# Payroll: Bi-weekly vs. Monthly **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544 "2007-05-10T14:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/1 "2007-05-10T14:31:31Z")
I’m considering moving from a job that pays once a month to one that payrolls bi-weekly. I would be making more at the new job, but when I do all the math it appears that I would actually be taking home less . . ? Is this possible? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/2 "2007-05-10T14:33:03Z")
Remember, you will be paid 26 times during the year, not 24. So it should work out correctly 🙂 Actually, I love bi-weekly because I always sock away the two paychecks that come for the third time in a month, and live as if I’m getting paid semi-monthly instead. Helps build up a rainy day fund. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/3 "2007-05-10T14:37:51Z")
**DSYoungEsq** , I do that too. It always surprises me when people talk about how they get paid monthly. I have never had a job where I got paid monthly. I thought all employers ran on the bi-weekly pay schedule. Even in the army I got paid twice a month. Are there certain industries where getting paid monthly is the norm? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/4 "2007-05-10T14:42:15Z")
I get paid every week. Is that unusual? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/5 "2007-05-10T14:47:51Z")
I don’t know if it’s a country thing, but I have never had a job as an adult that didn’t pay monthly. When I was doing school type jobs - service station attendant, shelf stacker etc, then I was paid weekly. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/6 "2007-05-10T14:50:59Z")
I’ve had it both ways, and I prefer monthly. All my bills are by month, so I like my paychecks to be by month. Plus, you get more on a monthly basis instead of waiting for twice a year bonuses. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/7 "2007-05-10T14:53:38Z")
I’ve worked for two professional firms - one paid bi-monthly (the 15th and the last day of each month) and where I work now pays biweekly (every other Friday). I preferred the bimonthly because each month I would pay the same bills from the same paycheck and it made budgeting much easier. Now, it’s harder to do things like direct debit for my bills because the dates I get paid falls in different places throughout the month. To answer the OP’s question, it shouldn’t make a difference in your takehome pay. Your biweekly (gross) pay would be 1/26 of your annual salary. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/8 "2007-05-10T15:45:04Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] - one paid bi-monthly (the 15th and the last day of each month) and where I work now pays biweekly (every other Friday). [/QUOTE] I was going to make the point that twice a month is semimonthly, and bimonthly is every two months, but apparently “bimonthly” can mean either one. :smack: Anyhoo, at our company, exempt/salaried employees are paid monthly and non-exempt/hourly employees are paid biweekly. Take-home pay isn’t any different but benefits (e.g., vacation leave) are. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/9 "2007-05-10T15:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=Amp] **DSYoungEsq** , I do that too. It always surprises me when people talk about how they get paid monthly. I have never had a job where I got paid monthly. I thought all employers ran on the bi-weekly pay schedule. Even in the army I got paid twice a month. Are there certain industries where getting paid monthly is the norm? [/QUOTE] I’ve worked bi-weekly, and semi-monthly, and I concur with **DSYoungEsq** and **Amp**. My budget (which includes savings) is set up for twice a month inflows versus outflows. Twice a year, though, I get an inflow with no associated outflow. I consider that vacation spending and holiday shopping money, as it is usually June and December with the ‘bonus’ checks (not counting real bonus checks, of course). ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/10 "2007-05-10T15:53:29Z")
I prefer to be paid daily. You can’t pay me quick enough. How about hourly? ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/11 "2007-05-10T15:54:25Z")
The Los Angeles Unified School District pays teachers monthly (the 5th). This is new for 2007 - prior to that they paid _every four weeks_, meaning 13 checks per year. That was a strange system, and I’m glad they abandoned it. My grad school RA’ships paid monthly (the 1st), as did that same school when I was a postdoc (last day of each month). My current job in industry pays on the 10th & 26th - which means today’s payday! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/12 "2007-05-10T18:46:42Z")
Almost all my jobs in the NY/NJ area have been either biweekly or semimonthly, with two exceptions: My very first job out of school paid everyone weekly. I suspect that around that time, many many companies were discovering how much money could by saved simply by doing payroll half as often. (Obviously, the salaries and taxes came to the same thing either way. I’m talking about overhead: The time and expenses of the clerical staff who put the payroll together.) One job paid monthly. It was a NYC branch of a Montreal firm, and IIRC they said that monthly is standard practice in Canada. This seems to match **One And Only Wanderers** ’s experiences. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/payroll-bi-weekly-vs-monthly/403544/13 "2007-05-10T19:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=mazinger\_z] I prefer to be paid daily. You can’t pay me quick enough. How about hourly? [/QUOTE] Can they pay me now for a day of work on Tuesday?