If you have an irregular income (i.e. hourly, commission-based, freelance, or contract work) or if you get paid more than once per month, then managing your cash flow throughout the month can be a challenge.
Paycheck Planning is an EveryDollar Premium feature designed to help you manage your day-to-day budget, lower your risk of overspending, and pace your spending throughout the month.
Start your free trial of EveryDollar Premium here: 14-Day Free Trial of EveryDollar Premium.
Setting Up Paycheck Planning
- Finish your budget. Fill in all your Planned amounts so you can have an accurate paycheck plan.
- Next, open Paycheck Planning. On EveryDollar.com, choose Paycheck Planning in the left-hand menu. In EveryDollar Mobile, tap on the Risk of Overspending tile to open Paycheck Planning.
Note: The first time you open Paycheck Planning, all dates will be set to the first of the month. But once you schedule the spending dates, those will be copied over to the next month, so you don’t have to restart each month.
- Enter your buffer. A buffer is a great idea for any budget.
- Schedule dates for your income. Tap on each income item and set the dates you expect to get paid.
- Schedule dates for your expenses, including groceries, savings, bills, etc. Tap on each item and set the date you plan to pay the bill or the date you plan to spend money. You can select multiple dates for weekly and bi-weekly expenses.
Pro Tip: Once you've set your schedule, adjust your selected dates until you see Risk of Overspending Low.
- Decide if you want to turn on Safe to Spend.
Safe to Spend
The Safe to Spend feature links Paycheck Planning to your budget and shows you how much you can spend based on the dates you've set.
For example: You planned $600 this month for Groceries.
When you put Groceries into Paycheck Planning, you have a weekly schedule for $150 (assuming there are 4 dates selected for the month, such as every Saturday). By the second Saturday you have $300 available to spend.
Go back to the budget and select Groceries. If Safe to Spend is turned on, your budget will now follow your paycheck plan schedule, and you’ll see how much you can spend based on the dates you set.
Above: Safe to Spend Enabled.
Below: Safe to Spend Disabled.
Next Steps
Review your newly created paycheck plan and you’ll see how your money is set to flow in and out throughout the month. You can always adjust this to reflect reality.
Notice if there are areas where you could overspend. Verify to see if you have a buffer in your checking account to cover the expenses and if the buffer listed in Paycheck Planning.
Pro Tip: When you open up Paycheck Planning, you will see a line for today’s date and what your cash balance should be.