The story
A reference to a person fully expending the entire earnings of their paycheck and not having anything left prior to receiving their next paycheck.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
live paycheck to paycheck
live pay·check to pay·checkToday it means: To have the entirety of one's earnings consumed by living expenses, thus having nothing left over to save; to make just enough (money, etc.) to survive; to scratch by. Full definition →