Nearly 1 in 3 American workers run out of money before payday—even those earning over $100,000

That article doesn't surprise me at all. Don't remember the exact percentage, but I heard on one of the podcast I listen to that a huge percentage of people in the US do not have a grand in savings. I ran through money back in the day racing cars and motorcycles, and I mean through it like water. But when my dad found out he had esophageal cancer when he was 42, and had to stop working, I quit my racing, and helped my family. I learned more about budgeting at that time than I ever had, and it has continued on till this day. I can save money without even trying or thinking about it, it's just easy for me. Plus, I've been self employed before for awhile, and you dang straight can learn how to pinch the hell out of some pennies then, lol.
 
I really haven’t worried too much about our income for a long time now. When I was young I did the payday to payday thing. Getting married to my wife fixed that. She watched after our money as I was gone a lot with the Army. She pays things off, pays things early, and doesn’t pay interest on credit cards. They get paid off at the end of the month. We aren’t rich by any means, but by watching what we spend and how we spend we’ve managed to save some over the years. I will be the first to give her the credit she deserves! What we have today is entirely because of her. But we built a house that we could pay for, drove vehicles that we could pay for, vacations that we could pay for and Christmas that we could pay for. I’d buy her something for her birthday and she’d return it the next day because she didn’t need it. It’s all about how you view your money. We view ours as a tool. Something to get you something else.

You have a good one!
 
You have a good one!
I do! When I was overseas, most of my Soldiers were making good money. But their wives/girlfriends/babymomma was home spending it as fast as they got it! Mine paid off my truck, her car and put a good bit into savings and we had some to spend on a trip together when I got home. I always had a fairly new truck while I was in. The guys that were the same rank as me were always asking how I could afford it as we were making the same money. No, we were the same rank but I made more money than they did as I was in longer. And my wife was a nurse whose specialty was wound care and burns. She made very good. The other guys wives either couldn’t or wouldn’t work. We are going to Germany next Spring to do a river cruise and she will make sure it’s paid for before we depart. When we built our house, the bank tried to get us to build something bigger than we did saying with our combined income we could afford it. We didn’t want to afford it and built so it was paid for before my retirement. That’s how you come to not live payday to payday. Pay cash when you can, dont use credit cards unless you have to and pay them off ASAP!
 
It doesn’t matter how much you make, it’s no surprise that Americans suck at saving, suck at budgeting, and love to spend. Heck, look at the example our government sets for us!

When I worked retail, I did tons of credit apps for the in-house card, and I saw plenty of $8-10k/mo people who couldn’t qualify for a $2k credit card. Seemed ridiculous but if you’re carrying $100k in cc debt, I can see why they got declined.

Well, then there are people like me, whose mortgage is paid off, and owns everything they have, getting turned down on financing for a $800.00 vacuum cleaner.
:rolleyes:
 
I do! When I was overseas, most of my Soldiers were making good money. But their wives/girlfriends/babymomma was home spending it as fast as they got it! Mine paid off my truck, her car and put a good bit into savings and we had some to spend on a trip together when I got home. I always had a fairly new truck while I was in. The guys that were the same rank as me were always asking how I could afford it as we were making the same money. No, we were the same rank but I made more money than they did as I was in longer. And my wife was a nurse whose specialty was wound care and burns. She made very good. The other guys wives either couldn’t or wouldn’t work. We are going to Germany next Spring to do a river cruise and she will make sure it’s paid for before we depart. When we built our house, the bank tried to get us to build something bigger than we did saying with our combined income we could afford it. We didn’t want to afford it and built so it was paid for before my retirement. That’s how you come to not live payday to payday. Pay cash when you can, dont use credit cards unless you have to and pay them off ASAP!

I mainly got my financial situation helping to put my wife through undergrad and then grad school in a career that makes good money. She worked full time while she got both degrees. She worked 30 hours a week and went to a full time undergrad program where most of the other people in it were full time students. She graduated first in her class and it has paid off for us. We took a step back right after she graduated because we had to move and I sold my part of the company I owned to my partners but after the 3rd move/ promotion we were on a solid foundation. She was the best investment I have ever made. I did the heavy lifting for the first 10 years of our marriage but these days I just ride on her coattails.
 
Well, then there are people like me, whose mortgage is paid off, and owns everything they have, getting turned down on financing for a $800.00 vacuum cleaner.
:rolleyes:

I used to have to explain that to people all the time when I worked at the bank. If you have no debt but also no open lines of credit you have no credit history so you can't get fast instant approvals for credit. I told people get a credit card or 2. Buy your groceries on them. Pay for gas etc... and pay it off every month. Keep it open and you will have access to other credit if and when you need it.
 
She was the best investment I have ever made. I did the heavy lifting for the first 10 years of our marriage but these days I just ride on her coattails.
Mine too, I retired 7 years ago and now I shoot, fish and watch the grandson. I also cook her supper every night that I’m home. She works hard 10 hour days in the cold and rain as a VA nurse. About 5 o’clock, I’ll turn the gas logs on and start dinner. Not too bad a job and it comes with fringe benefits!
 
Well, then there are people like me, whose mortgage is paid off, and owns everything they have, getting turned down on financing for a $800.00 vacuum cleaner.
:rolleyes:

Yeah that's the stuff that makes little sense. But dang what kind of vacuum?
 
I think about this every day. I'm retired and look around me in traffic at people hustling themselves off to work in a new $50,000 SUV that the bank owns. All around me are young 30 year olds earning $200k with $750kto $1M homes ( that the bank owns) , two $50k cars, all the toys and trinkets that money ( or credit...) can buy. Lawn services, paying people to hang Christmas lights, an interior decorator chooses their furniture, they get groceries delivered by subscription, boom times all around.

A enormous consumptive lifestyle- and the thing is they cannot stop. Not for a minute. 99% of their paycheck runs straight through and out- the minute they stop flapping their arms the whole circus crashes.

Having a lot of money doesn't change a persons habits, whether they "earned it" or hit it big winning the lottery. People who know how to accumulate wealth will do so at any income level.
 
I used to have to explain that to people all the time when I worked at the bank. If you have no debt but also no open lines of credit you have no credit history so you can't get fast instant approvals for credit. I told people get a credit card or 2. Buy your groceries on them. Pay for gas etc... and pay it off every month. Keep it open and you will have access to other credit if and when you need it.

My wife and friends tell me the same thing, and I just can't stand the idea of owing anybody money for any amount of time.

The punchline of the Meile vacuum story is that after the bank turned me down over the phone, I just plopped the cash on the counter. I was going to try financing it to try and help my credit history.
 
People who know how to accumulate wealth will do so at any income level.

Someone once said that if you gathered up all the wealth and redistributed it evenly to everyone that in ten years 90% of the wealth would be held by 10% of the people.
Again.
 
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That article doesn't surprise me at all. Don't remember the exact percentage, but I heard on one of the podcast I listen to that a huge percentage of people in the US do not have a grand in savings. I ran through money back in the day racing cars and motorcycles, and I mean through it like water. But when my dad found out he had esophageal cancer when he was 42, and had to stop working, I quit my racing, and helped my family. I learned more about budgeting at that time than I ever had, and it has continued on till this day. I can save money without even trying or thinking about it, it's just easy for me. Plus, I've been self employed before for awhile, and you dang straight can learn how to pinch the hell out of some pennies then, lol.

60% don't have $500, 69% don't have $1000, 34% don't have any savings at all...
 
Yeah that's the stuff that makes little sense. But dang what kind of vacuum?

Meile something or other, one of the higher end models. If you've ever seen my hair, you might would understand why my wife calls me the vacuum slayer. After repairing her Kenmore for the 3rd or 4th time, I dragged her up to the vacuum store in Hickory. I learned that vacuums are a buy once, cry once proposition.

Hell, the story that convinced me was my mother telling me that she and my father paid $1400 for an Electrolux vacuum in 1981! These were people that were so poor, they only ate a can of soup or some rice every other day, but she said they were getting that expensive vacuum cleaner. Even better, my mother is an over the top clean freak and probably vacuums 4-5 times a week and that same Electrolux is still running 100% and will out vacuum just about anything else on the market. I think it works better than my shop-vac.
 
I think about this every day. I'm retired and look around me in traffic at people hustling themselves off to work in a new $50,000 SUV that the bank owns. All around me are young 30 year olds earning $200k with $750kto $1M homes ( that the bank owns) , two $50k cars, all the toys and trinkets that money ( or credit...) can buy. Lawn services, paying people to hang Christmas lights, an interior decorator chooses their furniture, they get groceries delivered by subscription, boom times all around.

A enormous consumptive lifestyle- and the thing is they cannot stop. Not for a minute. 99% of their paycheck runs straight through and out- the minute they stop flapping their arms the whole circus crashes.

Having a lot of money doesn't change a persons habits, whether they "earned it" or hit it big winning the lottery. People who know how to accumulate wealth will do so at any income level.

So with my wifes job we move a lot. We have bought and sold 3 houses in the past 10 years. Everytime we move we are setup with a local realtor and they try to show us $500K and up houses. I always tell them I have no idea how long we are going to be here. It could be forever it could be a year. Don't sell me a house you can sell when its time for me to go because the odds are at some point I am going. I tell them every town has a number that the upper middle class family living there can afford for their forever home. I say don't show me anything over that number. I always know the number but I am always interested to see what they tell me.

I never have bought the house, the car, the gun that is anywhere near what "I can afford" I always buy somewhere in the middle. You have to leave yourself some wiggle room. Don't get me wrong I consume my fair share of stuff but always within our means.
 
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Not over-buying your house is a huge deal. Buying a $500k+ house is very nice living, but if you lose half of your income you can’t even pay the mortgage and taxes, let alone food and medical care.

You think you’re going to downsize, but market fluctuations can kibosh those plans too.
 
Good point above. If the mortgage lender says you can afford $2500 a month house payment (PITI), you can likely comfortably afford half that.

And if the car dealership finance guy says you can afford a $1000 car payment, you can likely afford $500.

Point is, they will loan you twice what you can afford. Who knows why.
 
Not over-buying your house is a huge deal. Buying a $500k+ house is very nice living, but if you lose half of your income you can’t even pay the mortgage and taxes, let alone food and medical care.

You think you’re going to downsize, but market fluctuations can kibosh those plans too.

In a house you have to be able to ride out years sometimes if you have bought on the wrong side of the market.
 
Good point above. If the mortgage lender says you can afford $2500 a month house payment (PITI), you can likely comfortably afford half that.

And if the car dealership finance guy says you can afford a $1000 car payment, you can likely afford $500.

Point is, they will loan you twice what you can afford. Who knows why.

I worked in the banking/financing industry and I could never get the numbers to work out right in my head. The approval letters they would give made no sense.

I never tell a salesman of any kind what I have been approved for or what I am willing to spend because if you do that is the amount they are going to try to sell you.
 
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We started on the Dave Ramsey plan in September 2018. At first it seemed like it was going to be awful. Ad it was for a while. But not it’s no problem, just a part of life and we are really getting ahead on things.
 
I do! When I was overseas, most of my Soldiers were making good money. But their wives/girlfriends/babymomma was home spending it as fast as they got it! Mine paid off my truck, her car and put a good bit into savings and we had some to spend on a trip together when I got home. I always had a fairly new truck while I was in. The guys that were the same rank as me were always asking how I could afford it as we were making the same money. No, we were the same rank but I made more money than they did as I was in longer. And my wife was a nurse whose specialty was wound care and burns. She made very good. The other guys wives either couldn’t or wouldn’t work. We are going to Germany next Spring to do a river cruise and she will make sure it’s paid for before we depart. When we built our house, the bank tried to get us to build something bigger than we did saying with our combined income we could afford it. We didn’t want to afford it and built so it was paid for before my retirement. That’s how you come to not live payday to payday. Pay cash when you can, dont use credit cards unless you have to and pay them off ASAP!

The only thing I disagree with is using credit cards. I have 14 cards right now, most of them are cash back cards and I use them for every single transaction. I am currently getting 5% cash back on convenience store purchases including gas, utilities, cell phone service, internet service, and Lowes purchases. 3% cash back on groceries, all online purchases, restaurants and fast food, and car insurance. 2% on everything else. I pay all of them off every two weeks so it is a no cost loan.
Last year I cashed in 1100$ in rewards, not including sign up bonuses for new cards (which were 300$). You do need to be very diligent and spend some time keeping track of all the cards, but it is definitely worth it.
 
I drive 1999 Taurus and Sable, got them 10 months old at Hertz. Just transportation, if I take a trip solo or with my wife I rent a car in advance.
I use my Amex rewards card, my wife and two daughters have one too, I get gift cards mostly for Home Depot for spending on the card.
Paid college tuition with the card to rack up the points and paid the bill when due in full,, no balance on this type of card.
Small car loan at credit union for the '17 Edge my wife drives, also used from Hertz. I do all my own car repairs.
We eat out once or twice a month for lunch, use the fund raising books that students sell. I buy them on the website and get two free for each two I buy. Coupons inside for all sorts of restaurants and services.
 
We make fairly good money. At least top 20-15% for our age group I would assume.

I wouldn’t describe us as even close to paycheck-paycheck. We don’t flinch or feel anything with coats <2-300. Around 500 we might talk about it for a few minutes, and in the thousands we take the purchase or situation seriously.

we could save a lot more, but we prefer to go out to eat 5 days a week, tip 20+ %, use money to solve problems we probably could figure out our selves, stash a lot for our kid, buy toys and hand bags and gun club memberships and crates of ammo...

we will need to cut back significantly I. It’s to get a weekend property but not ma y options since our jobs are not where the land and lifestyle we want are. We are debt free and have 800+ credit. So do whatever the duck we want

I tell my family just throw me in trash whe I die. Don’t waste money , enjoy life. And definitely don’t forget the variable everyone always forgets about retirement, because it ain’t always about more $$$, you can also plan to die younger lol
 
Someone once said that if you gathered up all the wealth and redistributed it evenly to everyone that in ten years 90% of the wealth would be held by 10% of the people.
Again.

It’s called Prices Law and follows the Pareto distribution, as opposed to say, a normal distribution. It’s also the mathematical nail in coffin for why communism if effing stupid.
 
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I keep thinking “it’s time to move that 401 to cash...” , then I look up and have gained another 10%! Maybe next quarter.
Just stop looking. ;)
 
#1 reason people are in debt is they keep using credit cards, and keep buying the latest technology that they don't need.

My neighbors who are on government assistance still wind up having the absolute latest phone technology. Wish they'd put some of that money back into taking care of their property.
 
I didn’t notice any mention of education here. In school I studied topics that have contributed absolutely nothing to the progression of my life. How is it that Personal Finance isn’t mandated study for kids?

I learned to speak Spanish but not how to budget. :confused:
 
$800 vacuum cleaner...
I bought a Miele, it was about $800. It’s the best sucker on the planet, got it in 1994 and it’s still going strong. Did have to replace the lid once, the kids were riding it like a horse. Also had to replace the little wheels in the powerhead once, they break off eventually if you vacuum tile floors with deep grout lines. They’ve stopped making the hose for this model and I think that means that it’ll be dead soon, maybe as soon as 2030.
 
<---- single income, stay-at-home mom, 6 kids, no debt. We budget well, I have a good job (but not a super-great paycheck), and we live within our means. People love their credit and do not care about their consumer debt.
 
It’s called Prices Law and follows the Pareto distribution, as opposed to say, a normal distribution. It’s also the mathematical nail in coffin for why communism if effing stupid.
It’s been so long since I thought about it I might have that ratio off. I guess it’s closer to 80/20 than 90/10 as I posted.
 
It’s been so long since I thought about it I might have that ratio off. I guess it’s closer to 80/20 than 90/10 as I posted.
80/20 is rule of thumb. The 90/10 you mentioned may very well be the calculation under parameters described.

it’s a non-linear function, so for example, within that “20%”, only 20% of that sub population own 80% of THAT wealth etc...
 
When I was really young and just starting out in my career, I had no choice but to live paycheck to paycheck. To get rid of some debt and bills I sold my favorite car. It hurt, but it needed to be done.

I didn't grow up poor, but I wasn't far from it. My folks did grow up dirt poor, and I learned to live within my means at a young age. As an adult, I bought my house at the bottom of the housing crash, and bought a place within my means. I buy my cars lightly used and typically keep them 10 years or so. I don't care about fancy clothes, and I don't go out to eat often. For entertainment, I have a laptop I bought refurbished, and a netflix subscription. Credit cards are kept at a low limit and best saved for emergency uses. I do splurge a bit on ammo, good beer, and art supplies, but I think its important to have a few things you enjoy.

Once I was able to save a little money, I started putting some aside to cover a car or home repair, or to cover a few weeks wages if something were to happen to me at work. I'm far from wealthy, but I do my best to live within my means. It blows my mind to meet people who make 2, 3, even 5 times what I earn who live in perpetual debt, paycheck to paycheck. Nobody "needs" the biggest, fanciest house on a hill, or a $50-80K SUV. Nobody needs designer handbags, shoes, or $100+ a plate dinners either. If you can actually afford them, good for you. But if you can't, you can't.

Trying to spend your way out of debt is like trying to screw your way out of pregnancy.
 
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