Poll of the Day > Living paycheck to paycheck sucks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Especially when your paycheck is not impressive int be least. Most of the time I distract myself from the fact. But damn I really need to start a business or do something to make money on the side. There is no upwards progression at my current job either.
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Sell your body
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Blighboy posted...

Sell your body

Can I be your first customer?

Xfma100 posted...

Blighboy posted...

Sell your body

Can I be your first customer?

Over the internet? Sure. I will do private shows. Payment first.
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FellWolf posted...

Xfma100 posted...

Blighboy posted...

Sell your body

Can I be your first customer?

Over the internet? Sure. I will do private shows. Payment first.

What services does this entail?

If you're gonna do a second job, make sure it's fun and not awful. Probably recommend bar tender or whatever seasonal work is available
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i know a guy who might be interested in buying a kidney
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Keep all of your receipts for a month to six months, categorize them (food, gas, entertainment, bills, etc), write up a breakdown of your expenditures. Keep your paystubs for the same period, get yourself a monthly and/or weekly average of income.

See where you can make sacrifices/cuts. Everyone spends money they dont need to spend. Dont do anything drastic, just cut what youd be comfortable cutting.

Take your cut expenses and put all of it into savings. DO NOT touch your savings. Even if its an emergency, think about just how much of an emergency youre in, and whether you can forego dipping into your savings.

It wont happen overnight, but after a year or two you should have a couple grand or so. Keep adding to it. Eventually, youll feel more comfortable/less stressed.
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Far-Queue posted...

Keep all of your receipts for a month to six months, categorize them (food, gas, entertainment, bills, etc), write up a breakdown of your expenditures. Keep your paystubs for the same period, get yourself a monthly and/or weekly average of income.

Also, this helps immensly

I recommend seeing if your bank/credit union has some budgeting application you can use. I saved a lot on groceries this way
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It can happen even when you're making decent money.
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i saw this topic in my amp and i had no idea what i posted in it
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Unless you have kids or are supporting a sick loved one, there is no reason to ever live paycheck to paycheck even if your making minimum wage and working part time.

Even in fairly expensive areas (just not like the bay area or New York), you can usually rent a room for about $300, and still get a roomate situation in many for $200 or so a month.

Outside of possibly qualifying for food stamps in many places if your making very little income, and the use of food banks etc, just buying cheap food (tuna fish/bread/eggs/cereal/pasta etc), can let you easily live on $25 a week for food.

That is $300-400 a month for expenses. Which depending on the min wage whereyou live, is 1 weeks worth of work.

You could in theory save $1000 a month in that case while getting minimum wage and working 30-40 hours a week.

Things like internet etc often come with a room rental, or, if you do the roomate thing, you all split the cost, so it's a very small charge.

Entertainment is super cheap, again, 1 netflix account can work for a whole home worth of roomates, so like $2 a month for pretty much unlimited shows to watch.

Avoid spending alot on going out for drinks etc, or on expensive hobbies, and you can save quite a bit. If you just want to save half of what you make, that would actually give you quite a bit more money to enjoy yourself with, eat better, and even afford a car if you wanted...while still saving a good $500-$600 a month.

So yeah, if your living paycheck to paycheck, and your single, then it's choices you are making that is causing the issue.
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wolfy42 posted...

Unless you have kids or are supporting a sick loved one, there is no reason to ever live paycheck to paycheck even if your making minimum wage and working part time.

Even in fairly expensive areas (just not like the bay area or New York), you can usually rent a room for about $300, and still get a roomate situation in many for $200 or so a month.

Outside of possibly qualifying for food stamps in many places if your making very little income, and the use of food banks etc, just buying cheap food (tuna fish/bread/eggs/cereal/pasta etc), can let you easily live on $25 a week for food.

That is $300-400 a month for expenses. Which depending on the min wage whereyou live, is 1 weeks worth of work.

You could in theory save $1000 a month in that case while getting minimum wage and working 30-40 hours a week.

Things like internet etc often come with a room rental, or, if you do the roomate thing, you all split the cost, so it's a very small charge.

Entertainment is super cheap, again, 1 netflix account can work for a whole home worth of roomates, so like $2 a month for pretty much unlimited shows to watch.

Avoid spending alot on going out for drinks etc, or on expensive hobbies, and you can save quite a bit. If you just want to save half of what you make, that would actually give you quite a bit more money to enjoy yourself with, eat better, and even afford a car if you wanted...while still saving a good $500-$600 a month.

So yeah, if your living paycheck to paycheck, and your single, then it's choices you are making that is causing the issue.

Quite possibly. But it happens to a lot of knioitary members. For me, it's because I have rent of $750 a month, a car payment a little over $600 a month. And bills are water, electric, gas, and SuddenLink(cable, internet, phone, but mostly internet...), and cell phone. I have a roommate, so we split rent and house bills. But I still don't have a lot. Even if I put some in savings, I'm still technically living paycheck to paycheck.
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helIy posted...

i saw this topic in my amp and i had no idea what i posted in it

#shitposting

wolfy42 posted...

Unless you have kids or are supporting a sick loved one, there is no reason to ever live paycheck to paycheck even if your making minimum wage and working part time.

Even in fairly expensive areas (just not like the bay area or New York), you can usually rent a room for about $300, and still get a roomate situation in many for $200 or so a month.

Kinda inclined to agree because you should always be setting money aside just in case. And, in general, it's usually easier to cut expenses than it is to increase income.
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Yeah, don't get me wrong, you can blow $2k+ a month and not really be living that large without any problems, and basically feel like you are spending the bare min you can get away with.

If you rent your own place, with a 1 bedroom to yourself being the min your willing to live with, that can be a good $600-$1200 a month right there, depending on where you live. Add in utilities (your not splitting), and internet), and that is as much as you make at a min wage job in many areas working full time, and more then that in the more expensive places (like the bay area).

Food can always be cheap, but you have to be at least semi-smart and not eat fast food etc alot. If you just eat fast food for lunch every day, even at $5 a day that would be another $100+ a month right there.

Cars can be cheap, but many people lease them etc, or make car payments etc, which is usually aboslutely not worth it at all. Good cars can be bought almost anywhere for $1000 (or less), and while they may need some repairs sometimes, they will get the job done (and you won't be blowing 6k+ a year on em).

Of course the real culprit is entertainment/hobbies and drugs/alcohol/partying etc, especially for the young. This can be the difference between saving at least 25-50% of what you make a month, to running out of cash by the end of the month and going further and further into debt.

You can live on almost nothing, less then $500 a month in expenses most places pretty easy, but not many do, especially if they are actually making more then that. I made less then 1/2 as much as one of my friends when I was in my late teens and 20's, but by the time I was 30, I had almost 100k saved up and he was broke, with no car, and no job. He didn't save a dime in all that time, and when the company went under that he had worked for (got a job there from a friend right out of HS), he was not able to find anywhere else that would hire him without a degree of any kind etc.

Back then making almost $30 an hour (what he made for over a decade) was insane for someone without a degree etc. With ANY sense of planning/saving at all, he could have easily retired (seriously for like 8 of those years CC bonds gave 12% or more interest per year...meaning you could double your money every 5-6 years).

Instead all my friends blew their money as fast as they got it....I think much the same thing goes on today, only everything costs more, so it's harder to save in the first place.
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Really good post wolfy. I'll take your advice and take a good look at my expenses and where I'm leaking money.

I wrote out a really long reply and then deleted it. But know I will take your advice. :)
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LinkPizza posted...

Quite possibly. But it happens to a lot of knioitary members.

knioitary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPr7RqTFo0
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i'm good at saving money, thing's are going to get better next month.
if it doesn't i have the right to complain to the phone/internet company (supposed to decrease to a lower rate).

this January kinda sucks TBH.
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Yellow posted...

LinkPizza posted...

Quite possibly. But it happens to a lot of knioitary members.

knioitary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPr7RqTFo0

Haha. Sorry. Meant military. I was on my phone earlier.
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If youre in the military and living paycheck to paycheck, especially if youre single, youre doing something wrong.
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everyone gets five years after that. good bye
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FellWolf posted...

Really good post wolfy. I'll take your advice and take a good look at my expenses and where I'm leaking money.

What am I, chopped liver?

Am I on ignore?
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Far-Queue posted...

FellWolf posted...

Really good post wolfy. I'll take your advice and take a good look at my expenses and where I'm leaking money.

What am I, chopped liver?

Am I on ignore?

Sorry, you too. It was really late and I scrolled up to see who the posters we're and didn't scroll up far enough to remember you posted that one.
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No prob, I thought I was on ignore and typed all that out for nothing. Good luck with your finances duders
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CacciatoPart2 posted...

If youre in the military and living paycheck to paycheck, especially if youre single, youre doing something wrong.

And lot of them do. Not all, or even the majority. But a good chunk. Usually, it's becomes a live-style that they all are fine with. So, yeah.
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