I have a job. For years I’ve been trying to save up for an air conditioner. “Maybe I’ll finally have enough saved up by this summer. No probably by winter I’ll be able to afford one.” is what I’m telling myself now and what I’ve been telling myself for years.
anyway, last summer All I could do exhausted after work everyday was lay here and sweat on a towel and drink water.
Way low. A fifth of people in the US have no emergency fund at all. A third have something squirreled away but not enough to cover 3 months of expenses. That’s half the country right there that’s living on the edge of ruin.
It doesn’t include the 11% who meet the definition of poverty. Based on the definition on the ALICE page, it’s 29% of households above the poverty line who still can’t afford the basics. It doesn’t include people with inadequate savings who are making ends meet, albeit paycheck to paycheck, but who aren’t trying to choose between rent/food/transportation and racking up credit card debt.