How do I budget on a biweekly pay schedule with two 'extra' paychecks a year?

If you're paid every two weeks, you get 26 paychecks a year – which is two more than the 24 you'd get on a twice-monthly schedule. Build your monthly budget on just two paychecks per month, covering all your fixed bills and savings, so that twice a year an 'extra' third paycheck arrives in a single month. That windfall is a budgeting gift: assign it in advance to an emergency-fund top-off, debt payoff, a sinking fund, or a goal, rather than letting it dissolve into ordinary spending. The trick is planning for those two months before they come, because money without a job tends to disappear. Mark the third-paycheck months on your calendar now and pre-decide where the money goes, turning a quirk of the calendar into two automatic boosts each year.