Are you really living paycheck to paycheck?

I had a conversation with someone recently about living paycheck to paycheck. I have scraped loose change together to get dinner at 7-11 in the past so I understand that way of life. Living day to day, working hard, and having no extra cash available is very stressful. Some industries pay every 30-45 days, so budgeting for that is difficult. It is tough to live hand to mouth whether someone is being paid too little to live on or being paid too sporadically. For most people, being paid is the incentive for showing up to work, of course there are exceptions. But when it comes down to eating versus not eating, the amount of money someone makes and the frequency of being paid matters.

The conversation I had which sparked today’s column, took a different turn when I felt empathy and began asking questions. That is when I learned that living paycheck to paycheck means different things to different people. This gentleman was frustrated that he had no savings and was working hard. So, I asked about his RRSPs, which it turns out he maxes out every year and his company matches his contributions. To him that was just part of his monthly expenses, and did not constitute savings. To me that is what RRSPs are, savings for later in life, a nest egg, and the company matching is a large sum to be considered in his annual compensation. I asked him about his home, which he owns, but of course has a mortgage. I say that owning a home is a privilege, and shows that this person is not living paycheck to paycheck. A mortgage is necessary to own the asset, unless you are extremely wealthy.

I asked this man about other debt, specifically, if he had any credit card debt. He said he doesn’t like to use credit cards, because he doesn’t want to have debt. And if he does use them, he’ll always pay them off at the end of the month. Paycheck to paycheck to me means credit cards are maxed, and certainly no home ownership with substantial equity! I asked if he had any past student loans, which are tough to pay back? The answer was no. I then found out that he had just bought a new car, and was feeling the pinch of paying a down payment on that. Oh, and he’d just booked a holiday with his family, so he felt he had no money left over after paying it off. Personally, that is not my idea of living paycheck to paycheck, that is what I call living!

I say people who are really living paycheck to paycheck cannot afford a house, a car, a trip, and RRSPs. But, I guess he felt he was not making enough money to meet his financial goals. I say the conversation should have been about that, and not comparing himself to those who really do search for spare change to put food on the table.

OMG, what is happening to our language?

Common workplace language has changed over the last decade. Perhaps our fast moving technology era has forced us to react quicker than we can think. We certainly have learned to abbreviate communication to the shortest possible character when we write, text, and even speak. But everything seems to be moving in that direction. Sometimes, I don’t even know what people are saying but others are laughing, so I L.O.L. too.

Lately, I have also noticed that in some workplaces, profanity is a norm. I have been guilty of a trucker mouth myself, but I am trying to contain it, especially at work. But, I have heard stories of workplaces where swearing is part of the everyday conversations with customers and staff. Maybe if this language style is the norm for all parties it could be acceptable, but it still comes out sounding aggressive and insulting no matter how many people are using profanity at work.

Tone is also a big part of language; how words come out can be considered sarcasm, the lowest form of wit. Perhaps we should take a moment to consider the ramifications in the workplace, before we swear, insult, or throw out sarcastic remarks. Seems people no longer take the time to think about asking thoughtful questions, being polite, listening, and making eye contact with customers and co-workers. Instead, we bark orders, and pay more attention to our phones vibrating texts than we do to the people we are with.

Language is now based on physical characters on a keyboard; the shorter the better. The world is changing and we all need to change with it, but I hope we can still find a way to connect with people, communicate with each other face to face, wait for an answer to a question, put our personal devices aside for a moment, and treat each other with respect.

As we learn to communicate at the speed of text or tweet, I hope we don’t lose the value of respectful language. If we can continue to think before we say something rude, abrupt, or out of context, our workplaces and our personal lives might be happier places to be. Next time we abbreviate something, perhaps we should take a quick look at it, to see if the word has other meanings in that form.
Although, one abbreviation I’ll never mix up is K.D.; I think I’ll make a box for lunch.

Could you live with less?

My husband and I often talk about what we could live with or without. We say we could move into a small condo, perhaps a two bedroom, as long as there’s a closet big enough for all my shoes!

After working for over thirty years and raising three sons, we certainly have accumulated a lot of things. Our house is perfect for a family of five, a tad too big for two, but we have all lived normal, middle-class lives. I think people live within their scope of income for the most part, and perhaps to an extent to the job position or title they hold. No one wants to go backwards or scale down; having less is not the North American way. We want more, we want bigger, and some cannot fathom living with less. Any of us who felt the negative impact of this past recession had to rethink the importance of the size of our house, our savings, and our shopping bags.

As we head into our November 11th Remembrance Day, make sure to take a moment to remember those who fought our battles, those who won and those who lost. November 11th was set to celebrate the end of World War 1, and in Canada, we pay tribute to those who died in any war. At 11 O’clock, on the 11th day, of the 11th month, in 2011, observe the two minutes of silence to remember those gone. I think we should also take an extra moment to be grateful for what we have, and think about what we could live without. Not that we have to give anything up, but could we? If we lost our jobs, our money, and our homes, but we still had our loved ones, our futures, and our minds, would we be OK? Could we downsize at work or at home? Could we live without going to restaurants or on vacations if we had to?

Most of us started our adult lives with very little, and yet we are attached to our purchases. We are attached to our jobs, and yet, we quit, move on, get laid off, and we move through that process. We should be attached to people, and we should appreciate them more; that should be part of the conversations we have this week when we are remembering those lost at war, or otherwise.

Buy a poppy and support the veterans! 11:11:11:11 will never happen again, one time only, this week! Think about what you could live without, and what you could not live without, and then take that extra moment to be grateful, and remember those who fought for us. Lest we forget.