Living Paycheck to Paycheck: How Many of Us Are? - Page 4

Do you consider yourself living paycheck to paycheck? Yes if we missed a paycheck we would be in trouble

What is the one tip you would have for those people living paycheck to paycheck that say they can't break the cycle? For us I think the first step is eliminating Debt tough but if you can even put an extra $5 toward debt you are that much closer once gone we can focus on our savings goals

If you're living paycheck to paycheck, why do you think it's so hard to break the cycle? Honestly things come up. To give an example I was in a car accedent this summer. New car, more debt and restarting payments were not in the picture for us. You live in the moment, spend where you shouldn't and once again have nothing left over

We aren't paycheck to paycheck. We are now saving over 33% of our take-home pay. It helps that we are both educated and in good jobs, which I know gives us a leg up.

I think the key is that we have done everything gradually. Like, we got a new house (after saving 15% downpayment). It is modest, a 3 br 2 bath, 1450 sqft. But, we haven't done a lot to the house. We went from one bathroom to two. For our bathroom, we just use the shower curtain liner. I thought about getting a cute shower curtain at Target for $20, but I put it back because we don't need it. Doing that over and over again is the key. We bought a used couch and some furniture off of Craigslist. One of our rooms is still empty and I am using a rubbermaid storage bin for a nightstand.

I guess it is delayed gratification. I can definitely see how an accident or a sick family member's medical bills could wipe out savings, or someone layed off could be living paycheck to paycheck for a short period of time. But honestly are 45% of people on here in that boat?? I doubt it.

My advice would be to deny yourself something that you want today. Don't deny things you really NEED. Just the things that you want. Like that magazine, or candy bar, or your favorite ice cream. See how it feels. Do you really regret it when you get home? Don't you feel better knowing that you are in a better position financially from having said no just once?? What if you said no to your inner child over and over again?

Also, just USE LESS of everything!! Use less milk in your cereal. Use less gas. Do you really need to take that trip for bread? Could you use something else instead until the next time you go? Could you walk somewhere and get some? Shop places where you can park your car and go to multiple stores without getting in your car. Hypermile. Use less electricity. Get CFLs. Trust me, they will pay for themselves. Sell something on craigslist to get the money for the CFLs. Take shorter showers.

I guess where I am going with this is that it is always possible to spend less money. You just have to be willing to sacrifice. I frequently hear people (on here and other forums) complaining a lot about how they never have enough money. Well, for some people $1,000,000 will never be enough, and for others $1000 is plenty. It is all in your mindset. I don't "deserve" a manicure every month. I don't "deserve" to go out to eat every night. Sure, do I want these things, yes, but I deny myself because I know that I am making a positive future for my family by doing so. I'm not suggesting that we all be martyrs and not buy any new clothes for ourselves for 20 years, or force feed our children Ramen noodles because it's cheap. I just think we all need to take a look at the big picture and see how small changes can really add up.

We are getting ahead. Both my husband and I work in decent paying jobs and then work part time on the side to pay for our extras that we want in life (like our Wii!). It helps that we don't have kids and our only debt is our house that should be paid off in 2 more years and 3 months. Then the kids will come and I won't work and life will change, but for now, we are doing fine.

I think that we are all in different life circumstances and that is okay.

we aren't exactly paycheck to paycheck...i'd say it would take about 3-4 months of NO income before we'd be in serious trouble.

i don't work and my hubby is away at the moment, so it's just me taking care of the entire household off of money that i have saved from when i did work. our rent is some people's monthly income, because we live in a very expensive part of town, so it can be a real difficult PITA to save money. while we don't have any savings *unfortunately* we also don't have any out of control debt *i have about 5,000.00 in debt my hubby's credit is PERFECT*.

slowly but surely i'm becoming more financially responsible (my husband is teaching me--he's excellent with money), spending less and finding that i am catching up with our needs, despite him being out of the home.

now when he returns home, prayerfully our finances will be better, my credit will improve, and we can begin to save money to move into one of my mom's houses and take over her mortgage.

we are definitely living paycheck to paycheck and not quite making it. The cost of gas, added driving due to extra appointments for our children lately and the unexpected costs of having a daughter in college (first one = test kid. lol) force us to be paying for gas and sometimes groceries with credit just before payday. I did just cut back on my phone, cable and my dd's dance classes so we're hoping that will help.

We're pretty much paycheck to paycheck, we find a little to put away in savings each month but not really much, and we're working on paying off our debt so that takes a lot of our "extra" money. DF starts a new job in a week though making a bit more money and he'll have more hours and we're moving so we'll be paying less rent.. so we should be able to start getting ahead a little.

Right now we aren't getting ahead due to working on paying off the car. Other than the house, we have no debt. BUT, we also have some in savings. Hmmm, not sure which category I'm in!

Well there was a time when I lived that way and I remember all to well the toll it took on me physically, mentally and emotionally. I convinced myself it had to stop because I couldn't take it any more. I realized I had some habits that needed changing. So here is a particle list of what I did and maybe it will be helpful for someone here.

1. Put all my coin in a jar at the end of the day. (robbing the jar was a no, no)
2. Coupons! Start using them, but only for the things I would normally buy anyway.
3. Use cash to make all my purchases. That way I knew exactly how much I spent and how much I had left.
4. I stopped eating out.
5. I stopped buying ready to cook meals.

Now these are just a few of the things I did and I hope they can help some get on the road I am now on where I have saved enough to be able to live at my current standard for at least 2 years.

We were living paycheck to paycheck, but that was because my BF was unemployed. We weren't spending a whole lot, we just weren't making much money at all.

He is now working full time, and we are now putting money away in savings, and our debts are being paid down more.

Do you consider yourself living paycheck to paycheck? Yes

If you're living paycheck to paycheck, why do you think it's so hard to break the cycle?
Well, for my situation, we do not bring in enough money for the expenses and wants. My DH is a big spender and wants to live like we are rich or use cc because "That is the American way" , but we are not and end up struggling to make ends meet. Also, expenses come up, like we need to get our bathroom redone...like the plumbing, the pipes are leaking, the cold water is shut off, but still leaking somehow, the toilet needs replaced, we need a whole new sink because the one we have is all wet from water leaking on it. It has carpet, and it is old and needs removed. The things would probably cost $500-800 dollars, but it isn't one of DH's priorities to get it done. My car needs a new muffler and wheel bearing.. that would cost around $400 for professional repair, but DH doesn't want to pay the price. Meanwhile, I am going deaf driving my car and my baby will probably be born deaf from hearing it all the time.