Have you ever looked at your bank account on payday and felt like you were rich? Did the increase in your account start to make you excited and anxious? Did that money start to burn a hole in your pocket and you just had to spend it to treat yourself for working hard over the prior couple of weeks? Well, researchers have said that women spend about $65 more on payday compared to other days of the week. Think about this. If you get paid twice per month, then that is $130 in additional spending just because of payday alone! What will that do to your ability to stay on track the rest of the month? How will that make you feel if your bank account is nearing $0 a few days before you get paid again?

If you have trouble staying on track around payday, then read these 4 tips to help you to stay on track and to minimize overspending that may set you back later in the week.

1. Ask your payroll department if they can split your paycheck across multiple accounts. If it is hard for you to look at a large chunk of money in your bank account, then ask the payroll department if they can divide your paycheck between your checking account and your savings account. This will allow you to save and also reduce the temptation to spend money that should have been allocated to savings or bills.
2. Pay your bills as soon as you get paid. This is one is very powerful, because it ensures that all of your bills get paid and you don’t have to worry about accidentally spending your bill money. One of my favorite things to do was to set my due dates around my paydays and then put those payments on auto pay. It ensured that the necessities were paid first and whatever was left over was mine to play with.
3. Time your splurges for the weeks that you don’t get paid. It’s tempting to want to reward yourself for working hard, but if you feel the need to then reward yourself on a week that you don’t get paid. This will give you a more realistic picture of how much you can spend.
4. Set a weekly budget and use cash for discretionary spending. Take the time to set a budget and identify how much money you have left over after tithing, expenses, and savings (retirement, investment, and emergency). The money that you have left is yours. Take this amount out in cash at the beginning of each week so that you stay disciplined and once it is gone, you are done spending for the week.

These tips will help you to avoid overspending because you will be paying God, yourself, and your obligations before you have the opportunity to start to splurge on yourself. Leave a comment to let me know how it goes!

Aisha Taylor is a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of the book “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”, the Founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal –n- Phenomenal), and creator of The Live Phenomenal Program. The Live Phenomenal Program is a program designed to give you the tools that you need to totally transform your finances, and stop living from paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s time for you to be Financially Phenomenal! Book your complimentary 20-minute financial clarity session with Aisha here.