in debt, but say they had a taste of the high life, if for only a short while. Remember when Ralph Kramden found all that money? He spent it and gifted others with it all over the place, then came to find out it was counterfeit. He told Alice that at least for a while he had it and so could everyone else. He said it came and it went just as fast (snapped his fingers). It was a memorable lesson. Today, people will argue that they'd rather be in debt and have it now, then have to wait and possibly never have it. That mindset is dangerous.

Our car payment is 250. 2021 Lexus. She’s wrong

Thank you so much for doing this video. The middle class always has to make choices but to me it is crazy to think about whether I am going to keep buying meat or not. I didn't touch eggs for 4 months. I am so sick of Ramsey acting like the economy is great and people just need to tighten their belts. When the belts were already tight.... It is not good. I don't understand the continuous sugar coating. These are not normal times the direction that some want to take this world.

I think the fact that we can’t agree on what middle class is doesn’t help

Is pre-K (especially private) truly worth it? I never went to pre-K and my grades and success in school were fine.

Government subsidized leads to higher cost of college

I went to Disneyland with my son and his family last summer (booked through Disney) Our tickets were $120 per person per day 😊

I make $56k as a single mother. Ten years ago, I would be swimming in excess cash. However, inflation took over, and I am now trying to generate another source of income to make ends meet. By all accounts, I would have been considered a high wage earner in that era, but those days are long gone. Those earning $100k are now considered middle-class, and I am considered to be in poverty. SMH

OK I completely lost respect for her saying public school is a blessing. It is a den of vipers.

The traveling once a year cracks me up. I'd rather put that money towards paying off my home. People blowing 15k to fly to _____ location. Then stress about how they're gonna pay it off. So you can't even enjoy the vacation.

Am blown away here by how much people make here. I with a lot of over time I barely make over 30k a year. Manufacturing has been my life.

I live in the capital of Germany. I work as a teacher and my wife is able to stay at home! The kids go to KITA (state owned kindergarden/day care). We have 2 cars, one is a BMW SUV the other is a VW. I have at least 70 days off work per year weekends not included. I work around 28 hours per week. We don’t live a lavish lifestyle but we are comfortable. I don’t know how it’s possible to live so care free in such times. We come from a former socialist country and have friends and relatives in the US. Everywhere else people feel stuck in a rat race, except us. It’s crazy!

I tried saving up to build a pool. The quote I got in 2020 was 40k. I saved 50k now the quote is 80k 😒 plus interest is 4x now if we did want to finance.

Thanks to HGTV, everything needs to be fancier

Any family under $100k would struggle now. A few may say, no, I am saving.... The rest of us have medical bills(with insurance), groceries, vehicle expenses(for an average vehicle). The truth is often there is not anything extra for any other wants, repairs, travels.

None of this is a problem for me, but my wife and I don’t do anything to “keep up” with others, which is where I think a lot of these problems come from. We make good money, probably more upper-middle than actual middle, but we don’t need the newest phones, or cars, and we don’t remodel our house to feel fancy. Can still do basically anything we want to do, buy what we want, etc., but if it’s frivolous, we acknowledge that. We also avoid debt like the plague, house, cars, and (unfortunately) student loans. No cards keep balances and we finance nothing else. Shouldn’t even have the student loans, but the government never paid them like they said they would (veteran).

I make 64k a year, and my mortgage is $1700 a month. I save / invest easily minimum 1k a month. A lot of people in these comments spelled lack of a budget / over spending incorrectly .. I am 23

The sad thing of the term middle class, it isn't a real label for what the average working class person makes per month ($60k is $5k month). I've worked full time in a nursing home, and never made more than $35k.

Sometimes i watch videos like this and just laugh. Imagine worrying about not being able to go to Disney Land every year, or take your annual trip to cancun anymore while across the globe, and in our own country for that matter, there are people who don't know what they are going to eat for dinner let alone sleep that night. It's all perspective and entitlement.

If you’re no longer able to afford eggs, I hate to break it to you, you’re not middle class. You’re poor. If you can’t eat, you’re poor. Doesn’t matter how pretty your house or car is.

When will Dave take out the "save for college" step out? Its one thing to HELP with expenses but another to take away sense of responsibility. If you want to study Under Water Basket Weaving 101 in NYC for 100k/yr, they can serve some mochachinos for 80hrs/wk so they can afford parking on campus...teach them not giving participation trophies

The cost of childcare (not even preschool) is ridiculous. For my almost 2.5-year-old we pay $1270 a month, and he does not even go to the most expensive daycare in our area. I am pregnant with number 2 so when we have both in daycare, we will be spending well over $2500 a month in childcare costs. My husband and I are lucky enough to be able to afford daycare, but man that is more than the cost of our mortgage. So that hurts. We have been smart with our money, have no credit card debt, no car loans, our student loans have actually been forgiven (which was absolutely amazing), and bought a house well within our price range. We also make very good money (per the video, not middle class). However, we would still consider ourselves middle class.