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With costs rising, families living paycheck to paycheck
By Anne D’Innocenzio
Associated Press
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NEW YORK -- The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.

Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It’s starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.

While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade.

From Family Dollar to Wal-Mart, merchants have adjusted their product mix and pricing accordingly. Sales data show a marked and more prolonged drop in spending in the days before shoppers get their paychecks, when they buy only the barest essentials before splurging around payday.

“It’s pretty pronounced,” said Kiley Rawlins, a spokeswoman at Family Dollar. “It seems like to us, customers are running out of food products, paper towels sooner in the month.”

Mom skips meals

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said the imbalance in spending before and after payday in July was the biggest it has ever seen, though the drop-off wasn’t as steep in August.

And 7-Eleven says its grocery sales have jumped 12 to 13 percent over the past year, compared with only slight increases for non-necessities like gloves and toys. Shoppers can’t afford to load up at the supermarket and are going to the most convenient places to buy emergency food items like milk and eggs.

“It even costs more to get the basics like soap and laundry detergent,” said Michelle Grassia, who lives with her husband and three teenage children in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Her husband’s check from his job at a grocery store used to last four days. “Now, it lasts only two,” she said.

To make up the difference, Grassia buys one gallon of milk a week instead of three. She sometimes skips breakfast and lunch to make sure there’s enough food for her children. She cooks with a hot plate because gas is too expensive. And she depends more than ever on the bags of free vegetables and powdered milk from a local food pantry.

Grassia’s story is neither new nor unique. With the fastest-rising food and energy prices since the 1980s, low-income consumers are stretching their budgets by eating cheap foods like peanut butter and pasta.

Industry analysts and some economists fear the strain will get worse as people are hit with higher home heating bills this winter and mortgage rates go up.

‘Everything is up’

It’s bad enough already for 85-year-old Dominica Hoffman.

She gets $1,400 a month in pension and Social Security from her days in the garment industry. After paying $500 in rent on an apartment in Pennsauken, N.J., and shelling out money for food, gas and other expenses, she’s broke by the end of the month. She’s had to cut fruits and vegetables from her grocery order — and that’s even with financial help from her children.

“Everything is up,” she said.

Many consumers, particularly those making less than $30,000 a year, are cutting spending on nutritious food like milk and vegetables, and analysts fear they’re further skimping on basic medical care and other critical services.

Coupon-clipping just isn’t enough.

“The reality of hunger is right here,” said the Rev. Melony Samuels, director of The BedStuy Campaign Against Hunger, a church-affiliated food pantry in Brooklyn.

The pantry scrambled to feed 5,000 new families over the past 12 months, up almost 70 percent from 3,000 the year before.

“I am shocked to see such numbers,” Samuels said, “and I am really concerned that this is just the beginning of what we are going to see.”

In the past three months, Samuels has seen more clients in higher-paying jobs — the $35,000 range — line up for food.

The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which covers 23 counties in New York State, cited a 30 percent rise in visitors in the first nine months of this year, compared with 2006.

Maureen Schnellmann, senior director of food and nutrition programs at the American Red Cross Food Pantry in Boston, reported a 30 percent increase from January through August over last year.

Nutrition worries

Until a few months ago, Dellria Seales, a home care assistant, was just getting by living with her daughter, a hairdresser, and two grandchildren in a one-bedroom apartment for $750 a month. But a knee injury in January forced her to quit her job, leaving her at the mercy of Samuels’ pantry because most of her daughter’s $1,200 a month income goes to rent, energy and food costs.

“I need it. Without it, we wouldn’t survive,” Seales said as she picked up carrots and bananas.

John Vogel, a professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, worries that the squeeze will lead to a less nutritious diet and inadequate medical or child care.

In the meantime, rising costs show no signs of abating.

Gas prices hit a record nationwide average of $3.23 per gallon in late May before receding a little, though prices have started to soar again. Food costs have increased 4.5 percent over the past 12 months, partly because of higher fuel costs. Egg prices were 44 percent higher, while milk was up 21.3 percent over the past 12 months to nearly $4 a gallon, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average family of four is spending anywhere from $7 to $10 extra a week — $40 more a month — on groceries alone, compared to a year ago, according to retail consultant Burt Flickinger III.

And while overall wage growth is a solid 4.1 percent over the past 12 months, economists say the increases are mostly for the top earners.

Retailers adjusting

Retailers started noticing the strain in late spring and early summer as they were monitoring the spending around the paycheck cycle.

Wal-Mart and Family Dollar key on the first week of the month, when government checks like Social Security and public assistance generally hit consumers’ mailboxes.

7-Eleven, whose customers are more diverse, looks at paycheck cycles in specific markets dominated by a major employer, such as General Motors in Detroit, to discern trends in shopping.

To economize, shoppers are going for less expensive food.

“They’re buying more peanut butter and pasta. And they’re going for hamburger meat,” Flickinger said. “They’re trying to outsmart the store by looking for deep discounts at the end of the month.”

He said the last time he saw this was 2000-2001, when the dot-com bubble burst and the economy went into a recession after massive layoffs.

For now, low-price retailers are readjusting their merchandising and pricing.

Wal-Mart is becoming more aggressive on discounting. It recently announced it is expanding price cuts to 15,000 items, ranging from Motts apple juice and Progresso soups to women’s fleece tops, heading into the holidays.

Family Dollar, whose food offerings were limited to candy and snacks until two years ago, has expanded its mix of groceries like fruit cups, cereal and such refrigerated items as milk and ice cream while cutting back on shoes. This summer the chain began accepting food stamps.

Food pantries are also getting creative. Samuels said her church, Full Gospel Tabernacle of Faith, just started offering free cooking classes to teach clients who are diabetic or have other health conditions how to prepare vegetables like squash. It’s also offering free exercise classes.

“We are trying to make them health conscious,” Samuels said. “It’s not right to give them just anything. Our mantra is eat well and live well.”

Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Mount Laurel, N.J., and Terry Tang in Phoenix, Ariz., contributed to this report.

Take a look
Marta Zepeda an employee at a 7-Eleven store stocks the shelves at the store in downtown Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 27 , 2007. 7-Eleven is seeing sales of grocery items up 12 percent over the past year; executive believe that it's because shoppers are so squeezed that they can't afford to load up on groceries when money is tight so they make emergency trips, buying condiments like ketchup and mustard as well as basics like milk and eggs. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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Reader comments on this story - 40 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

To: To big families wrote on Nov 12, 2007 4:45 AM:

" I'm the one who's money is so tight, the one with the garden. I said we work, so YOU don't support us. As for the large family, two children are ours, the other three belonged to my deceased sister & we took them in because of family love & so that they wouldn't be state supported as foster kids who might have been seperated. As for some of the other big families barely making it, did you think that maybe their religion doesn't allow birth control? I was taught to think before I speak, obviously you weren't. "

wants vs. needs wrote on Nov 11, 2007 11:35 PM:

" I think a couple people have pointed out what I especially feel feeds the problem. Now, without a doubt, the money and opportunity available for the Everyday American is far less than the cost of life for that same person. But, also without a doubt, we as a country and a society have a serious problem with what we imagine to be "necessary" for a "good life". I feel far too many Americans simply assume we should all be living like celebrities, and we've been lied to, told that this is the truth. No one told my generation (I'm 26) that life doesn't promise any wealth, in fact, likely promises a lack of it. No one told me that I can still be happy and sane without a multi-million dollar house and a damned Hummer in my driveway. Really, I think alot of this "problem" is all about what we think we need. Time for America to truly toughen up, and expensive cars and jewelery certainly won't help. "

To "Fuh-nee" wrote on Nov 11, 2007 9:56 PM:

" I'm sure you'll be laughing your way to the "stone soup" line with the rest of us when the depression hits; the only people not hurt by the first Great Depression were the top 1/2 of 1% wealthiest Americans. Everyone else; no job, no food, starvation, and nearly no hope. Good luck as you laugh away the pain. We've become complacent . I think my mother has it right; she has literally months worth of food stock-piled in her pantry, she always has since I was a little girl. Guess what; she was raised by a mother who survived the Great Depression (she herself a child of WWII). It is NOT a game as you so glibly claim; my best guess is you are very young and naiive. "

to: fed up wrote on Nov 11, 2007 8:40 PM:

" You can blame Clinton for NAFTA, but Ronald Reagan, George H Bush, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, Newt Gingrich, and George Shultz all supported it, even though some of them were out of office at the time. Why aren't you blaming them, too? "

to: You can all complain wrote on Nov 11, 2007 8:38 PM:

" If you really believe what you wrote, why don't you invest every cent you can in oil stocks? "

You can all complain~~ wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:11 PM:

" but it's not going to change for the better, only get worse. I've been telling my kids this for quite some time and they still don't believe me. They will, it's closer than people imagine. Some people have to say stupid things to compensate for the fear they have of living in a poor world, but America is not the rich country it use to be. Yes, I do blame GWB, this man wants to make sure his oil stocks are safe and has gone to many lengths to prove it. When gas goes up so does everything else with it. How do you think you get your supplies (truck or train or plane) and heat your home or drive your car? All these take fuel to run which keeps your prez and vice prez in the $$$. This has been long over due and slow in coming until one day you wake up and WHAM!!! "

To big families.... wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:43 PM:

" maybe you should have considered all aspects of having more than one child before pumping them all out....since you had a lot and can't afford them in the tight economy, the rest of us are going to bail you out? nice. also, i'm so glad that united way cut out planned parenthood; we would't want people to actually be able to control the size of their family in a responsible way when it's so much easier to protest abortion after the fact. "shaking head and walking away" "

Barely making it wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:38 PM:

" I agree with everyone how you see those people in te grocery stores, with a link card, Cell phones, and 4,000.00 rims. Those are the people that are giving people like me a bad name. I have 3 smal children and a husband who was in a bad accident last year who can't walk without crutches or get around without a wheel chair. I work 40-60 hrs a week at a fulltime job and have a part-time job. The only reason I have internet is because of my part-time job. We are not poor by any means, yet. But it's getting there. And people like that hurt people like my family from getting any help. "

Juicy fruit~ wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:35 PM:

" I don't know how people are doing it, really. Won't be long and EVERYBODY will be depending on some sort of aid to help out. SCARY! "

Money is so tight wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:34 PM:

" that even though my husband I are both working we've taken to planting a garden every year so we can freeze & can the vegetables just to help cut the cost of our groceries. We had to cut corners somewhere. We have no credit cards, only have cell phones with no land line. We wouldn't have the cells if our work places didn't need a phone number to reach us. No cable, no satellite, just good old fashioned "Farm vision". Our only luxuries are books & the internet, which we keep so the kids can keep up in school. The cost of gas so that we can get to work is outrageous & my husband has health problems that require medications with costs per month that would feed my family of five for a week & a half. The ironic part is that I work for SF, you know it, it's the place that so many people mistakenly thinks pays it's employees so well. Sorry to burst the bubble of so many people, but contrary to belief, we're not all "SF snobs" & we don't all make big bucks. "

fed up wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:30 PM:

" Thanks to Clinton we have NAFTA and our companies have moved overseas leaving us with fewer jobs. Hillary wants amnesty. God help us if people are dumb enough to vote for her. "

Just a couple of suggestions wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:25 PM:

" Maybe we our country wouldn't be in so much debt if we discontinue paying congress & the president their salaries after they leave office. Let them live off their savings & social security the same as the average working man. How about a wage cap for top executives? Like maybe no one should be allowed to make more than $100,000-$200,000 a year in salary? I don't know of too many people who can't live on that. If the corporate big shots made a reasonable salary instead of the millions or billions a year that they do, maybe then they could share the wealth amongst the actual, hard working people who keep their companies afloat. But this will never come to pass as it would no longer elevate the rich above the poor & almost non-existent middle class & we all know the rich will never allow that to happen. "

fuh-NEE wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:00 PM:

" Listen to all you Chicken Littles. So people have more things they want than they can afford. Is that new? People live much better than they did 50 years ago. Now we take for granted central air, computers, cell phones, dishwashers, in-home washers and dryers, remote control TVs, power lawn mowers, cheap long distance service, and affordable air travel. Every year, some former luxury becomes a necessity, in the eyes of the consumers. That's the real issue. The sky is not falling, folks. "

Budgeter wrote on Nov 11, 2007 3:53 PM:

" As a good budgeting family, I have seen this in the stores too! By the time I buy meat, veggies, fruit, and milk (important to us) that is seriously about 70% of our $100 every 2 weeks (and that is USING Aldi already). Sigh...Aldis yogurt went up from 33 cents to 43 cents and eggs from 78 cents to 1.50. It's MADNESS. I don't know where "facts" about depressions and what not are coming from, but I sure am scared for this time next year. COLA (cost of living adjustments), don't factor in gas costs etc...I think that is RIDICULOUS! "

to: anyone wrote on Nov 11, 2007 3:27 PM:

" Good, I hope there is another depression. Then I can buy up stocks and real estate at discounted prices and make a mint. "

homes for sale wrote on Nov 11, 2007 3:04 PM:

" Look at all the homes for sale. Im talking NEW homes in subdivisions that people realize they cant afford. You can see a for sale sign in one yard and usually turn and see one up the street. What is going to happen to all the homes people cant afford no more??? People has to keep up with the Jones ya know. HAHA ..Computers, cable tv, i-pods, 2 new cars in the driveway. Well pretty soon you cant pay the house payment, insurance, and taxes. "

I do all my grocery shopping at the 7-11 wrote on Nov 11, 2007 3:01 PM:

" I was really bummed when they stopped supplying shopping carts and baggers. WTF??!!&?@%!@! "

My thought wrote on Nov 11, 2007 1:59 PM:

" If you can't live on $35k, you can't live on $75K. I made less than $30K my first 2 years working and was able to save for an emergency fund and a 20% down payment on a house. It's all about priorities. Sure, I didn't have a family, but I also made wise decisions: no cable or internet, had a roommate, we cooked most of our own meals, etc. I dare say it's not impossible to live a decent life with a couple both earning near minimum wage. (Granted you can't do that with 5 kids.) But why be smart when you know 'the government' will always be there to bail out your bad decisions? "

al wrote on Nov 11, 2007 12:54 PM:

" to to curious: well i too once dated a nursing student, but she had this bizzare idea of having a part time job. crazy huh? and she was able to eat fruits and vegetables... and she did this other thing called walking, i believe that was free and she didnt gain weight. maybe your hubby could look into it, "

Bull wrote on Nov 11, 2007 12:35 PM:

" whats the world coming to not slaming anyone but half the people that are on link drive brand new cars and sit at home and eat bon bons all day while we work are butts off I see people at the store with link that have steaks and all this expensive food in there carts talking on cell phones I work 70 hours a week so my family can eat hamburger i feel for those people they all are going to have a rude awaking people are going under now and its not even as bad as its gonna get "

huh wrote on Nov 11, 2007 12:30 PM:

" until the rich people get poor, is NOT NOTHING going to change...... "

before you know it.. wrote on Nov 11, 2007 10:55 AM:

" everyone will be on welfare just to get by.we are a large family and we get no help from the state.you can get by w/just the basics.we dont all need cell phones,computers,fancy cars and expensive clothes.the biggest problem is people who have to have all these items and then cant pay for the them.i am sick of seeing these link people every month getting cart fulls of expensive food that us average people cant afford.thats are hard earned tax money at work.maybe the goverment should reward those of us who bust are butts daily and stop helping those who sit at home and mooch off of us. "

blame the government wrote on Nov 11, 2007 10:50 AM:

" Right. Is Bush to blame for the thousands of dollars of credit card debt you and half the country are carrying around? What about all the expensive homes people have been buying on credit who are now facing bankruptcy- did Bush have anything to do with that? If anything, wars actually stimulate the economy (the Great Depression did not end until WW II started). The only reason we can tie anything on the war in Iraq is if we expect the government to bail out the mortgage industry. Actually, I blame institutionalized CORRUPTION at all levels of government for squandering the wealth of this country. But in the end we are to blame, if only for the jokers we vote into office. "

the party is OVER wrote on Nov 11, 2007 10:42 AM:

" Do you know why this is a big deal? Because Americans weren't saving nearly enough even when times were really good (as they have been since the early 90's). So when it's time to reduce your standard of living there's nothing to fall back on. I know too many people who have had this "eat and drink [especially the latter in B-N], for tomorrow we die" attitude. They, and we, are in a lot of trouble now. "

JJ wrote on Nov 11, 2007 10:08 AM:

" How about this. A friend and I use to do Goodwill a lot. It was more of an adventure than anything because never knew what we were going to find. They gotten busier and have fancied themselves up. Getting very picky and not putting out near the goodies I use to find. AND they have jump on the band wagon of making a buck while they can. Their prices are up. Somethings you can get cheaper when the store has a cleareance sale. At times like this, you'd think they keep those prices down because a lot of people depend on them for clothing and other things they just couldn't afford to get elsewhere. I do a lot of garage sells during good weather now. I now give to Salvation Army. "

heck yes wrote on Nov 11, 2007 10:08 AM:

" I feel that pinch as a single parent every single day. My rent has gone up, it cost me more money to drive to work and run other chores and my power bill is up. I am normally finished Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving so that I don't have to deal with the busy stores. This year, I haven't had the money to even start. "

To Wondering wrote on Nov 11, 2007 9:21 AM:

" Good point. Nobody ever raises that question. I see people that look as if they are poor, walking around with a cell phone stuck to their ear. Doesn't make much sense to me. That $40/month could go a long way at grocery store or clothing store. What really scares me is that there are people who live in this country that believe its time to "redistribute the wealth" like B town Dem. "

To: Curious wrote on Nov 11, 2007 9:11 AM:

" I have often wondered the same thing. Eating healthy is expensive...my husband is a full-time nursing student, and we live on my salary of $24,000 per year. While we're not at poverty level, it's tough making ends meet; we get by but we find ourselves buying cheap, high fat/high sodium foods to stretch the dollar. I would live to buy fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats, but we just can't afford it right now. We have both found that we have both gained weight... "

RE: Wondering wrote on Nov 11, 2007 8:22 AM:

" I 'd like an answer to that also. I've seen several people in line at the store paying with a Link Card while talking on an expensive cell phone and getting into a car with $4,000 worth of rims. "

Penny wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:51 AM:

" I agree with "Anyone." Just last night my husband said it feels like we're heading for a depression. I commented that the next thing ya know, they'll be rationing. We used to not worry too much about paying Ameren (not to say we were happy about their theivery), and about groceries. Yes, we've always been carefully, but we've not worried like we do now. The sharp increase of prices not only at the pump but in the grocery store is shocking. I think we're all in big trouble here, folks, and I think we're getting ready to see big changes that will force us all to do without a lot. Knowing this spoiled society, and sad to say, it's doubtful we'll pull together to help each other through it. Tsk tsk "

Wondering..... wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:25 AM:

" ...how many of these people have money for smokes, liquor, recreational drugs, internet, cell phone, i-pod, cable tv, cd's, dvd's and other non-essentials. "

My granny wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:20 AM:

" Has said the SAME thing! God save us all. "

JMK wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:19 AM:

" Somebody's going to have to pay for the generation of debt left for us by spend happy baby boomers. It's ok, your kids and grandkids will pick up the tab. "

B town Dem wrote on Nov 11, 2007 7:16 AM:

" So sad - so many people left behind while the rich get richer. Time to redistribute the wealth! "

taxes wrote on Nov 11, 2007 6:45 AM:

" Just wait till Hillary gets in office and our taxes go up. Then the referendum to raise our property taxes will go up as well (even though they already go up every year somehow in this market). We better get our taxes under control and start cutting the entitlement programs. "

Curious wrote on Nov 11, 2007 5:53 AM:

" I would be curious to see a related story about obesity among low-income families. While shopping, I find myself buying cheaper, higher-fat foods just to stretch a dollar; plus, fresh fruits, etc. are quite expensive and do not last long. "

WHAT??? wrote on Nov 11, 2007 3:27 AM:

" People working paycheck to paycheck has been going on for quite a while now. This article is about 15 years late...lol. Everything is going up so much that the cost of living raises (If you even have a job where you get one) doesnt help that much. last year I think it made me another $16 a week. Gas at 3.00 a gallon will eat that difference up in a hurry by itself. I dont count on social security. It will probably be done by the time I get there. IF peanut butter is cheap, Id like to know where they are buying it at. "

OGS Billions to War wrote on Nov 11, 2007 2:03 AM:

" Still our foolish government sends billions of dollars to the black hole known as Iraq and comtemplates war with Iran. NAFTA was the beginning of massive job layoffs and it needs to be repealed. Ron Paul for President in 2008 represents Hope for America. "

The Great Depression II... wrote on Nov 11, 2007 12:49 AM:

" can be avoided. Vote Ron Paul for president in '08. "

Anyone wrote on Nov 10, 2007 11:24 PM:

" Who thinks that the next Great Depression is not knocking at our door ready to come in is fooling themselves....I don't believe there is any way we can avoid the huge meltdown that has been long-due our overstuffed, over-reliant-on-foreign-supply economy. I just hope we can survive this time. "
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