It seems most of the time, everyone budgets for their bills on an as-needed basis. "I get paid this Friday. What bills do I have to pay before my next paycheck?" Some people get by with this kind of budgeting, others struggle getting by, because sometimes, bills land closer together and leaves them with almost nothing until their next paycheck. This tool helps take your entire budget and spread it evenly over all of your paychecks.

I much rather enjoy consistency and always expecting the same outcome each time without needing to worry about what bills are coming up each time I get paid. This page sets out to make that process easier. By entering your expected paychecks and frequency, along with all of your budgeting needs, it will figure out how much you need to set aside from each paycheck in order to cover all of those expenses. This amount will remain consistent with all paychecks, so there are no surprises. It also takes into account all of the different paycheck frequencies, since no month is exactly 4 weeks and some of your bills may not rely on that same idealogy. To elaborate further on this, someone who gets paid bi-weekly gets 26 paychecks in a year, versus someone paid twice monthly gets 24 paychecks per year. It's only a difference of 2 paychecks between the two, but taking your entire expense budget and breaking it out over that difference means a different amount is needed for those expenses per paycheck.

The most ideal situation would be to have two checking accounts. One is your left over, free spending account. The other is strictly your bills account. Once you add everything on this page and figure out how much you need to take out of each paycheck, that amount gets moved into your bills account and left there. "But my car payment isn't due before my next check!" That's fine! The money pools into that account, and when the car payment is actually due, it comes out of that account when it's time. Since the money has been pooled into that account, it's sitting in there waiting. Another benefit from this are bills that aren't paid on a monthly basis. An example would be car insurance. Most providers give discounts when the car insurance is paid in full for 6 or 12 months at a time. If you add that in your expenses, this form breaks that payment out over your paychecks in small chunks automatically. So again, when that 6 or 12 month bill is due, that money is pooled up and ready to cover it.

Having two bank accounts helps separate your money from the necessary bills money. It also allows you to setup autopay to come out of that account for each company, which can help you not miss payment due dates. Give the tool a try and see if that approach can help ease your stress levels and mind on your finances!