读者提问：
请解释一下这个句子，尤其是"薪水支票":山姆厌倦了薪水支票的生活
我的评论：
这意味着山姆总是在他从山姆的雇主那里拿到下一份薪水支票之前就把钱花光了。他厌倦了这样的生活。生病，是指又病又累，比生病更累。
换句话说，山姆已经受够了这种生活方式——在他从工作单位拿到下一份薪水之前，他可能不得不去借钱和乞讨。
很明显，萨姆有一份报酬不高的工作。
或者，也许报酬很高，但山姆不是一个节俭的人。
或者，也许两者都是真的。山姆的工作报酬不高，他也不擅长理财——让钱用得更久。
也就是说，让它比现在持续的时间更长。现在，他的薪水每周或每月都会枯竭，这取决于他的工资支付方式。下周，下个月，同样的事情会发生。他花光了最后一分钱，不得不等待下一次工资的到来。否则他将不得不借钱并负债。
毫无疑问，这是一种繁重、令人疲惫的生活。
这就是为什么他厌倦了。
生病，再一次，生病和疲倦，比生病更累。
有一天，他可能会生病，即生病，需要钱来治疗。然后，他会真的厌倦了。
也许，说起来容易，做起来也容易，萨姆应该学会存钱，就像未雨绸缪那样。
有了一点积蓄，也许他可以更好地享受生活——正如他们所说的，可以过上更好的生活。
那样的话，他将会越来越强大，而不是一份一份的薪水。
不管怎么说，这就是一个人的生活，一份接一份，花光所有的钱，为了生存，不得不等待下一份薪水。
顺便说一句，有很多人过着或不得不过着那样的生活。
这里有几个媒体的例子
1.无论你挣多少钱，对大多数人来说，过日子仍然是一种挣扎。
根据职业建筑师最近的一份报告，78%的全职员工表示他们靠薪水生活，高于去年的75%。
总体而言，71便士
rcent of all U.S. workers said they’re now in debt, up from 68 percent a year ago, CareerBuilder said.While 46 percent said their debt is manageable, 56 percent said they were in over their heads. About 56 percent also save $100 or less each month, according to CareerBuilder. The job-hunting site polled over 2,000 hiring and human resource managers and more than 3,000 full-time employees between May and June.
Most financial experts recommend stashing at least a six-month cushion in an emergency fund to cover anything from a dental bill to a car repair — and more if you are the sole breadwinner in your family or in business for yourself.
While household income has grown over the past decade, it has failed to keep up with the increased cost-of-living over the same period.
Even those making over six figures said they struggle to make ends meet, the report said. Nearly 1 in 10 of those making $100,000 or more said they usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, and 59 percent of those in that salary range said they were in the red.
- Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck, CNBC.com, August 24, 2017.
2. As President Donald Trump’s partial government shutdown drags on over Congress’ refusal to fully fund the wall he wants to build along the nation’s southwest border, federal workers’ frustration is spilling into public view.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that “many” federal workers support the shutdown, saying he’s heard from federal workers who want him to “stay out until you get the funding for the wall.”
“These federal workers want the wall,” Trump said during a question-and-answer session in the Oval Office on Christmas Day. “The only one that doesn’t want the wall are the Democrats, because they don’t mind open borders.”
That angered many federal workers who are furloughed or going without pay over the holidays. Trump has refused to sign funding legislation until Congress gives him money for a border wall. While the two sides square off, many federal workers are wondering when they’ll get another paycheck.
“My husband is a federal worker, we need our paycheck next week to pay our mortgage,” Theresa Garcia, in Copperas Cove, Texas, tweeted, adding “#TrumpResign.”
“I am a federal worker who is working without pay. And yes, we live paycheck to paycheck. Who will pay my mortgage January 1st? You?” another federal worker tweeted at Trump.
- Trump says federal workers want his shutdown. But they’re not having it. ThinkProgress.org, December 26, 2018.
3. Many living paycheck to paycheck have had job losses or an illness has set them back.
I get so annoyed at people who seek to shame people for their failure to save more.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) angered a lot of people when, commenting on the partial federal government shutdown, he said: “Who’s living that they’re not going to make it to the next paycheck?”
Perry deserved to be criticized for his broad-brush stoke of federal workers struggling to make ends meet. His statement lacked empathy and a grasp of the economic reality of a lot of people living in America. His statement was tone-deaf to the federal employees left with the consequences of politicians using their pay as a political ping pong ball.
However, I also know there are a lot of people who have mismanaged their money. They have cable when they shouldn’t. They eat out — a lot. They’ve made the choice to send their children to colleges at any price — meaning they’ve relied on a lot of student loans that will take decades to pay off. They couldn’t fathom sending their children to community college first to cut the cost of a higher education.
They’ve taken cruises or vacations to the Caribbean when that money should have been saved. Their closets are full of clothes, purses and shoes from shopping sprees. The mall is their refuge. Their children have had lavish birthday parties fit for a prince or princess. Their homes look like museums. The truth is they do have the ability to save more, yet they’ve turned their wants into needs and that’s why they can’t miss a single paycheck.
I’ve worked with people whose total monthly credit card debt is almost as much as their rent. They could have done without much of the stuff they bought on credit. They have monthly car payments for luxury cars that have made me gasp. (Who has an $800 or $1,000 car payment and no emergency fund? That’s madness!)
I’ve helped people who have entrepreneurial aspirations but refuse to realize they aren’t good at being their own boss. They want to run a business or become a real estate magnate but haven’t done the work that will give them a chance for it to succeed. They don’t have a well-thought-out business plan. What they have is a dream. But dreams don’t pay the bills.
- Tell the truth. Could you have done better with your finances? By Michelle Singletary, WashingtonPost.com, January 3, 2019.
本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。
About the author:
Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
（作者：张欣 编辑：丹妮）
