American Dream - Is It a Joke?

How do you do it? Some day we would all love to live the American Dream, own a piece of land, a house, have a nice car, travel, take the kids on a trip to disney, get a flatscreen TV, maybe an ATV or snowsled, stay at a lodge or just buy a new video game controller. Its all a ploy - we may never get ahead.

We live in a trailer, the three of us and occasionaly a friend stays over (more food, water and power), lol.

So lets look at a few costs and see what it is going to take to make this work. Yes I will put the wife to work and create a latch key kid with no parent around to guide or direct the children. Oops now I need two vehicles
Lets Do This By Month
Food $300 easy
Clothing $50
Christmas $50
Rent $500
Heat $125 average
Electric $125
Renter Insurance $65
Car Insurance - $100
Kids lunch and school fees $50
Sports $25
Eat Out maybe a movie $100
Water-Sewer $60
Health Insurance $350
Telephone $50
Internet $30
Cell Phone $40
Savings Joke
Church 10%
Car Payment $300
Gasoline $200
Child Care $475
Travel, vacation Joke
Oh did you forget your hunting, fishing, boating, ATV, Sled registration, maybe your car registrations, permits, licenses to work, additional training, birthday gifts, medical and drug co pays....keep adding to the list.
This bare budget comes to $36,000 a year
So we work 40 hours a week, call it 80 hours with both working, that 4160 hours a year without vacation, time off, sick or layed off. In order for this to work we each have to make around $14 an hour!!! Your thinking less, but you forgot State, Federal, FICA and Medicare about 30% or your wage. I have worked at the same job for a number of years with college education and don't make this kind of money. I am being to believe we should have stayed in a camp, self educated or try communial living with family (no I guess that isn't about to happen either). So before you get that new charge card and go wild shopping think about how long it is going to take us to pay it back - I am writing this as they shop. Happy Holidyas