I have 10,195 in credit card debt :(

<p>Mate, housing prices are way over what most people can afford. Average income in my area is around 130k. Average house goes for 650-800k. People can't afford to move out because they wouldn't be able to pay the tax on the money from selling. We're in a bit of a bind also, so how did I get a car? By investing over 5 years in a diversified portfolio to defray some of the costs and buying a car with low maintanence needs. I admit, though, I could probably have gone with a significant amountof inconvenience and taken the bus if cash was really short at hand.</p>

<p>That said, your parents may have already saved some sort of money for a car for you. We don't know the details, and honestly, really don't care. As long as it works out for you, cool. Just please, don't call yourself poor - there are plenty of households out there with 4 sources of income (a couple with 2 jobs) working two shifts and pulling in less than half that amount.</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>100K/year is in NO way, shape, or form poor. If you have the skills to make 100K/year, even in a high cost/high tax state, you have the skills to make less than that and live more comfortably (or within your means) in the Midwest or South.</p>

<p>WHAT THE **** ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT???
100k is not poor...it's upper middle class.
30k is poor. You people need to friggin open your eyes and take the silver spoons your daddys gave you out of your mouths. There are kids in this country that have to work 40-50 hours a week to support their families, starting at about age 16. Believe me I've met them. How can you people say you're poor??? My parents make 200k+ and I know I'm well off, but I don't flaunt it, and I sure as hell know I'm not poor. Open up your eyes, go out and get a part-time job, and find out what most people in this country live like.</p>

<p>And btw, to the OP, 11,000 bucks is a lot to spend in 16 months if you're not paying tuition yourself...if you are, that's understandable. But I don't see how it's even possible for anyone our age to spend that much. I don't think you'll find a lot of people that are in a similar position as you...</p>

<p>
[quote]
I know what it's like to have less than those around you in a high income area

[/quote]

well then you should know that when i say poor, im not comparing myself to dirt poor people......im comparing myself to upper middle class people....compared to them im poor...................people in my school comes in mustang, bmw 5 and 6 series, mercedes benz....and i come in a pathfinder...........im saying im poor compared to the people in my town......btw my parents just didnt start earning 110k.....we immigrated from a different country......Bangladesh....it a very poor country......my parents worked really hard to get at 100k.....so in the beginign my parents earing around 35k.....so i know whats it like to be poor...............................but tdoay im far from it I KNOW THAT OK</p>

<p>you're upset about having a pathfinder?? sorry to break it to you, but must students ur age dont even get new cars or even SUV's like a pathfinder. also most likely those kids the are even driving mercedes or bmw's its their parents's cars. what 18-20 yr old has the income to buy a 50,000 car?</p>

<p>honestly... i think it's pathetic that youre complaining about the car you have. where i live, kids parents dont buy them a car. We turn 14, we get a job. We work. We save. When we turn 16, we buy our own car, with our own money. It may be a 1994 honda accord, it may be a 1985 chrysler lebaron, maybe its a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. it all depends how much money that kid has saved up, and how much they are currenly making per month.. and if it's enough to pay their own insurance.. yeah that's right, we pay our own insurance here too... our parents don't do that for us.. and our own gas.. and whatever other bills come with owning a car... inspections, repairs, etc.. and don't pull out crap about having to study and take part in activities to look good in college and not having time for a job. even the val. and sal. of my class had jobs where they worked 15 or so hours a week. and they still managed to get 4.0's and go off to ivy league schools. it's just to be expected.. </p>

<p>the same goes with working during college... </p>

<p>it's a privledge to drive, so i'd suggest to start treating it like one. and i'd suggest writing your parents a giant thank you card and telling them that you love and respect them for all they have done for you.</p>

<p>About the 100k thing, it's actually lower middle class considering how filthy these houses are in Monterey. Sure the avg income is around 47k and the avg house goes for around 550k, but DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, put these numbers in a vacuum. The numbers from REALTOR.com DO NOT take into account the "average house" in the neighborhood, the property taxes, crime rate, quality of the schools, OR the cost to make them, well, livable. You know what kind of house you get with 550k, or close to that? A year ago, the kind of house you get for close to 550k (this one was 589k) was a 1277 square foot, 100 year old, 2 bed 2 bath (one of them had no permit-so effectively you could only use one), almost collapsing house with no garage, hideous exterior and interior, leaky roof, bad plumbing, broken windows, no heating and worst of all, it was a fixer upper. The real estate agent listing the house estimated another 100k (AT THE LOWER END) to 200k to make the place LIVABLE, not luxurious.</p>

<p>Someone bought the place, and made it a 3 bed 2 bath 2000sqft LIVABLE place with a garage, heating etc. after months on end of construction. THIS IS THE "AVERAGE QUALITY" HOUSE. So YES, YOU CAN MAKE 150K+ PER YEAR, AND STILL NOT BE IN THE MIDDLE CLASS. However, you CAN be wealthy with $47k in some regions in the country.</p>

<p>It seems like the major part of the 550k was for the land, not the building.</p>

<p>;)</p>

<p>omg you know the real estate is bad when (in Atherton) a one acre land plot with a tear down house is $1million+ (depending on which part of Atherton it's in). California real estate is such a rediculous joke.</p>

<p>I'm not even gonna get into the subject of going to school with rich people. You've got nothing on me. I could write pages. But I won't because I don't have time. I have to go to sleep because I am in college and have class in the morning. Enjoy senior year of High School.</p>

<p>
[quote]
It seems like the major part of the 550k was for the land, not the building.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The land isn't much bigger than the house itself, if you're looking at a $550k one. The land isn't much bigger than the house itself even if you're looking at a $2.5mil house. So CA real estate is pathetic.</p>

<p>An associate sent me a free copy of that book by Ramsey and I have not read it yet, but I am sure there is some good into in there.</p>

<p>Man, I thought I had it bad cuz I am a few hundred dollars in the hole......$10k is a lot man. you may be better off getting an additional student loan and then just use the money to pay off the cc in full...then your student loan woudl be defeered till graduation.</p>

<p>Jeez at some of these replies. My parents make only 65,000 combined, and I had to save up and pay for my own car by working at a 40 hour a week full time job during the summer, and about 18 hours a week now during school. My parents don't buy anything for me, I have to earn it myself. I got my car for $9000 used, 2002 model, it gets me to work; not because I studied so hard that I need it. </p>

<p>My parents and I now are combining any money we have so that we can afford college, which is hard if all we have as income is a small business. It seems to me that a lot of people here have a lot more money than I will ever come into, and to someone where I live in a small $90,000 home where we all have to work hard in jobs to afford things.</p>

<p>Dont give me any BS about you have to work to buy a car.....i have too also work and earn money so i can go out and hang out with my friends.....AND ONCE AGAIN, IM NOT COMPARING MYSELF TO PEOPLE WHO ARE POOR....PLEASE PEOPLE GET IT THROUGH YOUR MIND....im comparing myself to people who are thousand times richer than me, and yet i still live a life similar to them, by just WORKING HARD and SHOWING MY PARENTS WHAT I DESERVE BECAUSE OF MY ACCOMPLISHMENT</p>

<p>I think you began to compare yourself to people who are poor when you wrote the phrase "my parents are poor"</p>

<p>best, no matter what you say.. i don't think you, or anyone for that matter, deserves to be bought a car. and i 100 percent believe in what i just said. and there's a huge difference between working to hang out with your friends and working to buy a car. thousands of dollars difference.</p>

<p>$10K in debt? Dang. I thought that at $5K on my cards, I was crazy. I still can't believe how much I had to spend for grad school and moving. Stupid real world and its expenses and stuff.</p>

<p>Sigh.</p>

<p>By the way, BestMiler, try living off of less than $30K a year with a family of 4, and then you'll know what "poor" actually means.</p>

<p>Oh wah wah wah I got a Pathfinder. My first car was a damn 1987 Hyundai Excel.</p>

<p>
[quote]
best, no matter what you say.. i don't think you, or anyone for that matter, deserves to be bought a car.

[/quote]

OK now you have made me mad...........YOU HAVE NO RIGHT IN THIS WORLD TO TELL ME WHAT I DESERVE OR NOT.........i got a car because my parents thought that i deserved it, and thats fine with us.......................just cause your parents wont do that to you doesnt mean all parents are like that..............if your parents cant afford to buy you a car because your not rich..........TOO BAD. SUCKS TO BE YOU THEN</p>

<p>
[quote]
By the way, BestMiler, try living off of less than $30K a year with a family of 4, and then you'll know what "poor" actually means

[/quote]

sorry buddy my parents were there at once.............and now they are setttled for life.............and in about few year its about to be 180k...........so dont give me any bs you wrote</p>

<p>Reply to UCLAri
Read the other posts before you say anything, because i already said that before that my parents went from poor to rich, not no graduate from college and get a 80k job..........</p>

<p>well.. all i can say is i'm done replying to your posts... i'm just hoping you mature at some point... and hopefully that is sooner rather than later... because based on this whole conversation, my seven year old cousin acts older...</p>