How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck by 2023

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It’s a vicious cycle worth breaking.

Key points

• Many people are living paycheck to paycheck due to inflation.
• If you’re tired of that, there are steps you can take to change your situation for the better.
• Rethink your spending, consolidate debt, and take on a second job to build up a financial cushion.

You’ll often hear that it’s important to maintain savings in case your bills come in higher than expected or you wind up out of a job for a period of time. The problem, though, is that inflation has been soaring this year. And because of that, many people have depleted their savings just to stay afloat.

The result? A lot of workers are now living paycheck to paycheck with no financial cushion to fall back on. If that’s the boat you’re in, you’re in good company, unfortunately. But it’s also important to do what you can to break that cycle. Here are a few steps to take to start off 2023 in a better place financially.

1. Rethink your spending

You may be paying for the same set of expenses you were before inflation took hold. But recent data shows that Americans are now spending an average of $445 more per month due to higher living costs. And so it may be time to rethink your spending and dump some expenses, or make adjustments to your current bills.

If you have no money left over in savings, now is really not the time to be paying a monthly gym membership fee or ordering takeout twice a week. It pays to cut any expenses along those…