Maybe its different where I live, but I just paid ninety dollars at the grocery store last night. Its maybe a weeks worth of food, but probably not even. No extras other than marrow bones for the dog. No luxuries like nice meat or cheese. Everything I bought was either on sale or store brand. I opted for a quart of milk rather than the half gallon, and I got a half dozen eggs.

I paid at the self checkout because there was only one cashier. On a Friday, at four o'clock , there was only one lane open with an employee. That says something in itself about life today.

I'm single, no kids. Live with a roommate. Don't have cable. I save money here and there, only to have it go right back out the window for genuine emergencies. Drive a used car. Shopping for anything is a rare. I haven't had a real vacation since 2005.

I will admit to having a fancy cell phone, but I only have it because its actualy cheaper than a regular phone line.

There is absolutely no waste in my lifestyle

I make what used to be considered a very good living, busting my ass in a hair salon, and this is my lifestyle. Not to brag, but I am exceptionaly taltented at what I do and I work very, very hard.

This is not about a big "poor me" party. I'm just saying, if this is how I'm living, how can families that make less than I do make it at all?

My Grandparents were also very successful. They worked hard for sure, and used their brains and talents to generate a nice amount of wealth. I have learned a lot from them and feel that I also posess their work ethic.

I don't think it was just hard work, talent and a bit of luck that got them there. I can't help but to see a pattern through the last few generations. Every generation gets less, despite working just as hard and sharing the same work ethic.

Our grandparents made most of their money when taxes on the ultra wealthy were higher, unions were strong and the stock market was governed by laws. I don't think its just coincidence, sorry.

There is a cultural decline, but I don't think it effects every single person. I know everybody in my family works very hard, in what used to be middle class jobs. Law enforcement, construction, nursing. All of them are living the same way I am.

In fact, I have a cousin who is going into college next year. Sweet, talented, smart kid. She's a very hard worker. Unfortunately her parents have spent so much time treading water that they are going to take loans for everything. Another young person who is forced to choose between starting life with enormous debt or facing the possibility of never finding adequate employment.

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

In fact, I have a cousin who is going into college next year. Sweet, talented, smart kid. She's a very hard worker. Unfortunately her parents have spent so much time treading water that they are going to take loans for everything. Another young person who is forced to choose between starting life with enormous debt or facing the possibility of never finding adequate employment.

Have her check out Scholarships.com - and start collecting what she needs to apply for scholarships. There are millions of scholarship dollars that go unclaimed every year. If a person is a hard worker with decent grade and can write decently, there is a lot of money available for anybody for any course of study. And if you've got decent grades and join a fraternity organization after the first semester, they'll send you scholarships information on what scholarships are available and help you get them.

I think it is a bit easier to live more frugally in the midwest and away from big cities. It's closer to the source and no city taxes. We get seconds of fruit, veggies all the time in the summer. We're also able to grow a garden which can really help.

Are you able to buy anything in bulk? the larger the quantity you can buy, the lower price you pay. My folks would also buy case lots of shelf stable good when they went on sale and save 30-50% that way. If you've got any freezer space, I'd buy the gallon of milk and freeze most of it - you can cut the price by about 40% in the long run. I found a small grocery store that get odds and ends of meat in bulk at really good prices and that has really helped me stretch my college student budget. My SIL is on a coupon site that directs her to where the sales are and where there coupons are for what is on sale. I know both Wal-Greens and Rite-Aid run pretty good sales if you watch. For instance I got $9 worth of product (something I use regularly) at rite-aid the other day for just over $1 thanks to sale plus a coupon.

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Not to brag, but I am exceptionally talented at what I do and I work very, very hard.

Have you thought about marketing yourself through social media? Or maybe expand your market a bit as a style consultant? You could consult on anything from prom hair styles to business hair styles.

As far as the rest of it goes, I think we both pretty much have the same values and ethics, but our opinions on how things should be now have been formed different life experiences. And that could be an endless debate.

If you're really interested on how lower to middle class families can make it today, I'll PM you with how my family did it.

Sheila,
You have me genuinely confused.
I agreed that if you consider those points grievances then indeed feel grieved and put upon about them.
I only suggested you point your animosity in the direction of the offending party rather then at some vague form in the closet that only turns out to be a coat when the lights are turned on.
However, I never said there wasn't someone down stairs stealing the silverware.

So if you feel that strongly about those issues, that's all fine by me, just make sure your pointing the gun in the right direction. Okay.

Mara, I am the coupon queen, girlfriend! Love the Walgreens circular!

I know how to make the most out of what I got. I've also been known to buy in bulk, but I've stopped because all the real savings items that can be found at a warehouse club have been completely cut out of my budget at this point. I don't have extra freezer space, but I do have a pantry. I definitely stock up when I find a real bargain.

I have my grocery recipt in hand, and just for the sake of example I bought a bunch of broccoli for $3.70! Its not like I'm shopping at wholefoods or anything. This is just the normal grocery store.

Also, when it comes to marketing myself, that's not really the issue. I have a good client list, work in a busy place and get a ton of referal business. So its not for lack of business. High ticket services have gone down somewhat, and more sales skills are required now to make the same money, but I am plenty busy at work.

I would agree that some problems may be regional. It could be that the closer you are to a big city the more oppressive it feels.

Who knows, maybe if I were in Ohio or Oklahoma I would have a salon and a house by now and be feeling just fine about my situation. But the problem is that to make the good money in my line of work you have to be in a city, and to relocate you either need to have money or someone to support you while you build a client base.

As far as my cousin goes, she might be coming to live with me while she attends UMASS. Scholarships are really hard to come by these days, so many people are in the exact same situation. I know she has done a million scholarship applications, and her parents research these things as a full time job. So many kids now have been groomed their whole lives to be a scholarship candidate that the competition is tough. Hopefully she will have something come through.

Hey Lauren, looking back over my post I hope I didn't come across as patronizing or anything. It's just that I'm in the college student with pretty limited income position myself (going to school pretty much on grants and scholarships) and I've been constantly surprised by the number of people who don't know what's available.

I hope your cousin is able to find some success with the scholarship route. I think a huge issue facing young people is the debt load they're carrying when they come out of college. I've been fortunate to have some good community colleges nearby plus relatives to stay with. Otherwise I might have had to skip it altogether.

Looking at that price. wow. It's about 40% less here. I know when I worked at the Farm Market folks from Chicago would come through all the time and comment at how low the prices were. And they really weren't low for our area.

And I wish I had a solution for the rest. The one conclusion I have come to is that there is no one size fits all solution/answer.

No, you didn't come across that way to me. Not at all.

I appreciate the suggestions.

Lauren, How do you think your niece would feel about going to a smaller, local college? One of my nieces thought she would be going to a larger, out of state university, but when the time came, her folks simply could not make it happen. She ended up at a local, smaller university and lived at home. That girl threw herself into local college life like crazy and had a wonderful time. Ended up with her teaching degree just as she would have if she had gone to the more expensive school away from home, and was hired immediately after graduating. She is now in her fourth year as an elementary school teacher (just shoot me now before I kill any of the sweet babies...) and loves it. I don't know if this is something your neice might consider, but really, once you graduate, a degree is pretty much a degree except for some unique specialties. Just a thought. That and 3.50 will get you a cuppa joe.

The small colleges in Massachusetts are for the most part much more expensive than umass. Most of them are in the 30k and up range.

The other option would be to do two years of community college and then transfer to umass, but even then I'm not sure if living at home would work for her. I'm pretty sure from where she lives it would still be a pretty hefty commute.

Thanks for thinking about us! I'm sure it will work out somehow.

It will. Sounds like she is hard working, determined young gal and that will see her through. If she comes to live with you, you'll make SURE she graduates and gets the heck back outta your house!

Just throwing another idea out there - has she considered a smaller out of state college?

For instance the college I'm attending is a 2 year college with on campus housing. For an out of state student the cost would be around 12K/year including housing.