There are many ways to define a person, and a lot of these stem from the social groups they belong to. From fandoms to friend groups to social classes – all of them define a person in one way or another.
And usually, they come with certain signs that give away a person’s belonging to them. Today, we’re going to delve into how to differentiate a middle-class person, and let’s just say that these signs provide quite an interesting perspective on this group of people.
More info: Reddit
#1
Having a two-car garage but not being able to park your car in it because you have years worth of Christmas decorations and lawn tools stored in there.
#2
Having a second, older refrigerator in your garage that you only use for storing beers.
#3
Being to rich to get free help and to poor to afford help.
Most people are obsessed with labels. Well, maybe in most cases not obsessed, but they definitely like to be defined by something. Basically, we’re wired in a way that we crave labels, so we can not only understand ourselves but others better.
We can define ourselves by a variety of things, from the things we are fans of or haters of, personality types like MBTI, and things like our gender identity and the social class we belong to.
#4
Driving several hours away to take a 5 day vacation. Eating cereal in your hotel room for breakfast, but going out for dinner. It’s nice, but not too nice.
#5
When you can’t be bothered to work an extra day for $100, but spending $100 in one day still hurts you.
#6
When there are people behind you and in front of you in the classroom.
For instance, belonging to the middle class can be a way to define yourself. This class refers to people who are in the middle of the social hierarchy, because, as the name suggests, they have an average income, education, and occupation. Granted, the exact definition depends on different countries’ economies, but the general idea of “average” stands.
Yet, how do you know that you belong to the middle class? Well, there are some general signs to look for. Here, Forbes has distinguished 6 of them, and they kind of overlap with things we already mentioned. Like income – in the US, it’s believed that middle-class families earned a little more than $106,000 in 2022.
#7
A full pantry.
I have a couple less advantaged friends and one saw the inside of my pantry and was like… Y’all have food in there???
I should have sent him home with a box of cans and snacks…
#8
Starbucks or 3rd wave coffee. Target. House in the suburbs. Newish car. Vacationing at Disney. Gym memberships, summer camps, craft beer and bottle wine,, basically having a modicum of nicer things but not really rich. By contrast, The poor are more likely getting coffee at home, going to Walmart, apartment or trailer, old shite car, vacationing in the back yard if at all, no money for gyms or summer camps, Budweiser or box wine.
#9
Being in debt due to large luxury expenses (cruises, oversized house, college for unmotivated/dumb kid) and looking down on those who are in debt due to small luxuries (cigarettes, hair weaves, soda.).
Then, there’s education. Apparently, a college degree is a “ticket to a middle-class life,” as two-thirds of college graduates consider themselves a part of this social group. At the same time, student loan debts can be an obstacle to achieving this, so it’s rather tricky to look at it from an educational point of view.
So, you can look at employment instead. Turns out, jobs like the military, public administration, and education, to name a few, have the most middle-class employees.
#10
Doing your own yardwork.
#11
Not having to worry too much about expenditure but not really living life to the fullest.
#12
Caring whether you’re lower middle, middle middle or upper middle class.
I tell people I don’t care about class, secretly suspect I’m actually upper middle class, but am middle middle middle class in reality.
When it comes to homeownership, it used to be a firm sign of the middle class and still is, but it’s getting trickier, as owning a home becomes more and more difficult in current times, with prices rising exponentially.
The last two are savings and retirement, which are also kind of tricky to look at, but knowing what kinds of sums these funds involve for middle-class folks can be used as a sign to tell them apart from other social classes.
#13
A plastic bag filled with more plastic bags.
#14
Saying you are broke while wearing name brand clothing.
#15
Pocket money.
While these aforementioned signs are the most common ways to recognize middle-class peeps, there are some more unusual ones. You can find them in today’s list. These submissions weren’t written by experts at Forbes; they were suggested by netizens, and sometimes, you know, they can be pretty ingenious.
As you can see, people online think that things like enjoying Starbucks, having a house in the suburbs, having a full pantry, or simply having “stacking dolls” of plastic bags (a plastic bag filled with more bags) are signs of a person being middle class. So, we’re leaving you to decide whether you agree with such ideas and to express your own in the comments!
#16
Using your old t-shirt as a rag/doormat.
#17
Framed photos of the occupants of the house. Family photos, kid school photos, wedding photos.
Rich people hang artwork. Poor people don’t bother with frames if they hang pictures at all.
#18
Saying you have no money while going on multiple vacations a year.
#19
Buying the biggest TV you can afford, without considering the size of your living room.
Now you’ve got a huge a*s TV, but the room isn’t large enough that you can sit at a comfortable distance to watch it.
#20
Having a new car and the 2nd car is a old one.
#21
Having a “live, laugh, love” sign in your house.
#22
Yoga pants and two kids while sipping on a $10 coffee from Starbucks.
#23
Driving a Tesla model 3.
#24
Shopping in Waitrose.
#25
Thinking your living on the edge, but you buy products made by chinese people who earn almost no money, instead of products that cost more and are of higher quality because you want to get something now.
#26
A certified pre-owed Nissan Altima with a nice office job that has a good 401k.
#27
Olive Garden.
#28
Debt.
#29
Over spending on status symbols (phones, name brand clothes, gaming systems, other luxury items) so that you project wealth and your family “fits in” when it is financially damaging to do so.
#30
Endlessly keeping up with the Joneses.
#31
Micheal kors.
#32
Using Uber on trips you could easily use public transport on.
#33
Minivan.
#34
Mediocre house with a 30 year mortgage that’s not even close to being paid off and a $60k SUV sitting out front.
Like…..pay off and own your house before you go buy stupid s**t you don’t need. WTF is wrong with people? I’ve seen new C7 Corvettes sitting in front of trailer park “houses” around here.
#35
Giving the kids a car on their 18th.And the kids not batting an eye as though it’s normal.
#36
“I try to stay out of politics.”.