I’m pretty sure this chart has come up before, but this is some bullshit. Let’s go down some of the “we’re totally not wealthy, let them eat cake” items. Remember this is a family of four. https://twitter.com/cnbc/status/1313489245823283201

1. $65/day on food for a family of four. “Regular food delivery” only gets you there if you don’t ever cook.

2. A total of $5,300 per month on childcare per month is ridiculous.

3. Get. A. Smaller. House. $2mm buys you 3,000 square feet in San Francisco

2/

But most importantly, notice the “see they don’t have any money left over”? Cool. Now notice that before that they’ve already:

Maxed out their 401k contributions.

Put $18,000 in college savings (totaling $162,000 per child by the time they’re 18 even if they had 0% return)

3/

Spent $11,800 on entertainment and vacations. Somehow two “staycations” and a road trip cost $7,200.

Spent $4,800 *per year* on baby things and clothes.

What’s left for them to want to spend on?

They’re living large. Period.

4/4

Follow-up, so screw my numbering.

I'm a gigantic masochist (see, e.g. that thread yesterday) and I found the same dude's chart from like a year ago.

It was for someone purportedly making $350,000/year. It's wild.

Actually, quick diversion, the older chart was published almost literally a year ago under the headline "It now costs $350,000 a year to live a middle-class lifestyle in a big city".

Apparently now $400,000 is only "relatively" middle-class.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/you-need-to-make-350000-a-year-to-live-a-middle-class-lifestyle-today-heres-why.html

2/

But here's the upshot. Somehow the family making $50,000 *more* actually has *less* "cash flow after expenses". I already explained why that's a dumb measure in this budget (as @tznkai pointed out, they have thousands they really have $14k they could cut instantly).

3/

But even using that measure, somehow this same dude arrived at people making $50,000 *more* having $1,400 *less* after expenses.

And I'm sorry to Toronto and Denver which are apparently no longer expensive.

Let's look at some weirdness.

4/

The one that made me most curious should really top the list. Somehow the 2020 couple spends almost as much on "two staycations, one road trip" as 2019 spent on "two destinations, one staycation." This was actually the one that made me realize I'd seen this chart before.

5/

And I must apologize to Toyota. Apparently 2019-2020 has been very tough on the Highlander because now it costs $360 less per year.

And wouldn't you know it, out $400,000 income couple is stingier with charity. They do share very specific interests...

6/

In a testament to how much raising a kid sucks more now, the cost of annual daycare went up by $7,800/year. And preschool is $2,400 more expensive.

But, hey, healthcare costs are down 30%!

7/

I honestly don't know what it means that 2019 family spent twice as much shopping at "Old Navy, not Gucci" than 2020 family did at "Gap not Gucci".

And apparently life insurance is *less* expensive when you make more money?

8/

And we've all had to make sacrifices in 2020. Their weekly date night went away.

And they replaced "shows, sporting events, [and] social functions" with "museums, zoo", I guess $50,000 changes you. Thank got their weekend "getaways" remained intact (and aren't date night)

9/

And, sorry baby of the richer couple, they needed to cut expenses and "less stuff for you" is an easy cut. To pay for, in part, more personal care products.

10/

And they are putting more into the 529 accounts now, which is nice.

But let's talk about the mortgage. Because this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. In 2019 they were paying $3,900. I can only get to that if the mortgage is *half* the value of the home in 2019.

11/

It really does underscore how facile and bullshit the CNBC articles were. He arbitrarily took the total expenses and then decided how to fill them up to make it look like the couple has to spend everything just to have a "reasonable" lifestyle.

12/

And the best example is this:

Payment for "Gas (down about 50% due to lockdowns)" in 2020 was $2,400.

In 2019, the same couple with the same car paid? $3,000.

That's not a 50% reduction, because his numbers are all made up bullshit.

[end]