I'm a middle class American that is married with three children. We have affordable housing so much that not only did a buy a nice home in a nice neighborhood but I rent it for a profit and rent a 2500 square foot home that I live in. We buy almost no processed food but rather almost 100% organic produce and beef/pork/chicken/fish etc. Our grocery bill is completely affordable. My children go to a good school and all three have accounts we contribute to for their college education. While neither of my cars were bought new or are top of the line I own both. We are getting ready to take the rugrats on our third vacation this year. My wife works but somehow we find the time to eat dinner as a family and regularly do weekend activities. The American middle class is alive and well but no one is going to hand it to you. We made lots of sacrifices as a young couple, work very hard and still have to watch how we spend. You can have a good life here but it takes hard work, deferred gratification and not taking the all to easy victim attitude.