Do you live paycheck to paycheck? 61% of Americans now do

[Mursilis]

I don't consider myself 'rich' or even upper middle class (take home pay of $137k between me and my SO in one of the highest COL areas in the country),

Do you mean your net, after taxes et al., is $137K? That's pretty well above the median. You're at least upper middle.

 

[ebaycj]

I don't feel good unless I have one year of savings. This means that if I lost my job, I could survive for a year with no additional income.

Same here.

 

[ebaycj]

Not now or ever in my life. Fiscal responsibility is my pet peeve. I have always considered $2000 the zero level of my checking account. I don't feel comfortable without at least 1 year of living expenses in liquid form. Right now I have at least 3-4 years of living expenses in one checking account. Time to transfer some of that actually.

Actually, this instead. More accurate.

 

[Mursilis]

One guy I knew bought 3 new cars -- in the same month. These weren't all Aveos either -- one was a 2007 Yukon Denali, another was a 2007 Miata, and another was a 2007 Ford Escape (this was in 2007). There were two people at his house. AFAIK, the only thing he traded in was his 2003 Yukon which I believe he still owed money on. Nearly every Monday, the guy would come in and tell us about his weekend shopping spree at Fry's the previous day. This guy bought himself 2 new desktops, a laptop, a UMPC, a netbook, and a Mac as well. Think that's bad? He did the same for his wife too. He was always buying new TVs, electronics, you name it. He bought so much crap that he literally had a room where all his new purchases sat, boxed up. Yes, you read that right -- he bought so much shit that he didn't even have time to open it all and set it up! And I haven't even mentioned when he would go to shows and come back bragging that he spent $5K or $6K on jewelry for his wife.

His wife worked and made good money, but she had to quit for health reasons so that was $50K or $60K of income gone. Do you think that caused him to change course? Nope! The computers mentioned above were bought AFTER she quit, as were several of the electronics.

You can guess where this is headed. He finally had to declare bankruptcy and told me how his lawyer ripped him a new one for his incredible irresponsibility and poor judgment. He had to give up some of this cars and toys too. This guy was beyond stupid with his money and the lawyer was probably afraid the judge would tell them both to get screwed and pay up. Fortunately(?) for the guy, the judge let him declare.

I am sure this guy's story is more typical than anyone would want to imagine.

Sadly, this sort of thing is very common. I'm a big football fan and am somewhat active on a fan board, and it just stuns me to read about people whining on the one hand about having financial issues, but then on the other hand still renewing their season tickets (possibly $5K or more for a pair), maybe getting a new jersey or two ($75-250), etc. I've found the vast majority to be very short-sighted when it comes to financial planning. For most people, they just plan month-to-month, and don't really think about anything over a year away.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Sadly, this sort of thing is very common. I'm a big football fan and am somewhat active on a fan board, and it just stuns me to read about people whining on the one hand about having financial issues, but then on the other hand still renewing their season tickets (possibly $5K or more for a pair), maybe getting a new jersey or two ($75-250), etc. I've found the vast majority to be very short-sighted when it comes to financial planning. For most people, they just plan month-to-month, and don't really think about anything over a year away.

It's so easy to just charge everything for most people -- they see the balance growing every month but they have no conception of how much money it really is. They figure "I want it and I 'deserve' it!" and just charge it.

We never carry credit card balances over from month to month. Our rule is that if you can't afford to pay for it, there is no need to buy it. She has a rewards card and charges stuff to it for the rewards; it gets paid off every month. For me, I have a rewards debit; I use that for everything now. I am really surprised the bank hasn't pulled my credit cards because I will only charge something small once every six months or so to make sure the card remains active. You'd think they would catch on and close the accounts.

I think financing is another gotcha for many who lack proper financial discipline. If you need to purchase something large and they have 0% financing for X months, it is smart to take the financing -- you are getting free money, after all. The catch, of course, is that you have to pay the balance off before the X months or you get hit with finance charges. I'd guess many people don't understand this concept and get nailed with lots of finance charges.

 

[Siddhartha]

I have two months of pay in the bank. Not really great shape but not paycheck to paycheck.

 

[moparacer]

I don't feel good unless I have one year of savings. This means that if I lost my job, I could survive for a year with no additional income.

Same here. I am actually building mine up to 2 years emergency expenses now after doing a quick review of what its costing.

Between taxes, insurances, utilities and the cost of almost everything going up I decided I needed more in reserve.

 

[kranky]

If you need to purchase something large and they have 0% financing for X months, it is smart to take the financing -- you are getting free money, after all. The catch, of course, is that you have to pay the balance off before the X months or you get hit with finance charges. I'd guess many people don't understand this concept and get nailed with lots of finance charges.

Not to derail the thread, but there are times it is not smart to take 0% interest financing. Many places arrange that financing through third-party outfits that are consumer finance joints like HSBC Finance and CitiFinancial. These will appear on your credit report and they can hurt you, since they are viewed as subprime lenders. If the lender is a place like GMAC or other mainstream lender, then no worries.

With interest rates so low, I would probably avoid a 0% offer from a consumer finance company just to keep them off my credit report.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Not to derail the thread, but there are times it is not smart to take 0% interest financing. Many places arrange that financing through third-party outfits that are consumer finance joints like HSBC Finance and CitiFinancial. These will appear on your credit report and they can hurt you, since they are viewed as subprime lenders. If the lender is a place like GMAC or other mainstream lender, then no worries.

With interest rates so low, I would probably avoid a 0% offer from a consumer finance company just to keep them off my credit report.

That's an interesting point. Most offers I run across seem to be through Wells Fargo who I assume is a "mainstream" lender, right?

 

[Homerboy]

I'm paycheck to paycheck and not afraid to admit it. Sad that I'm at this point at this stage in my life but that's how the cookie crumbled for me.

I was well on my way to recovery (solid job I loved, great pay and felxibility) then this economy hit and I was let go. Jobless (though I "consulted" and my wife has a small business) for 9+ months, and now I'm back in a new job at a 40% pay-cut and I hate it. Hard to take a 40% cut and carry on... especially with debt on every angle.

I'm working on a personal, in-family "bail-out" though, that should relieve the stress and the headaches and worry.

Paycheck to Paycheck (or below) sucks, especially with a family of 4.

Edit: OP, this was, in general a horribly dumb question to ask on AT... everyone here has made six figures and dated super models since middle-school. This is known.

 

[Exterous]

Edit: OP, this was, in general a horribly dumb question to ask on AT... everyone here has made six figures and dated super models since middle-school. This is known.

Actually between this thread and the 'how much do you make per hour' thread in OT I was suprised at how low everything seemed. Maybe the recession has finally hit AT...

That said we used to live paycheck to paycheck right out of college. Now things are better with an ok checking account balance and a good savings and retirement fund

It doesn't suprise me that so many people live paycheck to paycheck. It's all about keeping up with the Jones. Well, that and plain out stupid financial decisions. (I am sure not all of them are about this but I would guess a very good percentage is)

 

[OutHouse]

only concerned with "how much a month" something costs.

ding ding ding. that is the problem right there.

the only recurring charges on my credit cards are WoW and Netflix. they are locked in our safe deposit box and the only time i pull them out is when we go on vacation or when i go on a business trip. When that bill comes in its paid in full.

I can understand how families can get in this situation. I have 3 teens and i spent 400 bucks at walmart for food/household/personal stuff on Sunday. and thats buying off brand where possible. i thought kids were expensive when they were young but good God teenagers are a bank account drain.

my two oldest are job age but its nearly impossible for teens to find jobs anymore. a lot of places have upped their age to 18 now and if you look at the fast food around my area they are hiring older people like myself. very very few teens work at fast food in my neck of the woods. they do want to chip in and start buying the things they need.

 

[Lanyap]

I have been living no-paycheck to no-paycheck since December. I was doing very good before that with a high paying long term IT job at a large company. I didn't expect to be laid off but I prepared for it and was ready when it happened. I received phase 1 unemployment funded by my employer but stopped when I got into phase 2 funded by government stimulus. I recently started a PC repair business during my down time to keep me busy and bring in some money. I have always lived within my means and saved/invested my money.

I'm trying to get an IT job with a local state college. I'll probably have to start at a low end position and work my way up. If I work there for the next 10 years I can retire with a nice little pension and more importantly to me, good medical benefits, since I didn't get to retire from my 33 year career job.

 

[kranky]

That's an interesting point. Most offers I run across seem to be through Wells Fargo who I assume is a "mainstream" lender, right?

I know that "Wells Fargo Financial" does debt consolidation and auto refinance loans which would lead me to believe loans through that part of WF could be considered subprime lending.

 

[OutHouse]

marked

 

[PricklyPete]

I remember living paycheck to paycheck during college and right after. I have not interest in ever going back to that state...so I will do all I can to avoid that situation.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Single, young, and $35,000 in savings with no debt and even I worry what the future holds. I want to look for a job that I'll love, but fear having to settle for a McJob and deplete my savings while I find my true passion.

I've lived SUB paycheck to paycheck - meaning I was taking out payday advances and getting more and more behind every month. At one point I would sneak into my roommates room and swipe loose change off the floor so I could buy a hamburger. I had to call my parents one day in tears asking for $800.00 to keep me from being on the street.

It was the lowest point of my life. I don't want to go back to that, but also don't want to continue where I am now. At a crossroad of sorts.

 

[bfdd]

I checked sometimes because I'm currently getting all my stuff under wraps and trying to save. Makes it easier to just allocate my pay check to my life and anything extra into savings.

 

[dmcowen674]

Actually between this thread and the 'how much do you make per hour' thread in OT I was suprised at how low everything seemed.

Maybe the recession has finally hit AT...

I've noticed quite a few that were on a high horse have been knocked down into the mud with the rest of us.

 

[Homerboy]

Actually between this thread and the 'how much do you make per hour' thread in OT I was suprised at how low everything seemed. Maybe the recession has finally hit AT...

<snip>

We do all still date/are married to super models without pointy elbows though right?

 

[Exterous]

We do all still date/are married to super models without pointy elbows though right?

I don't know. Both my super model girlfriend's and super model wife's elbows are getting pointier....:'(

 

[ProfJohn]

Single, young, and $35,000 in savings with no debt and even I worry what the future holds. I want to look for a job that I'll love, but fear having to settle for a McJob and deplete my savings while I find my true passion.

I've lived SUB paycheck to paycheck - meaning I was taking out payday advances and getting more and more behind every month. At one point I would sneak into my roommates room and swipe loose change off the floor so I could buy a hamburger. I had to call my parents one day in tears asking for $800.00 to keep me from being on the street.

It was the lowest point of my life. I don't want to go back to that, but also don't want to continue where I am now. At a crossroad of sorts.

It is amazing what a few months at bottom will do to you.

I hit a similar point 10 years ago. Was taking all my change to the coin counter and then buying food with it for the week. And then the lights were turned out one day etc etc etc.

That was the point where I turned it all around. In the ten years since I opened up a Target card, to rebuild credit, and just recently bought Fridge on credit 0% for two years so it is free money.

Otherwise I have avoided any type of credit other than cars and my house, neither of which I can realistically expect to pay cash for.

 

[ProfJohn]

Has anyone else noticed that none of the uber liberals of this forum have posted their situation in this thread? (other than phokus)

I guess the fact that so many of us can live our lives and survive without government assistance must be scary since it goes against their core beliefs.

 

[Homerboy]

Has anyone else noticed that none of the uber liberals of this forum have posted their situation in this thread? (other than phokus)

I guess the fact that so many of us can live our lives and survive without government assistance must be scary since it goes against their core beliefs.

It sad (doubly sad as you're the OP) that in a thread like this, which I assumed was for a general consensus, you have to pull it into the mud with partisan bullshit. You're no better than anyone of the talking heads on TV or the puppets in the offices. Partisan bullshit is killing us all. And you, and many others on this board, must bring a "side" into every thread.

 

[Zebo]

Wrong! We FUCK supermodels and date and marry heiresses. Seriously ..wealth creation is not that hard if you read millionaire and austerity books like that. one example in book guy never made more than $25K in earned income and was a millionaire by 55. But those tried and true methods seems to go against human nature hence we all know people making 100K+ and broke...unable to retire or really live life.