# What should you do on payday?

On payday, move your money the same day and always in the same order: giving first, then your bills, then savings and debt, and only then spending. It takes about fifteen minutes. Money that stays in your main account gets spent, so the day you do it matters as much as the amounts. Type your salary and your bills below to get your own list, and tick each line when the transfer is made.

## Why does it have to be on payday?

Your account is at its fullest the day your salary arrives, and that is when it is easiest to believe there is plenty. Every day you wait, small spending takes a little of the money you meant for something else.

People who save "what is left at the end of the month" usually find that nothing is left. Moving the money first turns the order around. Your goals are paid like bills, and your spending adapts to what remains.

## What is the payday routine, step by step?

1. **Check what arrived.** Use the real amount in your account, not the amount you expected.
2. **Give first.** If you give to charity or support family, that share comes off the top.
3. **Cover the bills.** Pay what is due today. Move the rest of the bill money somewhere it will not be spent by accident.
4. **Fund your goals.** Savings, investment and debt payments, as real transfers, today.
5. **Know what is left to live on.** Whatever has no transfer is your spending money for the month. Spend it without guilt: everything else is already paid.

On a salary of 3,000 with 5% giving and 1,050 of bills:

| Order | Transfer | Amount | Still in the account |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giving, 5% | 150 | 2,850 |
| 2 | Bills | 1,050 | 1,800 |
| 3 | Savings, 25% of the rest | 450 | 1,350 |
| 4 | Investment, 20% | 360 | 990 |
| 5 | Trips, 15% | 270 | 720 |
| 6 | Debt, 40% | 720 | 0 |

Six transfers, and every unit of the salary has a destination. The order and the percentages come from the "give, bills, split" method in [the best way to split your salary](/blog/how-to-split-your-salary).

## Where do food and daily spending go?

They need a line like everything else. In the example above nothing is left over, so daily life has to be one of the lines. There are two ways to do it:

- **As a bill.** If you spend about the same on food and transport every month, write it with your bills as a fixed amount.
- **As a share.** If it changes, give daily life its own percentage of what is left after the bills.

Either way, the amount is decided on payday. The alternative is finding out on the 20th that it is gone.

## Should I automate the transfers?

Automate what never changes, such as rent or a fixed savings amount. Do the rest by hand.

A transfer you make yourself has one advantage: you see where the money goes, every month. If your income changes from month to month, the amounts change with it, and working them out takes a few minutes.

What matters more than the method is a list. Without one, a transfer gets forgotten and nobody notices until a bill is late.

## What if I am paid twice a month, or on a different day?

The routine belongs to the day the money arrives, not to the first of the month. If you are paid twice, do it twice: the first payment covers the bills, and once they are covered, the second goes to your goals.

## What if my salary does not cover everything?

Stop at the bills. Pay them in order of importance, rent before internet, and leave the goals for a better month. The gap between your income and your bills is the number to work on, with more income or a smaller bill. Skipping a bill to keep a savings transfer only moves the problem to next month.

## How do I make it a habit?

- **Same moment every month.** The evening of payday, with a reminder in your calendar.
- **One list, always in the same order.** You should not have to think.
- **Tick a line only when the money has moved.** An intention is not a transfer.
- **Keep it short.** If the routine takes an hour, you will skip it. Fifteen minutes is enough.

After two or three paydays it stops feeling like work.