Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance
tools for independent minded people…
ISSN 2161-5543
A
Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Report: Government is literally taxing the shirts off Americans’
backs
Both our state & local governments in MI have jacked up their “fees”
[disguised tax rates] for several items such as auto registration fees [doubled
the cost for our cars], our water bill is now $3,000 annually [only a small
portion for usage, the majority is based on the value of our property], our
property taxes increased, fuel taxes increased, etc. Since we have no mortgages, auto loans,
credit card bills, or other debt, we spend more to support the government than
any other item of our monthly budget.
This is the part of “inflation” they
don’t cover on the nightly news but everyday Americans know that inflation is
robbing us. EVERYTHING cost more, in
some cases such, as health insurance premiums [which many employers no longer
cover], a lot more.
We’ve been planning to expand our
rural cabin by 600sf. And have been buying materials to accomplish this. However, we just got another slap in the face
by the township government which altered the rules for building requirements
which added another $3,800 to our cost.
Whether the government calls them user
fees or taxes, they’ve gone up everywhere and burden the all classes of
Americans but hit the middle and lower income strata especially hard. They are another disguised form of inflation
and businesses who get hit with them just pass them along to consumers.
Average
Americans forked more money over to government for taxes in 2016 than they
spent on basic needs like food and clothing, according to a report from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For American
“consumer units,” the average tax bill increased from $7,423 in 2013 to $10,489
in 2016, according to the BLS data.
“Consumer
units” include “all members of a particular household who are related by blood,
marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements,” or “a person living alone or
sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or
lodging house or in a permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is
financially independent,” or “two or more persons living together who use their
income to make joint expenditure decisions.”
On average,
“consumer units” made $74,664 in 2016. Out of that came $10,489 in taxes
divided between $8,367 in federal income taxes, $2,046 in state and local
income taxes, and $75 in other taxes.
The same
spending on food and clothing necessities combined is less.
The average
consumer unit spent $1,803 on clothing for the year, including $427 on items
for “men and boys,” and $665 for “women and girls,” $66 in spending was on
clothing for “children under 2,” $388 for “footwear,” and $257 for “other
apparel and services.”
Food costs
were higher, including average spending of $4,029 for “food at home” and $3,154
for “food away from home.”
This
entry was posted in Taxpayer Dimes
You might invest in a "ready reference" copy of: The Simple Living Guide_ by Janet Luhrs.
The ISBN number is 0-553-06796-6 and is available in paperback for from $18.00 to $20.00 (well worth every penny of the investment) and if you belong to a book club, especially a paperback book club, they can probably get it cheaper.
The author covers every aspect imaginable with tips, common sense, practical, and believable advice on simplifying your life. Everything from housing to how to better deal with holidays, financial issues, she covers it all.
Related: 14 Tools to Make One Income Living Possible
Fall for These 9 Freebies You Can
Get in September
From
complimentary food to free music, here are seven great freebies you can enjoy
as the leaves change and the air turns crisp.
Save $614.27 at the Grocery and
Drugstore This Month
Using
a single coupon app or website can save you big bucks on classic candy brands,
DayQuil and NyQuil, Fancy Feast, Pantene conditioner (for free.) and dozens
more items.
What about you? Got anything interesting to share?
Bruce, the Poor Man, free thinker,
social critic & cynic
A Final Note…
Additional
Resources
How much
emergency food do you need? »
The amount of food we need changes based on what our goals are. In modern prepping the line between what we need and what we store is blurry. Just because a can of dried fruit has the words, "Emergency Food" on the label does not mean it is the type of food you need in an emergency. More »
The amount of food we need changes based on what our goals are. In modern prepping the line between what we need and what we store is blurry. Just because a can of dried fruit has the words, "Emergency Food" on the label does not mean it is the type of food you need in an emergency. More »
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shopping my storefront…
A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production
2 comments:
Thanks to the Fed & Congress the spending power of our dollar is joke and few Americans have had a real raise since 1970...if you are on Social Security, forget it-no such thing as COLA increases [those only go to congress critters]. With few exceptions the only middle class jobs in this country are those who work for the government & they get the best retirement and health packages while the private sector usually gets crap...but we still fork out the dough to the spendthrift government.
Why do you think big biz wants cheap illegal labor-they don't want to pay a decent wage to anyone if they can help it...
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