There are many ways to measure our time on this planet: year by year, month by month, iPhone by iPhone. For many folks, the true measure is actually paycheck to paycheck. Recent studies show that as many as 40% of Americans fall into this boat, meaning that their bank accounts flirt dangerously close to zero every two weeks, with virtually no savings to protect against adversity. With statistics like these, it is easy to see why the number of families swamped with debt continues to rise.
I know that we have certainly been there. When you live paycheck to paycheck, you have no protection against the unexpected, and we all know that here in the real world you have to expect the unexpected. Before we started this blog, I had never heard of an emergency fund, but now I don’t know how we ever lived without one. Everyone needs to have at least $1000 in an emergency fund, but this is especially true for those who are living paycheck to paycheck. Without a safety net, what choices do you have when there are unexpected home or auto repairs, or someone in your family ends up in the hospital? You either have to pull out the credit cards and carry that burden into the future, or you have to decide what bills will get paid the next time that payday arrives.
I have been getting paid bi-weekly for as long as I can remember, and I still enjoy the feeling that I get when I look into my bank’s website every other Friday, and see that direct deposit has injected some life into my feeble checking account. But I will be the first to admit that payday doesn’t mean what it used to for me. I work very hard on my job, often putting in long hours, and doing the needful to make sure that I earn my paycheck. When you are buried in credit card debt, it can be absolutely devastating to see that paycheck decimated by credit card payment obligations, before you even get to enjoy it. These days, a good portion of my paychecks continues to go towards paying off debt, but there is a much different feeling around it. Instead of merely treading water, we are making real progress against our debt load, and every paycheck represents another opportunity to knock that shadowy beast down a few more notches.
For many Americans, payday means something else entirely. It means an opportunity to finally restock your empty cabinets with food for your family. It means that you can finally make a payment to get the heat or water turned back on. It means that you can finally purchase some shoes for your children who desperately need them. While I am proud of the fact that I work hard and earn an honest paycheck, I am humbled by the realization that I am truly blessed to be able to do so. Unemployment in this country remains uncomfortably high, and those of us who do have a regular paycheck coming in need to take the time to recognize that we are fortunate to be in that position.
I talk about this quite a bit here on See Debt Run, but it helps keep me motivated to think about our future debt-free life where payday will mean something new. We will finally be able to contribute an appropriate amount towards our long-term goals, like saving for retirement and funding our children’s college education. We will finally be able to tackle the home repairs that we have been putting off, and to take our children on a long overdue vacation. Even more importantly, we will be able to contribute a much larger portion of our income to charities and towards making the world a better place.
Friends and readers.. What does payday mean to you?
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This post originally appeared in October 2012.
What Does Payday Mean to You? is a post from: See Debt Run