4 ms·

Total compensation is what's important, so long as the interval between payments isn't too long. If you have to sweat the difference between being paid twice a

Total compensation is what's important, so long as the interval between payments isn't too long. If you have to sweat the difference between being paid twice a month and every two weeks, you need to start saving yourself more of a cushion.

seiji 13y ago
It's always easy for not-poor-people to say "just have more of a cushion." Let's use an example. Assume $100,000 salary, pre-tax. Post-tax, let's assume your net salary is $74,000. For being paid twice a month (15th and last day of the month), each pay check will be $3,000 (we're rounding up here). Each month you'll have $6,000 to spend. For being paid every two weeks (every other Friday), each pay check will be $2770. Each month you'll have $5540 to spend ($460 less than the twice a month schedule). Except—two months out of the year, you'll get a third $2770 paycheck, giving you $8310 to spend in those two months. It's just... weird. What's the difference? A car payment or a student loan payment or extra food or insurance premiums or parking or transit or anything you can spend $460/month on. Sure, to a well off person $460/month may not sound like much, but it adds up when it's taken out every month and only paid back in lump sums twice a year. (My entire point being: you can't form your monthly budget to include lump payments six months in the future.)
- philwelch 13y ago
  If you're making 100,000 salary, you're well off. Incidentally, I find it much simpler when I get paid once a month.
  - seiji 13y ago
    Getting paid once a month solves the entire problem. The only reason this whole pay period thing matters is because bills (rent, car payment, insurance, utilities, iPhone bill) tend to be due monthly and not every two weeks.
    - philwelch 13y ago
      It turns out you can dedupe most of your bills into one by paying them with a credit card. As long as the total amount stays under 4 weeks pay, there are zero timing issues and you get a month of float plus rewards (cash back, airline miles) for free.
- Spooky23 13y ago
  Honestly, if you're making $100k and this is something that you're thinking about, you're living paycheck to paycheck and you need to learn how to manage your money.
- ricardobeat 13y ago
  That might be a good strategy to spend more wisely, and save up the 'extra' money that comes up twice a year.
- rmc 13y ago
  $100k a year is not a "poor person" salary.

seiji 13y ago

It's always easy for not-poor-people to say "just have more of a cushion." Let's use an example. Assume $100,000 salary, pre-tax. Post-tax, let's assume your net salary is $74,000. For being paid twice a month (15th and last day of the month), each pay check will be $3,000 (we're rounding up here). Each month you'll have $6,000 to spend. For being paid every two weeks (every other Friday), each pay check will be $2770. Each month you'll have $5540 to spend ($460 less than the twice a month schedule). Except—two months out of the year, you'll get a third $2770 paycheck, giving you $8310 to spend in those two months. It's just... weird. What's the difference? A car payment or a student loan payment or extra food or insurance premiums or parking or transit or anything you can spend $460/month on. Sure, to a well off person $460/month may not sound like much, but it adds up when it's taken out every month and only paid back in lump sums twice a year. (My entire point being: you can't form your monthly budget to include lump payments six months in the future.)

philwelch 13y ago
If you're making 100,000 salary, you're well off. Incidentally, I find it much simpler when I get paid once a month.
- seiji 13y ago
  Getting paid once a month solves the entire problem. The only reason this whole pay period thing matters is because bills (rent, car payment, insurance, utilities, iPhone bill) tend to be due monthly and not every two weeks.
  - philwelch 13y ago
    It turns out you can dedupe most of your bills into one by paying them with a credit card. As long as the total amount stays under 4 weeks pay, there are zero timing issues and you get a month of float plus rewards (cash back, airline miles) for free.
Spooky23 13y ago
Honestly, if you're making $100k and this is something that you're thinking about, you're living paycheck to paycheck and you need to learn how to manage your money.
ricardobeat 13y ago
That might be a good strategy to spend more wisely, and save up the 'extra' money that comes up twice a year.
rmc 13y ago
$100k a year is not a "poor person" salary.