Budgeting, answered plainly

The questions people actually type, answered in the first paragraph.

• How many paychecks are in a year by pay schedule?Usually 26 paychecks if you are paid biweekly, 24 if paid twice a month, 52 if weekly and 12 if monthly — plus when a year can contain one more.
• How to budget by paycheckPlanning around paydays instead of calendar months: how to split one paycheck into bills and envelopes, and why monthly budgets break on a biweekly cycle.
• What is envelope budgeting?The cash envelope system explained: how it works, why the empty-envelope rule is the whole point, and the difference between cash and digital envelopes.
• What is a sinking fund?Sinking funds explained: what they are, how they differ from an emergency fund, and how to work out the monthly amount for a known expense.
• What to do with a third paycheck monthBiweekly pay usually gives you two three-paycheck months a year. Find the dates, decide what is actually available, and give the remainder one clear job.
• Cash envelope categories: a practical starter listA cash envelope category list for real budgets, how to choose the three to five worth using, what to leave in the bank, and how much cash to assign.
• Emergency fund vs. sinking fund: which comes first?Emergency fund vs. sinking fund: what each one covers, which to fund first, and how to divide savings between unexpected and known expenses.
• What to do when an envelope runs outStopping is the reading, not the punishment. Why borrowing between envelopes ends the system, and how to tell a bad estimate from a bad month.
• Should you budget weekly or per paycheck?The money comes out the same either way. What changes is whether the period opens with a deposit in it, and that is the part that decides whether a plan survives.
• How much should I save per paycheck?The percentage rules assume nothing is already spoken for. Work out what is actually left in a paycheck first, then decide what share of it to keep.
• How to budget when you get paid biweeklyFund bills out of all 26 paychecks instead of pretending there are two a month. What changes, what the per-paycheck number becomes, and what the two extra paydays are for.
• How to budget when you get paid weekly52 small cheques, and most single bills are bigger than one of them. How to hold back a weekly share, and why four months a year have a fifth payday.
• How to budget when you get paid once a monthOne deposit, 30 days to make it last. Why the fourth week is the failure point and how to divide the month before the first week eats it.
• How to budget when you get paid twice a monthFixed dates on both sides, so each cheque can own the bills due before the next one. What the 15th should carry, and why this schedule never produces a spare payday.