Who lives paycheck to paycheck?
It's a tough way to live.
It's not for me to judge anybody's lifestyle or circumstances as not everybody is fortunate enough to be able to do it any other way.
But I do think that there are a large number of people that can change their habits and break the cycle.
It's a no win situation. Anybody living by the week is under severe pressure in case that anything doesn't go to plan. We were talking about it earlier today and how some people moved out foreign to work for a few years and came back with nothing. Every penny that they earned was then spent over the weekend and the cycle was repeated.
Most of it pissed up against the wall as the saying goes. I have no objection to this as the majority of my money went the same way in my twenties and i would do it again if i could go back in time. What i did change by the time i hit 25 was to create a savings account. Since I got paid monthly it was very easy to set a direct debit from my wages coming in that went into a savings account with a two week notice period. That meant if i wanted money form it i had to give two weeks advance notice and by then my next wages would be coming in anyway so there was no point. Instead it was just a matter of cutting out a few unnecessary items and waiting for the next payslip.
They say that it's impossible for young people to buy a house in this country but that's just not true. I could do it on a single wage so there is no reason why a couple could not do it with two wages coming in. It's a matter of choices and priorities.
Breaking the cycle is key.
We are tricked into the consumer cycle.
You want this, you need that, they all have those.
BUY, BUY, BUY!!!
Is the message coming form the tv and the internet. Ad's everywhere and pictures showing you what you need for the perfect life.
I know that personally I don't really need that much. A roof over my head. Friends and family. A decent car. A few days out for dinner or drinks. that covers 90% of my spending and the other 10% is the bits and bobs that always need to be bought.
I see from my friends that it's a different story. They have to go to certain places and need to document it all on Instagram.
If others don't get to see you there then it doesn't count.
The cycle is vicious and hard to break.
Everybody to their own but there is a reason that so many of my age are working every hour of the day and night for big companies. To earn the big bucks. To keep up with these lifestyles. To show everybody else.
And the funny part being that they can never enjoy the money as they are too stressed and busy form trying to pay for it.
There is a reason that hippies look so happy all of the time. Aside from all the weed that they smoke.
They have less and then they worry less. They can enjoy what they have for it's true value and not it's price.
Cutting out some of these items and starting to save or even better to invest for the future is a huge step.
$100 a month might seem small but it can be done so easily. Cutting out a few extra coffees or one night out a month. Imagine doing that and DCA into HBD. 20% compounding and keep it up for a few years.
Then there would be some money there for a house deposit or in case of emergency.
having savings is vital and being able to afford it when you something happens.
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5 years this has been happening to me, it started here, around people that are still here. Homeland security has done nothing at all, they are not here to protect us. Dont we pay them to stop shit like this? The NSA, CIA, FBI, Police and our Government has done nothing. Just like they did with the Havana Syndrome, nothing. Patriot Act my ass. The American government is completely incompetent. The NSA should be taken over by the military and contained Immediately for investigation. I bet we can get to the sources of V2K and RNM then. https://peakd.com/gangstalking/@acousticpulses/electronic-terrorism-and-gaslighting--if-you-downvote-this-post-you-are-part-of-the-problem
One of my most important life mentors told me once,..
If you don't want to be poor, stop doing what poor people do, and she was talking about the exact things you are mentioning.
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If you want to be successful then do what other successful people do.
Save, invest, multiply, be smart.
It's not easy to make these choices but it's easy to see how it can be done if you take a step back.
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Wise words, wise words indeed...
I used to be paycheck to paycheck until I started doing extra jobs until going on my own and never looked back. I know so many people who struggle every month as life is tough. There is no extras and they can't afford to go out so savings is not an option.
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And that's the difference right there. You realized that nothing would change unless you changed tack. Anyone of them could have done the same but they didn't. That is why you will break the cycle and be successful when other will still be in the same place ten years from now.
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That was the plan as there is nothing worse than owing money to the bank for a car and a house. Reducing those payments was the aim as you catch up time and that is what gets you ahead.
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yes. very encouraging and good advice. I like how u did the savings with 2 weeks notice first.. very smart!
It's small steps like this that make a difference over time.
We can all make these choices but not everybody does.
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I think it's because most people don't have any financial education. They don't really understand why they should be saving and investing. At least that was the way for me and I missed a few years on investing after I started working.
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You might be right on this one.
So many of our school subjects are of no use to us in real life when we could have learned life skills and how to manage our money. There are so many better subjects that could be taught to people which would be a lot more useful in later life.
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This one relates with a post of mine of a few days ago. As a mention, it is hard to live off crypto as well, especially during these times.
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It's definitely gotten harder to live from crypto in the past few weeks but as somebody here said.
Don't go full time crypto unless you can do it in a bear market. If you don't have enough for that then you don't have enough yet.
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“People are persuaded to spend money we don't have, on things we don't need, to create impressions that won't last, on people we don't care about.”
Tim Jackson - British Economist
I think about this subject a lot. Great post @niallon11
Thanks.
These are important topics for people to talk about in my opinion.
Smart choices. Making plans, investing your money.
Hopefully we can all learn a bit going forward and end up in better positions.
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I used to live paycheck to paycheck... and its hard work. To be fair I don't really have an extravagant lifestyle, that situation was more down to having a low wage due to part-time hours.
12 months ago I managed to get full time hours, and so I was able to earn an extra £500 per month, but it was interesting to note that I had £500 extra coming in, but at the end of the month I never seemed to have £500 spare, it always seemed to get spent on odd bits here and there.
One unexpected side effect of investing in crypto is that I am now more aware of what my hard earned money is actually being spent on, which is why I now use a spreadsheet to note down what I spend money on. This has highlighted areas with room for improvement such as stopping buying the meal deal for lunch EVERY day
Lots of sense being spoken here. We started saving for a deposit after getting married and were saving €300 monthly. We never stopped and to this day we continue saving that amount and can dip in every now and then for essentials and don't need to get into any debt other than our mortgage, which I plan on clearing ad quickly as possible..