A paycheck.
A clearer plan.
Payday Path is my personal budgeting project: a way to turn take-home pay, recurring expenses, and savings goals into a financial picture people can understand.
A paycheck is only part of the picture.
Paychecks, subscriptions, and bills often arrive on different schedules. Comparing them directly can make it difficult to see what is available for everyday spending and saving. Payday Path brings these amounts into a consistent monthly view and makes the underlying assumptions visible.
Three connected questions.
What comes in and goes out?
The monthly plan converts entered take-home pay to an average month, then subtracts recurring expenses, flexible spending, and planned savings. Weekly and annual bills are converted to monthly averages too.
What am I committed to?
A bill and subscription list keeps recurring expenses visible. It records a due-day label, while the budget uses monthly averages.
How long could saving take?
The savings tool compares a target with the amount already saved and estimates the number of monthly contributions required. It assumes steady contributions with no interest or withdrawals.
How can I keep my plan?
Plans save in the visitor’s browser. The project supports backup exports, restoring backups, and printing or saving a report as a PDF.
From inputs to a decision.
This fictional scenario illustrates the project’s calculations. It is an educational example, not a real client case or a personalized financial recommendation.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Take-home per paycheck | $1,800 |
| Paychecks per year | 26 |
| Average monthly take-home | $3,900 |
| Recurring bills (monthly average) | −$2,200 |
| Flexible spending | −$650 |
| Planned savings | −$400 |
| Unassigned monthly average | $650 |
Illustrative bills: $1,500 rent, $150 utilities, $300 loan payment, $50 phone, $1,200 annual insurance ($100/month), and $1,200 annual subscriptions ($100/month).
The calculation
$1,800 × 26 ÷ 12 = $3,900
$3,900 − $2,200 − $650 − $400 = $650
The important distinction
Two paychecks provide $3,600, leaving $350 after these same allocations. The $650 monthly average includes the effect of additional paychecks across the year. It should not be treated as cash available every month.
A goal with a timeline
For a $3,000 savings target, $400 already saved, and a $400 monthly contribution, the remaining $2,600 requires seven contributions. The calculator rounds up to a full month.
ceil(($3,000 − $400) ÷ $400) = 7 months
The savings goal and monthly plan have separate inputs. Entering $400 in both keeps this example consistent; the project does not automatically synchronize them.
Making the numbers explainable.
For this case study, the published calculation logic was reviewed and these examples were independently recalculated:
- Biweekly pay: $1,800 × 26 ÷ 12 = $3,900 average per month.
- Annual expense: $1,200 ÷ 12 = $100 per month.
- Weekly expense: $30 × 52 ÷ 12 = $130 per month.
- Overspending: $3,900 − $3,000 − $650 − $400 = −$150, reported as over budget.
- Savings timing: a $2,600 gap at $400 per month rounds up to seven months.
These are arithmetic and source-logic checks, not a claim of a comprehensive product audit or user study.
Finance that people can use.
Finance & accounting
The project applies budgeting, expense classification, period consistency, and transparent assumptions. Separating averages from actual cash timing is central to interpreting the results accurately.
Wealth management & client service
My interest in wealth management includes helping people understand their financial position and goals. This project gives me a concrete way to practice explaining numbers, asking about priorities, and showing tradeoffs without hiding the assumptions.
A useful starting point.
The current project uses entered figures, stores plans locally, and does not connect to bank accounts or calculate taxes or investment returns. Its monthly view is a planning average rather than a date-based cash-flow forecast.
Potential next steps include a paycheck-by-paycheck view, clearer links between savings goals and budget allocations, and usability feedback from people trying the planner. These are future ideas, not current features. No adoption, revenue, or client-outcome claims are made here.
Try Payday Path ↗