The Simpsons survie on only Homers salary which can't be that great. Still, they own two cars and live in a two-story four bedroom detached house in an average size American city. How could they afford this?
-
Inherited house ? maybe?– Ankit Sharma ♦Sep 11, 2015 at 9:20
-
5This was made fun of several times on the show, probably most memorably in Homer's Enemy.– WaltSep 11, 2015 at 9:50
-
1Grimey was exaggerating.– hisSep 11, 2015 at 11:15
-
6The same way many americans live - with a ridiculous mortgage and crippling debt they'll never be able to pay off.– phantom42Sep 11, 2015 at 12:55
-
1"Inherited house ? maybe?" I'm pretty sure Homer tells a story about him and Marge getting married, in which Abe offers to give them his house. In return, Homer says Abe will always be welcome. Bart asks WTE "How long did it take you to ship him off to the retirement home?" to which Homer replies "Couple of weeks" then they all laugh.. In contrast to that, in the episode where Homer takes up a job at a rival power plant run by an evil genius, Homer and Marge realize they owe more on the house than it is worth, and just walk out. So ..take your pick, really.– Andrew ThompsonSep 11, 2015 at 13:16
|
Show 3 more comments
2 Answers
Aside from the obvious answer: It's a cartoon--we can make some assumptions with real-world data.
The average Nuclear Power Plant Operator's salary is 72.5k a year. The average house price in Springfield, oh...let's say Missouri is 107k. Let's say that this is a really nice house for the area and they paid $150k. Let's figure they got in on an OK interest rate which would put them somewhere in the range of $1300/month for their mortgage payment? Given that their cars are obviously well used, Marge does most of the cooking (not a lot of eating out expenses), neither kid goes to private school, and they all seem to have a very tiny wardrobe, I'm thinking they're getting by fairly OK paycheck-to-paycheck.
And living paycheck-to-paycheck is the modern american dream. :)
-
"Given that their cars are obviously well used, Marge does most of the cooking (not a lot of eating out expenses), neither kid goes to private school, and they all seem to have a very tiny wardrobe, I'm thinking they're getting by fairly OK paycheck-to-paycheck." ..where is "Homer's beer budget" in those figures? ;) Sep 11, 2015 at 16:17
-
3
-
3Also, keep in mind they've remortgaged several times. In the episode The Computer Wore Menace Shoes, when Homer has to run the deed to his house to purchase a computer, the system comes back indicating they're on their 5th mortgage.– MattDSep 11, 2015 at 17:34
-
Either houses in Springfield, Missouri are dirt-cheap, or houses in Britain are bloody expensive.– F1KrazyOct 15, 2018 at 5:28
-
1Let's not forget that the whole show seems to be stuck in a groundhog year where nobody ages and nothing changes. It's possible they skirt by on nothing and never run out because they happen to loop before the crushing debt forces Homer to suicide, Marge to prostitution, Bart to prison, and Lisa to raise Maggie by herself by taking on a sugar daddy.– Kai QingOct 16, 2018 at 18:17
In order for the Simpson family to purchase the home, Abraham Simpson sold his old house and wrote Homer a check for $15,000, allowing him to pay the down payment on the house. In No Loan Again, Naturally it is revealed that the Simpsons are unable to afford their mortgage anymore, due to Homer constantly loaning money against the house, which causes Ned Flanders to buy the house for $101,000 and rent it to the Simpsons.
Source: http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/742_Evergreen_Terrace
