This weekend is one of those anomalies that happen every couple of months. I like to call it The Third Weekend Phenomenon. Our budget cycle runs on bi-monthly basis as that’s how often I get paid from my job as a software engineer which makes up the majority of our income. We typically split up our funds assuming two grocery shopping trips, and two weekends worth of discretionary spending. But since the year has 52 weeks and not 48, every couple of months there’s a pay period that has three weekends. Therefore, we need to split up our discretionary and grocery shopping spending across three weeks instead of two. It is offset a little bit by one of my wife’s jobs paying out every two weeks instead of bi-weekly. It’s just one of those things that keeps us on our toes, and makes sure we keep our eye on the ball when it comes to our finances! Do you experience the Third Weekend Phenomenon? How do you handle it?
Now get your fists in the air for my favorite posts of the week!
Posts That Make Me Fist Pump
- 6 Splurges Worth the Money from LBee And The Money Tree
- Money & Happiness: How Are They Linked? from Young Adult Money
- How The 50/20/30 Rule Can Help You Budget Your Money from Eyes On The Dollar
- 11 Reasons Why You’ll Never be Rich: poverty is not skin deep from The Money Principle
My hub and I get paid every two weeks, so a month with an extra paycheck usually allows us a little extra leeway. We still need groceries and gasoline, but our monthly expenses are generally paid out of two checks, so the bulk of the third one is going toward the debt right now.
Thanks for including Erin’s post, Travis! My wife and I get paid on opposite weeks, so it makes it fairly predictable.