Living Paycheck to Paycheck Gets Harder

[CountAllVotes]

NEW YORK (AP) -- The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder.

Friday October 19, 1:50 pm ET
By Anne D'Innocenzio, AP Business Writer
AP IMPACT: America's Working Poor Stretching Paychecks to the Breaking Point

What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.

Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

<snip>

It's bad enough already for 85-year-old Dominica Hoffman.

She gets $1,400 a month in pension and Social Security from her days in the garment industry. After paying $500 in rent on an apartment in Pennsauken, N.J., and shelling out money for food, gas and other expenses, she's broke by the end of the month. She's had to cut fruits and vegetables from her grocery order -- and that's even with financial help from her children.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071019/stretching_paychecks.html?.v=8

I would have posted this as a LBN item but this news is not really "new" IMO.

It is disgusting! To think that people must skip meals and/or not eat because they cannot make it on their crap paychecks! :mad:

[BrklynLib at work]

1. The number of people who have to live like that is growing...every day.

And many of them are people who have spent their lives working their asses off, and believing that when they retired, they would have enough to live on...
Many are families with children, who are also forced to make those same reductions in their living standards because even with two working parents, it is difficult to make ends meet.

[CountAllVotes]

3. Frankly ....

I do not know how the hell people with children working minimum wage jobs even make a go of it. I see plenty of this where I live. All jobs around here are minimum wage. You cannot eat very well on >$6.00 an hour much less feed a family!

[BrklynLib at work]

5. We are sliding into a third-word economy as well as a third-world political state.

[BrklynLib at work]

2. self-delete PC burped.

[hiphopnation]

4. as a father of two

this is freaky...i'm not making that much and we unfortunatley live PC to PC...feels like the bottom could fall out at any momemnt and stories like this just freak me out.

:scared:

[kestrel91316]

14. Fortunately the internet is a really great resource for tips on frugal

living and getting by on not much money.

This is my FAVORITE piece on the subject, lol:
http://www.f4.ca/text/possumliving.htm
Her ENTIRE book is right there on the site.

The Dollar Stretcher is good, too:
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm

There are lots of others. I have been living lean (sometimes by necessity, sometimes by choice) for 16 years. Now those skills are paying off.

[knitter4democracy]

27. That last one's a great site! Thanks!

I'm doing the home heating ideas today.

[Sequoia]

6. It's very hard.

Right now I'm the only one brining in money and we already know Christmas is out. I don't eat dinner most times and sure can't sleep from worrying all the time. Now we might all get laid off from our company because of a buy-out. I'm not so young anymore and employers don't want older workers. My daughter needs a new backpack because the text books are so heavy they busted the one she had. Winter's coming on with loads of rain and she needs shoes. I keep wearing my old 1980s clothes because I sure can't afford new ones. I did cut out those awful shoulder pads though so I don't look too dated.

[CountAllVotes]

7. your story

makes me very sad. As for the father of two: ditto.

:cry:

I'm not quite in this boat yet but it could happen to me any day now as well and I know it. :scared:

What sort of a world is this that we are living in? What sort of a future will our young people have?

I ponder these questions frequently and I find no optimistic answers sadly.

We need a damn leader, a REAL PRESIDENT that gives a damn about WE THE PEOPLE, not some shill for some damned political party that could give two hoots in hell about anyone worth >$1,000,000. Sad truth.

:dem:

[Sequoia]

17. Darn tootin' !!!

[knitter4democracy]

11. And there are so many in the same boat.

I've noticed that many kids at our kids' school are wearing the same outfits over and over--and we're in supposedly an upper-middle class neighborhood. It doesn't look that way from the cars and the clothes and the shoes the kids have. People are buying from the resale shops and stretching further and further to keep it together. I know we are, from all our medical bills, and it's getting harder to do it.

[CountAllVotes]

13. medical bills

are what is finishing me off I am sad to say. :(

Give it all to the fuggin insurance companies, doctors and hospitals, even if you have insurance. They'll make more $ and corporate America will gloat and feed on the remains of the poor.

HOWEVER, soon enough, even the poor will not be able to exist. Will they end up roaming the streets?

Perhaps, "Brother can you spare a dime (now a dollar)" will become the norm for all except the rich pigs. :puke:

[kestrel91316]

15. In a world of diminishing resources and increasing pollution, the poor

will more and more be seen as completely dispensible.

So WHAT if they get sick and die? Fewer mouths to feed.
:sarcasm:

[catmandu57]

31. Thus decreasing the surplus population

We're heading straight for Dicksonian times.

[Liberty Belle]

18. Today I was at a campground and saw people LIVING there.

Guess at $14 a night, it's cheaper than a hotel and safer than a homeless shelter.

Sad we've come to that state.

[knitter4democracy]

26. I hear ya. With Hubby's new job with crappy insurance, we're a lot tighter than normal.

That f'ing HSA card and $2400 deductible (meaning we pay full price for scrips until we hit the deductible and then the $60 copay after that) are really eating away at our budget.

I honestly wonder what is going to happen. Michigan's really hurting, and I'm seeing it everywhere. It's terrible that even upper middle class people are starting to really feel the pinch, and we're trying to all help a family in our church to keep them from losing their house. It's awful.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

33. even thrift shops have gotten to expensive for me...

I was in Goodwill yesterday looking for stuff for the grandson. Wanted to check out the t-shirts for myself, too. A plain, used shirt was $5!!!! Just a few years ago, I would have walked out of there with 3-4 near-new ones for about $10. The only thing I bought was a not-so-gently used onesie for $3. :(

[knitter4democracy]

35. I was thinking that, too, when I was at Goodwill last week.

I couldn't understand why the prices were the same as Target's sale racks of new clothes. I've heard that Salvation Army in town has decent sale prices and more inventory. I'm thinking of checking them out for some jeans.

[glowing]

8. I've always been a 2 meal with a couple of snacks for meals person.

My husband works nights, and usually eats at his workplace... I make 3 healthy type meals a week, often a casserole conglomorate with lots of veggies and rice, and it lasts a few days.. Soup is great, if you make it on your own, and can make lots of meals (freeze the extras). If I didn't do these things I'd be even tighter. Learn to cook on a shoe string budget... Its the only way. Now, if you aren't considered middle-class (which I think is deceptive these days) then I don't know how you eat... try getting together with your neighbors to create a co-op and grow your own veggies. Freeze and can the extras for winter use.

Good luck! We all need it these days.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

34. My most recent very cheap recipe...

took about a cup of leftover chicken, some cheddar (the splurge), small head of broccoli (finely chopped and blanched) and a couple of mushrooms. mixed it all together and baked about 2 spoonfuls inside bread (homemade dough at 1/4 price of frozen). makes about 20-24. so yummy and cheap, highly transportable and freeze-able. :)

on edit: I think I'm going to try it again with a garlic-cream sauce instead of the cheese. That will make it cheaper still.

[Trillo]

9. This has been happening for a long time.

It keeps getting worse.

Our leaders care more about bailing out the wealthy, like mortgage bankers.

[knitter4democracy]

10. It's "starting to affect middle-income families"?

Starting?! It's been that way for the last few years and just gets worse and worse. Who does the reporter think is middle-income? According to gov't stats, that something like $40-50K for a family of four. Everyone I know in that bracket has been having a hard time for awhile.

[Horse with no Name]

12. Agreed.

Also the fact that having to put off a bill one month to pay another is becoming so commonplace.
But what this does is destroy credit ratings, which in turn increases your insurance premiums, increases your credit card interest rates, etc. and perpetuates a cycle that is DESIGNED to spiral once solidly middle class families into poverty, homelessness, and despair.

[KamaAina]

16. But, but, but the economy's great!

The Dow's in record territory! Luxury properties are increasing in value! We rich hardly have to pay any taxes at all!

What do you mean, "everybody else"? What are you, some kind of Commie or something? Why do you hate America so much?

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[WinkyDink]

19. Yeah, apparently especially if you're Joe Torre.

[cutlassmama]

20. I get less than that in SS and my rent is higher. We eat a lot of

peanut butter and go to the food bank when I'm able

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. gas? Does the 85 year old still drive? Getting rid of the car would help ends meet

[piesRsquare]

22. Read this article earlier

...and I wanted to cry.

Next Wednesday, I'm going to be interviewed for a full-time veterinary technician position that will pay $12.00 per hour, no benefits.

Working 40 hours per week, I'll be lucky if the monthly paycheck from the job will pay my rent. Just the RENT. I will have to work another job to pay for insurance, co-pays (for meds--have a medical condition), food for myself and the cats, gas, laundry, utilities, internet...

What chance do I have of ever meeting someone to spend my life with, if I'm working 80 hours per week just to pay basic expenses?

And then I read about people paying $3,000 per ticket to see "Hannah Montana" in concert--makes me want to put my fist through the wall!

[Bozita]

23. You're comparing stuff that doesn't match up.

Think of two Americas.

There's the America where you're barely surviving. That's you. Now.

Then there's that other America where concert tickets go for $3,000.

What are your chances of making it up the ladder in America today?

John Edwards is right. Why don't we see more of him on TV?

[piesRsquare]

24. I don't get the point of your post...

How am I comparing things that don't match up?

I'll barely survive working my ass off, while others have so much they can spend $3,000 per ticket to see Hannah Montana and that pisses me off!

My point is that some have barely anything, while some have so much it's obscene!

Yeah, I know Edwards is right, that's why he has my vote...

[Quantess]

28. It's because you're a relatively low-count poster.

That makes you fair game.;-)

[kath]

29. I think the poster was agreeing with you, not insulting you -- pointing out that there are two

totally different realities here in Murka, that don't match up at all, they're like two separate universes: the haves and have-mores ("some call you my base"), then the rest of us, who are getting more and more squeezed in this sucky economy.

[Bozita]

36. I wasn't clear. I totally agree. We're in the New Gilded Age.

Obscenity of almost any stripe is in fashion.

[Lorien]

38. I hear you. I've been working 60-80 hours a week for 18+ years

and haven't had a week off since 2000. I'm 42 and there's no way I'll ever find a "soul mate", regardless of the fact that I still look like I'm 30. I have too much medical debt NOT to work nearly every waking hour of the day-plus I live in constant fear that I'll rack up more medical debt if I'm not very, very careful. So many of us aren't living any more, we're just surviving. :-(

[Dark]

25. But hey, they got an extra $3 in tax cuts.

n/t

[thegreatcause2]

30. I am the working poor

I work in a restaurant and take home food for my kids. They think it is cool but it hurts me to have to give my kids scraps of leftovers because I cannot make ends meet.

Well, I'm sure my sacrifices are enabling the "Americans to Dubai" movement. Maybe I should put my hope in Lotto tickets. The politicians today don't give a damn about my family.

[catmandu57]

32. Welcome to DU

The road to riches is paved with lottery tickets and law suits, and I'm not so sure about the law suits these days, maybe slot machine payoffs are a better fit.

[Dewlso]

39. I know what you mean.

People that have been forgotten by repugnants and the bush admin are struggling now, while the Democrats debate the repugnants about changes that would help us. I don't see a sense of urgency by the admin or (unfortunately) the Democrats to reverse these wealthy friendly tax breaks, loss of middle class jobs, rising costs of everyday products due to raising oil prices, the cost of health care and the cut-backs by the bush admin to the social programs that were meant to help those left out of the loop.

At least some of the candidates are aware of the seriousness of the problems facing the middle and lower classes but their actions to fix the problems are over a year away. They need to address these issues now, in congress and by the administration.

[Dewlso]

37. bush and the repugnants care...........

I unfortunately worked in the auto industry for the past 7 years, only to see my company lay me off due to a lack of work. Then in a surprising turn of events they hired temp workers for $4.50 less than what I was making. In return for my 7 years of HARD, HONEST work I got No pension, no job training, no insurance. I live in Tennessee, a "right to work" state. Me and many of the other workers saw this coming and tried to get protection for ourselves by organizing a union. We endured threats, flat tires, keyed cars, harassment for what. Nothing. We got layed off. Now I am currently looking for a new job while trying to support my family on my unemployment checks. Where is the help bush claims to have sent my way. Where are all the jobs for people such as me. I don't have a college degree. I obviously cannot afford to go back to school. The really sad part is that my story is not unique. The area I live in has witnessed alot of changes directly related to the bush administration and the repugnant regime. I could go on telling my whole story, but sympathy is not what I want to invoke. It is outrage over the lack of compassion that our leaders have shown to me and people in my position. I don't qualify for insurance because me and my wife do no have kids. She is covered (THANK GOD) but because of the cut backs of the bush administration I am no. Most males in the state of Tennessee cannot be covered due to budget cut backs.

Here's another tidbit. When the repugnants and the bush administration tell the public that unemployment is down it is a lie. After using up your unemployment benefits you are no longer counted on the enrollment. (This was told to me by the State Unemployment benefits office) The job market in my area is full of unemployed people looking for a job. Worst part is that the companies that are hiring, use cronyism in their practices. Someone's family member or friend will get a job before I will. This forces me to expand my job search to include the urban areas of cities 50-75 miles away. The whole time I am driving around looking for a job, wondering how I am going to pay my bills, I keep thinking what has bush and the repugnants done to help people like me. Where are these jobs that bush says he created. I read in the Knoxville and Nashville papers about how large companies in Tennessee have/are moving to China and Mexico in favor of the cheaper labor. What has bush done to prevent this? What are the Democrats going to do to fix this? Me and other people in my situation cannot sit and wait for them to get off their duffs and to do something. I have already wrote letters to my Senator and Representatives but unfortunately I have only received the usual form letter in response. I am at the end of my rope and so are MANY Americans. Congress and the bush admin needs to act NOW. While Halliburton, Oil Companies and Blackwater bring in record profits, I sit here using up what is left of my benefits doing a job search. I guess that is why I have become so active in politics online. It is the one place I can let off some steam at the administration and congress that forgot about me.