Everyone has a different definition of «living paycheck to paycheck.» If you’ve never lived in actual poverty, you have no idea how resourceful you have to be to stretch less than $100 over two weeks and how stressful it is to live like that. Even if your situation isn’t that dismal, you might not be able to pay your rent if you miss more than one or two paychecks, and that’s super frightening. Another group on the other side of this paradigm is those who say they work paycheck to paycheck but shouldn’t have to. Many workers do not manage their finances well, and although they make more than they need to survive, they spend every penny they make every month on things they don’t need. You might not be able to personal finance your way out of abject poverty, but you can personal finance your way to some savings, especially if you’re making $80K a year and pay $1175 a month in rent.