Am I the only person living pay check to pay check?

Question

Honestly, it seems like no matter how much money I make I can never catch up on my bills and my debt just keeps getting bigger with each passing day! I have tried a financial advisor but 1) i have to finances for them to advise me on and 2) they don't understand...they have money! I really don't know what to do anymore, I am going crazy! I don't think there are debt advisors besides those debt consolidation companies but do they really help or do they just put you in even more debt? Does anyone have any advice? Or is this what it is...the rich get rich and the poor..well we get even more poor and theres really nothing we can do about it?

Answer 1

I was like that for a long time, and I am only now starting to get out of it. It is hard, but call all of your debtors, and make a payment plan. I set it up as I would pay them each ten dollars a week, and then when I got one paid off I would pay the difference to the next smallest debtor. A lot of times they don' t like to deal with weekly payments, but if you tell them what you can afford, and as long as you send your payments regularly, then it shouldn't be a problem. I read a book that helped me with this as well, it was called The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperity By Blaine Harris and Charles Coonradt with Lee Nelson. This book really helped me, I wish you luck!

Answer 2

I understand and sympathize with you. If at all possible, avoid doing the debt consolidation thing. I've been participating in one of those programs for 4 1/2 years now and I regret it. The reason for this, is almost any consolidator is going to charge a fee in addition to what goes towards your consolidated bills. In my case the fee is $35. When I sat down one day and did the math...$35 x however long I've been in this pogram...sticker shock!! That right there could have taken a nice big ol' portion out of one of my outstanding bills. Then there's the fact that I have to now rely on them to make sure that the monthly payments are indeed paid on time. This has not always been the case, which means I then need to rely on them to straighten it out as far as late fees and such are concerned. If I were to do it all over again, I would have gotten a loan through my bank (at a much lower rate than the credit cards) to pay off the debt. The only good news for me is I see the light at the end of the tunnel and my financial situation has been steadily improving (of course it has to...just wait till I finish school and student loans come due).

Answer 3

YES, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE ...
the rest of us run out of pay check before we run out of days to pay day
... you did say you were living from pay check to pay check, didn't you?

SOLUTION: Picture this ... When you open your pay check at the letter box, there is a line of bill collectors taking bits of it before you can walk into the front door. Whatever you are left with when you get inside, you call "Lifestyle expences", and like most people, you have more lifestyle than there is money to cover the expences.
What if you add one more bill collector to the line - one for your future ... You would still work out a way to get by on the amount left over when you get inside.
That extra one in the line is YOU.
Set aside a small amount (10% is a good goal, but work up to it ... even $10 is a start). Buy Shares with it or stick it in an old Teddy Bear ... it doesn't matter ... just add to it each pay check and don't touch it for a year. After 3 months of doing this, it will be a habit that you can live with.
After one year, ask a financial advisor what can be done with such a small amount - hypothetically. It may grow faster then.
After 5 years, you will be getting yourself into enough savings to take advantage of a BIG opportunity that comes along.
Just keep the other bill collectors away from your Teddy Bear

If you set up a special account to guard that savings, just make sure 2 things:
- Fees and charges on that account are not going to eat up the savings
- It is hard to dip into to repay later. Taking money from there is stealing from your future

Answer 4

My father was in the Navy, and i was a military brat. Housing is free, water is free, electric is free, free housing allowance, u move ur household stuff from country to country for free, u ship ur car from country to country for free, free dental, free medical,..hmm... im sure there's more. oh yeah, u retire after 20yrs with a pension, GI Bills...etc If u were given the amount of money police officers made, you'd still end up being a poor soldier...(hey..my dad was a "poor" sailor heheh..it was a way of life)..but i mean, in some ways we got it good. free everything. we get the best education for our kids...Dodds teachers are no walk in a park job..lots of them are over qualified..which is great. That's my take, I hope i gave u an insight. Military members do struggle though, pay grades are quite low though, i have to agree. but the benefits are great. After a monthly paycheck, the only thing we had to pay for was the internet...and cable. the rest was to pay off our car, grocery n such.

Answer 5

There is one secret that I can tell you will help you.It will sound crazy but I believe this is the most important thing you can do because there is something very powerful about it that will change your life:
((((TIDTH)))) Even when I was on my lowest amount of Income I learned to tidth 10%. I choose to give an organization that helps poor children in NYC Within 2 months things began to change in my family's life that has baffled me. Our life was pay check to pay check untill my husband and I herd about giving money and it will come back to you.
We were so desperate we thought we would give it a shot and to my surprise our lives have increased in income . All our debt is paid off, our salaries have tripled and the blessings continue to roll in.

There are many books on the subject of giving in Christian and non Christian beliefs. Just look up on Amazon.com and type the keywords Power of Tithing or giving.
If you can't give alot just give even 5.00 just to break the stinginess. Start out with a little

I have nothing to sell to you or gain by telling you this so I want you to know it really works.
Also change your thinking and start to believe that once you have given it will come back. Do not give money and be angered or depressed. You must give with a positive attititude and happiness if you want this to work. If you give with the wrong attitude and hold a grudge that you just lost money then nothing good will come back.

When i give I think to myself how my money will help change a childs life and make them happy. I think how they will have a good dinner and warm shelter like I have. These thoughts make me feel good. Try it
Within a year you will not be living in the mess you are living if you try it- Trust God

Make sure to choose a place that will use your money to help benefit another persons life in a positive way.If you want a better life give to an organization that helps give children hope with shelter and food.there are alot of true places that are not scams
one place I know is 100% real is www.metroministries.com
they are in NYC. This is the best one I have found.
Many Blessings to you

Answer 6

I know you have read it several times already so I won't say it. :o)
I do know exactly how you feel. I grew up watching my parents struggle with paying bills, putting food on the table and supporting all the things we needed. It is such a hard life. And now I am doing it. I am only 22 but my finace and I are stuggling. From the looks of it, people think we are wealthy. But it is all debt.
I don't know anything about those debt consolidators, sorry.
I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 7

I'm not sure I know anyone who doesn't live paycheck to paycheck...okay I know a few, but not all of us own several hotels and such...you are not alone! What you have to do is compare your income with what you are sending out. Write down all your expenses, rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, car payments, what you spend on clothes and entertainment like movies and eating out....then compare that amount to what you bring home every two weeks...See what's left, if anything! At that point, you can see where you can pare down your expenses. Once you do that and you think you might have a dollar or two left over from your paycheck, put it in a savings account and leave it alone. Do that every payday, and make it part of your expense list. You will still in a way be living paycheck to paycheck, but you will also be building an emergency fund, or vacation fund or down payment on a new car fund. Hey, hang in there you are SOOO not alone! And you will be surprised how fast even 10.00 a month will add up in your savings account. You have to be disciplined tho, and stay out of it.

Answer 8

You'd probably be surprise to know that even financial advisors have problems. It's like "the blind leading the blind" hope no one took offense to that. I work at a bank and only about 30% of the people who come in actually have a savings account with more than a few dollars in it. Heck, I work two jobs and it still seems like I'm living pay check to pay check.

Answer 9

We are all in the same boat, how ever I have been budgeting and it works better and i do have money left over . You know how much money you make every payday. you know how much your bills are every month so what I do is every payday I pay so much on each bill so at the end of the month when the bills are do I am a step ahead of the game. this also saves you from paying late fees.

Answer 10

No, you are NOT> You just need to spend less, live a little smaller+++ I had 3 cell phones, but I got rid of one and now my wife and I share one. That saved $20 a month. After 3 months I was able to pay my cable bill on time. It's the little things. WE don't go out for dinner ($100), no Dunkin Donuts ($30). The list goes on and on. But I feel your pain.