Excerpt
SUMMARY: Aaron and Mary Murray are middle-class Americans, but they don't feel like it: though the two teachers make a combined $90,000 a year, they still live paycheck-to-paycheck. Even something as mundane as a stranger accidentally sideswiping their car can put a serious dent in their finances. Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal reports on the struggles facing the Murrays and millions of similar families.
AARON MURRAY (Marketplace): Don't I call my insurance first to make a claim?
MARY MURRAY: Yes. Do you think it's totaled?
AARON MURRAY: Yes.
KAI RYSSDAL: This has not been a good morning for Aaron and Mary Murray and Vandy, their 5-year-old daughter. They came out to find Aaron's car had been hit overnight, one of those unexpected expenses that can throw a lot of middle-class families off-track.
WOMAN: Thank you for calling Esurance. My name is Rebecca. How can I help?
AARON MURRAY: Hello, Rebecca. I'm calling because my car got sideswiped. I did not see them. They just left a note on my car, ah, and the note that they swerved to avoid a cat dashing across the street.
WOMAN: OK.
MARY MURRAY: Got to brake for animals.
KAI RYSSDAL: Things get back on track, though, with Mary's car, and they head to the Los Angeles Zoo to meet some friends. Vandy's really looking forward to the dinosaurs.
MARY MURRAY: Oh, my gosh.
AARON MURRAY: It's OK. I will protect you.
MARY MURRAY: Yes, right. He makes noise. I think he's real.
KAI RYSSDAL: Over a standard zoo lunch of chicken fingers, talk turns back to that car accident.
AARON MURRAY: The check goes to pay off the car. It doesn't come to me.
KAI RYSSDAL: Next up, groceries at Target. And Vandy is eager to help.
VANDY MURRAY: Fruit, taco kit, and (INAUDIBLE)
MARY MURRAY: Nice. High five. Boom. Awesome.
KAI RYSSDAL: Mary keeps close eye on the family budget. Money-saving apps are key.
MARY MURRAY: Bread, any bread. Unlocked. Cha-ching, 25 cents.
AARON MURRAY: All right.
KAI RYSSDAL: The tricky thing when you're talking about the middle class is who exactly you're talking about. One definition, according to the Pew Research Center, is a family of four making between $48,000 and $145,000 a year, which is basically the Murrays.
They're both teachers. Household income is right at $90,000. And they're the ones that politicians talk about all the time.
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