Weekly paychecks

[3xMama]

DH recently got a new job, about five months ago now. Its been going well, although it hasn't been quite the lateral move we were hoping for financially. The biggest issue for us now is that DH is paid weekly and we can't seem to make that work for us. He had been paid twice monthly on the same 2 days a month and it worked very well. The first half of the month's bills were paid out of check 1, second half out of check 2. Now he's paid every Wed and not only are the checks smaller because its for a smaller work period but its not on the same days every month (before it was the 5th and 20th). So we are having a hard time getting everything paid on time and in full. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to get our monthly bills in order??

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by 3xMama 

DH recently got a new job, about five months ago now. Its been going well, although it hasn't been quite the lateral move we were hoping for financially. The biggest issue for us now is that DH is paid weekly and we can't seem to make that work for us. He had been paid twice monthly on the same 2 days a month and it worked very well. The first half of the month's bills were paid out of check 1, second half out of check 2. Now he's paid every Wed and not only are the checks smaller because its for a smaller work period but its not on the same days every month (before it was the 5th and 20th). So we are having a hard time getting everything paid on time and in full. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to get our monthly bills in order??

Figure out how much you can afford to pay each week.  From there, organize your bills by the week you can afford to pay them (obviously things like electric or gas will fluctuate, so you'll have to estimate) and contact each of the companies to see which ones will change the due date on the bill for you.  Many/most will accommodate a due date change, especially if you explain your situation.  It can be a hassle at first because your first two billing cycles will be a little wonky, but after that, things should be smooth.

[its_betty]

It sounds as if you are living paycheck to paycheck. How tight is your budget? You may have already figured this out, but just in case: Your dh was getting paid 2x month, which was 24 pay periods. Now he's getting paid weekly, which is 52 pay periods, so four months a year he will be getting 5 checks (instead of 4). If you need every penny, that is going to make the 4-paycheck-months extra tight, at least until you hit the first 5-paycheck-month and have a little extra. (If he gets paid on Fridays, the first "extra" check of the year will be at the end of March 2012.)

If at all possible, save those "extra" checks to help you get ahead. It might take a while to get there, but it would be really helpful for your budget (and way less stressful) to have money in the bank a month ahead for bills, so that you can save all the pay checks from this month to pay next month's bills. Then you won't have to worry about dividing the bills up for each check.

In the meantime, it might help to plot out paychecks and bills due on a paper calendar, so you can easily see what needs to be paid from each check.

Edited to say, good tip from PP about asking companies to change the due dates for you.

Good luck!

[nd_deadhead]

My DH went from getting paid twice a month (15th and 30th or 31st), to every two weeks, and I know how confusing it is! I still get paid twice a month, which helps.

I agree with Betty - the trick is to build up a bit of a surplus, so when the bills come in at the begining of the month, but half the checks don't come unti the end, you can cover them. Getting some billing cycles moved to the end of the month is a great idea! That way the timing of the bills is more in line with the timing of the checks.

[3xMama]

Originally Posted by its_betty 

It sounds as if you are living paycheck to paycheck. How tight is your budget? You may have already figured this out, but just in case: Your dh was getting paid 2x month, which was 24 pay periods. Now he's getting paid weekly, which is 52 pay periods, so four months a year he will be getting 5 checks (instead of 4). If you need every penny, that is going to make the 4-paycheck-months extra tight, at least until you hit the first 5-paycheck-month and have a little extra. (If he gets paid on Fridays, the first "extra" check of the year will be at the end of March 2012.)

If at all possible, save those "extra" checks to help you get ahead. It might take a while to get there, but it would be really helpful for your budget (and way less stressful) to have money in the bank a month ahead for bills, so that you can save all the pay checks from this month to pay next month's bills. Then you won't have to worry about dividing the bills up for each check.

In the meantime, it might help to plot out paychecks and bills due on a paper calendar, so you can easily see what needs to be paid from each check.

Edited to say, good tip from PP about asking companies to change the due dates for you.

Good luck!

We are paycheck to paycheck and our budget is very tight. We really don't have any wiggle room. I hadn't realized that he will get five checks a month four times a year, I will have to look through and figure out where that is. Once we get caught up with everything (after tax time...), we will definitely look for those "extra" checks and hold onto them for a bit of cushion. As it stands, we are a little behind on everything so we're trying to get caught up so we can't quite do that. 

I will make out a paper calendar and get everything plotted out. Once we do that I'll find out if we need to have any due dates changed. I think all in all our bills are pretty well spread through the month, its just a matter of figuring out what bill from what check.

Thanks all!

[betsu63]

i think you need to sit down with your husband and decide how you are going to proceed. Have you an emergency fund? I think people don't start with this because they think they have to have a bigger amount to even bother. Even $10 a pay adds up over time. I suggest you also have an account that you put a little every pay in until you have built up enough money to pay all your fixed expenses for 2-3 months. Again start even if you can only put $5 a pay in it. Don't touch this money except in an emergency such as a job loss. Have this auto transfered into an account. Pretend it isn't even there. Another hint is to figure out the bills that you pay once or twice a year. Divide them by 52 and save that amount every single pay. Have that amount autotransfered into an account to save so when that bill is due you have the money sitting there. Some of these things will take time to do, but start anyway. If the yearly amount for something is 200 and you saved 150 throughout the year you only have to come up with a lump sum of 50 instead of 200 and then start the cycle all over again.My house taxes are due 3 times a year, but they will take money anytime and I build up a credit towards the big amount due and I don't have to worry about being able to come up with a large sum of money out of one paycheck. It may take 4 or 5 years to get so you can do all this, but gradually you will get there. The idea is just start and not be discouraged!!  I know you are living paycheck to paycheck, but this will take alot of stress off eventually. Best of luck!! 

[laohaire]

Good news, there are 5 Wednesdays in February (leap year!) so if you can make it to February 29, you'll be able to start making a buffer.

I too have gone through changing my paycheck from twice a month to every other week, and it did take some getting used to, and it also was tight for a bit.

The thing is, you will have to be very disciplined on those 5 paycheck months. Use those checks to build up a fund to help out on tighter months. Some people would rather just put that money in a separate savings account and use it when needed; others (like me) like to assign every penny to a specific need.

Ironically, I think that having to switch to every-other-week (which was effectively less per month except for the 2 3-paycheck months per year) helped us financially. We tightened our belts and now have a decent cushion, and I feel much more secure.

Here are the months you will have 5 paychecks (5 Wednesdays) this year:

February

May

August

October

Use them wisely :)