In September, 41% of U.S. adults lived paycheck to paycheck and kept up with bills, compared with 25% who lived paycheck to paycheck and struggled to pay them.

Among buyers who considered subscriptions optional, the share who would cut them early was 18 percentage points higher for consumers living paycheck to paycheck and keeping up with bills.

Mortgage or homeownership costs were the expense most often named as the one consumers would protect longest in all three financial groups.

Consumers who lived paycheck to paycheck and kept up with their bills bought from an average of 1.9 discretionary categories over the previous year. That put them closer to consumers who struggled to pay bills, who bought from 1.6 categories, than to those who didn’t live paycheck to paycheck, who bought from 2.5.

Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

The two groups farthest apart in what they bought were closer in what they considered optional, as PYMNTS Intelligence found. Consumers who kept up with bills while living paycheck to paycheck classified an average of 10.5 of 22 categories as discretionary, compared with 10.1 among those who didn’t live paycheck to paycheck. In the September survey of 2,487 U.S. adults, counted a purchase as discretionary only when the respondent considered the category optional.

Among people who made discretionary purchases, 40% of those living paycheck to paycheck without difficulty paying bills rated at least one category a notable or major expense in a typical month.

Source link