Is It Worth the Money to Get a College Degree? Lets Do the Math and Find Out!

[dfrecore]

There are different degrees of living paycheck-to-paycheck, ones that don't necessarily require the higher earner to be careless with money.

Example:
Bottom rung - you live in a dingy studio apartment. The kind where the landlord does repairs slowly, if at all. You're lucky to have hot water on some days. Dirty laundry needs to be hauled to the laundromat. You have to take a lengthy bus ride to get anywhere. Work is an hour away. The grocery store is an hour on the bus in another direction.

Next tier - You earn a bit more, so now you're able to live in a 1-bedroom apartment that actually has utilities available 24/7. Washer/dryer are in-unit, but you must buy them. Or haul your clothes to the laundromat still. Your job is even further away, but now you have a car you make payments on. Grocery store: ditto. You're only barely above subsistence level, but you're still living paycheck to paycheck.

There are more levels than those 2:

Another tier - you make good make good money, but live in a very trendy area so that you can walk to restaurants and bars.  You go out many nights a week with friends, and eat out almost every meal.  You have a nice little car, with car payments.  You put zero money away because you spend every dime and then some.  I was this person when I was young and single.  I had LOTS of friends in this boat with me.

Another tier - you make good money, and work from home so you can live anywhere; instead of choosing somewhere "reasonable" based on your income, you choose a VERY expensive city to "treat yourself" after living somewhere crappy the last couple of years due to some circumstances.  Then you complain about how small your apartment is and how expensive it is to live here.  You put no money away because you "can't afford it."  I have a friend here right now, no matter what advice I give, she ignores it.  We make more than 2x her income, yet when she bought a new W/D a few years ago, she chose the most expensive pair in the store.  I was shocked, and said "wow, that's a lot of money, are you sure you don't want something cheaper?" and her response was "I want something nice."  Alrighty then.  I have plenty of other friends who make bad choices on a regular basis and then are shocked that things don't turn out that great.

Another tier - you make VERY good money.  You live in a VERY nice neighborhood.  Your neighbors all have the nicest of cars, most cars are in the $75k+ range.  You own multiple toys - golf cart, ATV, guns, etc.  You go on very nice vacations several times a year.  Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Disneyworld, and stay at expensive resorts.  You spend a LOT of money on looking good - $400 per haircut monthly, $40 nails each week, $60 pedicures every couple of weeks, new clothes on a regular basis from upscale stores.  You put away very little money because you spend almost every dime you make.  I know people like this as well.  I avoid this type of scene because I'm not into keeping up with the Joneses, nor do I want to spend myself into bankruptcy.  It is very hard to keep up in an area like this.

There are a LOT of reasons people live paycheck-to-paycheck, and it's not always because the paycheck is too small.  I've known WAY more people that make decent or more than decent money that live p2p than people who are totally broke because they make no money.  WAY more.  Like 50-to-1.