Living paycheck to paycheck is more common, even when the paycheck is higher
Living paycheck to paycheck is more common, even when the paycheck is higher
More households are living paycheck to paycheck, or spending all their income on essentials - Including 20% of families earning more than $150,000
It's remarkably easy to have your expenses slowly creep upward in our society. Especially as prices constantly go up in the name of "inflation".
It’s to keep you poor and working. You’ll fall in line if you can’t go a week or a month without a job. If everyone had a year of wages saved up, employers would have to be better.
While "the system" is absolutely at fault for this, lifestyle creep --- and changing finances --- is very real.
For example, if you can almost afford a house, and your rental is modest, you're probably not spending all of your take-home. But if you make just a little bit more it might make financial sense to buy a house, stretching your budget to the max. Short term this really hurts, but long term may end up being a savvy decision.
Opting for a hefty mortgage can be risky, but can also pay off in the long run --- especially in a place like California where property taxes are basically fixed at time of purchase.