iLoungeiLounge
  • News
    • Apple
      • AirPods Pro
      • AirPlay
      • Apps
        • Apple Music
      • iCloud
      • iTunes
      • HealthKit
      • HomeKit
      • HomePod
      • iOS 13
      • Apple Pay
      • Apple TV
      • Siri
    • Rumors
    • Humor
    • Technology
      • CES
    • Daily Deals
    • Articles
    • Web Stories
  • iPhone
    • iPhone Accessories
  • iPad
  • iPod
    • iPod Accessories
  • Apple Watch
    • Apple Watch Accessories
  • Mac
    • MacBook Air
    • MacBook Pro
  • Reviews
    • App Reviews
  • How-to
    • Ask iLounge
Font ResizerAa
iLoungeiLounge
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
    • Apple
    • Rumors
    • Humor
    • Technology
    • Daily Deals
    • Articles
    • Web Stories
  • iPhone
    • iPhone Accessories
  • iPad
  • iPod
    • iPod Accessories
  • Apple Watch
    • Apple Watch Accessories
  • Mac
    • MacBook Air
    • MacBook Pro
  • Reviews
    • App Reviews
  • How-to
    • Ask iLounge
Follow US

Articles

Articles

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck with These Financial Tips

Last updated: Jun 30, 2019 9:59 am UTC
By Lucy Bennett
Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck with These Financial Tips

Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Feel like you can’t get out of your financial rut? The simple truth is many Americans are woefully unprepared when it comes to managing their own finances. If you’re struggling to keep your head above water, check out these quick tips. They zero in on most of the reasons Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and how you can better prepare your finances.

Advertisements

Spend Less Than You Earn

That sounds like pretty basic advice, but you might be shocked to learn that most Americans spend more than they earn. It’s pretty easy to know that you should be spending less than you earn, but in practice, it’s much harder. The availability of easy credit makes it tempting to put purchases on a card and pay them off later. That’s not a very wise financial decision.

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck with These Financial Tips

To understand how much you are spending, you’ll need to track all of your expenses. There are hundreds of free personal finance apps available for iOS and Android to help you manage your expenses. Many of these apps offer integration into national banks to make tracking purchases easier than ever.

Advertisements

Set Up A Budget

Most people hate the word budget because they think it is the equivalent of a financial diet. Budgeting is not hard and it shouldn’t cause a drastic change to your lifestyle unless you’ve been living beyond your means. Budgeting means setting aside money to do all the fun things you like to do but making sure the important stuff is paid first.

One effective budgeting rule to get you started is the 50/30/20 rule. 50% of your income should go toward bills, rent, or mortgage. These are your necessities and should be paid every month before anything else. 20% of your income should go to savings to help you build an emergency cushion. The remaining 30% is discretionary spending that can be spent the way you please.

Advertisements

Emergency Funds

Once you have your daily budget set up, you should work towards saving for an emergency fund. Most Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $500 emergency. Build your emergency savings so you don’t have to resort to drastic measures like selling your life insurance. Selling your life insurance policy can be a good way to get money in an emergency if you’re strapped for cash. This sell your life insurance calculator will help you estimate how much you would get for your life insurance policy.

Advertisements

Calculate Your Daily Cost

One great way to know if your budget is working before you live it is by breaking down your daily costs. Seeing how much you earn per day and how much it costs to live per day is a good indicator if the budget you have will work. Here’s a quick and dirty example:

  • $3,000/month salary = $100/day
  • $1,000/month rent = $10/day
  • $600/month for car & insurance = $20/day
  • $850/month bills = $30/day
  • $300/month groceries = $10/day

Following this breakdown, you make $100 a day and your daily costs are $70, leaving $30 a day for discretionary spending. Budgeting this way can also help you determine how long it will take you to save towards any goals you have.

Advertisements

Latest News
The Apple Watch SE 2 is $80 Off
The Apple Watch SE 2 is $80 Off
1 Min Read
OpenAI Debuts Record Mode for ChatGPT Plus
OpenAI Debuts Record Mode for ChatGPT Plus
1 Min Read
Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition Heading to Mac
Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition Heading to Mac
1 Min Read
Apple Launches New Emoji Game in Apple News+
Apple Launches New Emoji Game in Apple News+
1 Min Read
The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 256GB is $150 Off
The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 256GB is $150 Off
1 Min Read
New Google Pixel 10 to Debut on August 20
New Google Pixel 10 to Debut on August 20
1 Min Read
More Countries Get AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Test and Hearing Aid Functionality
More Countries Get AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Test and Hearing Aid Functionality
1 Min Read
Resident Evil: Survival Unit Pre-Orders Go Live on App Store
Resident Evil: Survival Unit Pre-Orders Go Live on App Store
1 Min Read
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $149 Off
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $149 Off
1 Min Read
watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6, and visionOS 2.6 Receive Third Betas
watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6, and visionOS 2.6 Receive Third Betas
1 Min Read
New ‘Orange’ Color Arriving to the iPhone 17 Pro
New ‘Orange’ Color Arriving to the iPhone 17 Pro
1 Min Read
‘Sky Blue’ Color Headed to iPhone 17 Air
‘Sky Blue’ Color Headed to iPhone 17 Air
1 Min Read

iLounge logo

iLounge is an independent resource for all things iPod, iPhone, iPad, and beyond. iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, Apple TV, and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc.

This website is not affiliated with Apple Inc.
iLounge © 2001 - 2025. All Rights Reserved.
  • Contact Us
  • Submit News
  • About Us
  • Forums
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?