I've mentioned it before, but it is important enough to warrant a blog post of it's own.
This pay period is 20 days long. That's almost three weeks. If you're scraping to buy groceries at the end of the pay period, you need to be creative now to get through this situation.
How did this happen? It's a crazy alignment of things that can only happen in the second half of January when the Martin Luther King holiday is on Monday, the 15th. Because the military payday can't be on a weekend or holiday, the regular payday slides back to the 12th, but the next payday remains 1 February. From 12 January to 1 February is 20 days.
Even if you get paid early, it will still be 20 days, it will just be 20 different days. If your bank credits military pay one business day early, you'll see your pay on 11 January 2018 and then not until 31 January 2018. If your bank credits military pay two business days early, you got paid yesterday (10 January 2018) and will get paid again on 30 January 2018.
Even if it will be hard, it will be a lot harder if you don't start looking at the puzzle right now. What can you do to adjust your spending for the next few weeks? Most people will be looking to adjust their food, gasoline, and childcare budgets, as those may be flexible and are impacted by the long month.
Eight Ways To Get Through A Long Pay Period has some great strategies for stretching those dollars across the end of the month.
If you just can't make it without help, be sure to use your branch's relief society (Army Emergency Relief, Air Force Aid Society, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance) for assistance in the form of an interest-free loan.
With some advance though, this long-pay period can not be an emergency.
