Anonymous poll: paycheck to paycheck

[njmom47]

This month was tough because we owed Federal taxes! DH started a new job last year and for some reason, they did not take out enough. So now that that is paid, we can move on. I am on a strict personal budget, I do have a small savings acct (dh and I have a joint savings as well that will need to be built up again since we used some of it for taxes). I just keep seeing one more thing done (car loan was done in Dec 10, small loan from my CU done in June, dh's credit debt mgmt done as of March 11)....baby steps.
One day, I hope we won't be living paycheck to paycheck as often as we seem to have lately.

 

[Fintastic]

Yes, we're paycheck to paycheck. DH's job is commission only and I have a 60-mile commute each day for work, which is hard with gas the way it is. Plus we have to pay for daycare for two kids.

 

[eliza61]

I've probably been in every category a time or two in my life.

Anyway, I always try to save first and then make ends meet with whats left over.

I always absolutely pay into my 401K, This month like so many I had a huge tax bill, one college tuition and I'm going around town with my 2nd kid who starts college soon. So we're pretty paycheck to paycheck but we haven't had to dip into our savings so we're happy about that.

 

[ajh88]

What paycheck?

If it makes you feel a little better, I've had NO paycheck for the last 10 months. I have been in school for the past 4 years (graduating in 27 days!) and my last year was all rotations - 40 hours a week of work for free. Because of the locations of my job (30 miles to the west of my house) and the majority of my rotations (30 miles to the east of my house), it was next to impossible to work during this time.

We have lived like poor college students for the past 4 years...it has been terribly difficult, but now that I'm at the end of the tunnel, it feels great to get back to work and start getting a paycheck again (along with a big raise in a few weeks!). We've gotten by on some money I had from my previous job, DH's pay as a manny ($720/month), a bit of help from my family, and the grace of God.

As I tell DH, we have been as close to the bottom of the barrel as I want to get - and I hope we never forget how humbling the last 4 years (and especially the past year) have been.

 

[Owishingonastar]

DH, and i are 23. We have lived pay check to pay check since we moved in together since age 17. This time next year, both our mortgage and vehicle loans will be payed off. From there we will no longer be pay check to pay check.

Just got to pray our jobs stay steady between now and then . its stressful, and DH just got an interview for a second job part time at lowes during nights. So things should get a little easier from here on out.

 

[Aisling]

Aisling it is never too late to learn something new. The fact that you recognise it as a problem and are scared by it says volumes. You can do it!
If you really want to feel good and get a new hobby- try volunteering. You will certainly see how many wonderful blessings you have in your life.
Good luck to you! I know you can do it!

THANK YOU ALL for the responses. I don't know what happened, but I was almost in a panic last night and my husband was no help, telling me we're ok and that in tough times we'll just get tougher. I know now that he WAS helping by saying that, but I was needing a pity party and he didn't give in.

I'm not normally a crybaby, but after reading through this thread I'm in tears. I want all of us to be ok in this economy, and I realize I have a lot to be grateful for. I'll be smart and follow along on the Budget Board and get some tips and be calm. I'll stop blabbering now, but again thank you and my best best wish is for all of us to be stress-free financially in life, especially the poster whose daughter had surgery and those who are unemployed. I feel so connected to you all because you all understand and that's what I very much needed.

 

[SUSIEQ]

I know that you feel bad about how you have to adjust your lifestyle in order to pay for the things your sons want. College is expensive. Disney weddings are expensive. You're wonderful parents for wanting to help them with their dreams. Try to focus on those things and not what you're sacrificing to make them happen. You will feel better about it.

Well said!

 

[NotUrsula]

I call those minor panic attacks "Radishes at Tara" moments. (You know, "As God is my witness, I will NEVER be hungry again!") There was a time in my life after my father's death when we were way past paycheck to paycheck, and there is no way on this earth that I am ever going to live like that again if I have any way of avoiding it.

We not only have a family emergency fund, but I have a cash fund of my own; all liquid, right where I can get my hands on it easily. I know that I could make more money on it if I invested it in more restrictive accounts, but I can't do it; I have a deep-seated psychological need to have some money right where I can get at it VERY quickly should the need arise.
I'm afraid that there is absolutely NO voluntary expenditure that would ever cause me to dip into it; no tuitions or weddings or funerals. That cash is for real disasters only.

 

[NYEmomma]

I don't know if we're a paycheck to paycheck family or not. We're certainly not a "these $2.00 in the bank have to last us til the next paycheck" family or a "which bill gets paid late this month?" family. But I wouldn't call us comfortable. Far from it.

We have enough to not worry about our monthly bills and to make rather substantial (well, for us) payments in an effort to pay off our credit card ASAP, but that's about it. We've made a lot of cuts to all areas of our budget in order to have some more breathing room and be able to do some fun things as a family (i.e. buy an annual pass to the zoo for our daughter, go to WDW in October, etc.).

Last year we paid off the balance on our home equity line & a loan we had to replace some windows in the house (our home eq line was closed because of falling house values ) and now we're working on our remaining credit card. We're at a place right now where we're able to go to WDW debt free and make a couple home repairs using cash instead of a credit card. That's a nice feeling. But if there was some unexpected expense, we're still at the point where we'd HAVE to put it on the credit card. We have a tiny amount in savings... probably enough for 1 or 2 mortgage payments, but that's it.

DH just got a new job (starting today!) and has a nice little raise... the plan is to still live based on his old income and to get the credit card paid off and build some more in the savings.

 

[Robmom]

I understand, because I'm paying my DD's tuition as well, and then my DS's summer camp. It's not easy. I have been learning to cut down on my shopping.

 

[rubato]

DH, and i are 23. We have lived pay check to pay check since we moved in together since age 17. This time next year, both our mortgage and vehicle loans will be payed off. From there we will no longer be pay check to pay check.

Just got to pray our jobs stay steady between now and then . its stressful, and DH just got an interview for a second job part time at lowes during nights. So things should get a little easier from here on out.

You and your husband are doing great! To have your mortgage and cars paid off by age 24 is amazing! Good work!

 

[PollyannaMom]

...I just need to know that other people do it and it works out fine. I need to see light at the end of the tunnel, I guess. I was a big spender on stupid things, but at the time we could afford it. Now I'm as frugal as I can be. I just don't want to feel like I'm alone in this situation, so that I can be positive for all of us who are in a rough financial patch right now. I wish there was a support group for people who were used to having lots of extra money but now have to live paycheck to paycheck.

I actually look back on our paycheck-to-paycheck period as one of the happiest. (Not that I'm unhappy now, of course, and I love the feeling of security!!) But too often I spend money without thinking now, simply because I can. When I had to pay closer attention, the things I spent it on were more carefully considered, and just sort of meant more.

I'm sure you'll get through just fine! You'll miss a few things for a little while, but afterward, you'll have that insight of knowing what you really did miss vs. what wasn't that important after all.

 

[manhattan]

In the poll I selected living paycheck to paycheck. We have some EF, but not enough to say OK, I am going to stop working and enjoy my life. We are not, like a PP stated, stretching $2 until next paycheck, but we will always have expenses like electric bill, water bill, groceries and gas, which is paid by our paycheck. I plan future Disney trips, save money and these are paid by our future paycheck. Unless I hit the lotto, I think I will alway want a paycheck

 

[Marionnette]

In the poll I selected living paycheck to paycheck. We have some EF, but not enough to say OK, I am going to stop working and enjoy my life. We are not, like a PP stated, stretching $2 until next paycheck, but we will always have expenses like electric bill, water bill, groceries and gas, which is paid by our paycheck. I plan future Disney trips, save money and these are paid by our future paycheck. Unless I hit the lotto, I think I will alway want a paycheck

You do realize that there is a distinction between working for a living and living paycheck-to-paycheck, don't you?