How To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck In 2023!

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I’m guessing you’re here because you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

You get to the end of your pay cycle and wonder why you have nothing left?

When you finally get paid you can relax again. But as the end of the cycle draws near, you’re left with little to nothing 🙁

And so the cycle continues…

I completely get it and it’s a horrible feeling!

It’s even worse when an emergency pops up. Your car breaks down or you need to pay an unexpected medical bill with no cash! How can you survive??

Living pay to pay isn’t sustainable long term. It can cause major financial stress and even lead to a breakdown.

I’ve been right there before in that cycle of living pay to pay. And wondering how I can get more out of my income.

I didn’t grow up in a rich family, but we had everything we needed (key word needed). But in 2023, it’s essential to have a money plan.

I’m here to show you that you can turn things around. And that all you need is a little time, effort and commitment on your part to getting your finances in check.

In this post I’m going to show you how to do the following:

Get into a healthy money mindset
Take advantage of money making & saving apps
Swap out expenses for better deals to save more
Reduce your debt
Earn extra money on the side
Start an emergency fund
And more!

It’s no secret that the cost of living just keeps going up. And unfortunately many wages are not matching this inflation.

Did You Know…

As at the end of 2021, 69% of Americans had less than $1,000 in savings?

Saving money doesn’t happen overnight!

And according to this Investopedia article, upper middle class people are also living pay to pay!

That tells us that life is expensive, inflation seems to be getting worse, so we must make changes to keep up.

So let’s get started and learn how to stop living paycheck to paycheck!

What Does it Mean To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck?

I’m glad you asked.

To stop living paycheck to paycheck means being able to save money every month so that you don’t have to worry about running out of cash when your next paycheck comes.

It’s also important to make sure you’re saving enough to cover unexpected expenses, such as medical bills or car repairs.

If you aren’t saving regularly, you can find yourself struggling to keep up with your monthly bills, leading to financial stress.

1. Money Mindset

Do you find yourself constantly comparing your financial situation to your friends’, peers’ or co-workers’ situations?

It’s very easy to do and wish you had what other people have. Whether that’s a fancy car, house or holiday.

If you find yourself being consumed with jealousy and wishing you had someone else’s life, for the love of lemons:

This is only doing you harm!

While you might be wishing you had everything others around you have, it’s important to know this:

A lot of people living lavish lifestyles are actually:

drowning in debt
have big mortgages they can’t afford
spending money they don’t have.

I’m not saying everyone does this and I’m not hating on people who enjoy luxurious things. I’ll admit that I spend lavishly from time to time, when I can afford it and if it serves me well.

But the next time you think about making a purchase, ask yourself these things:

How will this purchase enrich my life, if at all?
Am I buying this for instant gratification?
If I buy this will it put me further behind with my money?
Is this purchase trying to fill a void?
Will this purchase stop me having money left at the end of my pay?

If you’re serious about making the most of your income, reduce spending and create healthier money habits then keep reading.

The best ways to have the life you want without living pay to pay is by fine tuning your savings and finding ways to make extra money.

2. Earn Free Cash or Gift Card Rewards (Reduce Spending)

While it might not be much, bit by bit, you can earn a decent amount with cash and rewards you get from survey sites and apps.

I frequently took surveys in my spare time while I was working towards my financial goals. And after a few months into starting my blog, my laptop decided to die on me! 🙁

So I checked out my earnings from all the money apps and sites I’d been using over the past year. And guess what? I had earned more than enough to buy me a new laptop!

I was so glad I’d taken the time to complete surveys. Because over time I had earned a few hundred dollars to go towards whatever I wanted. Which in my case was a new laptop!

Do you like the idea of getting paid to surf the internet, watch videos and play games in exchange for cash and rewards?

Our number one recommendation for survey sites is Survey Junkie.

💡 Survey Junkie is a highly rated and trusted survey site used by millions!

👉 Sign up now and start earning from an extensive gift card selection, or transferring points to PayPal cash.

3. Swap Out Your Biggest Expenses

Are you living paycheck to paycheck without any savings to speak of?

If you are then that’s okay! Now it’s time to start thinking about your biggest expenses. Can you cut them out or reduce the cost?

I’m here to tell you that you certainly can!

This is how you’re going to cut your monthly expenses.

SAY HELLO TO ROCKET MONEY!

Who or what is Rocket Money?? (Previously Truebill)

Rocket Money is a very clever app that helps you find and track your subscriptions, expenses and charges. It can even scan and identify your online statements and subscriptions and cancel any unwanted payments for you!

One of the best things about this neat little app is that their team will negotiate your bills for you. Their negotiators will work for you to find the best possible rate.

So you don’t need to worry about doing the work! You can start saving on bills, having more cash leftover at the end of your pay with the help of Rocket Money.

Oh and they have excellent reviews on Trustpilot, so you can rest easy knowing your personal details are safe.

You can sign up with Rocket Money for FREE and start putting money back into your wallet!

**Please note that this app is intended for people who reside in the United States only**

Live outside the US? No worries – I’ve listed some similar alternatives below:

4. Pay Down Your Debt

It can make things even harder when you’re trying to last the pay cycle, with dreaded debt.

To get rid of debt for good and avoid it hanging over your life like a dark storm cloud, read on!

While I was on my journey to financial freedom and getting rid of debt, Dave Ramsey played a big part in this. That as well as learning how to put together a budget that I actually found useful, but more on that later.

Dave Ramsey’s advice is to pay down debt by using the debt snowball effect. Meaning, you pay off the smallest credit card or debt that you have. Once that’s gone, you start with the next smallest and use the money that you paid off the first, to pay off the second, and so on.

The above worked for me personally, however, you can choose to consolidate all your debt and pay one fixed rate over a period of time. The idea of this is to pay less interest and knock out your debt a lot faster!

5. Get Creative With Different Ways To Make Extra Cash

You want to stop living paycheck to paycheck, right? That means as well as paying down your debt and reducing your spending, you also need to get creative in finding ways to increase your income.

So…

HOW DO I INCREASE MY INCOME?

You’re in the right place to learn exactly how you can do this! Throughout my blog I talk about many different ways to make money so you can earn more, save more and live your life with more freedom.

Living paycheck to paycheck is something a lot of people do, especially with the cost of living as it is now.

But it’s not all doom and gloom! Thankfully there are options even when you’re feeling poor and stuck.

Some of the best ways to boost your income is through online jobs, taking surveys/research studies and starting a blog.

Related posts on ways you can make extra money:

25 Best Flexible Jobs To Work From Home in 2023 (Flexible jobs you can do from home)

10 Unique Side Hustles To Try in 2023 (Easy and fun ways to earn money on the side)

10 Best Money Making Apps For Fast Cash in 2023 (To do in your spare time)

How To Start a Profitable Blog in 2023 – Step-By-Step (One of the best ways to earn money online with NO experience)

9 BEST Apps That Pay You Cash in 2023! (Most trustworthy and highest paying apps)

6. Stop Spending Money For Satisfaction & Ease

We’re all guilty of choosing to spend money for convenience rather than troubling ourselves to save money.

It’s especially easy to fall into this trap with the busy lifestyles we lead! Grabbing a coffee on your way to work, bought lunches, takeaway, paying for multiple subscriptions.

The list goes on!

What we don’t realize is how much this adds up over time! Like, a lot.

When you start looking at how much you can actually save on conveniences, you’ll be shocked!

Of course I get why people do it.

For me I would buy meals out wherever I was rather than have to think about cooking my next meal. Because who wants to constantly think of new meals to cook? Not I!

But I quickly realized this was not a good idea if I was to start seriously saving money. So I made changes and started saving hundreds a week, allowing me to stop living paycheck to paycheck!

Want to earn cash back on your purchases? Download the Fetch Rewards app and start earning money back on your every day purchases.

7. Ask For a Pay Increase

If you believe you should or could be on more money in your job but aren’t sure how to negotiate a raise, keep reading!

When I was working in my previous job I always felt I was underpaid. I did my research and saw that others were doing the same work as me, for more money! I knew I could get more money and deserved more, but wasn’t sure how to go about it.

So I looked up ways on how to do this and came across Ramit Sethi’s FREE ebook “The Ultimate Guide to Getting a Raise & Boosting Your Salary“.

The advice in this book helped me so much and I was able to negotiate the raise I wanted and deserved.

So if you’re in a similar boat, give it a read, boost your salary and stop living paycheck to paycheck as soon as possible.

8. Start Building An Emergency Fund (Like, Yesterday)

I’ll admit that it took me awhile to figure out that having an emergency fund was crucial to my financial success. But once I started putting money aside for urgent expenses, it felt like a huge weight was lifted.

I had peace of mind knowing I had money when I really needed it! For things like dental work, unexpected car bills etc.

Especially when I had to have some tricky dental work done! 😮 But I’ll kindly spare you all the details.

So what exactly is an emergency fund? It’s basically money put aside into a savings account that can be used for unexpected expenses such as:

Medical bills (dental work etc.)
Urgent car repair
Sudden job loss
Home eviction

Put simply, having an emergency fund helps you avoid using credit cards or having to take out expensive loans.

It’s a good idea to open a high yield bank account so you can quietly accrue interest on your savings. If you search the web there are plenty of banks offering incentives to create an account with them.

9. Consider a Minimalistic Lifestyle

The idea of being minimalistic may be foreign to you. You may think that being minimalist is having only the essentials. But maybe you could trim down your belongings, reduce your spending, and still be able to live the life you want! How does that sound?

Being minimalist doesn’t have to mean living with nothing but the bare necessities. The goal is to live a more fulfilling life with less stress and financial burden. But can you really save money by adopting a minimalist lifestyle?

The minimalist lifestyle is all about saving money. It’s about cutting down on the things you don’t need, so that you have more money to spend on the things that are important to you. The minimalist lifestyle is all about making smart decisions based on what’s important to you. It’s about prioritizing your time, your energy and your resources in order to achieve your goals and live the life you want to live.

Here’s why I have adopted a minimalistic lifestyle in my own life and how I’ve saved thousands of dollars in doing so.

WHY I CHOSE MINIMALISM AND SAVED THOUSANDS

After years of working at law firms, my life felt like a blur of commuting and deadlines. I spent long hours at the office, and even longer hours getting to and from work. I was burnt out, and I knew something had to change. I had to find a way to make more time for the things that mattered most to me, without sacrificing the things I enjoyed the most.

Minimalism isn’t about deprivation. It’s about simplifying your life so you have the time and money to do the things that matter to you.

I started small, cutting out the unnecessary expenses in my life which I have talked about in my previous blog posts. I stopped buying takeout, paying for multiple subscriptions and swapped out my gym membership. Those alone started saving me hundreds of dollars a month.

Then I changed the way I looked at my possessions. Instead of looking at them as a source of pride, I asked myself how they could serve me. I soon found out that a lot of my possessions were just for show, and did not serve me at all!

You don’t need to give up your favorite things to go minimalist. But it’s about giving up the things in your life that aren’t necessary.

10. Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck & Save on Food

The first step to living a more minimalist lifestyle is to cut down on your food expenses.

Are there some meals that you can skip or save for special occasions? Absolutely. If you’re serious about saving money, you have to cut out as many unnecessary expenses as possible.

When you’re used to eating at restaurants often, going grocery shopping can seem like a daunting task. But when you commit to eating at home as much as possible, you realize just how much money you’re saving.

There are so many ways to save money on groceries, from meal prepping to simply making substitutions when shopping.

By making a few changes to your shopping habits, you can save money on your food budget every month. You don’t have to buy everything you see on a grocery store shelf.

To help you save more on food and spend less, why not try this $5 meal plan? For a fortnight, cook only at home and see how much money you can save.

✍️ Handy Tip: Never go to the grocery store without a shopping list! Avoid impulse spending by sticking to what is on your list.

👉 Download this cute Shopping List I made just for my readers 🙂

MORE TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION

Take Surveys To Earn Cash & Rewards (Reduce Spending)

One of my favorite ways to save money is to reduce my spending by taking surveys.

Not only will taking surveys help you earn cash, it will also reward you with points that can be redeemed for gift cards and other rewards. This is a great way to use these rewards on your purchases.

Our number one recommendation for taking surveys is Survey Junkie.

Save on Bills with Rocket Money

We know managing money isn’t easy to do alone. Let Rocket Money work for you and manage subscriptions, negotiate bills on your behalf, budget and more.

With Rocket Money you can save money without even thinking about it! Track your spending, budget and set goals all in the one place.

Slash Credit Card Interest To Save More

Transfer all of your credit card debt to a Balance Transfer Credit Card. It’s possible to get a 0% APR for a certain period of time, but this will depend on your credit score.

Head on over to Credit Land to compare deals and pick a balance transfer card that works for you!

Save Money on Food with a $5 Meal Plan

One of life’s biggest expenses is food. And thankfully, one of the easiest ways to cut costs. A lot of us spend way more than we need on food.

Start saving with a $5 meal plan that will help you to stop eating out while still enjoying delicious meals at home.

Start Putting Savings Away

Start putting money aside for a rainy day, even if it’s just a few dollars a week! It all adds up and you’ll be glad you have some savings when you really need it.

I’m so glad I have an emergency fund for the times I’ve been caught out with massive bills. It takes a huge weight off and I started small, then gradually increased my savings each month. Just do what you can, every little bit helps.

Related posts:

5 Things You Can Easily Quit Now To Save Money

Best Tips On How To Save Money With No Spend Days