Wouldn’t it rock to have leftover money in your budget? One way to you might be able to have leftover money in your budget is by planning with your Root Income. Your Root Income, is the lowest amount you bring home after taxes.

Here’s an example for bi-weekly paychecks:

January 14th check= $1,024.76

January 28th check= $1,202.48

February 11th check= $1,000.25

February 25th check= $1,388.12

March 11th check= $1,164.68

March 25th check= $1,098.45

From the examples of take-home pay, we can see that the February 11th check is the lowest of all at $1,000.25. So the Root Income would be $1,000.25 bi-weekly. Obviously, the other checks are higher but this is more of a dependable amount.

The average of the 6 examples is $1,146.45.

Planning the budget around the Root Income can be very beneficial. More than likely, the paychecks will be higher and result in excess cash. The excess can be used to pay down debt, save money, invest, retirement, or something fun.

You might have to reduce some of your expenses to make your budget work for using the Root Income, but it can be done. Another benefit of using the Root Income for your budget, is that you probably won’t over-estimate your income.

I’m not suggesting that you only save your excess cash; it’s best to always plan to save something. Whether you choose to save a percentage of your income or a dollar amount. Even if you can only save $5.00 bi-weekly or monthly, it’s better than nothing. It All Adds Up!

Example for the year:

Using the average bi-weekly pay check (times 26 paychecks), would be $29,807.70.

Using the Root Income for budgeting would be $26,006.50.

That means there would be an excess amount of $3,801.20 left.