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I'm not complaining...

  • Sep. 14th, 2010 at 1:39 PM
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kls_eloise
I'm really not.

But can I say that three check months really throw off my budgeting?  It changes the way payday lines up with bill arrival, and I've never managed pin it down on my budget spreadsheet.  There's always about a month of chaos and I shift around how I can afford to pay things, and chaos makes me unhappy.

That said, I LOVE three paycheck months.  It feels like extra money, even though it isn't.  I guess it makes up for every year when I'm caught surprised by the motor vehicle taxes.

Comments

( 7 comments — Leave a comment )
lillyflowers
Sep. 14th, 2010 08:04 pm (UTC)
October called. It wants it's paycheck!
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galingale
Sep. 15th, 2010 01:27 pm (UTC)
CorporateOverlord also pays us every 2nd week regardless of how it lines up. What kills *me* is making sure that I and my boss have both approved my timesheets by that Monday at 9am... if I work any weekend hours or one of us gets sick, I get stressed.
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pippagrey
Sep. 15th, 2010 06:12 pm (UTC)
I know some folks with biweekly checks who do the budgeting on only 2 checks a month, and the occasional third check goes straight to savings.

I have a weekly paycheck, so I have a very detailed spread sheet to work out when what bill gets paid. Which reminds me, I need to go through something at the electric bill today....
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galingale
Sep. 15th, 2010 07:50 pm (UTC)
That's a super idea -- I'm just getting around to setting up a formal budget (!!), so I may give that a try! I'll aim to budget for the next (not-yet-located) house on that, so it builds in a buffer for bad times. Thanks for sharing!
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pippagrey
Sep. 16th, 2010 12:44 pm (UTC)
When my father was working for the state and had biweekly paychecks, I don't know if that was what they did, but they did make a mortgage payment of a half month's worth every payday, so they basically made thirteen months of payments every year. I understand that paying that way can cut years off of a 30 year mortgage.
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kls_eloise
Sep. 16th, 2010 12:02 am (UTC)
Well, yes. But that's not the point. The point is that when I have a month with three checks, that shifts subsequent paydays into different weeks which changes the temporal relationship of when the money comes in compared to when the bills come in.

Three check months aren't occasional - they are exactly twice a year, every year. Yes, I already have a 2011 calendar with all the paydays marked...
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pippagrey
Sep. 16th, 2010 12:40 pm (UTC)
I know that it's twice a year, but it's not the same months every year, which is why I said occasional. It's not like you can budget for a third paycheck every December, more's the pity, or even every 6th month.

I think what some folks do with that is fancy budget sheets which sometimes treat the third paycheck as the first of the next month, the first of that month as the second, and the second as the first of the next, until things are moved along enough that the first of a month really will be when they want the first check to be. I.e., assuming a friday payday,
Oct: Check 1 10/1
Check 2 10/15
Nov: Check 1 10/29
Check 2 11/12
Dec: Check 1 11/26
Check 2 12/10
Extra check 12/24
Jan: Check 1 1/7
Or if the 7th is too late for a first check
Jan: Check 1 12/24
Check 2 1/14
Extra check 1/28
Feb: Check 1 2/4
ad infinitum.
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( 7 comments — Leave a comment )