$88,000 for a family of four living in my area would be damn close to poverty level. The average price paid for a home in my area in November, 2009 was $462,000. This is AFTER the housing crisis. Add "average" real estate taxes of $8500 annually, and your housing costs are ridiculous. If you could come up with the $50,000 you need to buy that house, your monthly housing costs would be about $3,000. Then you add on food, heat, electric, car, gasoline, insurance, phone, etc.

If you've got two kids to support, $88,000 isn't going to cut it, as absurd as that seems.