We don't live paycheck to paycheck. We have emergency savings, retirement and college planning and very little debt (one small car loan). My biggest tip would be to log EVERYTHING!! you would be surprised to find out where your money is going. This will help you create and stick to a budget. If you really need help controlling spending on certain things - take your allowed amount for the month/week and put it in an envelope - once that's empty, no more. That might help if you think "well there's still money in the bank I can afford one more trip to Mcdonalds, starbucks, etc."

DH and I both work and unfortunately we still live paycheck to paycheck. Our home is worth less than we paid for it and bc it is an older home, we have to make imprivements, which is putting us into more debt.( We ordered much needed new windows last weekend) And the cost of oil was not even a third of what it is now when we bought the house 3 yrs ago which is costing us in heat bc we live in New England and have long, cold winters.

We are debt free - including our house, but I would still say that we live paycheck to paycheck - not because we aren't financially responsible, but because with all the rising prices & how little my husband makes. He is a teacher in a public school system. He head coaches the football team to make a supplement, but it doesn't help that much. It's just not one of those jobs where you can ask for extra hours. It's a shame too, he has his master's degree & makes a minimum of $20K less than his BIL who quit high school & got his GED. The difference, my husband (& me too when I'm working - I'm a teacher too ) doesn't make anyone else money - he is just in charge of educating our future (& don't forget teaching them morals, because for the general population that is part of his job too) while my BIL is a car salesman. If you want to make much money you have to make some for someone else first. Sorry - I'll get off my soapbox now . Oh yeah, the other reason I say we live paycheck to paycheck is that we are only paid once a month. We do have a little money in savings that is for emergencies, but it seems like whatever I have budgeted to go into savings for the month gets eaten up with unexpected expenses - like higher than usual electric. Did I mention that TVA is increasing their rates by 20% which means a 15-16% consumer increase on our electric bill starting in October. Can you tell I'm starting to panic.

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Tell me about it. Our electric the past two months has been ridiculous! Last month we used less energy than in June and our bill was $40 higher. And then I got our Aug. bill in and we used less energy than in July and our bill was still higher! ARRRGGG!!! Although Entergy is supposed to be dropping rates, apparently they "over estimated" or some crap. If you ask me it is all a load of BS. Sorry ladies, I had to vent!

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I have to answer yes and no here. One of our 'bills' is our monthly savings fund that we add $250 to each month. So every month we add $250, but yes, we are living paycheck to paycheck. In our case, it is all because of gas prices. We are spending double what we did when we bought our house, we now pay a minimum of $500/month. Dh's worked moved further out, so he has a longer commute, plus now he doesn't get reimbursed for his gasoline for business anymore. I feel I've cut out just about everything I can. He is due for a raise soon so hopefully that will help some.

But I have to add that we have around $70K saved for ds college invested in mutual funds (he is almost 7 so that's another 10 years) Dh contributes the max to his 401K, blah, blah, blah, & we have other misc. investments, the only debt is our credit card that we pay the balance on monthly, and the mortgage. Both our vehicles are paid for.

Two major things happened when we got our house: We bought "Up" and based the mortgage payments on dh salary Plus a yearly bonus (usually around 30K). Well, the company took a turn for the worse, and now we are out about $1500/month from last year as well. Also, when we bought this house, we didn't plan on sending ds to the school he goes to. Our Monthly payments for the school are $570. Now don't get me wrong, I'd sooner sell the house than pull him from the school - we all love it. But we didn't consider it when we bought, we had no idea, it just worked out that way.

What is TVA?

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Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

TVA- Tennessee Valley Authority - power supplier for mid-south

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yep, paycheck to paycheck over here....s-l-o-w-l-y chipping away at the car loans and cc bills ( the mortage is it's own monster!) Once the car and ccs are gone then things will easy up a bit. I know it is not forever, but some days it sure feels like it!! Keep on truckin' ladies! Meanwhile, a nice cheap bud light is a nice escape!

Oh we are paycheck to paycheck here!!! My husband was out of a job for about 4 months this year, so we were down to only my paycheck. Thank goodness there was overtime available at the time, but we still got behind. Then he got a job, so he was finally bringing SOME money in, not much, but enough that we were beginning to breathe a bit. They have been doing more & more lay offs, so he's getting ready to take a new job, he'll be going back out on the road all week, home on the weekends. Yes, it'll be tough, but he's not making enough now, and I can only get so many hours in at my job.

I'm trying to get back to more how I grew up (not using a dryer, freezing meals, not eating out, saving as much money as possible) so that even IF the money starts coming in, I can sock as much as I can into savings.

Ya know, I've been thinking. I've tried this "grown up" stuff for long enough now. I wanna go back to being a kid with no more responsibility other than cleaning my room & doing my homework! lmao

We don't like paycheck to paycheck. We have both always been really careful with our money and we live WAY below our means. I just recently quit my teaching job but for the six years I taught in this city, we saved almost all of what I made and paid off my school loans, our car, and one of the mortgages. We have essentially lived off of his paychecks and still been able to save some of that also. Our only debt is our mortgage, and what is on the cc, but that is paid off every month.

Keep in mind though that it is just the two of us and 4-5 dogs depending on if we are fostering. But we also try really hard to keep our expenses way down.