Adjusting to a new pay schedule -- Help!

[v-girl]

We've never lived on once-a-month pay. Ever. When I was the breadwinner, I was paid twice a month. Residency paid every other week. The university pays once a month - on the 1st. So help me God, I am . I've already screwed up this month. Need to have our mortgage payment moved to the beginning of the month I think.

Any tips? Should I have all the bill due dates changed to the beginning of the month? Change the frequency of large grocery shopping? I had been doing two major grocery shopping trips a month. The day of or after payday. The last one in June was large enough that I still haven't made another Costco trip.

Mortgage, water, electric & cell phones/internet have been paid. I think car insurance will come out today or tomorrow.

Please help me budget. How do you keep from having too much month at the end of your paycheck? I'm so used to multiple paychecks per month and I don't want to screw up another month. We don't have a credit card to fall back on either.

And he doesn't have all his credentials to moonlight yet, but they are in the works.

[SuzySunshine]

I pay us once/month. DH's checks are automatically deposited into our savings account and on the 1st of the month I put our monthly budget into the checking account. Almost all of our bills are auto pay through their own websites or through our bank. On the first of the month I immediately deduct all bills from my register and set aside money for groceries, gas, etc. It takes discipline to make sure I'm not needing extra money at the end of the month and it took a few months to get there but it works.

[medpedspouse]

I have always been paid once a month, except for a few year where I got paid every 2 weeks. I totally understand it making budgeting a mess because I had to change our bill paying when we went to every two weeks. So, to answer your question, I have all our bills scheduled to be paid the first week of the month.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

This happened to me when I first started work. On the 8th of a month...I was really screwed that first month since I didn't get paid for 3 weeks. I found though that my bills (mortgage, electric, gas, credit cards, internet provider, cell phone provider, etc.) were more than happy to change my billing date at my request, I just needed to call. I moved everything to the 3rd of the month (cushion in case the 1st is a Saturday) and that way all relevant deductions were already gone before I could blink. It's rough to get on schedule but you'll have it down in no time.

[ladymoreta]

Ooh good idea about changing the dates! I'll have to do that, since we are also paid monthly! When we were in undergrad, we lived on Pell grants and scholarships, so we were paid twice per semester. That was tough! What we did was deposit it all into savings, then transfer out a monthly allowance. Maybe you could do that, transferring out a biweekly "paycheck"?

[bokelley]

Ooh good idea about changing the dates! I'll have to do that, since we are also paid monthly! When we were in undergrad, we lived on Pell grants and scholarships, so we were paid twice per semester. That was tough! What we did was deposit it all into savings, then transfer out a monthly allowance. Maybe you could do that, transferring out a biweekly "paycheck"?

This is how we do it while where in med school, I assume we will do the same thing once residency starts.

[v-girl]

Great ideas! Thank you!!

[DCJenn]

Definitely schedule the bills to be paid when the money hits. We've done that forever and it's just easier. If there's no $ left, so be it but at least all of the priority bills are paid.

Jenn

[Deebs]

We get paid monthly as well. We schedule as many bills as we can. I also have a second bank account that is really just spending money. A day or two before the next payday, I see what we have left in our primary checking account, and move a good deal of that money into my other checking account (which happens to be at the bank closest to our house, so I can force myself to ATM there). I don't know if this makes sense when I'm writing it, but it really works for us.

[v-girl]

The other fellow informed him that they don't do any withholdings either! We're going to have to go back to using a CPA. There's no freaking way I can figure out SS, Medicare, and FICA! I guess it means his checks will be huge, but we're going to have to have our CPA guide us on how much to send and where to send it. Ugh!!!

[moonlight]

What a headache! I guess there is no way of knowing this while applying to fellowships???

[alison]

What a pain! We adjusted from 1x/month to 2x/month, and that's definitely the easier adjustment to make.

[HouseofWool]

The other fellow informed him that they don't do any withholdings either! We're going to have to go back to using a CPA. There's no freaking way I can figure out SS, Medicare, and FICA! I guess it means his checks will be huge, but we're going to have to have our CPA guide us on how much to send and where to send it. Ugh!!!

WTF? How does the employer get away with not doing withholdings? That is just crazy!

[v-girl]

The university worked it out by not calling it a salary I think. It is so frustrating. Too bad they won't pay our CPA for us. I'll be calling him in August.

I am thankful that the other resident told him in advance. The poor guy found out the hard way when he got his W2 owed so much. Luckily it was only 6 months worth of taxes that first time.

[HouseofWool]

I still think it is a lame attempt by the university to get out doing the work and I am pissed on your behalf.