4 weekly pay

User_name_6

sorry if this is the wrong forum section :-)

I'm soon going to be on 4 weekly pay, where I'm used to monthly - and at the moment it seems like a nightmare in terms of budgeting/bills/etc, because im sure alot of my bills couldnt be changed to 4-weekly. just looking for some hints & tips of what I could do to try and smooth it out? my pay will be the same, just over 13 rather than 12. dont tend to have left over at the end of the month and I normally try to look at some point in the month compared with the same the previous month to get an idea if i'm overspending or "underspending" but cannot see this working anymore because everything will be all skewiff.

considering switching what can be switched to 4-weekly and leaving the rest monthly, but this might get even more confusing?

other option is setting up a bill paying account but im not convinced how best to run this as I'd still end up short until the month of bills for which I get 2 pay packets - not till next april or so I think. and I'd be worried about not getting this right and being stung with a ton of bank charges, which is obviously not going to help.

so far as I can tell, 4 weekly pay is a pain even for seasoned payees, so I'm just after getting some ideas for how to make it work easier?

A_Star

I am also paid 4 weekly and it took me a long time to sort it out and for several months was short of money to pay the bills.

In the end I had my pay paid into 1 account and set up a standing order on pay day to pay into another account from which the bills go out monthly. For left over money (eg. spends, groceries, petrol etc) I work on a 4 weekly basis.

Major positive to doing it this way, once a year you have a lump sum that you don't need to pay the bills

suicidebob

It can be a bit of a pain, but try budget your 4-weekly pay to last the full month.

Set up a monthly budget showing your salary going into the bank the same day each month (It won't, but you'll benefit from the cushion this will provide for any DDs etc), and you will see the full benefit of the 13th pay.

It's easy to make your salary last an extra 2-3 days if you plan properly

Xbigman

I'm also paid 4 weekly. I have a spreadsheet set up with 13 sections and I've put on everything I have to pay. IE, you know when peoples birthdays are so can put that on, you know when the TV licence is due, when various car expences come round, etc...
The main thing is to 'not' have everything paid on the same date. IE 1st of the month. That way you spread out through the year the 'free' wage packets, that is the wage packet you don't need to take the mortgage from should be a different one to the one where you miss the 13th broadband payment.
It took me a while to get used to it but it makes sense now.

I found there was one thing that was good. Being paid every four weeks means always getting 4 weeks shopping out of a wage packet. No more 5 week shopping months.


X

hcb42

I used to love it...13 pays a year, happy days

notafan

hcb42 wrote: »

I used to love it...13 pays a year, happy days

Paid 13 times a year, bills due 12 times a year...

lol yer but have you noticed you never seem to get one full sparepay day to spend on what you like!

I find it easier to have two accounts, paid into one then move what you can spend to the other and left the rest for payments

whitewing

You could get your pay into one account and on the day of the month that you used to get paid have the correct 'monthly' amount transferred over to your bill paying/debit carded account.

It will only work if you don't dip into your salary acct.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

notafan wrote: »

Paid 13 times a year, bills due 12 times a year...

lol yer but have you noticed you never seem to get one full sparepay day to spend on what you like!

I find it easier to have two accounts, paid into one then move what you can spend to the other and left the rest for payments

if you have all DDs on the same day you do, but scattered throughout the month then you dont notice it so much...

Roll on Sept (My 'free' pay month!!!) :j

User_name_6

thanks for the replies anyone... I'm going to consider opening another account to use for everyday use, and keep my existing account for salary & DDs as has been suggested.

each month after DDs have gone out moving the remaining cash in the salary account into the daily use account.. that way there'll always be funds in the salary account for DDs (hopefully unless i've worked it out wrong) and I'll always recieve a top-up into my day to day account on the same day or so each month.. although this amount will differ I think so might be some headaches there!