Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder

[defendandprotect]

Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writer

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

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.

While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_on_bi_ge/stretching_paychecks

[Hydra]

1. I know all about this

thanks for posting, for the benefit of those who don't get it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. I call it Survival Spending...

"It's pretty pronounced," said Kiley Rawlins, a spokeswoman at Family Dollar. "It seems like to us, customers are running out of food products, paper towels sooner in the month."

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said the imbalance in spending before and after payday in July was the biggest it has ever seen, though the drop-off wasn't as steep in August.

And 7-Eleven says its grocery sales have jumped 12-13 percent over the past year, compared with only slight increases for non-necessities like gloves and toys. Shoppers can't afford to load up at the supermarket and are going to the most convenient places to buy emergency food items like milk and eggs.

---------

This is where Survival Spending comes in. I've learned that life is incredibly less stressful (and your money goes farther) if you blitz shop on payday or asap.

#1 Rent, #2 Utilities, #3 Food. Get every thing you need to get you through. fill the pantry, the laundry, the freezer. Make a list and stick to it. You will have less money in your pocket 2 days after payday, but you will be much less likely to have to spend $3 for TP at 7-11 instead of $1.29 at Winco. That will leave a little more $ for #4, Necessities & Vices.
Then I just avoid all retail establishments unless absolutely necessary. that helps. :)

[Hydra]

6. I already stripped things to the bone

and keep stripping more off of it.

I hope we hit bottom soon so we can start going back up.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. Remember the barter system?

I'm brushing up on all my skills. I'm afraid it may come to the point of labor-for-food. for ALOT of people. :(

[LSparkle]

11. My boyfriend used a movie poster to pay his storage unit bill last month

He's moved into a tiny apartment and has to store his stuff separately, but at least he's been able to make a deal with the guy who runs the storage (who's a movie buff). Just incredibly sad ...

[KatyaR]

13. I learned to do the Survival Spending when I was working for a state university.

We were paid only once a month, and that check had to last. I bought all the groceries I could at the first of the month (except for fresh foods), paid all my bills, filled up the gas tank, and then held my breath and crossed my fingers. I never went out to shop--I always stopped on the way to or from work. I was able to go an entire month on one tank of gas, but there were many times when I would have $1 to my name the day before payday.

I don't do quite as well now, but at least I get paid every two weeks now at my current job. I still do the errands to and from work or during my lunch hour. My friends think I'm nuts, but I've just gotten used to living this way.

If prices get any higher, I don't know what most people will do. Gas and groceries eat up a lot of money these days.

[Stand and Fight]

14. Gas is the worst.

I had a $400 a month car payment. Gave the car back and purchased one outright for just over a grand. That's an extra $400 bucks in my pocket and a little bit more breathing space, but gas prices continue to nip away at my wallet.

[lovuian]

2. crime is going up and the prisons are going to be filled

a repeat of History Hooverville's are coming

i see more unions on the rise

Socialism on the upswing

DustBowl days

Hard times

[ThomCat]

4. I sincerely hope Unions gain some power in the next few years.

We need strong unions again. And an renewed interest in Socialism wouldn't be a bad thing either. It would help pull our nation back to the left, and it would help us have some real discussions about the values of socialized institutions, including many that we already have.

[Bozita]

17. New WalMart opened here. 4,000 lined up to apply for 450 jobs.

That means that at least 3,550 folks around here needed a job on that day bad enough to apply for one at WALMART!

Local TV stations covered the event. Newsbunnies and their crews interviewed some of those in line. "I hope I've got skills they're looking for." Some were dressed in their Sunday gear. "I used to work in a warehouse. Hope they've got something for me."

For a fucking Walmart job!

I no longer recognize my own country.

[Megahurtz]

3. Trouble Is

there are people still doing "okay" and they are not seeing that if things keep up as they are
one day soon this will hit home for them. :(

[mikelgb]

7. no kidding

my bf got laid off and we have 1 whole week w/o pay before unemployment takes effect

[XOKCowboy]

15. Been there a few times...

Too proud to beg the family, balancing the gas it costs to hunt for a job against eating till UE comes in. My dad used to laugh and tell me that it builds character. He'd have lent me the money, even offered. I valued his respect more than that and it gave me incentive bring some money in.

The difference was this was back when there were jobs to be had. Nowadays? Not so much.

[halobeam]

8. waiting for disability to kick in takes 18 months.

w.o. a red cent. no family? you lose it all.

[fed-up]

16. I am doing great on the $200-300 monthly I am making at the flea market-NOT, but at least

I just got my food stamp AND CMSP (like medi-cal) cards and I don't have to pay rent.

Still doesn't help me come up with money for a lawyer..

or help me cover the bill for the x-ray that was taken last March when I first started the medi-cal process, then stopped because of other priorities.

I have an appointment next week to start the disability application process.

It is going to be a very, very long 1-2 years going through denials, denials, denials, and then hopefully approval.

the systems totally sucks..

[guitar man]

10. no kidding

I'm filing bankruptcy as we speak :(

[LSparkle]

12. I've returned to cutting it close each paycheck, like I did in my 20s

At that time, I learned which stores I could write checks at a few days before payday in case I came up short -- now I'm aware of the stores where I can write "e-checks" and how long it'll take them to process. I swore I'd never be in this position again but a dollar just doesn't go as far anymore. And I thought things were supposed to get EASIER as you mature (and become more "responsible"). Too bad the employers I've had over the years think 3% raises are decent increases, while prices just keep going up and up ...

[earth mom]

18. We make much more than we did a few years ago, but between the rising cost of gas, food & utilities

if feels like we are just treading water. Plus, we have no savings. Meanwhile, our house needs lots of work and I worry it will spring a big leak or something major will happen and we will be screwed. :nuke: