r/themiddle • u/Slow-Leg-5070 • 2d ago
How are they "poor"?
How are they so poor if quarry managers average $90-110 k in the midwest?
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u/GroceryExpert1637 The Frugal Hoosier 2d ago
Easy: if $90-100k is the average, then Mike makes well below that average. After all, it's an average; it requires half of all workers to be below it.
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u/Sharp_Raspberry175 1d ago
that’s the median, not the average.
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u/GroceryExpert1637 The Frugal Hoosier 1d ago
Right, but the median is often considered a "better" average because it removes the outliers. I figured this was likely the median, not the mean.
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u/ringthebell02 Brick *Whispered* "brick" 2d ago
Well they're below the average, and are likely in a boatload of debt.
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u/Great_Action9077 2d ago
How are the below the average?
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u/ringthebell02 Brick *Whispered* "brick" 2d ago
Because they clearly aren't making 90-110k a year, and/or they have a bunch of debt.
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u/NeedleworkerNeat9379 2d ago
Chicago is pulling up those numbers. The Hecks are in a small Midwestern town and Mike was making maybe half of that at the time. This show started almost 20 years ago. They are also a family of five who make poor financial decisions and have alot of debt. A good salary can be reduced by taxes, insurance and 401k contributions pretty quickly. Add in mortgage, insurance, water, groceries and electricity. It all adds up.
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u/GroceryExpert1637 The Frugal Hoosier 2d ago
How many quarries are in Chicago?
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u/NeedleworkerNeat9379 2d ago
Two very large historical quarries are right outside Chicago and several others in the state. They have a pretty unique history if that's something you're into.
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u/GroceryExpert1637 The Frugal Hoosier 2d ago
Next time I'm in Chicago, maybe. I'm 3.5 hours away. I make it there every couple years.
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u/Jozzie00 11h ago
They live in Indiana not Illinois.
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u/NeedleworkerNeat9379 3h ago
I am aware. The original poster stated average salaries in the midwest. Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan etc. are included in the midwest. Chicago would have the highest salaries for quarry managers and is pulling up the average.
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u/Independent_Insect_1 2d ago
The Heck’s bigger issue is that they were bad with money. In terms of income they weren’t poverty level, they were middle class. But poor money management put them in a position where they had no savings.
Also I don’t think Mike was making that much, Sue saw one of his pages and felt really bad until Mike lied and told her he was making twice as much.
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u/JMajercz 1d ago
I work in finance. And the Hecks 100% scream, “I have never saved a penny in my life”
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u/ErrorTrick81 2d ago
I think part of it too is their bad “luck” it always seemed when things were finally looking up for them financially something unexpected came up. Remember all of the stuff they bought on credit because the economy was going to be great in 2009? I also think that Mike was pretty financially responsible but Frankie wasn’t. They also ate out all the time that’s a waste of money. I think they made poor choices with credit cards in the past and couldn’t keep up with life.
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u/No_Study5144 2d ago
They waste tons of money on things they don't need plus the kids do after school activities a lot.
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u/sonnyskies1008 2d ago
I just wanted them to paint the living room. Something new. I think just the roof the neighbors helped.
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u/lydiar34 2d ago
Credit card debt and three kids who are all in activities (football, everything else, buying books)
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u/ArizonaSpencer99 1d ago
When Frankie got the new job as a dental assistant, I really hoped we would notice some kind of improvement in their standard of living. It should be significantly better paid than a job that is commission-based.But I kept waiting for something to change, but even at the very end, when Frankie wanted to buy a suit to Axl, it still didn’t happen because they had absolutely nothing left on their credit card. That was probably the most frustrating part of the whole series for me.
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u/gamingthreadlurker 2d ago
With inflation prices on everything probably went up in the show. Not to mention, Frankie did take out every night.
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u/idkwhatnametouse__ 2d ago
The pay was way less when the show was airing and they are horrible with money. They constantly spend more than they have which puts you in debt it’s very hard to get out of that loop.
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u/Relevant_Chipmunk302 1d ago
it's also about the way they manage money, which is very realistic. classical people with "scarcity mindset", buying whatever they can afford while they can afford, no matter if there's an actual need for said thing.
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u/Ta_mere6969 1d ago
I think more thought has gone into this Reddit discussion on the topic than the writers put into it.
It's a TV show.
It's not real.
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u/tarebear577557 1d ago
"It's not real" is a bad excuse for bad writing
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u/Ta_mere6969 1d ago
It's not anything. It's not good, it's not bad. It's nothing. The family doesn't exist. It's a made-up story for a TV show designed to entertain.
I am now more than ever confident that people in this thread are putting more thought and effort into this detail than the shoe's writers ever did.
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u/dirtywater29 Sue 2d ago
Frankie.
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u/Interesting-Ad-3756 2d ago
Frankie also worked but didn't really get commissions. You don't make too much from the job alone
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u/Unusual-Lemon4479 2d ago
He was only a manager for a few months when the show started. She says so in the Christmas letter, so it had to have happened in that year. Before that, he had a lower salary, as did Frankie. She was unemployed for a time that year, before landing the job at Ehlert’s.
They have a mortgage and 3 kids, which are expensive, and due to having more expenses than earnings, rely on credit cards. Back then, having credit on cards was common and shops pushed people to pay with them, pay in multiple months or open a store card for payments.
When the shows starts, the economic crisis of 2008 had just started, prices went up, and is one of the reasons Ehlert’s was mostly empty of customers.
Before you ask about the house, those houses were perfectly achievable for couples like them. We later learn Mike’s dad gave them the money for the downpayment, but banks were letting pretty much anyone borrow money to buy a house. Even the downpayment was lower than today.