It's expensive to be poor

Imagine it's payday. Imagine opening your check, looking at the amount then having to decide: Do I eat this week or keep a roof over my head? And how do I pay for gas to get back and forth to work?
 
People earning in the bottom 30 percent make on average $14,000 per year but need to come up with at least $25,000 a year just to cover basic needs like housing and food. As CNNMoney reports, low-income families easily fall into debt by being forced to turn to payday loans or credit cards in order to get by, despite having full-time jobs.
 
Middle-income earners, those earning on average $54,000 a year, aren't faring much better, according to the report. They spend around $48,000 a year to support their families, or almost 90 percent of their income. Wealthy people, however, spend on average about $100,000 of their average $166,000 annual incomes and so are able to save the balance, thus continually increasing their net worth.

Read more from CNNMoney.[[In-content Ad]]