Is it better to get paid weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?

[GoodManDave]

I'm currently on a monthly budget - it's ok, as I put most of it away, but then it feels like I have no money for the whole month, and I keep wanting that pay to come around. I think a monthly one is... ok. I'm not a huge fan of it, though. It might feel more like I was actually making a difference if I was paid half the amount twice as much (every two weeks).

Also, with some jobs, if it's a monthly thing, they can kind of screw their employees and the employees might not know until the next month.

I knew a guy who upended his life to move to work for a company. Moved with his new wife out of state (she had to quit her job). The company strung him along for three months, didn't pay him a dime, and he finally had to move back, as he ran out of his savings; and they went under. He was supposed to be paid a monthly amount. So he'd do the work, and "oh, we're really struggling because WE didn't get paid, but our client is supposed to pay in two weeks, so we'll be able to pay you next month for the two months of work you did. Just hold tight."

If it's two weeks, he might not have done all that work for them to just not pay. If he wasn't paid on the two week schedule, he might have known he was getting screwed earlier and not spent so much money for the new life.

[Massageman]

I've gone through all of them when I was an employee. There is a fourth- paid only whenever you have a client- which I receive now. :- )

If you are capable of accumulating a back-up savings of a few months of living expenses, budgeting for any reasonable amount of time shouldn't be that hard.

Note: There is a difference from being paid bi-weekly versus semi-monthly. If you are paid bi-weekly, you will receive 26 paychecks. If you are paid semi-monthly, you will get 24. People can also use this concept when paying their mortgage- Pay half of the mortgage every two weeks. By the end of the year, you will have made two extra payments on your mortgage. Of course, when done this way, you lose the ability to apply the extra to the principal ONLY, which would be desirable in most cases.

There should be very little difference, if any, when doing your taxes.
1. Create a budget. It isn't cast in stone- it CAN be changed. It is a TOOL, not a RULE!
2. Start by saving up 1 month of living expenses, then 3, and then 6.
3. "Pay yourself first". Put some away for retirement, and into long term savings.
4. As for taxes, focus on tax "avoidance" which is simply not paying any more taxes than you have to. It is NOT tax "evasion" which is not paying taxes that you should be.

You can get lots of hints at MoneyWise. org and most of them are free. They do have some books you can get if you like.

[DeeDeeDeVour]

When I was still employed by someone else, I preferred to get my paycheck bi-weekly so I can pay my end of the month bills & middle of the month bills and put what's leftover in my bank accounts & investments.

[Flower7]

I would prefer to get paid weekly so I wouldn't have to wait as long. And it gives a more accurate picture of a person's current finances.

[0112358]

Almost all salaried positions are negotiated based on annual pay. That annual pay is then either divided by 52 and paid weekly, by 26 and paid bi-weekly, by 24 and paid twice a month, or 12 and paid monthly.

Most places i've worked have paid twice a month, so 24 pay periods per year.

I don't think i'd like weekly or bi-weekly, the bulk of my major expenses are paid monthly, so weekly or bi-weekly would mean the amount i earned per calendar month would bounce around depending on the month.

[COMMODOREII]

That depends on how you can plan your budget. I've done all three before. You will get the same amount of taxes taken out either way so that doesn't matter much. But generally its biweekly paychecks. In a weekly paycheck sometimes i felt like i had extra money but i noticed i tend to use it faster too. Versus a biweekly paycheck. Unfortunately in a monthly paycheck you need to focus on your bills. For your bills will come due at different times through out the month and you have to wait till your next paycheck before you can even consider do anything fun or risk getting past due bills. Plus if something comes up like your car needs to get repaired or you need to go to the doctor you need to wait for your next paycheck. In turn you learn how to plan ahead.

[godfatherfan]

I had one job where I was paid monthly. That first month was tough but after that, I liked it. I got all my bills setup to pay like the 7th -10th of the month (this was before there was online payments or right when they started). Then I sit down on the 1st and pay everything at once. But overall I think 2 weeks is fine. I haven't had a job that paid weekly since 1993.

[MCheetah]

Biweekly. Damn do I miss that. Weekly feels like nothing at all, and here in South Korea, they pay monthly, which sucks, to be honest. Biweekly is just enough to pay the bills, and not feel like a meager little nothing, and also just enough to not be SOL if you run out of money 7-10 days before the next month hits. I don't like monthly pay the most.

[Gafgorkion]

"So which gets paid more weekly or biweekly? Or is it the same? Im curious do to taxes"

I'm not sure why you would think it would be any different. If you get paid $10/hour and work 40 hours/week, then your gross pay is $400 weekly or $800 biweekly. If your taxes are 25%, then your net pay is $300 weekly or $600 biweekly. So it comes out the same regardless of the frequency of your pay.

[OlderAndWiser]

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf

Starting looking on page 8 and you can calculate the withholding on your income. Note that there are different tables for filing status (single or married) and different tables for pay period (weekly, bi-weekly, semimonthly, and monthly).

[Miristheiss]

I do not think it matters because the same money is coming to your regardless.

Now, your ability to budget and manage your money may come into play.
If you blow it all as soon as the check comes in and you are reckless... weekly may be better so that you don't have to go 3 weeks without income.

For a person who is wise and responsible with their money... it probably is irrelevant.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, monthly pay does teach "disciprine", as they said on "South Park":https://www.youtube.com/embed/tdbORXEmbnkhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/MLPUnTw4-1Q

[John_Galt]

as far as your taxes go. It’s all going to be the same in the end. As far as personal finances, if your good with money it doesn’t really matter. But if your not that great with money or live paycheck to paycheck. The more often you get paid the better.

[WindAtMyBack]

No preference between weekly, biweekly, or twice a month. I would not like monthly though. I don't think any are better. It's just personal preference. I suppose you could argue that you collect interest longer with weekly. With larger checks, and when interest rates were higher, that was actually a small factor.

[Anonymous]

I'm in UK so taxes same...

I like to get paid monthly as then I can pay all bills ( as most of them monthly ones) in one go and don't need to feel skinned one week per month...

And I have a chance to see larger amount of income at one time then weekly...

[GingerGuy]

I think it depends on the person, how much they make, and their spending habits. I think bi-weekly is the most common. I get paid weekly though, and I like it.

[ohshee]

On taxes if you claim o you get paid less every pack ,, but at the end of the year you get money. Back. It it's also depends do you own a business did you claim 0 on your w2.

[Anonymous]

I used to have more money and able to survive a little better, when I was a temp getting paid every week. When I switched over to permanent, i had to go down another notch on my belt. I couldnt imagine monthly, probably be a skeleton with cobwebs checking the bank account.

[matchrestore]

Personally, since most bills are monthly, I prefer to get paid monthly.

[tartaarsaus]

Depends on the dates at which interest rate compounds

[BCA6010]

If the overall pay doesn't change, then it's irrelevant to me. Every job I've ever worked with the exception of my first one paid bi-weekly, though.

[aftermydemise]

Definitely weekly. I've only had one job where I got paid every two weeks. I fucking hated it. It's easier for me to manage my money that way.

[JKingOff]

Personally I would say daily so you know you're not getting screwed, and if you do end up getting screwed over at least you won't have wasted more than a day.

[triff]

Depends on how good you can buget Monthly is good you can lump all the monthly bills together then se what you have left Save some and a spend balance