In a viral video, a Target worker showed how she budgets her paycheck and stays afloat while living alone.
The video comes from TikTok creator Kailin Sondae (@kaitlinsondae), who has been previously featured on the Daily Dot for her content about working at Target and for calling out the retailer on its measly raises.
In her latest video, the Target worker wrote out her budget and laid out exactly where the money from her paycheck was going.
@kaitlinsondae Budgeting My Target Paycheck🎯 #targetpay #targetemployee #targetworker #budgeting #budgetingmypaycheck ♬ original sound – Kaitlin Sondae
Kaitlin shared that she gets paid biweekly and earned a gross total of $1,226.66 for about 77 hours of work. That amounted to $775.19 after taxes.
She broke down her key expenses, including $692.72 for rent, $15.12 for gas, a water bill of $33.56, and groceries for $20.
Kaitlin said she also did a little dog-sitting that week to supplement her paycheck from Target. With the extra money, she said she bought $36.67 worth of food for her dog and paid off her credit card bill of $40.
After deducting all her expenses, Kaitlin was left with $13.79.
“I love that so much. Yay!” the creator said, concluding her video.
Living paycheck to paycheck refers to a situation in which a person could not afford their cost of living if they suddenly lost their job. With inflation remaining high and the looming threat of a recession, Americans continue to feel financially stressed with 58% living paycheck to paycheck, as reported by CNBC.
Kaitlin’s video received more than 825,000 views, and the Target worker’s paycheck and financial situation resonated with a number of users.
“Me getting $2-4k every 2 weeks with no mortgage it still not being enough,” the most popular comment read.
“I make more than that a week and still struggle lol how do you survive,” another person said.
“Wowwwww I thought I was the only one who went through this,” someone else wrote, appreciating the solidarity.
One user called Kaitlin’s budget “realistic,” and commended the creator for her honesty. They wrote, “Being paycheck to paycheck is a very common thing and nobody talks about it!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Kaitlin for comment via email.
