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Woman reveals take-home pay from $95k salary and it explains why everything is broken

It sounds like a lot, but viewers couldn't believe how fast her paycheck disappeared.

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A woman breaks down her $95k paychecks and people are surprised by what's left.

More money, more problems? Maybe not, but definitely some problems. Big ones. Making six figures ($100,000 per year or more) used to really mean something in America. It was a big milestone in someone's life and career, signaling, at least from the outside, that they had made it. They were officially a success. Six figures never necessarily meant that you were rich, but it definitely set you up for a very comfortable life. You could afford a home, a couple of kids, yearly vacations, the works.

My, how things have changed.

One woman recently took to social media to share exactly how far her near-six-figure salary goes, and it's not nearly as far as it used to be.

Kait Alayna, who posts on TikTok about personal finance, budgeting, and all things money, shared a video recently breaking down her $95,500 annual salary. (It's not six figures, but it's pretty close.)

"[My net paycheck] can seem kind of low for my salary," she says in the video, responding to a commenter. "So here's the breakdown of gross to net so you can see where all the funds are going."

In captions on the video, she shows that her gross paycheck is $3,979. $399.91 goes to her 401k contribution. Seventy-five dollars go to a health savings account, and she pays another $68.88 per pay period for health, dental, and vision insurance. A chunky $882.30 is taken out of her paychecks for taxes.

That leaves her with just $2,553 in her pocket per pay period. That's about $5,000 in monthly take-home pay.

For Alayna's next trick, we get to watch it all disappear!

@kaitalayna

Replying to @Faith Hainey my semi-monthly gross paycheck -> net paycheck breakdown #paytransparency #salarytransparency #paycheckbreakdown #PersonalFinance

Five thousand dollars per month is nothing to sneeze at, of course! By all accounts, Alayna is doing great in her life and career.

But it vanishes from bank accounts faster than ever in the year 2025. In another video, she breaks down her monthly budget, which she shares with her fiancé:

Rent is $1780, and the total of all of their "essential" costs like groceries, gas, car insurance, cell phones, etc. is a whopping $4600 per month. Again, some of these costs are shared between two people, but that's nearly all of Alayna's paycheck swallowed up right off the bat!

Crucially, they're spending an extra $700 per month on paying off debt like student loans, on top of the $550 mandatory payments. Together, they own over $60,000 in student loan and other debts. We don't know the terms of their loans, but it often takes people decades (or even a lifetime) to pay down balances like that.

Commenters could relate to Alayna's situation:

"I have the same salary, nearly the same deductions, and I take home $2200. We are in such a hard spot" one user wrote.

"I made $100k a year and only being home like $2400. FSA, 403b, retirement pension, taxes, college savings. Sometimes I’m like where is my money?!" one added.

"I make $145k and my take home after insurance, taxes, 401k, etc is $3800 bi monthly, I cry when I think about it" someone wrote.

"Mine is about the same. Once rent and car payment is taken out, just enough for groceries and like one night out," a commenter said.

"My salary is $95,481 and my net is super close to yours. It just doesn’t go as far as it used to!" added another.

"Money doesn’t buy what it used to. All of the necessities are priced up," someone summed up.


@kaitalayna

new month new budget 🫶 #budget #payday #salarytransparency #monthlybudget #financialliteracy #personalfinance

Making nearly six figures per year puts people like Alayna in a comfortable and enviable position. But the hype still doesn't match the reality in 2025.

Though it's enough for a comfortable life, it's still very difficult at that salary level to save for a house, travel regularly, retire early, or even have a family—you know, the fundamental promises America was built on. Alayna and her fiancé have to be extremely disciplined with putting money aside to ensure they can withstand emergency costs and go on the occasional vacation.

Fortune writes that, "A six-figure salary used to be considered wealthy—but now, most of these earners are struggling to stay afloat amid raging living costs and salary deflation. That’s because households making $100,000 annually are still considered 'middle-class' in every U.S. state."

Even earning $200,000 per year isn't considered upper-class in many places. Fortune adds that over half of Americans earning a six figure salary still described themselves as living paycheck to paycheck, and that number is growing every year.

Why? It's because this whole time that we've been thinking people who make six figures are "rich," the cost of living has been accelerating upward at breakneck speed. Groceries are about 25% more expensive than they were just a few years ago. In the last 10 years, the median home price has gone by over $131,000. The average cell phone bill, with smartphones now being a near-necessity to be a participant in modern society, is now about $141 per month. The federal minimum wage has not changed in that time, nor has it since 2009.

It's time to reset our expectations of what a living wage really is, and even who we consider to be rich. If someone who makes the coveted $100,000 per year is still living paycheck to paycheck, living and dying by the budget spreadsheet, and devoting a huge chunk of salary to paying off debts, what hope does anyone else have?

Alayna writes that she's thankful for her job, and she's making it her mission to help others with smart budgeting and money decisions. But until a carton of eggs becomes affordable again, almost everyone's going to have a tough time getting ahead.

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Woman who moved from Ireland to Boston shares why the American dream is 'all a lie.'

"I have been bamboozled."

via Kayleigh Donahue/TikTok and Zeeshan Kundi/Pexels
Kayleigh Donahue explains the differences between the U.S. and Europe.

Living abroad is a dream many people have, whether it's spending a summer in a foreign country or packing up their entire life to make the permanent move. In fact, about a third or more of Americans would move to another country if they had the means, and many do. Some estimates show that between 4-5 million non-military US citizens live abroad.

But life is funny, and sometimes these ex-pats come back to the United States for a variety of reasons like family or career, which gives them an extremely interesting perspective when they begin their re-entry.

Take American-born TikTok user Kayleigh Donahue, for example. She's going viral on the platform because of her unflinching take on why it was a mistake for her to move back to the U.S. after spending 4 years in Ireland.

She moved back to the Boston area. Kayleigh moved back to the U.S. from Ireland to make more money, but that didn’t go as planned.

Even though she got paid more, the cost of living was so much higher that she saved less money than she did in Ireland. She also missed the generous number of vacation days she got in Europe as compared to America.

"I have been bamboozled," she begins in the now viral clip with over 600 thousand views.


@kayshaynee

popping off always #americanabroad #usavseurope #movingabroad #livingabroad #europevsamerica #fyp


Many people like Kayleigh move abroad, especially to European countries, for a slower way of life, better work-life balance, more opportunity for travel, or just to see something different. But America is the land of opportunity, right? For some, that promise always beckons, no matter where they go. So even though Kayleigh had an amazing life in Ireland, she wound up moving home to advance her career and make more money.

“Basically, I really got sucked into the American Dream way of living when I was abroad, which is funny because I loved living abroad,” Kayleigh said. “But you know, making more money, that’s enticing. Good job, that’s enticing. It’s not true. It used to be. It definitely used to be. You could come here and make a ton of money, make a great life for yourself. But the younger generation today, in this country — screwed. It’s literally all a lie that is sold to you. It’s such a struggle, and the older generation doesn’t seem to see how much of a struggle it is for the younger generation here.”

In the end, who wants to work harder for a lower quality of life?

“Needless to say, I will most likely be moving back to Europe where 20-plus days of paid vacation a year is literally the law, and I will make less money, but somehow, you know, the cost of living is lower there and I can save more,” Kayleigh concluded the video.

Viewers applauded Kayleigh for coming to the realization:

"Yep, I made the same mistake. Then I realized that people and quality of life are more important than income. Enjoy life!" one wrote.

"Get that. We moved back to US and it was horrible. We moved back to the UK. Happier now was 6 weeks off a year" said another.

"I think there are actually very few people who derive their enjoyment and self-worth from their job. Quality of life is so much more important," another user added.

@kayshaynee

so lucky to live this life🤍 #movingabroad #americanabroad #thenetherlands #europetravel


Kayleigh made good on her promise. As of January 2025, she now lives in Amsterdam with her Dutch husband, and they seem to be loving their life abroad.

A Mercer survey in 2024 put Amsterdam as the sixth best city in the world for quality of life. It's a place with rich culture, amazing public transportation, and a reasonable cost of living to earning potential ratio.

@kayshaynee

I guess I live here now??? #movingabroad #dutchtiktok #amsterdam #americanabroad #internationalcouple

Young Americans really aren't asking for that much. They just want to be able to afford and enjoy their life, and they're willing to work hard for it. America should be giving them those opportunities instead of losing more and more talented young people to other countries.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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Man lives on a cruise ship 300 days a year for the same cost as renting in Florida

He's spending less while spending more and more time cruising.

Image via Canva

A man works from his laptop while relaxing on a cruise ship

Living permanently on a cruise ship seems like a dream of the uber-wealthy. You spend your days lounging on the deck by the pool or touring an exotic location. Nights are spent dancing in the nightclub or enjoying live entertainment. You no longer have to worry about traffic, cooking or laundry. Your life has become all-inclusive as long as you’re on board.

At Upworthy, we’ve shared the stories of a handful of people who’ve been able to spend their lives on a permanent cruise because they’ve figured out how to do so affordably. Or, at least, at about the same cost of living on land. Insider recently featured the fantastic story of Ryan Gutridge, who spends about 300 nights a year living on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. He only leaves the ship for a few weeks a year during the holidays.

Gutridge works in IT as an engineer for a cloud solution provider and can do his full-time job right from the ship. “I do meetings in the morning and afternoons, but I can also go to lunch and socialize or meet people at the gym,” he tells Insider. “I've even met people that I stay in contact with and that have come back and cruised on this ship with me multiple times since.”


Gutridge says that living and working on a cruise ship has improved his mental health. “Working from home was isolating. I don't have kids or pets, so it's easy to become somewhat introverted, but cruising has really helped and made me a lot more social,” he says.

So, how does he afford life on a permanent vacation?

“I have a spreadsheet that automatically records all my expenses, which helps. I also set a budget every year,” he says. “This year, my base fare budget is about $30,000, and last year when I started really looking at the numbers and evaluating how much base fare I paid to be on a ship for 300 nights, I found it was almost neck-and-neck with what I paid for rent and trash service for an apartment in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.”

Currently, the average price for a one-bedroom apartment in Fort Lauderdale is $2,088 which would cost Gutridge about $25,000 a year.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Gutridge believes that the key to living on the ship affordably is loyalty programs. He’s actually spending less in 2023 than he did in 2022, even though he’s spent more time cruising.


Bon Voyage Sailing GIF by ZhotGiphy

“Now, because I cruise so often with Royal Caribbean, I've moved up in its loyalty program. My drinks and internet are free. If people are going to do something like what I do, I recommend trying different brands because they all offer something different. But once you commit to one, you should stick to it so you reach those loyalty levels,” he says.

When he’s not on the ship, he makes doctor and dentist appointments and spends time with his friends. Then, it's back on the high seas, where he has a routine. Monday through Friday, he works, eats healthy, and goes to the gym. On the weekends he'll let loose and have a few drinks.

If the ship arrives at a location he enjoys, he’ll take a PTO day from work and go sightseeing.

aerial photography of white and blue cruise ships during daytime Photo by Fernando Jorge on Unsplash

Eventually, Gutridge wants to get rid of his apartment and sell his car, so his primary residence is a Royal Caribbean ship. “I have a strong relationship with the crew on this ship,” he says. “It's become a big family, and I don't want to rebuild those relationships on another ship — I joke that I have 1,300 roommates.”

This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Pack your bags, America. Portugal just became the number 1 place we all want to escape to

Other top-requested countries include Spain, Canada, and Italy.

Photo credit: Canva

Americans are seeking a new life abroad.

Have you been doom-scrolling through an endless news cycle, filled with rising housing prices, impossible-to-pay healthcare bills, and polarizing political upheaval lately? Is all that doom and gloom making you want to seek greener pastures—perhaps overseas? Well, you're not alone. Over 116,000 Americans have been feeling the exact same way, quietly researching their escape routes, and they're all leading to the same place: Portugal.

According to a survey conducted by Expatsi, a company that helps U.S. citizens move abroad, Portugal is officially the number one destination where Americans want to relocate. And why not? Although it may lack the name recognition and star power of other European countries like Spain, Italy, or France, Portugal has plenty to offer Americans seeking a different way of life.


woman, portugal, expat, moving, abroad Portugal has an incredible wealth of opportunities for American expats. Photo credit: Canva

“Portugal rose to prominence by offering friendly programs for taxes and visas for foreigners, including allowing them to gain residency through buying homes,” explains Expatsi co-founder Jen Barnett. Even though many of these benefits are no longer offered, the exposure Portugal received was enough to turn heads. “People are now more aware of what else it has to offer,” Barnett continues. “Lower cost of living, better quality of life, more safety, and warm and welcoming people.”

What else the survey tells us

The numbers revealed by the Expatsi survey unmask a story that's equal parts relatable, fascinating, and slightly bone-chilling. Why do Americans want to leave the country in the first place? The number one reason is predictable: to find adventure, enrichment, and growth overseas. Beyond that, 56% of survey respondents said that the U.S. had become too conservative, and 53% cited political divisions as their primary motivation for wanting to leave. Roughly half of all respondents also claimed that they wanted to move away to avoid the threat of gun violence.


portugal, expat, moving, abroad, beautiful Some Americans want to move as soon as six months. Photo credit: Canva

Some survey respondents said they were actively looking to move soon, with 12% hoping to relocate within the next six months. Then there were the cost of living statistics: 41% of survey respondents said they hoped to save money by living abroad, while 30% said they hoped to retire. While the average price to rent a one-bedroom apartment in New York City or San Francisco can set you back somewhere between $2,800 to $3,500 per month, a similar-sized place in Lisbon falls in the ballpark of $1,300 to $1,700. Let's compare monthly utilities: in the U.S., that'll be around $186 per month. In Portugal, around $35. Even a nice dinner can put things into perspective—in most major American cities, that can cost around $80, while in Portugal, it'll be a mere $40. Overall, the cost of living in Portugal is a whopping 36%–48% lower than the U.S., encompassing rent, groceries, dining, healthcare, transportation, and more.

A different pace of life

Elizabeth Burke from Washington, D.C., has been visiting Portugal annually since 2016 and plans to retire there within five years. “No matter where you go in Portugal, there's a sense of calm,” she tells reporters. “You land in Faro, and you feel like you can breathe. There's a feeling in the air of happiness and peace.”

That sense of peace isn't just something you feel—it's measurable. Portugal ranks as the 7th safest country in the world, while the U.S. sits at a sobering 132nd place. The healthcare situation is equally eye-opening. While Americans spend an average of $10,586 per person on healthcare, Portuguese residents spend just $2,785, thanks to universal coverage. Private health insurance is also more affordable, costing $50–$100 monthly in Portugal, compared to $600–$900 in America.



But perhaps the most compelling draw for many Americans is the promise of something they've long given up on: a real work-life balance. Within the last decade, Portugal has passed groundbreaking legislation to protect workers' mental health. Employers are legally banned from contacting employees outside of work hours, and companies must fully compensate remote workers for home office expenses like Wi-Fi, electricity, and technology. Imagine that! It's the kind of worker protection that many Americans can't even fathom, as we're accustomed to constantly checking emails and paying out-of-pocket for work expenses.

Next stop… Portugal?

It's no surprise that the American expat population in Portugal is exploding: since 2017, it's grown by 200% with nearly 10,000 Americans now calling Portugal their European home. And they're not all retirees or billionaires with summer vacation homes, either. Thanks to the country's Digital Nomad Visa, non-EU citizens can live and work remotely in Portugal as long as they have proof of employment with a non-Portuguese company and a minimum monthly income of about $2,750. Visa holders can apply for temporary or long-term residency under this program, which can lead to permanent residency or even citizenship. Portugal also offers attractive tax incentives for remote workers, like the Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) program, which can provide impressive tax benefits for up to 10 years.


via GIPHY


The numbers don't lie: Americans are tired of the way things work here, and they're actively seeking escape routes. Many are questioning why they should wait for conditions to improve at home when Portugal offers greater affordability, safety, and quality of life. Increasingly, these same people are realizing their answer may lie abroad.

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