A new Careerbuilder survey shows that 47 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck; those results are right in line with the 49 percent of you who admitted you're living in anticipation of your next check.
Perhaps more surprising is the discovery that 21 percent of those making $100,000 or more annually are also living paycheck to paycheck. Here are some other interesting findings from the study.
- 25 percent of workers never save any of their paychecks.
- 34 percent of those who do save put away less than $100 a month and 18 percent save $50 or less.
- One third of workers don't contribute to retirement savings.
Forty-two percent of workers surveyed said they would need up to $500 more per paycheck to live comfortably; how much extra would you need per paycheck?
David & Scotti
Levi's
Homebase
Comfortably? Probably at least $2K more per paycheck (but I only get paid once per month).
1We're comfortable now. My husband and I both have new jobs and now we are saving tons from each paycheck (in fact, my whole paycheck is being directly deposited into savings.) I'm so glad my husband is so financially responsible, because I sure as heck am not!
2hmmm
I save money each month. Both with retirment savings and my savings account and I try to put $100 into my savings account as bone minimum.
If I wanted to live comfortably, I guess I could do it on $500 extra a month. But I'll take more if I could!
3BTW, I think the question is kind of funny because ultimately, let's say you are making a bit more, what would stop you from not spending more? I mean, if you say you need $500 more each check, what would stop you from ordering premium cable with the extra cash? I'm seriously just asking. I think that's a major problem with our culture of rabid consumerism. We are never comfortable and we rarely live within our means.
4I agree Sy!
5I'm with syako. I'm irresponsible, so if I made $400 more a month, what would keep me from spending that?
6... I need someone to make me stick to a budget. Damn.
Exactly, syako! Two words: Lifestyle inflation. The survey is obviously optimistic that most people would save the extra money so they wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck.
7I guess I'm pretty comfortable. I save $100 a month, half into no-touch savings and half into my vacation/big expense fund. I should probably be saving more, but I love to shop too much.
8My fiance and I are completely comfortable. We don't "deny" ourselves anything but at the same time we don't want much. His entire salary goes into our savings and mine is part for bills and rest to savings (plus the wedding fund). I'd take $500 more, I would defi save it if I got it, but we don't need it. Plus I like seeing a big fat number in my savings account balance, or go on an awesome vacation (we just go back from 9 days in Hawaii!) more than I care about the latest fashion trends.
9chaton- I was the same way pre-marriage! I just spent, spent spent! Now my hubby is making us save, save, save!
10If I earned more I'd also spend more, but it would be on things that would make make my life more "comfortable": a 1-bedroom flat instead of a studio, more travel, more pilates classes, more Thai food, etc.
11I'm already fairly comfortable...esp. after getting married. The double income makes life so much easier. But if I were single I'd probably go for an extra $500/mth to give myself a nice cushion.
12I guess we're comfortable now, even though we live on one (my) salary. The thing that would really help us would be having enough extra money each month to save up for major home repairs, like the $5000 roof and $10,000 foundation repair we really need. Those goals seem so unattainable to me that we're really just kind of in denial and not doing anything to reach them
Help!
13Wow, I didn't realize that so many people were living on the edge. If you interpret "living comfortably" as not living paycheck to paycheck, I'm already there. I still wait with excitement every time that paycheck gets deposited, but at the same time I have an adequate emergency fund, and I save every month for retirement and a home down payment. It's just a matter of living within my means, and understanding that all the fancy clothes and toys are luxuries, not basic necessities.
14I live paycheck to paycheck. I live very meager. I have no idea what would make me comfortable but anything extra would help.
15Comfortably I would need an extra $1000 a month. A little extra for "lifestyle inflation" since I don't have much of that anyway and the rest for savings and not worrying about how expensive groceries are!
16Probably $800 - $1000 more a cheque and I would be very comfortable.
That being said, I do not live pay cheque to pay cheque and contribute over 10% of each pay to savings, so if I wasn't concerned about saving for the future I could live differently now - without a pay change.
Also, I'm single and support myself on my own.
17syako, I want my best friend to marry me just so he can legally take over my finances!
18Being contract, in my field im not paid as much as I would permanent. So hopefully when I go permanent, it will make a £70 per week difference, which would go A LONG way.
At the moment, the difference for me would be about £300 a month. I dont have enough money to buy my lunches, or fill up the gas tank, let alone buy new clothes or a pint at the pub. Things are tight. But thats the rip off britain for you
19I'd be fine if I could just get a big chunk of money for a few months, pay off credit cards/pay down student loans...then I'd be ok instead of constantly trying to pay things off then inevitably having to use them again to cover a car breakdown or repair bill or this/that/the other.
Damn you stupid childish first few years of college and your credit retardation!!
20Living by my SAME means, it would probably take me another 500-700 to live comfortably.
21I completely suffer from lifestyle inflation. Every time I get a raise, I don't seem to actually save any more money.
22I'd say $1000 more a month.
23To live comfortably? Like $500 more a paycheck for me, and $500 more a paycheck for the boyfriend.
We are worse than living pay check to pay check.
I actually write rent checks on the 1st, knowing I wont have the money in there until the 5th when my pay check goes through, and I know the rent doesn't come out until the 6th.
No matter what we do, we just can't seem to get ahead, and we never save anything.
It sucks.
24With my debt still around and working 2 jobs (one full-time, the other weekends only) I could use an extra $800 a month. That would allow me to double my student loan payment and pay of my last defaulted card off. After that was paid off I would succumb to the lifestyle inflation because I want more clothes!
25I feel like we are almost comfortable right now. i think if between the two of us we made $500 mor e a month we could continue saving without fear that our emergency fund would be gone all at once. I contribute to an HSA every pay check to help out with medical expenses. We don't have a lot of extra money to blow but allof our needs are taken care of and we can go out to dinner every now wnd then. We don't have a lot of extra wants and the things we do want are big ticket so we are saving up for those things.
26gemsera, I feel for you! A few years ago I was living in Edinburgh on 600 quid a month while doing my MSc. It was hard to make ends meet, and an extra 200-300 would have done a world of difference. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to get the permanent job & pay rise.
As for now, living in Munich, I'd need an extra 500 Euros to be comfortable, but for serious savings I'd need an extra 1000.
27I think a hundred each paycheck would work wonders for our stress level.
28*a hundred more, I mean.
29So hard to say! I already put money into a 401k and regular savings, but lifestyle inflation definitely has affected me. The past few years, my annual income has gone up several thousand dollars (each year), but I don't feel any more flush.
30I make only 10.00/hr, I work 42 hours a week. My BF makes 17.00/hr at 50 hours a week. We live off his paycheck and most of mine goes in savings. I think we are doing good to be so young.
31i think that if i made about $2k more per check, or even just a little under that - i could pay off all my bills and make a nice dent in my debt...so it's not like i'm asking for THAT much....
32thanks chocolatine, how sweet of you
edinburgh on £600 a month? you poor thing!
33We're comfortable now. We live within our means. We're debt-free. We contribute to our investments. Also, I'm working on some personal investment projects. I'm leveraging our assets (under calculated risks, of course). I'm optimistic and ambitious. If all goes well, we'll be better off than we are now - icing on the cake.
34I'm comfy now - like many others who commented, my fiance and I put away nearly 50% (effectively, one whole salary) into retirement and other savings vehicles. However, if I could somehow up our income by about $10k per month, I could retire in 7 years at age 34. (Wishful thinking, probably.)
35More then $7.15 an hour oh, and a job in general.
36$500-1000 more, things would be so much more comfortable. I would be able to get those little things I usually just try to forget about. And I'd feel comfortable knowing my daughter wouldn't get bored with her toys also. I wish I could buy so much more for her. (Not that we're doing without..I am thankful for what we/I do have.)
37To be comfortable, but not change my lifestyle... that's a tough one. Let's just say I would like to work full time hours instead of part time, and I would probably be better off.
38$1,000 more per month would let me be able to do things like pay off my credit card debt, contribute a reasonable amount to my retirement account, and save for emergencies. Those three things just aren't going to happen at this pay rate.
39Everyone is so good, I can't afford to save at the moment
I could do with the 500 extra at
least I can save 200 of that and the rest used for more comfortable living.
I noticed though the double income earners are better off, hint hint I need a partner
40We live on 2 incomes and mine usually goes to bills and necessities. I would say about $300-$500 a month would be perfect. Since I moved out of my parents house, I haven't really saved up money. Kind of sad.
41We recently bought a fixer house, so there are all kinds of things I need/want to do! Any extra $$$ would help immensely, but I'd find a good use for anything from $50 to $50K, quite honestly!
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