Am I the only one living like this?

Question

My husband and I basically live paycheck to paycheck. Is that how the rest of you live too or am I just doing something wrong??

Answer 1

Everyone thinks the answer is to earn more. This isn't the case.

The key to having money is not spending it. The reason people with three jobs seem to make more money is they don't have the time to spend it. Control your spending. Take a look at where you are wasefully spending your money, like unnecessary extra cable channels, dining out vs. groceries, and going crazy buying people christmas gifts.

In order for you to be successful, both you AND your husband should be committed to whatever plan you set into place.

Start by putting at least some money into savings each paycheck. You can use direct deposit at work, or pick a bank like http://ingdirect.com and they will take the money out at scheduled intervals. Pay off your credit cards by making more than the minimum payments.

Here's the most difficult part. BE CONTENT. This goes against everything we see/hear. People who have money don't spend it. They are happy with what they have. Try to be that person. Good luck!

Answer 2

Well, a lot of people live like this. You're doing things the way everyone else seems to.

But may I suggest a few changes that will help you?

1) Tithe to the Lord. This is something that even non-religious people do. Give your first 10% to God, what ever that means to you. To your church, to missionaries, to buy food at a feeding kitchen.

2) Change your attitude towards 'stuff'. We all have to much stuff. Do you NEED a big screen TV? An SUV that seats 12, etc? Or will a smaller TV do? You'll have to change your attitude about stuff in order to...

3) ... don't buy stuff on credit. If you can't pay cash, then you can't afford it. Credit enslaves you and I betcha that's one reason why you're living paycheck to paycheck. You're working for your credit card companies, car loan companies and mortgage companies.

My wife and I weaned ourselves off of credit cards completely and it wasn't nearly as hard as you would have thought. Now we have only an American Express card that we use for travel and such. We still have our mortgage.

Go here to learn more.
http://www.crown.org/

Good luck to you.

Answer 3

well at first everyone live on paycheck to paycheck but then how long have you been living like this is the question? If it is long time like more than couple of years you need to start thinking what your expenses are and start cutting down on your expense. For eg: if you are going to restaurant 2 times a month cut down that to one time. and save the other in the savings account. A penny saved is a penny earned. Balance your account and try getting control over your life.

Answer 4

My wife and I went from doing well and saving plenty to living check to check. We made financial decisions that turned out to be a nightmare becuase we failed to plan for the unexpected. We have spent the last couple of years fixing our situation. We first had to sit and assess our current situation. We totalled our expenses and began cutting out items that were unneccesary. We reduced anything that could be cut back. We minimized going out to eat. We stopped using credit cards and began aggressively paying down all revolving debt. We sold out house and used some of the equity to pay off medical debt (this was the unexpected circumstance), which raised our credit scores. The rest of the equity was combined with a loan from my employers 401K program to buy a new home. We chose a better area and bought during pre-construction to get a real good price. The house was more expensive than the last, but we built a huge amount of equity in just 2 years. We just refinanced our mortgage and are using portion of the equity to pay off a car loan and the remianing debt.

I understand everyones circumstances differ. But you must first sit with your husband and create a budget. Trim out anything that you do not need. I switched from SBC phone service to Vonage and saved a bundle of money. We cut back out TV to the basic channels. We watched out spending and realized how much we blew eating at restaurants. You must learn to live within your means. Try to save 10% each pay period so you build up 2 - 3 months worth of cushion should something happen in your lives. The begining is hard, but as you work through it will get easier and soon you will be on track to planning for the future.

Answer 5

Anyone can free themself from living paycheck to paychjeck. You may have to declare bankruptcy to rid yourself of debt, but thats prob not the problem.

You would have to disclose your debts and income. But think of it, do you buybuybuy all the time? DOes he? Do u eat out? If so, you are just spending out of your means and u must budget.

Or make more money - but thats just a temporary answer and its better said than done.

Answer 6

The majority of people do. The majority of people never get ahead either. Don't worry about other people. Be an individual and get ahead. There were lots of good posts on here with lots of good advice. There are tons of ways to put more in your pocket. Spend less, and make more. Save and invest. Don't be like everyone else. Be better.

Answer 7

Prices go up and paychecks stay the same,
it's not good out there

Answer 8

i believe that is how everyone is living these days. you may not be able to tell by what is in their driveway but with the economy today no one can afford much. for me, i am planning on paying double for all of my major bills when income tax season hits. that way no matter what i pay every month after hopefully i will be able to stay ahead and therefore hve a little extra left at the end of the month for my children and me.

Answer 9

honey i feel your pain my husband lives pay check to pay check, BUT, you got to think about the things that he is paying or inbesting on with that money, for example, my husband doesnt even have money to a lot of thing for the house, but he is paying for the morgage of the house wich later on is going to add up and we'll be able to buy something betterand slowly progress, i think that you should think that all this maybe a little sacrify and that later on you will feel glad you hanged on, good luck and hope this makes you feel a little better, i have days when i ask myself the same question!!

Answer 10

I did many MANY years ago then realized that stopping the spending leaves me more money...

Its not how much you make but how much you keep... When I have extra now I invest it and it ultimately makes me more. We ALL CHOOSE to spend or not spend. I decided to spend on things that make money rather than having bills.

You can make a change... The sooner you do the sooner life keeps getting better and better!