Pay Day Friday & Holiday Weekend
Pay Day Friday and a Holiday Weekend. That can lead to double trouble if we don’t have a plan. Aside from it being the end of the week, and Business-minded Us being off-duty; it’s a holiday weekend. It comes with an extra day off, food, fun, family, and friends. The good news is, it comes the same time every year. It doesn’t have to take us by surprise. We know it’s coming and we know how we like to celebrate it. That’s good news.
Now that we are actively working a plan to improve our money situation, we can be on the lookout for spending that starts on Friday afternoon and continues until Monday night, when Business-minded Us shows up in preparation for getting back to work on Tuesday. We can make Business-minded Us proud by addressing this issue ahead of time. This is how we do it.
Before the month comes in, we record our total income and budget out: tithes, savings, bills, and incidentals- in that order. Within the Incidentals category allocate money for groceries, gas, and any other flexible but important expense. Any money left over is our surplus.
Depending on where we are on our financial journey, we have a plan for at least part of that surplus. If we have consumer debt, then we are likely on a debt repayment plan (to pay off credit cards, personal loans, student loans, cars, etc). If we are building an emergency fund, then we are aggressively throwing money towards that goal. We may be
funding our retirement and/or investments. Otherwise, that surplus may be just enough for us to have some pocket change between pay days.
If we only have pocket change, then we are walking into the holiday weekend knowing that. If there are areas that we can tighten up on, we may choose to do that. For example, if we budged for a springtime mani/pedi, maybe we opt to do our own nails in order to free up extra cash. Maybe we plan meals around the food already in our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. It can be anything, but it has to be feasible. Otherwise, we simply plan activities that fit our budget. Maybe we don’t host the event this year because even if we make it a potluck, as host we will still take a financial hit. This year, maybe we attend someone else’s and we bring a dish. If our ego takes a hit, let’s remember why we’re doing this in the first place. Our why should speak to our heart.
If our surplus is primarily committed towards debt repayment, ramped up savings, and/or investment; then it’s a matter of determining how much of that surplus we are willing to redirect for holiday spending. Perhaps we allow ourselves a certain percentage or flat dollar amount.
Whichever scenario we fall into, we don’t have to break the bank this holiday weekend or throw off our financial progress. If it turns out, we dropped the ball on prior month planning, then let’s start where we are. Let’s take pen to paper and budget out the priority for this particular paycheck. There are plenty of weekends, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries to look forward to. Lord willing, we’ll have another opportunity to do better next month, and the months that follow
