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Imagine a person who is working. They may be paid hourly; it may be minimum wage or a little more. They are bringing home enough to pay rent, food, utilities, car insurance and other small incidentals. But a savings account is usually nonexistent.
What happens if your hours are reduced? Let’s examine a household of a family with 2 adults and 2 children, one in childcare, in Buchanan County1.
Both people working $15/hr x 40 hrs/week = $600/week x 4 weeks = $4,800/month
Housing & Utilities= $762
Food $678
Childcare $1,032
Transportation $1,152
Healthcare $1,480
Other necessities $581
Taxes $884
Total Expenses $6,570
What doesn’t get paid?
Imagine if one person’s hours are cut to 30/week. Now, the monthly income is $4,200.
Imagine someone being laid off. The household income drops to $2,400. Sure, childcare could fall off the expense list, but what else will have to be skipped?
This is just the type of situation that causes a tailspin. When a family is living paycheck to paycheck, there isn’t a penny in the pocket the day before payday. If their income changes, in a very short time, a family that was surviving now can’t pay their rent. They may slide a month, but then they must vacate the premises, they will be evicted. Even if the money is put toward rent, utilities will go unpaid, food will become scarce, gas will be hard to pay without cash on hand and there will be no necessities provided at all.
It is a snowball effect. They may live in their vehicle while they look for somewhere to live. They have stay that way until they have saved rent, deposit, security, etc. This could take months, with two kids living in a car!
How quickly this can happen.
Now, imagine your similar expenses:
Housing & Utilities______
Food______
Childcare ______
Transportation ______
Healthcare ______
Other necessities ______
Taxes ______
TL $______
How much have you saved?
Something to think about.
Follow her story at www.HelpMarie.org
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1-Economic Policy Institute – epi.org/resources/budget