Many, if not most people live their lives from paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet. I’ve seen it with family, friends and co-workers. Every week, they are just waiting for Friday to come so they can receive that paycheck and carry on with their life for a very short time, only to wait for the next paycheck.
If you are one of these people and would like to stop living paycheck to paycheck, give this solution a try… It may or may not work for you or be the best strategy for you, but doesn’t cost you anything to try it and may lead to another plan that does work for you.
The problem I’ve noticed is when someone receives their paycheck, they go grocery shopping, pay the bills due for the week, fill up their car and then blow whatever is left on things they don’t need. This could be anything from video games to going out to eat. Granted, we all should get a little satisfaction out of our paycheck but let’s try a different approach and see if it suites you better. Once you receive that paycheck, go ahead and pay your bills, do your grocery shopping and fill up the car. But don’t let the left over money burn a hole in your pocket. Save as much of it as you can until next paycheck. Once you receive that next paycheck, pay your necessities again. Use any money you have left over from the previous week as your money to blow for this week. Save this week’s extra for next week and so on.
This is almost like living paycheck to paycheck but the exception that if some emergency does come up (car repairs, etc.) you will have some spare cash to cover it, reducing the amount you need to rack up on your credit cards. Give it a try for at least 2 months to see if you can adjust to it and it works for you, then take it a little further. You may be surprised and find yourself paying a little extra on credit card balances with the extra money you have instead of blowing it on things you don’t need.
This isn’t the one almighty approach to becoming financially free but it’s a step in the right direction. Don’t give up on yourself and try different strategies to find out what works for you!
