Question

So I get paid every two weeks as a nurse my paycheck is never the same there is always a difference. So how do I calculate net income on my paychecks. Do I just take the lowest one and go with that? Or go with a medium one and use that amount? I wanna make sure I’m not short changing my self but also not setting myself up failure by using a larger paycheck Any advice is helpful. I’m starting this month and I have along ways to go. I basically support a 4 person household on my one income and every paycheck I am basically negative and fall behind on bills and stuff. So I need this in my life.  

Answer 1

When mine was inconstant I just did the lower one. Any extra on that paycheck got applied to debt or savings.  

Comments

@appropriation agreed

Answer 2

We do this with my husbands check. He is a school bus driver and paid monthly but can pick up shifts based on need. We always budget for $1200/month which is usual net pay for his routed hours. Although most of the time he usually brings home more than that.  

Answer 3

Maybe figure it for the average number of hours you work in that time period, so that any variable overtime isn’t overestimated?  

Answer 4

Look at the last 3 months of paychecks and take the average of the lowest ones.  

Answer 5

My husband is a nurse and I always estimate low. I use his base salary only and estimate the take-home from that. And I consider anything additional (extra pay from weekend shifts, night shifts) a bonus and filter that into extra debt payments as I go.  

Answer 6

I calculate my hrs and estimate how much I'll get, then subtract $100 from it as a buffer in case I'm doing the math wrong. I've been doing it this way for so long, I'm hardly ever off

Answer 7

I use my straight 80 hours net pay every month. Anything more than that goes to savings/investment/extra mortgage. If for some reason my paycheck is a bit short (rarely because I’d use pto for days off, low census etc) I just tighten my belt and put that bit less in a couple envelopes.