Tips to Manage Expenses When Your Salary is Delayed

You may have read blogs about managing expenses when you are out of work, but there is one scenario when you find yourself in a tight spot, for you have a full-time job. Some big companies sometimes defer salary payments to their employees due to one reason and the other.

In fact, some start-ups have also been seen in delays by a couple of days because they take a bit longer to arrange funds. As far as it is about a short term delay, you can manage, but what if it takes a bit longer time?

For those having salary as their only source of income, a delay can mean a lot of financial stress. It is not uncommon to see that people avoid incurring any new expenses at the end of the month because they have already exhausted a large portion of their income.

Tips to manage expenses in case of salary delayed

Managing your monthly expenses can be quite challenging when your salary is delayed. Here are the tips that you can follow:

• Have an emergency corpus

You will generally get to know about the salary delay just two or three days prior to your payday. It can be challenging to manage your expenses with the bit of money you are left with. You cannot wait for a long time to pay off your utility bills.

This is why it is crucial to have an emergency cushion. If you have savings set aside, you will be able to tide over. Even if you are a pilot, you should try to have an emergency corpus. These savings can help you meet your expenses due for the next month, and as you get your paycheque, you can transfer the used money from your regular account to your savings account.

Salaried people often ignore the need of having an emergency cushion because they feel that they do not need it as they get a fixed amount of money every month as salary. The emergency cushion can be beneficial for those who have irregular income.

This is a myth that you do not need an emergency cushion because you are a salaried person. You can also come up with unexpected expenses like you may need a lot of money to buy something like a tumble dryer or the worst scenario that you lose your job. Financial experts suggest that you should have at least six-month worth of living expenses.

Note that emergency cushion is meant for emergency needs, not planned expenses. You will have a separate account for saving money for planned expenses like arranging a down payment for your car. If you dip into those funds in the absence of an emergency cushion, you will not be able to have your dream come true.

• Have mixed investments

Delayed salaries can also affect your investments. When your income is irregular, your investment strategy should also be flexible so you can deal with them quickly. It is always suggested that you should have a mix of flexible and non-flexible investments.

You should take the help of an investment expert to decide the type of investments you can deal with your flexible income. An investment expert will be able to guide you better. However, it will cost you some money. You can take out doorstep loans in Ireland in case of a lack of money.

However, make sure that you can easily manage to repay the debt. Some people prefer withdrawing money from investments to use that for regular expenses, but this is not an ideal solution to tackle your situation because it will ultimately hamper your future goals.

Remember that salary delay is a temporary phase. If you withdraw money from your investments, your future goals will be badly affected, and unfortunately, their impact will no longer be fleeting.

• Manage your debts

If you have already taken on debt, you will have to use your emergency cushion to pay it off. You cannot delay your debt payments if you do not want any financial problems. However, there are some people who do not have any current debt, but they take out a new loan to fund their regular expenses.

You should try to stay away from taking on debt because you will not just pay what you borrow but also the interest. Your salary is already delayed, and your emergency cushion may not be sufficient to meet debt repayments.

If you have a credit card, make sure that you do not use it for your regular expenses because you will likely not be able to pay off the balance within the interest-free period. Once the grace period is over, you will end up paying hefty interest.

Taking out a loan is not a bad idea as long as you can quickly pay it off on time, but it can be pretty challenging since salary is delayed. For instance, when you take out a loan for unemployed in Ireland, you have a particular source of income to show your lender that you can use to make payments, but this time your salary is delayed, and you have no idea how long it can take to find you.

This is why it is recommended to stay away from debt. Instead, you should try to change your lifestyle. You should look over your bank statement to see your spending of a previous couple of months to get an idea of how much and where your money is going.

Find out what you can do to trim down your expenses. For instance, you do not need to order from the restaurant. Instead, prepare meals at home. Likewise, you do not need to go by your car to cover short distances. Look for unused subscriptions and cancel your account.

• Pick up a side gig

You cannot just rely on an emergency cushion if that is not too big. If your salary delay lasts for a couple of days, you can manage to get by with little funds available to you as an emergency cushion. Still, getting by when your emergency cushion is very little can be challenging.

This is why you should try to find a side gig. Managing a side hustle can be pretty challenging, especially when you have a full-time job, but you have no other way around. If you have a side gig, you will be able to use that money to meet all of your regular expenses.

There are various online job portals where you can just create your own profile and bid for the projects you like. In the beginning, it can be challenging to take it in your stride, but soon you will be a part of it. Fiverr and UpWork are renowned platforms where you can grab a side gig.

You can try freelance writing, web designing, web developing, online teaching, social media consultant, influencer marketer, and the like. These side gigs can surely help you earn a lot of money that you can use to meet your regular expenses in case of salary delays.

The bottom line

It can be pretty challenging to meet your expenses in case of salary delay, especially if it is not transitory. If you often face salary delay issues and for a long time, you should ensure that you have an additional source of income, so you do not run out of money.

Try to have a side gig because this can help you fund your regular expenses if you do not have enough savings. You should try to build an emergency corpus. However, if you still need money, you can borrow but make sure that you can repay the debt on time. Try to borrow money from genuine and honest private money lenders in Ireland, so you do not end up falling into the debt trap. Such lenders may help you borrow money at affordable interest rates.