They've changed, since they retired, and now we the kids are all wondering about their finances, because they're prone to extravagances they never would undertake when we were young.

Well, now they're supporting two instead of seven, right? That would free up quite a bit of dough!

My parents fall into that bracket, and I'd still consider them middle class (upper middle class, but still). I think it really depends on where you live.

I mean, if this:

Sen. Obama’s definition was families earning an income below $75,000.

is accurate (and I haven't double checked), I'm priced out of the middle-class too, and I'm living paycheck to paycheck in a 2-bedroom apartment.

That would free up quite a bit of dough!

Right! And yet, it still feels weird to have Dad grab the check on a $200 dinner, you know?

I agree that Clinton's definition of middle-class is too broad, and Obama's too narrow. I'm not quite paycheck-to-paycheck, but I'm about two months from catastrophe as a homeowner in the Bay Area.

Dude. I guess I'm hanging on to lower middle-class by my fingernails.

Wow.

California freefall: Home prices down 26% in February

Signs of distress are piling up in the California housing market, where prices are falling at three times the national rate of decline.

Statewide, median sales prices fell by a stunning 26% from year-ago levels in February, with home prices dropping at a rate of nearly $3,000 a week, the California Association of Realtors reports. Further, the CAR says the Fed's interest rate-cutting campaign "will have little near-term direct effect on the housing market."

In the San Fernando Valley, losing a home to foreclosure is now almost as common for families as buying a home. The L.A. Daily News: "During January and February, there were 1,084 foreclosures and 1,335 sales of houses and condos in Valley communities from Glendale to Calabasas, according to the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge."

"It's bad. It's really bad," market analyst Nima Nattagh told the Daily News.

The California Association of Realtors reports median prices fell 27.2% from year-ago levels in the hard-hit Inland Empire east of Los Angeles, 30.9% in Sacramento, and 39.1% in Santa Barbara County.

Shit.

Wow. So...I should totally buy a house! Soon, I will be able to buy one for five dollars!

::sigh::

And here I am trying to get a refinance. Argh.

Between daycare and rising food prices, we're clinging desperately to every last dollar that comes in. It's fucking ridiculous how much it costs to feed 3 people one of whom eats less than a full cup of food a day in this city.

Clinton has 98.5% of households Middle Class or lower. Obama has about 75% of households Middle Class or lower. I think it is really hard to go with Clinton's number. Obama's may be statistically reasonable, but where you live would really throws wrench into his number.

I hear you, Jessica. And Austin's a lot more affordable than NYC.