How many people here live paycheck to paycheck?

[Anonymous]

Our savings equal our credit card debt (about $15k). We wouldn't be able to afford our bills without taking on more debt so I'd say yep, we live paycheck to paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our savings equal our credit card debt (about $15k). We wouldn't be able to afford our bills without taking on more debt so I'd say yep, we live paycheck to paycheck.

Are there any bills you can cut out? This will snowball, not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:in the DC area most people do at 0k to 350k

At the lower end, perhaps. But we're at $180,000 with healthy savings/retirement and 3 college funds. Anyone living from paycheck to paycheck at $350,000 doesn't know how to say no to themselves. We take at least one nice vacation a year, have a house with love and two older cars that are fully paid for and don't drive ourselves crazy trying to keep up with the neighbors.

+1 During the time I was a SAHM, we lived on DH's salary of about $100K. Definitely had to be frugal but throughout we were always still saving for retirement and had an emergency savings fund. This was possible because we bought a house that was affordable w/ 1 salary before we had kids. I went back to work when the kids were older and now my $100K salary goes nearly all to savings, travel, childcare.

[Anonymous]

We do.

We're in our late twenties and our HHI is $103K combined.

Its reallly hard to make ends meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You and 3/4s of Americans.

3/4? Do you really think it is that many?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do.

We're in our late twenties and our HHI is $103K combined.

Its reallly hard to make ends meet.

We used to live on 60k in my late 20s. I was in school and was working as a waitress on weekends. Hang in there!!!

[Anonymous]

I'm truly envious of people in this thread who have no clue what living paycheck to paycheck really means. After paying my rent + utilities, I have $25-$30 MAXIMUM to live off of for the entire month.

I don't have a savings account. I don't have any retirement accounts. After being roofied 2 years ago and ending up in the ER, I have several thousand dollars in medical debt that I'm honestly just ignoring at this point because I have no idea what to do with the bills. Luckily, I guess, I don't have a credit card, so I don't have any credit card debt, but I also literally live off of what is in my checking account every month.

I work 3 jobs, and I'd work more if I could, but I also have a very sick parent that needs me.

The struggle is VERY real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm truly envious of people in this thread who have no clue what living paycheck to paycheck really means. After paying my rent + utilities, I have $25-$30 MAXIMUM to live off of for the entire month.

I don't have a savings account. I don't have any retirement accounts. After being roofied 2 years ago and ending up in the ER, I have several thousand dollars in medical debt that I'm honestly just ignoring at this point because I have no idea what to do with the bills. Luckily, I guess, I don't have a credit card, so I don't have any credit card debt, but I also literally live off of what is in my checking account every month.

I work 3 jobs, and I'd work more if I could, but I also have a very sick parent that needs me.

The struggle is VERY real.

It is. It totally is. Also, no shame in ignoring medical bills. They aren't going to repo your health. Hang in there, PP.

[Anonymous]

We do but this is after saving for retirement and college which is automatically deducted from each paycheck. Not sure this counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do but this is after saving for retirement and college which is automatically deducted from each paycheck. Not sure this counts.

It doesn't count. Read the posts right above yours.

[Anonymous]

I agree that saving for retirement and college does not count. We are not in the position to max them out and I certainly don't consider myself paycheck to paycheck. How can anybody claim living paycheck to paycheck after saving 2x 18,5k for retirement and let's assume 5k for college. Think!

[Anonymous]

We have a mortgage of $450k on a $750k house, but DH lost his job and my salary barely covers the mortgage and daycare. Everything that can go on credit cards goes (groceries, gas, etc), but we still don't have nearly enough at the end of the month and are eating through our very meager savings.

Bad solution: kid comes out of daycare, but then DH can't look for a job and we lose our spot. Worst case scenario: we sell the house and cash out.

We're in a shitty situation with the job loss, but I sleep at night knowing we have $300k in equity in the house. If we didn't have these two options, I'd be panicking every day. I truly feel for people who are going through tough financial times with no help and no resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do but this is after saving for retirement and college which is automatically deducted from each paycheck. Not sure this counts.

It doesn't count. Read the posts right above yours.

disagree. that poster is an extreme case. i lived off 27K in 2005/6 in dc, went to work sick in order to get paid, would transfer money to savings only to take it out weeks later, didn't spend any money on eating out or entertainment, yet i still saved $50/check in a Roth IRA. i felt like if i couldn't afford to save now, i really couldn't afford not to because i wouldn't always be young enough to work crazy hours or employable for that matter. other than extreme cases of poverty, not saving a dime is a choice. i could have had less credit card debt but chose to save something small instead. i was definitely paycheck to paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a mortgage of $450k on a $750k house, but DH lost his job and my salary barely covers the mortgage and daycare. Everything that can go on credit cards goes (groceries, gas, etc), but we still don't have nearly enough at the end of the month and are eating through our very meager savings.

Bad solution: kid comes out of daycare, but then DH can't look for a job and we lose our spot. Worst case scenario: we sell the house and cash out.

We're in a shitty situation with the job loss, but I sleep at night knowing we have $300k in equity in the house. If we didn't have these two options, I'd be panicking every day. I truly feel for people who are going through tough financial times with no help and no resources.

I'm sorry -- I hope he gets another job soon and that this is just a blip for you guys. Job hunting can definitely be a job in itself so I can see why you don't want to pull the kids out of daycare (not to mention the disruption to their schedule).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a mortgage of $450k on a $750k house, but DH lost his job and my salary barely covers the mortgage and daycare. Everything that can go on credit cards goes (groceries, gas, etc), but we still don't have nearly enough at the end of the month and are eating through our very meager savings.

Bad solution: kid comes out of daycare, but then DH can't look for a job and we lose our spot. Worst case scenario: we sell the house and cash out.

We're in a shitty situation with the job loss, but I sleep at night knowing we have $300k in equity in the house. If we didn't have these two options, I'd be panicking every day. I truly feel for people who are going through tough financial times with no help and no resources.

I'm sorry -- I hope he gets another job soon and that this is just a blip for you guys. Job hunting can definitely be a job in itself so I can see why you don't want to pull the kids out of daycare (not to mention the disruption to their schedule).

You guys need to take the child out of the daycare. He must look for jobs very early in the morning and then late at night. Now, if he has to network and meet during the day, then that's a different story.