Are people like me middle class?

Eskimo12345

I grew up in a modest house with my two siblings and my folks. My old man worked full time all his life, office based on the same wage as shop floor folks. My old dear took a part time job when I was 16. The telly in the lounge was only replaced by my grandparents hand-me-downs when they got a new one as we couldn't afford to buy one; all our winter coats were presents from my grandfolks, who also worked all their lives. I worked part time to put myself through uni and only relied on the folks to feed & home me during the holidays.

Now, at 29, I have a good job and earned around £37k in the last 12 months. Last year I bought a three year old m sport beemer for 12k in cash. I live on my own in a large apartment in the middle of town, with a massive telly and £5k's worth of home cinema gear in the lounge. My alarm clock was £300, and I'm currently saving £500 a month towards a house. Nothing I've bought was ever on credit as it didn't take my degree in physics to work out that saving up for something is cheaper than buying it on credit.

Personally I reckon that due to my income and resultant lifestyle, I'm middle class. To be honest, compared to what my folks had I feel like I'm loaded beyond my wildest dreams. I buy new suits for fun. However my older mates at work reckon middle class means that mummy & daddy had so much money that you don't have to work, and so I'm still working class.

Whadya reckon, am I middle class? Or if you think I am still plain old working class, do I have a chance of making my (future) kids middle class by continuing to advance my career so I earn enough to buy their education etc so they will be?

Cleaver

Eskimo12345 wrote: »

My alarm clock was £300.

Personally I reckon that due to my income and resultant lifestyle, I'm middle class.

Whadya reckon, am I middle class?

I don't think I can really comment on your class.

However, the fact that you spent £300 on an alarm clock (what the hell does it do?!) and think this is something to tell the general public makes me think that you're a bit of a moron. Sorry.

shellsuit

Middle class?

No, you're a show off and materialistic.

Many middle class people would find it vulgar to speak about one's income and expenditure

Eskimo12345

Cleaver wrote: »

However, the fact that you spent £300 on an alarm clock (what the hell does it do?!) and think this is something to tell the general public makes me think that you're a bit of a moron. Sorry.

It's this little bad boy, finished in walnut and sounds better than any unit of comparable size that I've heard, bar the £1.5k Meridian M80. Sound quality is very important to me.

Perhaps next you'll tell me I'm a moron because I should have bought a brand new Kia instead of a second hand beemer?

shellsuit wrote: »

Middle class?
No, you're a show off and materialistic.
Many middle class people would find it vulgar to speak about one's income and expenditure

Hey, it's an anonymous forum. I wouldn't go in to such detail IRL. My post was intended to illustrate my lifestyle.

macman

Buy whatever alarm clock you like. But what makes you think that your choice of timekeeping apparatus has any relevance to your social class?
Your mates' definition of middle class is ludicrous, because if it were true, most middle class people would only be working for fun.

Eskimo12345

macman wrote: »

Your mates' definition of middle class is ludicrous, because if it were true, most middle class people would only be working for fun.

I agree. Would you mind sharing your definition of middle class?

Cleaver

Eskimo12345 wrote: »

It's this little bad boy, finished in walnut and sounds better than any unit of comparable size that I've heard, bar the £1.5k Meridian M80. Sound quality is very important to me.

Perhaps next you'll tell me I'm a moron because I should have bought a brand new Kia instead of a second hand beemer?

I think you miss my point. I'm not really bothered what alarm clock or car you have. I just think coming on to a forum and telling people that you buy suits for fun, drive a beemer and have an expensive alarm clock makes you sound like a bit of a moron. That's all.

Eskimo12345 wrote: »

Would you mind sharing your definition of middle class?

Oh, I dunno. But I do know that it has absolutely nothing to do with the car you drive, the alarm clock you own or whether you buy a lot of suits.

My personal opinion is that the definitions of upper class, middle class and lower class are completely and utterly redundant in today's world. We're too much of a disparate, fragmented society in 2011 to divide us up to in three neat classes.

And I'd stop worrying about what class you are. If you go about telling people that you own a £300 alarm clock and 'buy suits for fun' people won't be thinking "ooooh, he's middle class", they'll think, "what is this c*ck telling me about his alarm clock for?".

Eskimo12345

I understand where you're coming from Cleaver. However the media, and society, still seem to separate people in to classes.

Perhaps in modern times, class has nothing to lifestyle or salary?

Looking at it another way, there are plenty of very wealthly working class folks - celebrities, footballers et al - however I'm yet to hear of an upper class citizen in a council house.

So how do we define middle class in this day and age?

And how should I have phrased my initial post - Simply 'am I middle class?' without any indication of my financial lifestyle?

squack

Eskimo, you are what is known as lower middle class

toby3000

My mother always said that as long as you're working, you're working class.

Realisitically, in Britain class and money have only a limited link. Katie Price is a multi-millionairess but is resolutely working class. There are people with no money who are still middle class - "we're posh but poor", as a parody of the Railway Children phrased it.

If you want to be anything other than lower-middle class you might want to avoid saying 'Lounge' though.

Cleaver

Eskimo12345 wrote: »

Looking at it another way, there are plenty of very wealthly working class folks - celebrities, footballers et al - however I'm yet to hear of an upper class citizen in a council house.

So how do we define middle class in this day and age?

I've already stated my opinion, in that I don't think it's relevant in this day and age.

If pushed I guess I would say it's someone who has a decent education, holds a professional job, owns a three-bed semi, drives a sensible, family car and has parents who are roughly the same. Probably owns a Coldplay album.