Taxes

I never knew just how much a person pays in taxes. Let's take a look at the salary of a person I know. The person makes, on paper, $65,000 a year. That's darn good money, especially in the Gulf Coast region. Before taxes, a salary like that means the monthly income is a few cents more than $5416. That sounds amazing!

Then, taxes kick in and the income the person takes home is right at 3,600 a month. Ouch. That's about 1,800 in taxes a month! That equals about 21, 800 in TAXES a YEAR with a take home pay of 43,200.

The end result: The government ends up with a full third (and a teensy bit more) of this person's income every year. A THIRD!

I don't mind taxes, I really don't. They pay for all of those things we need like roads and emergency care and schools.

And, I'm the person that makes less than $10,000 a year...so the idea of taking home 43,000 a year is amazing...and WELL above the poverty line that I've lived at for so long. It's not like this person's yearly income in painfully small, not really.

It just seems...wrong somehow. Especially in light of rising gas prices and falling home values and hard-to-find employment.

What's my point? I am not so sure. I thought it was to complain about how much we pay in taxes...but looking at my own figures perhaps my point should be this: maybe we shouldn't live by our salaries, but by what we actually get paid.

That person earning $65,000 a year gets to claim that salary figure on every credit application, mortgage application, etc while he/she actually makes a third less than that. It's, simply put, stupid. I'm no finance expert and guilty of my own inappropriate expenditures, but it seems like too many of us are living above our means...even people like me.

What makes us want bigger houses and new cars and more stuff? Is it right? Is it materialistic? Why can't I live in a tiny house that is all mine rather than in a huge house that I have to pay notes on for thirty years? (or car, or clothes, etc...you get the point).

Do I want stuff? Sure. I want a clean, neat little place to call my own and a dependable car with a decent radio and killer A/C. I want nice clothes to wear to work, sans holes or too much wear.

But, I want to be satisfied with _less_. I don't need to fill every space with a knick knack or cram new clothes into my closet every weekend. It's wasteful.

I'm rambling on... I can't change the way humans are. I can barely change myself. I can't stop the wealthy from ordering $1,000 pizza (made with caviar and creme fresh, the idiots) or $10 million homes. I guess they buy those things just like I might go to a movie even though I've only got $20 in the bank. To pass the time in this life...

I'm the lucky one though. Who wants caviar pizza?