Wow: Nearly All Americans Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck

[Zimbow]

Katie Pavlich | Jun 24, 2013

The economy isn't getting better and the unemployment numbers we keep seeing are far from accurate. According to CNN Money, 76 percent of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com Monday.

Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses, enough to help cushion the blow of a job loss, medical emergency or some other unexpected event, according to the survey of 1,000 adults. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all.

"It's disappointing," said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst. "Nothing helps you sleep better at night than knowing you have money tucked away for unplanned expenses."
Even more disappointing; The savings rates have barely changed over the past three years, even though a larger percentage of consumers report an increase in job security, a higher net worth and an overall better financial situation.

Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen Report shows the majority want the government to cut spending in order to spur economic growth.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepa...check-n1626180

[mrveggieman]

Some of this is due to poor financial management and living beyond your means. A lot of it however is due to business paying low wages, then these same companies wonder why no one is buying their products.

[SMVintage]

It appears that they are also using 6 months instead of the more-commonly used 3. I don't think that 6 months is necessary, if you are single and have a secure job.

I think that people DO need to be taught to think for the future and stop living in the moment with their wages!~

[Star_Cards]

I don't know the stats about jobs that pay low wages, but from my circle of friends it's about living outside their means or just wasting money. Most of my friends make good money. A lot make way more than I do and still live check to check so to speak with little savings. Some have houses and cars that they should have gone cheaper on or just buy clothes and other stuff without saving up the cash for it. So much of that is taught by parents. I was always taught to save and while I do spend on luxuries I always wait until I have the cash and have always saved.

I'm thankful that I don't have the stress of not having enough money on a regular basis. A large part of that 76% could probably not have this issue if they showed some restraint in their purchases and dialed back their big purchases like homes and cars.

[mrveggieman]

I don't know the stats about jobs that pay low wages, but from my circle of friends it's about living outside their means or just wasting money. Most of my friends make good money. A lot make way more than I do and still live check to check so to speak with little savings. Some have houses and cars that they should have gone cheaper on or just buy clothes and other stuff without saving up the cash for it. So much of that is taught by parents. I was always taught to save and while I do spend on luxuries I always wait until I have the cash and have always saved.

I'm thankful that I don't have the stress of not having enough money on a regular basis. A large part of that 76% could probably not have this issue if they showed some restraint in their purchases and dialed back their big purchases like homes and cars.

This ^^^^^^

[JustAlex]

This isn't surprising one bit....

[ajcorleone]

Our society does not plan it seems.Living in the moment is too expensive given the state of the world

[shrewsbury]

spend it while you got it.
can't take it with you.
who knows what tomorrow will bring.

[JustAlex]

No offense to anyone here....and I sincerely mean that, but...

Don't many card collectors live like this too?

They spend away hundreds if not thousands of dollars on opening boxes hoping to find whichever card is really hot at the moment to make a profit?

I mean, that's pretty much gambling and it's NOT smart to go about wasting your money that way.

And I'm not talking about every card collector, but I know there are some people that are like this, eventually they lose so much money that they have to quit the hobby altogether.

This is the same thing that happens to gamblers.

And yeah...they're also living paycheck to paycheck.

[deansayso]

Ha I'm paycheck to paycheck and we're making about 80k/ year...

My student loans - 9957 left
Her student loans - 13521 left
Just bought a house - 165000
Had to redo carpet and get a new stove - 5000
Just put up a new shed - 148500
Putting up a seed treatment system - 250000

So yeah, a little debt but it should only take a few years to get most of it down as my income should increase by about 40 k next year...