re: 78 % of non-OT members live paycheck to paycheck

What exactly does "living paycheck to paycheck" mean? Do these people completely run out of money between paychecks?

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I can picture you scowling at families in airports having no clue what their financial situation is.

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Eh not really, just a crappy business trip this week via LaGuardia and O'Hare all in one trip , but....

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A January 2017 survey from Bankrate found that nearly 60 percent of the 1,003 Americans surveyed said they couldn't cover the cost of a $500 car repair or a $1,000 emergency room visit.

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I mean if this is the case, make smarter decisions. This includes driving over flying, and other smart choices. People waste money on stuff they don't need and live far among their means. And other people pay for that in the end.

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By a show of honest hands, how many of you do a monthly budget and have every dollar that you're expected to earn allocated to an expense before it goes back out the window?

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I do. I've made an excel spreadsheet with tables and pivot tables off those tables and multiple tabs for each month's expenses and income and savings and a master tab for the year that tracks all the other tabs. And at the end of every week I go back and add in every transaction we've made and put it in a category that then spits out a pivot table of where I spent money that week.

Forcing myself to account for every transaction has made me alot more hawkish on my spending.

These are things that should absolutely be taught in high school.

I assume budgeting and home making were declared sexist or racist or mean to poorer families so they quit teaching them.

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What exactly does "living paycheck to paycheck" mean?

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I assume it means "if paychecks stop, people couldn't continue their budget unless they get another paycheck." Basically, they have little savings and/or live above their means.

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But we put a bunch in savings and retirement accounts every time either one of us has a direct deposit come through, then we end up burning through everything in our checking account until next pay check

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Same here, I dump a shitload into my retirement.

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i live paycheck to paycheck. But i have most of my paycheck going into multiple retirement types of accounts and a mortgage

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So you have multiple retirement accounts but no emergency fund?

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So you have multiple retirement accounts but no emergency fund?

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I'm amazed at how many people don't know what paycheck to paycheck means. I thought it was a common saying with a common meaning.

I did many years ago. Was forced into retirement at 52. Was planning on retiring at 55. That 20%+ of my paycheck was going into my retirement fund for over 25 years.

At 61, we still live in our means, paycheck to paycheck, but we do what we want. SS and disability insurance I had all my life pay high dollars and I don't have to touch my retirement. In fact, we max out the wife's retirement. She is retired to at 57. Kind of went retired 9 years ago when I got sick. Might work once a month.

So, no matter what, please have disability insurance if you are the bread winner in your home. That was/is a BIG life saver for us.

It's just hard to imagine, unless you are making like $10/hour or maybe living in a high COL area or I guess other extenuating circumstances, that this many people completely run out of money between paychecks. One has to make sure that understanding of the definitions are correct.


I mean if you read that OP, and you don't see how definitions on this kind of thing can be fungible then you should be sterilized.

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Two $50k vehicles on 100k combined?

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Who said two? Of course two would be a problem. I was pointing out having a $50k vehicle and a $300k house shouldn’t put you at paycheck to paycheck living on a $100k salary