Yeah. Living paycheck to paycheck, if you miss one check, you're screwed, like can't-pay-the-rent screwed.

You should have seen me panic because the theatre forgot to pay me in December. After I did all my Christmas shopping, and had no money in the bank. I had set up payments on my bills to come out on the 31st, and there was no money! The administrator ended up giving me $500 out of her petty cash fund until they could cut me a check.

the theatre forgot to pay me in December

What a nightmare! I mean, seriously. Forgot to pay you????

Yeah, living paycheck-to-paycheck has an element of terror that would be negated by any savings.

I have a small emergency fund (~1 month's expenses in a high[ish]-yield online savings account), and a "cushion" of sorts in savings at my local bank (in case monthly bills are high, or the car insurance premium is due, etc.), but for the most part, my paychecks (which go into my checking account) are budgeted and every dollar is accounted for.

That's my definition of paycheck-to-paycheck. Just the idea that you need to budget each paycheck and, as a result, you'd be screwed if a paycheck didn't come.

Well, I mean "budget" in the sense of "spending plan" or "financial plan." Like I said, I'm able to throw half my take-home pay at my credit-card debt right now. If I made only minimum payments (which I know is less than desirable), my total monthly nut would be about half my monthly income. That's rent, car, utilities, gas, groceries, CC, etc.

And I include savings and 401(k) in my budget as well -- as a "budget," it mostly exists as a roadmap, not life support. (Wow, THAT was a crap metaphor. I hope you get my general meaning.)

Forgot to pay you????

Actually it was not so much that the theatre administrator forgot, but her boss forgot to get my boss at my real job to sign off on it. I work in a large bureaucracy! The theatre extra money comes in my regular university paycheck, so I had some money, but $500 less than I expected, and $400 less than the bills I had coming out of my account. You should have seen me, because I was just completely speechless.

I'd do it this way if I had easier access to ATM machines affiliated with my bank (and therefore fee-free). As is, I'd have to carry more cash than I'm comfortable having on my person, given where I live and especially where I work, just to have enough to get me between ATM visits.

The trick (and I have to start doing this again) is that you pull out the money once a week. You don't have to carry it around with you at all times--in fact, it's probably better at first to pull out the weekly budget money and separate it into daily budget amounts.

Of course, when we were doing our strict as hell budget, the weekly "all things not food or gas" budget was a whopping $25, and it frequently went to overage on the food budget or the gas budget. (I think we had $100 a week for the household.) So, you know, that was easy to carry around. And because the gas budget was so tight, I never went anywhere or did anything. Good thing the kid was cute.

Then I went back to work, and it all got shot to hell.

I have lived paycheck-to-paycheck, and I know I'm not doing it now. When I refinanced my student loans on the 30-year plan to reduce the payment, and still didn't always have money in the bank to buy groceries with? That was paycheck-to-paycheck, and I'm still paying it off.

Tommy, my multi-CD player loads in order, 1-6.

I'm doing my own little cabbage patch dance .... Kat, insent (and please yell if I sound like an ass).

Mr. Jane and I have been paycheck to paycheck since I've been here. Monday we'll go back to being able to pay off debt and afford toys. I forgot what all that was like.

It occured to me yesterday that on top of the working poor being screwed health wise (can't afford to get the good fresh stuff, or get to the store that has it-possibly don't have health care), parenting wise (can't afford really good daycare and have to work lots of hours for enough money) and all that other fun stuff I read about in Nickle and Dimed, they're also screwed as far as hobbies or other interests.

This is because I was thinking about what I would do now that I'm off at 5, and I thought "Ooooh, I'll knit and sew and crochet." and then I wondered why I hadn't been running home to do that lately, and I realized it's because I rarely get off in enough time to go buy supplies and I also have no money for supplies.