Paycheck budget calculator: which paycheck pays which bill

Enter how often you're paid, your take-home pay and your monthly bills with their due days. Each bill is paid from the last paycheck before it's due. See every paycheck for the next 12 months: the bills it covers, what's left, your running balance, and the months with a third paycheck.

✓ TestedSame calculation as the tested spreadsheet

Lowest running balance–

Paychecks in 12 months
Months with an extra paycheck
Bills due before the first payday
Balance after 12 months

Payday	Bills it pays	Left	Balance

A bill is paid from the last paycheck on or before its due date; bills due before your first payday come out of the money already in checking. "Set aside" is what every paycheck also covers (groceries, gas, savings). Due days past the end of a month count as its last day. The spreadsheet adds yearly bills, changed paychecks and a month-by-month view.

How it works

Every payday for the next 12 months is listed, starting with the month of your first payday. Weekly and biweekly paydays repeat every 7 or 14 days; twice-a-month and monthly paydays fall on the days you choose, and a weekend payday can move to the Friday before. Each bill is paid from the last paycheck on or before its due date, so a bill due on the 1st comes out of the last paycheck of the month before. What is left from each paycheck, after its bills and the amount you set aside, carries forward into a running balance. A low balance before a big bill is normal if the leftovers from earlier paychecks cover it; a negative one means you would be overdrawn. Paid biweekly, two months a year have a third paycheck. The worked example is in how to budget by paycheck.