If you have lived long enough in this world, ultimately you would have heard this term living paycheck to paycheck. Many of you who are reading this are probably living paycheck to paycheck or you know someone who is. According to CNBC.com 63% of workers are living paycheck to paycheck.
What is it?
A person that is living from paycheck to paycheck is living with limited financial resources, no savings and are in financial bondage to credit cards. If the car breaks down or if they lose their jobs they are at a greater financial risk.
Statistics
1 in 4 adults have no savings account.
1 in 10 workers who make six figure income struggles managing their financial resources.
More than half of minimum wage workers say they have to work more than one job to make ends meet.
My Story
Growing up in New York City I saw firsthand my parents struggling managing their finances on a daily basis. My mom stayed home while my dad worked. We did not have multiple streams of income. We never went on vacation or could afford a car. As a kid I heard them arguing about how we were delinquent on our mortgage. Creditor would call and my parents would avoid answering their calls.
In their efforts to move to the suburbs my parents took out a mortgage that was much more than they could afford and they did not have any savings for emergencies. I saw them pinch every penny and when payday came it was all gone. My parents did not have a budget.
When I graduated from College, I began living a life of spending, going into debt and in a matter of time I too was struggling managing (stewarding) my finances. My monthly bills were coming due and I did not plan for the unexpected like car repairs, appliance breakdowns or medical bills. I began to worry and avoid my creditors calls.
It was not until I gave my life to Christ that I began to see that the bible had a different perspective on money management.
It was not until several years later that I began following biblical principle of money management but there were many times I fell short in following those principles. Below, I am sharing how I overcame
How to free yourself from living Paycheck to Paycheck
- Spend Less than you earn-Prov. 13:11
- Read books on managing money
- Track your spending
- Establish a budget-Luke 14:28
- stop using credit cards-Prov 22:7
- Stop trying to keep up with the spending habits of the Joneses
- Plan for the unexpected-Prov. 6:6-8
Check out my blog faithfulfinancesforever.com If you want to begin changing your mindset on how you manage money
