Photo by dmmd303

Are you tired of the weekly excitement and drama of wondering how you’re going to make ends meet until your next paycheck with only $25 left in your pocket?  I sure am.  Having lived paycheck to paycheck for almost 10 years is enough for me to either realize I’ll never be different…or drive me SO crazy that I’m going to SCRATCH AND CLAW MY WAY OUT OF THIS MESS!  Ok, an obvious emphasis on which one I’m leaning toward. 

After doing this for so long, I’ve realized that it’s time to stop looking back and to move forward with new habits.  Before doing that, I want to reflect on some of the things that I’ve been dealing with on an almost daily basis for as long as I can remember.  There’s heartaches, crisis, disappointments, sadness, frustration…so many feelings and painful experiences when living paycheck to paycheck.

I want to share some of these paycheck to paycheck disadvantages with you in hopes that you too can see the light and really WANT to get out of the mess.  This isn’t really a "how to" message, it’s really just me sharing and identifying some of the struggles in one place to really emphasize how much it STINKS to live like this.

1. No long term progress - living in the now doesn’t allow you to save or invest in the future.
2. Not enough money this week - sometimes there’s just not enough money to pay everyone you owe right now.
3. No money for emergencies - living check to check doesn’t really allow you to be prepared for a crisis.
4. Miss out on important events - sometimes you just have to miss out because the only $800 left on payday has to pay the rent.
5. Stress - worrying about money every single week for 10 years can really take its toll.
6. Arguments - fighting over where the last $100 belongs can be like watching two lions fighting over the last scrap of meat on a zebra.
7. Penalties - Being unable to pay for some things means even more fees, worse credit, higher rates, etc.
8. Unprepared all the time - you end up not being able to take advantage of sales because you don’t have the money, then pay full price for things because of when you need them!
9. Priorities get mixed - you end up focusing on the smaller luxuries in life to the point where they become dangerously close to habits.  i.e. junk food, gambling, drinking
10. Envy - everyone else around you always seems to be doing better.  Even though you probably make more than them, it just seems like they always have more money available.
11. Your money works for someone else - wouldn’t it be nice if your money was working for you instead of someone else.  Not only are you missing out, but you’re helping someone else instead!
12. Motivation - living paycheck to paycheck completely takes the motivation out of trying to get ahead.
13. Avoid budgeting - you end up avoiding any kind of budgeting because of how horribly the numbers won’t work out to your advantage.  So you end up digging a deeper hole.

Photo by hufse

I’m sure there’s more.  I’ve only highlighted the major things that have come to mind for me with some examples of each and how it relates to my experiences.  There are COUNTLESS other effects that negatively impact our lives.  I’m absolutely sure of this.  There’s simply no reason knowing all of this can make you just want to sit there and do nothing about it.  It’s time to take control of yourself, get on a plan, FOLLOW the plan until you reach some milestones, and stop living paycheck to paycheck.  Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith to get started on something, this is your chance if you haven’t already!

Hopefully this list has motivated you as much as it has me.  It’s funny how I’ve always known there were things that bothered me about living paycheck to paycheck, but listing all of these disadvantages in one single place has really made me realize how bad it is.  I simply can’t fathom anyone wanting to do this stuff to themselves ON PURPOSE.  And that’s what we’re doing!  Millions of us!

So get started on a plan today!  I’ll be sharing later this week exactly how I’ve managed to stop living from check to check, so stay tuned by coming back or subscribing to my feed available in the sidebar.  In the mean time here’s some great links that could help get you started on how to approach such a feat:

1. Kiplinger: Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
2. Zen Habits: How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
3. Motley Fool: 5 Steps to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

I’d love to hear any success stories or tips that you have to share for breaking this vicious cycle.  Share with the rest of us, and I’ll be back later this week with mine.

Update:  See how I stopped living paycheck to paycheck using the Budget Buffer in my follow up articles:  The Budget Buffer and How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck.