Timing of pension payments

blendedgirl

Dear All
My husband and I each receive a State pension and a Teachers' Pension. None are huge, but we should have enough to cover us from month to month.  I'm trying to work out some kind of a budget, but the 4 pensions all come in at different times of the month.  As a result, I'm finding it really difficult to work out what we have and when. I've been looking at 'piggybanking' as a solution, as mentioned on the MSE budget.  Has anyone used this way of budgeting with pensions?
Or has anyone worked out a good way to deal with the different dates of payments?
Many thanks

Ayr_Rage

Arrange for your State Pensions to be paid weekly, it goes in on the same day every week.

Jami74

When I was getting weekly pay and monthly pay I would move them all into an easy access savings account the day they came in and then pay it all back into my main account on the first of the month, treating the first as though it was my payday. 

Then I'd send off what was needed to the bill account (same amount each month to cover the monthly outgoings like rent, council tax, broadband etc. No surprises) and a bit to savings. 

Edited to add: it wasn't initially easy going from spending straight away to saving it up for the following month so was a gradual process over about three months of being very careful. Now it's automatic. Income doesn't get touched until first of the month.

badmemory

If you are any good with spreadsheets then you could do what I do.  I basically do my own version of a bank statement for about 4 months.  It has everything on it in the correct date order & I can see exactly when the proverbial is going to hit the fan which normally is 1st October.

blue.peter

A money management app might help you. I use, and recommend, AceMoney.

I have three pensions: two are paid monthly, but on different days, and one (my State Pension) is paid on every fourth Wednesday. My situation is therefore similar to yours (though not identical). I have no trouble using AceMoney to look ahead and know where I'll be in a few weeks' time.

If you don't fancy paying a one-off US$45 for AceMoney, MoneyManager Ex is a free alternative that looks as if it'll do the job (though I've done no more than take a cursory look at it).

enthusiasticsaver

Our pensions are all paid on different days.  My husbands main occupational pension and my main works pension come in the end of the month and private pensions and ISA withdrawals nearer the middle. My husbands state pension is every 4 weeks and I do not get my state pension until next year.  

Luckily for us all our direct debits are covered by occupational pensions so on the 1st of every month we just move the money across to a savings space in Starling to cover all of these.  What is left from occupational pensions/private pensions/ISAs and state pension is just to live off so  we just keep track of the balance in Starling.  We allocate money into savings spaces for holidays, cars, home repairs etc etc at various points depending on account balance and which pensions have just paid out. Slightly more complicated than when we were working but we manage ok. 

Eco_Miser

I have a State pension every 4 weeks (so there's a month every year with 2 payments in), an annuity in the middle of every calendar month, and other income at quarterly or longer intervals.  Rather like badmemory above, I have a spreadsheet listing all the upcoming expected ins and outs, currently to the end of December. I have savings and I ensure that even when the outs are coming before the ins I have enough money in the current to cover them.

In one sense the spreadsheet acts as my pots, but I don't use specific accounts for specific types of spending, just for maximising interest, and having sufficient available for my known and potential needs.