According to the 2014 report issued September 2015 by the US Census; the Income and Poverty in the United States PDF report states median household income to be $53,657 in the Highlights section on page 13.
$53,657 appears to be the median American income which most struggle to budget their homes and families with. Let's take a look at how this breaks down into monthly payments, taxes, and left over monies for necessities, groceries and such.
$53,657 gross annual income would be reduced by 15% for FICA - Social Security - medical insurance and 401K contributions. (My estimated average of 15% to illustrate these deductions, yours will differ.)
That's $8048.55 gone. Total take home pay is now reduced to $45608.45. Divide by 12 months for
$3800.70 as monthly income to live on.
Regular Monthly Bills - (estimate)
- Housing (mortgage/rent)- $400
- Water - $70
- Electric - $200
- Trash - $20
- Transportation (payments/lease/public average)- $400
- Insurance (vehicle/home/renters) - $350
- Cell/Landline Phone - $30
- Cable/Satellite - $50
- Internet - $30
$3800.70 - $1550 = $2250.70 for groceries, clothing, shopping, and other items the home and family will need.
Or view the bigger picture of annual take home pay as:
$18,600 annual primary bills
$27,008.40 annual expenses for home/family
What are Americans doing with the average $27,008.40 amount left over after their bills are paid?
How much goes toward paying down debt? How much goes to recreational activities that are not tracked as expenses? How much goes to medical deductibles and co-pays? How much is unaccounted for?
In reality, $27,008.40 does not appear to be a large sum of money. But when it's the income a family has to survive, thrive, and live on; it is as important as budgeting a million dollars.
Imagine if we had $27,008.40 cash in hand; would we be spending it differently than we do monthly? Why don't we budget in the bigger picture of this cash, instead of, only viewing the monthly as it goes by?
By looking at the bigger picture of our annual money versus monthly money; we can analyze its full value to make wiser,more responsible choices. This increases our maturity with money, instead of, focusing only on the impulsive whims of monthly spending. Decrease impulsive spending. Increase mature spending.
The average American household carries a debt of $203,163 for financial baggage such as mortgages, credit card balances and student loan debt, according to a NerdWallet analysis in April as reported by money.usnews.com.
How can we honestly justify spending $27,008.40 to create debt of $203,163? Our American system is the loan sharks and do try hook us as fish. Just because someone invites us to take the hook, does not mean we should; especially, when it is our struggles that have to pay for this.
Top 5 reasons of American Debts by money.usnews.com
- Student Loan Debt
- Credit Card Debt
- Envy - Keeping up with others in a lifestyle that we cannot financially afford (clothing, recreational, activities, travel and etc.)
- Auto Loan Debt
- Neglecting Credit Report
If our homes were regulated as a business operation; we'd be declared bankrupt, dissolved, and most would endure criminal charges, due to the lack of checks and balances of financial management.
There would be no honesty, integrity nor competency to prove our skills based upon the above information that Americans cannot and will not balance their home budgets as their first priorities.
You cannot manage a business, manage others; and operate as a professional; without putting this importance into your home portfolio first. Americans need to learn how to manage home/personal debt, control revenue and expenses, and live within the revenue and budget of income they have. Not the income we envy to believe we possess.
Envy is not a smart emotion. Why? “Envy is ignorance.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Given that emotions have evolved to help us, what could possibly be the purpose of envy? As an emotion that enables survival of the species, envy is related to competition and social comparison between yourself and others that are a part of your self-evaluation.
Envy makes us want what others have. Envy makes us believe we need to be this way or that way to be accepted and liked by others. Envy makes everything "over there" appear so much better and a nicer way to live and be than what what we have in front of us. Envy tells us not to fix things, but replace things that get broken. Envy will impulsively guide us to spend money we do not have to increase our debts that we cannot pay. Envy will make us lose focus of what we need for things we want. Envy will not help us control our money. Envy will create fantasy in our minds that we believe. Envy teaches us to create problems. Envy does not help us solve problems. Envy spends our money. Envy does not increase our money and will not help manage our lives to become stress-free. Envy produces ignorance in our conscience and through our consequences.
Envy is a sense of falseness. Envy is never reality.
Many are not aware of how money and our emotions do work together. Anger is not a harmful emotion when maturely controlled to create a positive result. Anger can motivate and create positive changes. Many headlines wreak of anger produced by hurt and pain of many criminals who choose to use their anger negatively and to produce horrible consequences.
The hot boil of anger is as a tea pot. If the steam of anger is not released in a healthy, mature, and responsible manner; the top will blow forcing hot steam to burn anyone near it. People are no different in anger than a boiling tea pot. We must learn new skills and healthier coping habits to produce positive results or all we get is the negative results that works for no one.
Envy is as a silent destroyer. Envy will break up marriages, tear families apart, and financially destroy any home that it can. Envy is an emotion. But we are accountable to the actions we allow envy to do to us.
Emotions do require skills to learn how to control them. Just as learning to repair a car or fix a computer requires skill, so does emotional control. To learn new emotional skills are not a sign of weakness, but strength. To learn and apply new emotional skills improves and increases quality of life.
Social media allows us the opportunity to speak more. But in using social media; how many are saying less and only contributing to the problems of emotional deprivation and emotional immaturity? We may say more; but our quality in what we say is decreasing, depriving, and destructive. Primarily, because envy is allowed to be heard and voiced openly.
Envy should never be an illusion when calculating math or money. Envy has no place in budgeting bills, managing finances, and living within the budget a person has. Sadly, envy is everywhere in American lifestyles. For every second that envy is in control, envy steals a penny that never has a chance to become a dollar.
There are helpful tips to become aware to the dangers of envy and what envy maybe doing to sabotage your money and financial freedom.
Very few people would argue for the positive influence of envy in our lives. In fact, most of us can quickly recognize its harmful effects as posted on becomingminimalist.com
- It fosters discontent and distress.
- It binds our freedom.
- It leads to resentment and bitterness.
- It causes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do.
- It can spiral into depression.
Becoming a minimalist is not a negative or horrible action to build upon. Why? Because being real in our finances, in our homes, and in our personal lives will create a balance that is not only showcased at work or socially; but creates an honesty displayed in all aspects of our lives.
- Businesses will teach us the tools we need to perform our jobs.
- Education will teach us how to increase and apply our skills.
- But no one teaches us how to be aware of our emotions and how to balance our home and professional lives.
- Money will make us friends.
- Money will make us enemies.
- Envy loves to create chaos with money.
Every penny is as valuable as a dollar. But if we cannot control, account, and value a penny; than we truly do not appreciate a dollar either.
