are you better off than you were 4 years ago?

still have the same amount (€0) in my account the day before payday, but it's all going on the basics these days and money is a constant 'thing'. Rent doubled recently and i'm struggling to adjust tbh.

Still taking thrifty trips, vouchered meals out, amn't starving and can afford broadband, and the job is safe so i can p much carry on in an ok way forever.

i'm not in the US obv but, god yes. i earn literally twice as much as i did then, now, and i am secure in a job rather than on a trainee contract that's about the end.

am i happier? well...

about to end*

"We're hiring you as a trainee Mayan Year 2012 Endtimes Administrator. It's a short term contract only."

i am fucking skint at the moment tho cos i am spening 3k on a diploma. two more months of instalments to go, it's horrible.

spending, jesus, ilx is like my lazy typing zone

Economically? Definitely, yes, not quite at earning twice as much as 4yrs ago level but not far off. General feeling of having more options as well, which helps.

On an emotional/personal level this is probably impossible to answer. Yes in one significant way, no in another. Would have been a lot worse without the Yes factors though.

financially : yes.

in every other aspects of my life : no.

Joining in "congrats DJP" derail!

laid off in 4/09, still not making what I was then.

DJP and Mrs. DJP will be excellent parents. Many congratulations.

Yes, thank you Australian exceptionalism economy worringly over-reliant on selling minerals to China.

british people can vote on this, obama is basically world president anyway

not until we see his birth certificate that proves he was born on earth

Despite that, we've still saved enough to take extravagant Asian vacations and adopt a child.

This makes me so happy, congratulations!

Congrats to DJP!

Better in almost all respects, especially economically, but this mostly nothing to do with either US or UK governments, but more to do with getting to the point in the academic career ladder of a permanent job. Worse only in having sustained a permanently disabling injury (but one which could easily have been much worse).

Better economically but only in the sense that I've gotten married and it's been advantageous to file jointly.

Also DJP are you adopting a child for realsies?

Haven't done it yet, but yes

what dan isnt telling you is that that child is l0u1s jagg3r

omg

a) CONGRATULATIONS DAN & J! :D

b) I am hereby officially offering my babysitting services for not yet adopted but hopefully soon to be little Perry. Either that or you must bring child to all future FAPs so I can hang out with it.

In answer to the question - better in every single way but not at all because of the government.

Haha you can bounce lil Louis on your lap while you reach for your pint

Now I have "French Kiss" stuck in my head

Thx everyone, this has been in the works for a while and we finally decided to move on it in earnest last month. Gonna go back to not talking about it until it's a done deal now.

Good luck.

Fantastic Dan, congratulations and best of luck!

otm

congratz dan.

this thread makes me wonder if a) ppl talking in thread are more likely to be ppl who feel they're better off but that ilx as whole is not so overwhelmingly positive (poll results will indicate this i guesS) and b) if ppl who post on ilx maybe due to stuff like internet access / education / literacy better situated to do okay even in times of economic depression.

for the last 2+ years i have actually been working on recovery act grants and am in a much better place job-wise and salary-wise. 100+ jobs were created at my organization with ARRA funding. iit also gave me some good experience and now that i am looking for a new job i have been getting more responses and interviews. so yes.

doesn't seem to say much more than ilx (avg age 33 or something) makes more money than four years ago who knew

It helps tbh that I actually finished college and then finished college again in the past 4x years. If I hadn't got my masters I wld be manager at a call center right now. The pay was half what I get now and, you know, the job was manager at a call center.

I am 33.

so was Jesus!

I hope everyone is factoring in inflation and the fact that they are four years closer to death

Four years further away for having NEVER EXISTED.

33 is a relatively fortunate age to be in the current climate, a lot of people will have had years of experience of working in a boom, it's a fuck of a lot better than being 21 and trying to get a first job or being in your 60s and seeing your pension evaporate.

And crucifixion potential! Don't get INRIed my fren
xp

ppl in their 30s are overall in a better position but they're also the ones who bought the bubbliest houses

huh, update i just got fukn promoted

like just now?

deems otm

this thread makes me wonder if a) ppl talking in thread are more likely to be ppl who feel they're better off but that ilx as whole is not so overwhelmingly positive (poll results will indicate this i guesS) and b) if ppl who post on ilx maybe due to stuff like internet access / education / literacy better situated to do okay even in times of economic depression.

I was definitely thinking b; part of me wonders if an argument could be made that the actual real middle class is better off now than they were 4 years ago but the poor are worse off, although some of that is definitely tied to the myopia caused by my social circles.

Don't get INRIed my fren

this reads like an alternate lyric to "Jumper"

the actual real middle class ?

xps ya i mean i am actually better off than i was twenty minutes ago

All congrats Djp

xp

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZieBbZTY-RU/T94NvZTSRsI/AAAAAAAAC3g/OOOIdoq_0p4/s1600/and_wearing_shoes_middle_class_k_750725.jpg

the actual real middle class ?

as opposed to ppl making $250K+/year in their household or people making under $30K/year for more than one person who still get lumped into "the middle class" for political rhetorical purposes

yeah

in the uk ppl would describe the actual real middle class as ppl w/ $250K+/year in their household

in ireland it's anybody with a job who actually needs to work

No, the real middle class is the people in the middle. The UK average national income is something like £20k. People who want to define "middle class" as £250k+ are just playing semantic games because we have this stupid tradition of thinking of the "upper class" as being only inbred idiots with titles.

semantic games

in ireland it's anybody with a job who actually needs to work

― Randy Carol (darraghmac), Tuesday, September 4, 2012 2:15 PM (4 minutes ago)

so what about the ppl who made bank prior to 2k8 and diversified

ireland is ill suited to having its own native leisure class

still curious about the results of this

that's because they're not out yet

The ilxor demographic is likely to skew more toward "better off" than the USA at large, so it will be hard to read much into it.

Plus as individuals we're all four years further up the ladder - not true of the economy as a whole.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/the-47-percent-may-struggle-but-the-top-20-percent-are-feeling-flush/