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You are here: Home » Personal Finance Tips » Budgeting » How to Budget Paycheck to Paycheck

December 14, 2020 By Stacy Williams

How to Budget Paycheck to Paycheck

Filed Under: Personal Budget Tagged With: Ways to Budget

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Sticking to a weekly or monthly budget does not always work for everyone. For those people, learning how to budget paycheck to paycheck can often be the answer.

Sticking to a weekly or monthly budget does not always work for everyone. For those people, learning how to budget paycheck to paycheck can often be the answer.

My husband and I both have very different incomes. His is paid consistently every week. Mine, however, is paid irregularly. Some of my income is paid weekly while others are paid monthly and with the exception of a couple companies I work with, it is almost never the same date of the month.

This can make budgeting (Six Dollar Family) rather tricky at times. It’s this reason -and the failed weekly and monthly budgets that happened – that I changed how we budget. Instead of budgeting weekly or monthly, I began budgeting paycheck to paycheck.

And it literally changed our finances in ways I never expected.

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Not only is it packed with great ways to save money, simple budgeting tips and more, but you’ll also get great my own personal DIY recipes to help you save even more money!

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What is a Paycheck to Paycheck Budget?

Unlike a weekly or monthly budget, with a paycheck to paycheck budget, you create a spending plan that goes from payday to payday. By doing this, you are able to ensure that you are able to cover your expenses due that week without any shuffling or guessing.

It’s the perfect way to keep an irregular income budgeted very well.

How Does a Paycheck to Paycheck Budget Differ From Weekly?

They’re actually quite similar but the biggest difference will be in how often you’re paid. If you’re paid weekly, you’re budgeting weekly. But, in the case of an irregular paycheck, you could be budgeting as much as ninety days apart.

For instance, in our personal budget (Six Dollar Family), we have some weeks where he receives his paycheck but I will receive several or paychecks back to back. On other weeks, all we receive is his paycheck. This means that sometimes we are literally budgeting three days apart but others we are budgeting week to week.

If you’re having an issue keeping to your budget, a program like Tiller Money can help.

When you sign up for a Tiller Money account, it will automatically import your spending into a Google Docs spreadsheet everyday to help you budget better. For those of us that do well with spreadsheet budgets and for those that need a bit more help keeping track of their spending, it’s a great idea and works incredibly well! It’s one of my favorite new programs – well new to me that is! They’ll even give you the first 30-days free!

Click Here to Try Tiller Money Free for 30-days

Why Does a Paycheck to Paycheck Budget Work?

For us, a weekly or monthly budget did not work because we have weeks where we pretty well constantly have income coming in. Since at the time, I was only updating our budget weekly, it made things somewhat hard to keep track of.

No matter how hard I tried, I almost always had something get forgotten about which at times actually cost us money. I keep multiple bank accounts for various reasons, but I tend to only keep as much money in my household checking account as I need with just a small buffer. If I forget something, I have a very small time window to catch it.

However, since moving to the paycheck to paycheck budgeting, I am in my budget several times a week to update it. Things run smoothly and nothing is forgotten about.

What kind of income should I include in my paycheck to paycheck budget?

I include it all and ideally, you should as well. In my own budget, this can include things like paychecks, child support payments and even free gift cards I’ve earned. I simply add things like child support and those gift cards to the budget as a new “paycheck” the same way I do a real paycheck.

Ultimately, what you include is entirely up to you, however, keep in mind that money that is not tracked is often wasted.

How to Create a Paycheck to Paycheck Budget

Learning how to create a paycheck to paycheck budget is a lot like weekly budgeting to start. You will need to gather all expenses you have and all income you have. But, where you might normally only gather amounts, you will also need to have the due dates for your bills and pay dates – or approximate dates – before you begin as well.

It can be helpful to have a calendar to keep track of the dates in. I personally use one almost like THIS for my own stuff.

Think Pennies Can’t Add Up?

Why not put that theory to the test? It’s super easy to test and requires you to do basically nothing! Acorns is a micro-investor that invests the spare change in your checking account. Sign up for an Acorns account and choose how you want to invest your change. Once the trade happens, you’ll watch how quickly your pennies really do add up!

Click Here to Visit Acorns

As you pull the dates of your expenses and income, be sure to write them in your calendar so they are easier to keep track of. If you would prefer a digital version, you could simply use Google Calendars.

Once you have the dates, it’s time to create the paycheck to paycheck spending plan. This is easiest for me using a Google Doc or a spreadsheet. Start with your nearest paycheck and bills that are due soonest.

Place your income and then add expenses until your income is either gone or all expenses for that week are covered. If you have extra money, roll it over to the next paycheck; not the next week. Repeat the process using your next pay date, not the next week. If it’s three days, so be it. If it’s ninety days, you have my sympathy but so be it.

What Do I Do If I don’t Have Enough Income for One Pay Cycle?

In the case that you don’t have enough income to cover the expenses from a pay cycle, you have two options. You can either push an expense to the next pay period or you can find a way to make more money.

Here’s the thing; it is perfectly okay to move an expense to the next paycheck but only if it will not cause the expense to be late. If it will, you will only be doing yourself a disservice since you’ll be paying late fees.

So if by moving the expense to the next paycheck, you will cause it to be late, don’t do it and find the money for it instead.

If you really don’t have enough money to survive until your next paycheck, consider selling things you no longer need or starting a new survey company online. You could also offer freelance or gig work for those that may need it.

My Favorite Side Hustles

Having multiple streams of income is sometimes the only way to have a fully funded budget each month. It can seem complicated to do though; especially if you’re already stretched to the limit on time.

But having multiple streams of income doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can be as simple as working for a few minutes a day online. Two of my favorite side hustles are just like this.

InstaGC

InstaGC is a survey site that pays you for doing quite a few things. You’ll earn points for surveys, completing offers, clicking links and even things such as listening to the radio. I have been a member for years and it’s a huge help! Save your points and cash out with as little as $1.00. Once you cash out the first time, your cash (Paypal or ACH) or gift card (to hundreds of places including Amazon!) are instantly sent! Plus when you sign up you’ll earn 10 points FREE just for signing up!

Click Here to Sign Up for InstaGC

Swagbucks

If you search the web, you need to be a Swagbucks member! Swagbucks literally pays you for searching the web! Plus, you’ll have the chance to earn points in tons of different ways! You can earn for surveys, videos, games, printing coupons and loads more! Prizes are sent as gift cards or Paypal 7-10 days after you request them. I have been a member for almost a decade and have earned several thousand dollars in that time!

Click Here to Sign Up for Swagbucks

What Do I Do Once I Have a Surplus of Money?

As you continue to budget paycheck to paycheck, you will notice that you eventually have a surplus of money left in your checking account. Once this happens, you’ll want to start really taking care of business.

This is the perfect time to build your emergency fund, invest to build wealth, pay off debt and more. No matter which you choose to do, don’t simply let the money sit there. Make it work for you and make it help you build a better future for you and yours.

I have a Free Gift for You

When I created Six Dollar Family, I did so with one goal in mind; to help you and others like you to save as much money as possible without having to sacrifice your quality of life.

and now, I am extending that help to you in e-book form!

Join our community of other like minded money savers and in return, I’ll give you a FREE copy of my e-book “The Ultimate Guide to Cutting Your Household Expenses!” Not only that, but but you’ll also receive the very best frugal (Six Dollar Family) tips, recipes, DIY and tips I have to offer!

and yes! It’s really free with no strings attached!

Once you join our community, be sure to check your email for your free e-book!

Click Here to Get Your Free Copy of “The Ultimate Guide to Cutting Your Household Expenses”

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Bio of Stacy Williams, blogger and authorI’m Stacy - 1/4 of the Six Dollar Family. I'm on a journey to become a six figure family and I would love if you came along with me! We'll kick off our shoes, sip sweet tea, eat loads of goodies, save some money and maybe even learn a thing or two along the way! Six Dollar Family Bio

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