# May has 3 paycheck days. Is the third paycheck free money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069 "2008-05-29T20:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/21 "2008-05-29T21:51:20Z")
The company I work for even goes one better. The employee portion of annual insurance premium deduction is divided into 24 payments. That third “bonus” paycheck doesn’t have an insurance premium on it either! Woohoo! More titties! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/22 "2008-05-29T21:54:12Z")
We’re paid every other week too, so twice a year, the paycheck is a bit bigger, since they deduct insurance on a monthly (24 times a year) basis. My next “free paycheck” is in August. So the last paycheck of the month, August 29, will not have insurance deducted. It’s not much, but it’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/23 "2008-05-29T22:19:03Z")
I’ve always been paid fortnightly. I don’t regard the occasional third payday in a calendar month (as yesterday was) as anything special. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/24 "2008-05-30T00:52:58Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Here’s the weird thing: I’m on the opposite every-other-week payment schedule from the OP, so one of my three-paycheck months this year was _February_. Of all the months you don’t expect to have 5 Fridays … [/QUOTE] It only happens every 28 years. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/25 "2008-05-30T01:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=happywaffle] …I can totally blow tomorrow’s paycheck on titties and beer. Woooooooooo! [/QUOTE] Hey, I’m flying to Austin Monday for a meeting on Tuesday. Where are the titties and beer? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/26 "2008-05-30T01:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=happywaffle] Man, I just realized every other poster on this thread has at LEAST ten times as many posts as me. You folks been around awhile, ain’t ya. . [/QUOTE] Naw. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/27 "2008-05-30T01:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] I’ve always been paid fortnightly. I don’t regard the occasional third payday in a calendar month (as yesterday was) as anything special. [/QUOTE] How do you budget? If you treat it as the usual next paycheck in your budget, by the end of the year you’ll be paying your cable bill a month ahead. My budget is on two paychecks a month. July’s third paycheck is buying me a new bed, and I’m still on budget. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/28 "2008-05-30T01:55:35Z")
Most companies that you biweekly will have fewer deductions in the months with three paychecks. While income taxes are withheld with each check, usually payments for health insurance and union dues are done on a monthly basis and payroll systems just divide those payments in half and skip them on the “extra” check. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/29 "2008-05-30T02:01:45Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > How do you budget? If you treat it as the usual next paycheck in your budget, by the end of the year you’ll be paying your cable bill a month ahead. Thankfully I don’t really have to worry about budgeting. I just pay all bills as soon as I receive them. [QUOTE=BobT] Most companies that you biweekly will have fewer deductions in the months with three paychecks. While income taxes are withheld with each check, usually payments for health insurance and union dues are done on a monthly basis and payroll systems just divide those payments in half and skip them on the “extra” check. [/QUOTE] My employer deducts all those sorts of things at a fortnightly rate too. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/30 "2008-05-30T02:23:10Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] Thankfully I don’t really have to worry about budgeting. [/QUOTE] Ah, there’s the difference. For those of us who do budget, spending the 3rd July paycheck on a bed will free up the 3rd December paycheck for titties and beer. Or possibly a sofa. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Samaritan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bad\_Samaritan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Samaritan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/31 "2008-05-30T02:39:03Z")
I get paid weekly, so I get 4 extra checks per year. That means fewer tits and beer per sitting, but they come with more frequency. Everything in moderation, folks… ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/32 "2008-05-30T03:21:16Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] The company I work for even goes one better. The employee portion of annual insurance premium deduction is divided into 24 payments. That third “bonus” paycheck doesn’t have an insurance premium on it either! Woohoo! More titties! [/QUOTE] Similarly, my 3rd paychecks simply only take out taxes. Thing like TSA and health insurance only get taken out on the first 2 paychecks, making the 3rd seem a bit larger for the same amount of hours worked. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/33 "2008-05-30T04:10:54Z")
I think this thread shows the importance of putting titties and beer into the monthly budget. Then you can waste this extra check on stuff like insurance and odd bills because hey, titties and beer are already paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069/34 "2008-05-30T14:10:50Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] I’m on the same schedule as you, although my 3rd paycheck twice a year never seemed to be ‘extra.’ There was always something that needed it. Last year I changed my mortgage payment schedule so that now instead of 12 monthly payments we make 26 half-payments, each on a payday. Which comes to an extra payment per year; plus prevents our mortgage being due on a week that’s not a payday. [/QUOTE] I’m in the cool situation where both my wife and I get paid every other Friday… but it’s on opposite Fridays! So not only do we get a paycheck every friday, we also each have a different two months where we get three checks. On a side note, one of the perks I like about the 3rd paycheck month is that insurance monies aren’t held out. It’s a nice little bonus. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-has-3-paycheck-days-is-the-third-paycheck-free-money/451069.md?page=1)