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Do you live paycheck to paycheck, spending it nearly as fast as it comes in, not putting anything away in any type of savings and occasionally having too much month at the end of the money???
OR
Do you have a budget and with the exception of some sort of extreme emergency you pretty much know where all your cash is, where it's going, and when it's going there???
I'm particularly interested in people who have a house, car and children and live from one paycheck to the next with no budget or savings what so ever... I just want to know, HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO IT??? It would drive me CRAZY!!!
My husband and I are what I would consider solidly middle class. There is about 3 months worth of general household expenses in a savings account and another six months in savings bonds if things got desperate. I figure anything other than that is covered by insurance policies. I keep our budget and have estimated in the expenses for four to six months in advance.
I have a perfectly sound reason for being curious about this:
My husband's ex is calling us freaking out because ONE child support check is late (not from our end -- our state is still in the stone age and you CANNOT pay your child support EXCEPT by paper check, even if you have it drafted from your pay it's still a paper check ... OMG, what horse manure, obviously around the holidays people go on vacation and strangers temp in, all that data entry, crap's bound to get lost. This has happened before and it has always been around holiday times). Anyway, if it was a month, I'd understand. This woman is having hysterics over a check that is ONE WEEK late.
She doesn't have a budget (she didn't when she was married to hubby and towards the end they were verging on bankruptcy), the kids are oblivious to budgeting and, for that matter, seem oblivious to what money is worth, if that makes sense (trust me, not that we haven't been trying to teach them).
I can't understand living that way. My husband's job actually has some risk ... if he got injured on the job and was laid up from work does she really think my primary concern would be making the child support payments? One kid is about to turn 18 and whenever we see her anymore she's squawking that she's going to be hurting ... I can't understand it ... the woman HAS a good paying job, she knows the kids are going to grow up. It's like all the computer programmers who were suprised when Y2K rolled around! I can't understand RELYING on the child support payment to pay for mortgage, utilities, car, etc., and then being caught flat-footed when the well dries up and going OH MY GOD, I CAN'T AFFORD MY HOUSE!
I'm really curious about living paycheck to paycheck and having ZERO cushion, how can you function?!? I would literally lay awake nights hysterical. I would give myself ulcers.
Thanks for letting me vent my spleen, I feel better
OR
Do you have a budget and with the exception of some sort of extreme emergency you pretty much know where all your cash is, where it's going, and when it's going there???
I'm particularly interested in people who have a house, car and children and live from one paycheck to the next with no budget or savings what so ever... I just want to know, HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO IT??? It would drive me CRAZY!!!
My husband and I are what I would consider solidly middle class. There is about 3 months worth of general household expenses in a savings account and another six months in savings bonds if things got desperate. I figure anything other than that is covered by insurance policies. I keep our budget and have estimated in the expenses for four to six months in advance.
I have a perfectly sound reason for being curious about this:
My husband's ex is calling us freaking out because ONE child support check is late (not from our end -- our state is still in the stone age and you CANNOT pay your child support EXCEPT by paper check, even if you have it drafted from your pay it's still a paper check ... OMG, what horse manure, obviously around the holidays people go on vacation and strangers temp in, all that data entry, crap's bound to get lost. This has happened before and it has always been around holiday times). Anyway, if it was a month, I'd understand. This woman is having hysterics over a check that is ONE WEEK late.
She doesn't have a budget (she didn't when she was married to hubby and towards the end they were verging on bankruptcy), the kids are oblivious to budgeting and, for that matter, seem oblivious to what money is worth, if that makes sense (trust me, not that we haven't been trying to teach them).
I can't understand living that way. My husband's job actually has some risk ... if he got injured on the job and was laid up from work does she really think my primary concern would be making the child support payments? One kid is about to turn 18 and whenever we see her anymore she's squawking that she's going to be hurting ... I can't understand it ... the woman HAS a good paying job, she knows the kids are going to grow up. It's like all the computer programmers who were suprised when Y2K rolled around! I can't understand RELYING on the child support payment to pay for mortgage, utilities, car, etc., and then being caught flat-footed when the well dries up and going OH MY GOD, I CAN'T AFFORD MY HOUSE!
I'm really curious about living paycheck to paycheck and having ZERO cushion, how can you function?!? I would literally lay awake nights hysterical. I would give myself ulcers.
Thanks for letting me vent my spleen, I feel better
they still charged a late charge tho
