I only get paid twice a month, can you help me with my budget??

Question

I used to get paid every Friday and now its just the last day of the month and the 15th. It sucks! and after all this time I am still not used to it. If needed, you can e-mail me with some strategies that might help me stop living paycheck to paycheck. Thanks.

Answer 1

Well, you should have a budget of all the things that you need, every day things like food, longer term things like toiletries and household items, and longer term things like clothes etc. You should also have an idea of bigger purchases that you need to make in the future like furniture and appliances. With this in mind, sit down with your paycheck and first of all, put aside a small savings, (this is important, it doesnt have to be much, but its for a rainy day ) and then allocate your resources, and decide what needs to be bought when.

What I do is shop for the whole month, that way you can buy larger quantities at discounted prices....

Answer 2

Well, most people in the world do get paid every two weeks. I don't know what is your problem with that. You need to sit down and make a schedule of all your bills. By what date your mortgage is due, your utilities, your credit card bills, ect. Once you have that then split them between the amounts you get from your bi-weekly paychecks. Some bills will be at the beginning of the month, some in the middle, some at the end. From each paycheck put aside the amount of money you will need to pay that are due in that period. Whatever is left would be your petty cash money. By doing this you will get exact idea of what and how much you have to spend per month on bills.

Answer 3

You need to organize your bills into when you have to pay them.
You should separate them into two groups. Bills you can pay on the 15th and those you can pay at the end of the month.

Then, you need to take your big ticket items (usually rent/house and car) and make sure they are split up so that you are not paying them in the same period.

You can also work with your credit cards to change the due dates on them so they are evenly split between the two pay periods.

Finally, you should try to put away at least a little bit of money each pay period to build up a bit of a balance. Use that balance to pay completely one of your credit cards/debts. Once that balance is paid off entirely you will have a little more money to work with. Do the same thing with other bills and before long you will have them paid off, too.

Usually a large balance of credit indicates not an income problem but a spending problem.

The best way to curtain spending is to write down everything, and I mean everything you buy, for one whole month. Then carefully analyze just how much you really needed what you bought. You can then set priorities and try to cut back on unnecessary items.

Remember that every unnecessary item you cut back on is that much more money you have to help pay down credit balances and one more step to getting out of debt.

It may take time but you will eventually get out of it.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Hey there, it is the same for me. I hate living paycheck to paycheck as well, but it beats getting paid weekly. =) I just adjust my bills and stuff to whenever I get paid. I suggest opening a savings account and putting whatever you can afford into it each month, that way after awhile, you can use that money as play money and use the rest of your paychecks for bills. Good luck.

Answer 5

The best no-nonsense tips for creating a budget are from Dave Ramsey. Pick up his first book The Total Money Makeover at any bookstore.

www.daveramsey.com

You can also listen to his radio show on the website above from 1-4pm CST

Answer 6

hey,,,,i believe in lean management and it is simplifying the problems. Even Pareto's analysis is one technique. i think u hv just started earning. The money u earn, if not sufficient, makes u believe this thing. You need to find a right job. Getting weekly or monthly cheques will never be a problem. Evry bdy gets used to it. it becomes cyclical and it will smoothen accordingly. u need to analyse the problems rate them and solve those having higher rating. Jus this will help u solve any kind of problem in life.

Answer 7

1)you need to figure out out the total of amount for your monthly expenses. Add up all the utilities bills (rent, phone, gas, car insurance, food, electricity, and other items you need to pay for each month).
2) open up a saving account.
3) figure out how much money you make each month.
4) deposit every pay check to your saving account first.
5) take your monthly salary and deduct the amount for the monthly necessary expenses(from number1)
6) see how much in your pay check after you have pay off all the bills for the month. only take 15% on what's left on the pay check to have fun and pay for your clothing.
7)If you have anything left, leave it in the saving account.

Answer 8

Maybe you can invest some of that money and buy something you could sell on the regular basis. Sell stuff to people you know, or even sell things at the local swapmeet. Its just another way to have some income.