Paycheck to paycheck is the reality for 64% of Americans living in the west

SALT LAKE CITY — New research from LendingClub shows even though the rate of inflation dropped several points from July of last year, the percentage of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is up.

The report shows that rising costs have many families struggling, and millennials seem to be doing the worst with 73% living paycheck to paycheck.

KSL NewsRadio spoke to a couple of Utahans who agreed.

Denise said her daughter, who just graduated from college, moved back home because it’s just too expensive for a single person to live on their own.

“We are not scrapping on everything,” Denise said. “We are living comfortably, not over our means, but we don’t have a lot of extra for sure.”

Natalie thinks living paycheck to paycheck is something being experienced by many Americans, including her.

“We are experiencing that at home, there’s not a lot of expendable money,” she said. “I don’t think people are doing regular weekly activities anymore … and it’s because everything has gone up. I think everyone is feeling we spend more but we are not getting more.” 

Natalie said one thing they’re doing to try and make ends meet, is being careful to not throw away food and to make sure it gets put away and eaten later.

“We’ve had to adjust. I think everyone has whether that’s we don’t eat out as much, or we only go to one movie, or wait until you can rent it,” Natalie said.

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