how to budget semi monthly and semi monthly budget spreadsheet

How to Create a Semi Monthly Budget {+ Spreadsheet}

Do you receive a semi-monthly paycheck? Here is how to easily create your semi monthly budget (or biweekly budget!).

When you get paid semi monthly, you receive two paychecks each month. While your pay schedule is predictable and consistent, you may have to pay more bills in one half of the month than the other half. With an effective semi-monthly budget template and careful planning, you can easily budget and keep track of your monthly expenses.

Semi monthly is one of the four most common pay schedules:

  1. Weekly
  2. Biweekly
  3. Semi monthly
  4. Monthly

When you get paid semi-monthly, you receive exactly two paychecks each month (usually on the same days of the month, but maybe not on the same days of the week). It’s very similar to the bi-weekly pay schedule, except instead of 26 paychecks each year, you receive 24. Those with bi-weekly paychecks get a bonus third paycheck two months out of the year. The semi-monthly folks pay stays consistent.

Note: The method I share on how to budget semi-monthly paychecks also applies to biweekly paychecks. This is because I recommend that you split your month into two parts or four parts, no matter how you are paid. If you are paid biweekly, split your month into two halves, as if you are paid semi monthly — act like you always receive two paychecks every month. Then, if you receive a third paycheck at the end of the month, put it towards your financial goals (savings, paying off debt, or even a sinking fund).

Before we get into the steps, let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of the semi-monthly pay cycle.

Advantages of Semi-Monthly Pay Schedule

The semi-monthly pay schedule has my heart because that is how my husband is paid and how we budget. He gets paid semi monthly on the 10th and 25th of each month. It’s not as common as the bi-weekly schedule, but there are numerous benefits to it, including:

  • Predictable pay days
  • Usually the same amount of pay each month (consistent salary)
  • No extra paychecks that you have to worry about budgeting
  • Fits the rhythm of monthly bills more closely

Disadvantages of Semi-Monthly Pay Schedule

As with every pay schedule, semi-monthly pay periods comes with some disadvantages as well:

  • Slightly more distance between paychecks than the bi-weekly pay schedule, so you really have to make sure to stretch out your income
  • Typically not best for hourly employees (more suitable for salaried employees)
  • Holidays or weekends can change the pay date
  • Not paid on the same day of the week

Budget Month

Instead of creating a monthly budget, I recommend creating a new budget every time you get paid! However, you probably still pay most of your bills on a monthly basis. No matter what payroll schedule you’re on, you should plan for all of your monthly expenses (including savings goals, extra debt payments, giving, and investing) as a whole. So before you start budgeting your semi-monthly paycheck, figure out what your budget month will be.

Start with the first pay period you receive in the month (a pay period goes from payday through the day before the next payday!). If you get paid on the 1st, that makes it easy! Many people on a semi-monthly pay schedule receive their paychecks on the 1st and 15th of the month. If that’s you, you do not need to worry about your budget month because it aligns with the calendar month.

What is my budget month if I’m not paid on the 1st?

If you do not get paid on the 1st, then your budget month may not fit perfectly within the calendar month.

For instance, my husband gets paid semi monthly on the 10th and 25th of the month. I create a budget that starts on payday and pays the bills within the pay period. I pick the paycheck he gets on the 25th to be the first pay period of the budget month because the first day of the month falls within that pay period.

For example, our January budget would go from December 25-January 24 (instead of January 1-31) because I budget for the two pay periods that go from December 25-January 9 (December 25th payday) and January 10-24 (January 10th payday).

Note: If payday lands on a weekend or holiday, it may move your payday & budget month up a day or two.

Now, when I budget, I pay for each monthly bill exactly once within our budget month, and I am able to review our monthly expenses and see how we did as a whole at the end of the month.

Once you understand what your budget month is, you can move on to the steps to create your semi monthly budget.

How to Create a Semi Monthly Budget (or Biweekly Budget)

semi monthly budget spreadsheet template

Using my pay period budgeting method, there are five steps to making a semi-monthly budget. Following these steps, you will be able to budget your semi-monthly paychecks for the entire next month.

1. Figure out how many pay periods you will have & list the dates.

List the dates of the two pay periods that take place next month. Remember: You will create a separate budget for each pay period of your budget month. Start with the pay period that begins on the 1st or that the 1st falls within. Then list the second pay period of the month.

These two pay periods make up your budget month.

2. Write down your income.

For each pay period budget, list the amount you will receive from your semi-monthly paycheck. If you expect to receive any additional income during the pay period (if you budget with a spouse, have a side gig, etc.), you can list it under income as well. Add up each income stream to come up with your total income for each pay period.

3. List your expense categories.

Make a list of all of your expense categories. Use this list every time you budget, so you can see every bill or expense you might have during the pay period. My budget template makes this easy.

4. Make a zero-based budget for each pay period of the month.

Allocate the income for each pay period to different budget categories until you run out of income. Start with the most important budget categories, like utilities, food, gas for your car, and minimum debt payments. Then, use the leftover income for eating out, personal money, sinking funds, savings goals, etc. Once your income equals your expenses (or income – expenses = 0) within the pay period, you have created a zero-based budget. Do this for each pay period!

5. Adjust your monthly budget.

After you have two pay period budgets created, look at both budgets together and make any adjustments needed to make sure it feels balanced. If more bills are due in one pay period than the other pay period, you may need to split the bills or rollover some of the income into the other pay period.

For instance, if most of your bills are paid during the first half of the month, you may need to rollover a portion of your income from your paycheck in the second half of the the month to pay those bills coming up at the beginning of next month. 

Creating pay period budgets for the whole month allows you to determine where you might need to adjust your money flow.

Biweekly Notes

If you are paid biweekly and this is a month where you receive a third paycheck, you can create a third budget for the third paycheck or just lump the income from this third paycheck into the budget for the second paycheck. You should aim to pay all of your bills and essential expenses with your first two paychecks. Use this third paycheck to put extra towards your financial goals, such as saving for a down payment or paying down your car loan.

Additional Tips for the Semi Monthly Budget

Here are a few extra tips to help you budget your semi-monthly (or bi-weekly) paychecks!

Adjust the due dates of your bills.

Some companies allow you to change the due dates of your bills. If you have too many bills due at once, you can try to spread them out a little.

I did this, so I have a fairly even amount of bills to pay each pay period. We never have to split bills over two pay periods because our budget is set up in a way that we have enough for our bills, food, and gas every pay period. Also, if you have consistent pay days, you can try to change the due date to the day of payday, so the money is auto-withdrawn and the bills are paid at the beginning of the pay period.

Open a bills bank account.

Consider opening up a bank account just for bills. If you need to split bills over two pay periods, transfer extra money to the bills bank account during pay periods with fewer bills due.

Don’t connect a debit card to this account to make it more difficult to access the money. Then, set your bills on auto-pay, so they are always paid on time and you can make sure to avoid overdraft charges and late fees. I like using this method because you can usually budget this bank account to the exact dollar, and you never have to worry about accidentally over-drafting this account.

Use a budget calendar.

Another tip is to use a budget calendar to write down your paydays and bill due dates. I like to do this in my planner because it helps me visualize my budget and the dates I need to remember.

Use sinking funds.

Sinking funds are a budgeter’s best friend. They allow you to slowly save for bigger purchases you expect to come up throughout the year, such as Christmas gifts, a vacation, your car registration, etc. If you are always coming up short on money to pay the bills, maybe you aren’t effectively budgeting for infrequent expenses. Identify some sinking fund categories you might need and make room in your budget to save toward them each month.

Build an emergency fund.

Stashing away an emergency fund is another way to help you avoid using credit cards and debt in the event of unexpected expenses.

Set aside a portion every pay period to pay off debt or save.

If you want to pay off debt, save, or invest, use Dave Ramsey’s budget percentages and determine a percentage of each paycheck to put towards your financial goal. Let’s say you want to put 20% of your income towards debt, and you bring home $2,000 twice a month. You could put $400 towards your debt twice a month, or $9,600 a year! That’s the power of budgeting.

Make sure to put money towards your financial goals at the beginning of the pay period as soon as you get paid, so you don’t accidentally spend it.

Practice.

It takes about three months to nail down your budget. If you practice budgeting every month, eventually, it will take you no time to do!

Semi Monthly Budget Spreadsheet

google sheets semi monthly pay period budget template

I have tried numerous budgeting methods, and I never found a budgeting app or template out there that perfectly budgeted semi-monthly pay periods. Like I said above, our personal budget is semi monthly, so I created my own semi-monthly budget spreadsheet that is simple and actually works with all pay schedules.

My Google Sheets pay period budget template is the ultimate budget planner. You can budget up to five pay periods each month (two if you get paid semi-monthly; possibly three if you are paid biweekly!). It also includes helpful features like a Dashboard, Net Worth Tracker, customizable budget categories, Sinking Funds Tracker, transaction log that auto-fills the budget sheet, video tutorial, & so much more! It is perfect for families and couples who budget together.

Get the BEST semi monthly budget template HERE! Use code HOUSEHOLD for a discount!

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