Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-24-2017, 09:32 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,849,137 times
Reputation: 32530

Advertisements

There was a recent thread in this sub-forum, now closed, about minimum wage workers who rush out to cash or deposit their paychecks the minute they have it in their hands. (The OP was describing a situation where the employer still issued paper checks, but his point was that the workers were always living on the edge). Of course it was pointed out that it is rather difficult NOT to live on the edge if one makes minimum wage or close to it. It was also pointed out that people with decent incomes also sometimes live on the edge financially. Those are the ones I am asking about in this thread. I am interested in the underlying attitude which allows this. I realize that cases of severe, tragic illnesses (for example) can place people on the edge, but that's not what I am talking about.

Another problem is defining what "decent" income means. I couldn't think of a better way to word my thread title, but let's take a broad view of it as meaning considerably better than minimum wage.

I was a public school teacher (high school) for 34 years. Our earnings were rather pathetic, but were certainly considerably more that the fast food employees were getting. In the school district I worked for (the same one for the entire 34 years) our yearly salary was divided by ten and we got checks on the first of the month for 10 months, meaning two months without a check. This was a problem for some teachers, who would have preferred 12 monthly checks for a smaller amount each month. I didn't see it as a problem as I always just spent less than I made. I used to point out to people that over a year's time, we would receive exactly the same income under either system. So that's your income and you just budget accordingly.

Even worse, some teachers found the one month interval between checks to be a problem. One guy used to borrow $20 from me near the end of the month.

There is certainly an extreme difference in mindset at work here. It's a lucky thing for all us California teachers that the 9% withheld from our salaries to support the pension system was involuntary and was done before we ever saw the money! Sort of like a pay-yourself-first thing that we had no choice about. It's the same reason why Social Security has to be involuntary.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-24-2017, 09:42 PM
 
4,196 posts, read 6,275,356 times
Reputation: 2835
That's a weird way to pay people. I too would rather have 12 checks than 10, with 2 months with no check. Yes, technically it shouldn't matter as the amount is the same....but perhaps it's more psychological....i don't know.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-24-2017, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,849,137 times
Reputation: 32530
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinking-man View Post
That's a weird way to pay people. I too would rather have 12 checks than 10, with 2 months with no check. Yes, technically it shouldn't matter as the amount is the same....but perhaps it's more psychological....i don't know.
Oh, I agree it's a weird way to pay people. The rationale probably had to do with us not working for those two months (summer break). Some school districts issued 12 checks. The point I was trying to raise was people living on the edge who really don't need to, and I used an example from my personal experience.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-24-2017, 09:55 PM
 
26,165 posts, read 21,415,004 times
Reputation: 22761
While strange no one should take 12 checks over 10 unless you have no discipline. Plenty of people live paycheck to paycheck it's something that pretty common even in higher income levels
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 03:07 AM
 
5,724 posts, read 7,452,360 times
Reputation: 4518
It is an unfortunately reality. Living a decent life is expensive.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 05:43 AM
 
472 posts, read 471,354 times
Reputation: 927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lowexpectations View Post
While strange no one should take 12 checks over 10 unless you have no discipline. Plenty of people live paycheck to paycheck it's something that pretty common even in higher income levels
Amazing. Many people in this tiny discussion have stated they rather have 12 checks than 10 and here you come telling them it's strange that people would want what they want.

Always have to disagree and be wrong. Truly amazing
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 06:13 AM
 
903 posts, read 856,698 times
Reputation: 2501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gene Starwind View Post
Amazing. Many people in this tiny discussion have stated they rather have 12 checks than 10 and here you come telling them it's strange that people would want what they want.

Always have to disagree and be wrong. Truly amazing
Well, that poster is correct. It is strange that there are people that would rather wait to get paid for the fruits of their labor. Why would anyone want to give their employer interest free loan for those two months (rhetorical)? People with that mindset are the same rocket surgeons that get all excited about a tax refund.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 06:13 AM
 
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
10,320 posts, read 7,903,940 times
Reputation: 27652
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodlife36 View Post
It is an unfortunately reality. Living a decent life is expensive.
That depends a lot on how you define "a decent life."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 06:15 AM
 
5,342 posts, read 6,139,671 times
Reputation: 4719
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aredhel View Post
That depends a lot on how you define "a decent life."
Yup, and where you decide that decent life has to be.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-25-2017, 06:43 AM
 
472 posts, read 471,354 times
Reputation: 927
Quote:
Originally Posted by Campfires View Post
Well, that poster is correct. It is strange that there are people that would rather wait to get paid for the fruits of their labor. Why would anyone want to give their employer interest free loan for those two months (rhetorical)? People with that mindset are the same rocket surgeons that get all excited about a tax refund.
That's not what he said. He said people should be taking less frequent checks. 10 over 12. He is the only one thinking that in this thread.

I agree I rather get paid weekly over every 2 weeks and every 2 weeks over once a month
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top