Tool
Paycheck calendar: plan by payday, not by month
If your pay cycle and your billing cycle disagree — and for anyone paid weekly, fortnightly or irregularly, they do — planning by calendar month is planning with the wrong unit.
- Every payday plotted
Weekly, fortnightly, monthly or irregular — each payment sits on its real date.
- Bills assigned to cheques
Each bill is covered by the cheque before it, so nothing is orphaned.
- Tight cycles surface early
The overloaded fortnight becomes visible weeks ahead, while you can still move something.
- Plan the bonus cheque
Biweekly pay produces two three-payday months a year; assign them before they arrive.
Building it
- Add your pay as a recurring item on its real cadence — every 14 days, monthly, or per-shift dates for irregular work.
- Add each bill on its own due date.
- Enter your current balance so the projection starts real.
- Scan for any cycle where the balance runs thin before the next payday.
- Move one flexible bill or shift a discretionary purchase to flatten it.
Pay cadences and what they imply
| Cadence | Payments per year | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | Monthly bills straddling weeks — assign each to one cheque |
| Biweekly | 26 | Two bonus months a year; plan them in advance |
| Semi-monthly | 24 | Uneven gaps around month end |
| Monthly | 12 | Front-loaded bills and a thin week four |
| Irregular / shift work | Varies | Plan on your realistic low week, not your average |
For variable hours
If your hours change week to week, enter income at the level you reliably hit rather than the average. Averages include the good weeks and produce a plan that fails in the ordinary ones.
Anything above that baseline goes straight into a buffer. Over a few months the buffer becomes what lets you pay yourself a steady amount regardless of the rota.
Frequently asked questions
What is a paycheck calendar?
A calendar showing each payday on its real date with the bills each cheque needs to cover, plus a running balance across the cycle.
How do I assign bills to paychecks?
Assign each bill to the last paycheque that arrives before its due date, then total each cheque's load and rebalance if one is overloaded.
How do I plan with variable hours?
Budget on the income level you reliably hit rather than the average, and route everything above it into a buffer.
When are the three-paycheck months?
They depend on your first payday of the year; plotting 26 fortnightly dates on a calendar shows exactly which two months contain three.
Plan in the unit you actually get paid in
Any cadence, free forever, no bank linking.