Here Are The 3 Paycheck Months For 2024 + What to Do With Your Third Check (Updated March 2024)
Last Updated: March 05, 2024 • 6 min read
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Most W-2 workers get paid twice a month or biweekly. If you, like many others, are getting paid biweekly, there are two months in 2024 in which you will get three paychecks and it all depends on when you get your first paycheck of the year.
2024 Months with 3 Paychecks
The occurrence of three-paycheck months in 2024 depends on the timing of your first paycheck of the year. Here are the months when you will receive three paychecks.
If your first paycheck of 2024 was received on January 5th, you can expect three paychecks in March and August.
- March paychecks: March 1, 15, and 29.
- August paychecks: August 2, 16, and 30.
If your first paycheck of 2024 was received on January 12th, you'll receive three paychecks in May and November.
- May paychecks: May 3, 17, and 31.
- November paychecks: November 1, 15, and 29.
Please note that these dates are provided as examples and can vary depending on your specific pay schedule. It's advisable to consult your employer or payroll department for the exact dates of your paychecks in 2024 to determine the months in which you will receive three paychecks.
Paid Every 2 Weeks?
If you are getting paid on a semimonthly schedule, usually on or around the 15th and the last day of the month, that's 24 paychecks every calendar year.
However, if you have biweekly pay periods, like every other Friday, that would end up being 26 paychecks in a year.
If you are getting 26 paychecks a year that would mean there will be two months every single year that you would get three paychecks instead of two.
What months are the three paycheck months in 2024? Good question, this year that depends on the day you received your first paycheck of the year.
How Does This Work if I Don't Get Paid on Fridays?
If you get paid every other week (biweekly pay schedule), but not on Fridays you can easily figure it out on your own. Grab a calendar and your favorite marker and create your own pay calendar. You can do this by circling the first day you got a paycheck in 2024 and then circle every two weeks until you find your 3 paycheck months!
How to Treat Third Paychecks as Bonus Money
Unfortunately, your boss doesn't just hand out extra income or a third check on a biweekly schedule. Here's a simple tip to help you make your 3rd paycheck feel like a bonus: budget as if you were only getting two paychecks every month.
It sounds easy, doesn't it? However, if you do that, all your expenses for the month will be budgeted based on a normal two paycheck month. When you get that extra payment, you'll find a lot of cash in your pocket. If you haven't started a monthly budget yet, a three paycheck month is the perfect excuse to get started.
You should treat that money as a bonus. You can do whatever you would like with it, but here are some good ideas to help you on your way:
Make the Most of Your "Bonus" Paychecks
- Pay Off Debt. If you currently are in debt, this can be a great option. Make sure to start with high-interest debt first. This could be your car payment, credit card debt, or mortgage debt.
- Save For a Rainy Day. An emergency fund is vital to anyone's financial health. This could be put into a savings account (not a checking account), or a money market account.
- Prepay Some Monthly Bills. We prepay our car insurance either six or 12 months in advance. It gets us a better rate, and then we don't have to worry about that expense every month. You can also make an extra credit card payment.
- Start Saving for Retirement. If you need a boost to start saving more in your retirement account, this extra check can be exactly what you need. Take this as an opportunity to grow your nest egg.
- Home Improvement Project. With these extra funds, you could do a project that adds value to your home. This is a surefire way to make that third paycheck feel like it was put to good use.
- Christmas Gifts. Buy those gifts early this year. Be ready when things come on sale, and you can buy toys in the summer that you can then use in the winter for Christmas gifts.
- Treat yourself. I have this last on the list for a reason. Treating yourself is important, but should happen after the other uses for your extra money are taken into account.
Start a Plan
Three paycheck months provide you with many opportunities to improve your financial situation and set some financial goals. You can make your future a little more secure, pay off some outstanding debt, or take care of a large expense. This is the real thing. Not often are we provided such an opportunity to improve our financial position, increase our monthly cashflow, and get a couple of extra paychecks. A noteworthy takeaway is that this is the right time to lean more into personal finance. This is an easy way to get your feet wet and put into practice all you have been learning about personal finance.
If you aren't tracking your net worth yet, make sure to check out Empower. This is a great way to chart your net worth at different times and see how your regular expenses and these new additional funds affect your overall net worth. It is mentioned a lot, but the more you save the more you have.
No matter how you plan on using those third checks make sure to be intentional with your money. Your future self won't regret it!