Which bills does this check cover?
Splitting bills between paychecks means splitting the list of bills between your checks. Whole bills only: each bill is paid by one check, and you never cut a single bill in half across two.
If you are paid every two weeks, that is the question to answer on payday. Not what the month looks like, but what this check has to pay before the next one arrives. There is a short rule that answers it every time.
The rule
Each bill goes to the last paycheck before its due date.
Look at the due date, then look back for the most recent payday on or before it. That check pays the bill. A bill due the 15th goes to the check you get on the 12th, not the one on the 26th, because the 26th is too late. Do that for every bill and the list splits itself.
You never move a bill to a later check to make the numbers work. A later check lands after the due date, and the bill is late.
A worked example
Two paychecks of $1,850 each, 14 days apart. From every check, $150 is set aside for groceries, gas and everyday spending, before the leftover is counted.
Check on Fri, Oct 30 $1,850
- Rent due Sun, Nov 1$1,400
- Car payment due Thu, Nov 5$350
- Electric due Tue, Nov 10$110
- Bills total
- $1,860
- Set aside for spending
- $150
- Leftover
- -$160
Short check
Check on Fri, Nov 13 $1,850
- Phone due Sun, Nov 15$90
- Internet due Wed, Nov 18$70
- Insurance due Fri, Nov 20$190
- Bills total
- $350
- Set aside for spending
- $150
- Leftover
- $1,350
Surplus
Check the totals. Bills come to $2,210 in all, and the two checks bring in $3,700. Take away the bills and the $300 set aside for spending, and $1,190 is left across both checks. The first check's -$160 and the second check's $1,350 add up to the same number.
That is the point of the example. Together the two checks cover everything, but the first check alone does not. Rent, the car payment and the electric bill are all due before the second check arrives, so moving any of them there would make them late. The value is seeing the short check weeks ahead, while you can still do something about it, not pushing a bill past its due date.
Where it goes wrong: the short check
The rule can leave one check holding too much. It happens when large bills land close together after the same payday, as rent and a car payment do in the example. The month as a whole is fine, but one check carries most of it.
That is why a monthly budget misses it. A monthly total says you are fine. Only the check-by-check view shows the one paycheck that comes up short, and by how much, early enough to fix it: set a little aside from the check before, ask for a different due date, or plan to cover the gap on purpose.
Variable bills
Not every bill has a fixed amount. For electric, gas and the like, use a safe estimate, such as a recent high month, and assign it by the same rule. When the real bill arrives, correct the amount. A slightly high estimate costs you nothing. A low one is how a short check sneaks up on you.
See it on a real forecast
Check Planner does this matching for you. You enter your bills once and tell it when you get paid. It puts each bill on the check that has to cover it, shows what is left in every check 12 checks ahead, and warns you when one comes up short. Here is the demo, with no signup. Tap any check to see which bills it is carrying.
Every bill sits on the check that has to pay it.
- Free during beta
- No bank login
- Set up in a few minutes
Try it
Try the demo above and change the paycheck to your own. Check Planner is free during beta, and there is no bank login.