sea-scooby

I was reading an article about how a large percentage of people live paycheck to paycheck, have no real saving and would be totally screwed and behind on bills without an income in as little as two weeks. I believe it said around 46% of all Americans could not even make it 1 month without an income.

I'm curious how the people on this forum compare.

I personally like to buy stuff, but my wife in pretty conservative with money so we keep enough in savings to cover 6 months of basics with no income. Basically mortgage, utilities and food. We could cut out all the other "extras" and be ok for a while.

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EvilDan

I'm in a particularly good situation right now. I moved back home a few months ago to save up some money.. so technically Unemployment Insurance would cover everything.

I have my cell phone bill, some rent I pay to my folks to help out, insurance and the monthly bill for the Forester. Very minimal stuff. No debt (besides some for my Forester).

sea-scooby

Poll is up!

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05 Forester XTi Premium M/T (bobbytuned VF39)(his)
05 Forester X A/T (hers)
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Real Lyte

What do I put if I am living basically on school loans?

lol I love putting net worth of 0 (negative) on taxes, makes me feel good about myself lol.

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'99 SF (Mine) &
'02 Civic LX (hers)
Leggy Lives

JeffLee

My wife and I live paycheck by paycheck...
Yes.. it is sad and not safe to do.. but I work 2 part time jobs.. and my wife works too..
No car payment.. but we have a mortgage and bills and such.. we barely make it by...

and this winter, we bought winter tires... and it hit us pretty hard.. yah.. it is only 900 dollars.. but that's a big chunk of our income.. and we are still suffering from it:s..

gah.. I wish I had a nice career ...

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O3 XS MT
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abacall

I'm about 2 mo. out at best. But I'm also a tenured teacher so loss of income is unlikely. I also have short and long term disability as well as extra coverage on my assets in case of inability to work.

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Tuned200

I rencently went without an income for 1 month, and well, I was laid off for 5 weeks, and only got unemployment for 3 out of 5. Even on umemployment drawing the maxium income was still about 55% of what I was making. We made it along fine, and as typical had to use our money more wisely, but still got along.

When I draw my ESOP money in the next 5 years, and roll it over(to something with almost no risk, depending on the market then), we will be set for a long while. We have even been discussing opening a small business depending on the ecomony and world markets.

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2007 VF-48 4EAT
2010x

Arthrogrian19

I'd be able to pay bills for ~6 months.

I changed my direct deposit allocation late last year so that 17.5% of my take-home pay goes into a savings account. Between my tax refund and some spare change, I can almost fully fund my Roth IRA for the year, but I might only do half and put the rest into my rainy day fund. Hmm...

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Real Lyte

Well I voted the last one because I consider my degree to be an investment in which I receive both grant (4k/yr) and financial aid (8k/yr which I have to pay back though). At my current rate of living I don't even need that much, I can live off of about 700$ per month (not including tuition/books). I would say I am living as efficient as possible (besides eating ****ty food, my one splurge is organic foods and home cooking).

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'99 SF (Mine) &
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Duderotomy

well since I've only been out of college and employed full-time for just less than a full year... Yes I'm living pay cheque to pay cheque.

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'90 Nissan Skyline GTS-t

ArcadeTom

I've managed to get enough in a savings account to cover 3 months of mortgage and very basic bills (credit-card-blood-suckers will just have to wait). If it went longer than that, then I have my long-term savings / retirement which would (after taxes) get me for a year or more.

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2009 XT, Camillia Red Pearl

toddlamp

Ha, i'd be screwed almost immediately. I got into financial trouble in college that I am STILL working off. I have some money left over from my tax refund but i'd definitely be in trouble. However, our 5 yr contract has 4yrs left and unless I do something stupid should have a job for at least that long.

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06XT MT CGM Blouch TD05-18g 8cm equipped
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Tezcatlipoca

Just on savings, I've got 3 months rent / bills / living expenses and 5 months car payments in the bank. Fortunately, my job is quite secure and my contract includes a clause for 6 months salary if I'm laid off.

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2009 Forester 2.5x Premium
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tre36

I don't have much in personal savings but can possibly get by 2-3 months without income. If I did lose my job, I got a huge chunk in my retirement that either has to be rolled over or cashed out if I moved job/layoff/etc. Worst case scenario is to cash out but even after taxes I could survive without income for quite some time.

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MY03X-AT

sterickson

On April 12th it will be two years since I lost my job. Between severance pay, unemployment, savings, a little consulting here and there, and ad revenue/donations from an iPhone software download site I run, I've just managed to get by without being late on any bills. I've also used my credit cards to supplement when needed.

The severance is used up, the savings is nearly exhausted, the unemployment is nearly up,my consulting client went bankrupt and Apple's App Store has nearly wiped out my ad/donation revenue.

If I don't find a job soon, this will probably be the year that my credit is ruined and I lose my house. After looking for two years though, I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Bleh.

-ste

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2004 Forester XT AT, Aspen White