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THE POOR MIDDLE CLASS CRISIS FINANCIAL SURVIVAL RESOURCE GUIDE

December 26, 2016 No Comments

OVERVIEW

The Poor Middle Class Crisis is real and it is serious. This Financial Survival Resource Guide can help individuals and families alleviate the effects of the Poor Middle Class Crisis. The guide consists of a series of blog posts. The goals of this Financial Survival Resource Guide are:
1. to make people aware of tools to help build a financial survival toolkit
2. to encourage people to form ‘financial survival support groups’ or communities with other poor middle class people
3. to share our experience in the day-to-day survival as poor middle class people to give other people hope for survival

At this time, the guide is a series of blog posts written by me for people like me, the poor middle class. This post is an overview that introduces all of the blog posts in this guide. Because I am a visual person and I love tool boxes, I am using this great lime green tool storage box as the storage box for my ‘Financial Survival Toolkit’.

An example of a Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Toolkit Being Built — A Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Toolkit Being Built with Suggestions from this Resource Guide

LIST OF BLOG POSTS

Each blog post title is an underlined link to the post itself. Click on it to view a post that interests you. They include:

Part 1: The Poor Middle Class Crisis

my poor middle class financial survival toolkit — The Secret Shame of Middle Class Americans from My Secret Shame from The Atlantic by Neal Gabler

Part 2: A Budget Is A Crucial Financial Survival Tool For The Poor Middle Class

financial survival toolkit for the poor middle class — Free Online Accounting & Bookkeeping service

Part 3: Using Credit Cards

Part 4: More About Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Tools

Part 5: Poor Middle Class Thrifty Shopping Tools

A Homemade Piggy Bank to Hold Your Savings from Thrifty Shopping Tips, Homesthetics.net

Part 6: The Poor Middle Class Housing Crisis

Part 7: Poor Middle Class Housing Alternatives

alternative housing — A Tiny Home Design from The Tiny Heirloom Company

Part 8: Poor Middle Class Affordable Housing

Part 9: Alternative Living Resources

Franklin Caravan Renovation Project

Part 10: The US Homeless Housing Crisis

living off grid — The U.S. Cities With The Largest Homeless Populations by Niall McCarthy from Forbes.com

Part 11: The Poor Middle Class Nutrition Crisis

Part 12: The Poor Middle Class Healthcare Insurance Crisis

Part 13: Our Story: One Day From Homeless

is under construction.

Sources & Resources*

The Viper Tool Storage Company

A Facebook group called, The Poor Middle Class Crisis

A Facebook Group Called, Next Level Minimalism

*All other sources and resources are within the blog posts themselves.

The ALISON D. GILBERT Blog, THE ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT

MORE ABOUT POOR MIDDLE CLASS FINANCIAL SURVIVAL TOOLS

December 13, 2016 No Comments

MORE ABOUT FINANCIAL SURVIVAL TOOLS

I continue to refine and gather more financial survival tools for my middle class poor financial survival toolkit. I have to. Financial survival continues to be more challenging. Social Security will go up $5 for us on January 1, 2017. Our cable bill went up $6. So we will start 2017 with a dollar less. Situations like this require continual accumulation of new financial survival tools.

savings tips for the poor middle class — Large Change Jar from YouTube.com

MAJOR CATEGORIES AND FINANCIAL SURVIVAL RESOURCES

First I would like to mention some general tools. Then I will get into major expense categories and tools that are specific to them. Here are some general tips:
• save change in as large a bottle as you can find
• avoid monthly fee checking accounts
• avoid credit card fees
• join groups that offer discounts to members
• make use of discounts you are entitled to for being a member for a particular organization such as AARP, the military and many more
• buy in bulk, only when things are on sale and always look for discounts
• make a purchase with a no fee promotion credit card that requires set payments over time
• use EBATES, GROUPON, etc.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

BOTTLE REFUNDS This is probably one of the most important resources for not only the poor middle class but everyone. Redemption of bottles and cans is probably one of the best known tools for creating income through recycling. People in all kinds of circumstances do it. You paid for the bottle. You deserve to get the fee back whenever you can. Those nickels will add up. This is not income and it is not taxable. You are just getting back money you already paid out.

recycling as a poor middle class financial survival tool — Bottle and can recycling machines from recycle | ecycler

CLOTHES, FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

Depending upon your financial status, you can make use of food pantries. They often have clothes in addition to food. For people who can afford to pay, thrift stores are a great resource for finding furniture and all kinds of household items.

TRAVEL

Refer to the post The Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Toolkit to learn about using travel specific credit cards.

PERSONAL EXPENSES

Clipped paper coupons, online coupons and text discounts proliferate. Get into the habit of only buying things on sale for a discount.

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS EXPENSES

I learned to make my own laundry detergent. It is amazing how much money it saves. The guideline is to make your own whenever you can instead of buying prepared products. It is easier than you think and saves so much money.

SHELTER, FOOD AND HEALTHCARE

These are three categories that can be the major areas of expenses in the budget of a member of the poor middle class. They are so important that a separate blog posts will be devoted to them.