What to do with your extra paycheck (and any windfall) so it doesn't vanish
December comes, and with it the extra paycheck. For a couple of weeks your balance looks higher than ever: presents get bought without much looking, there’s an extra dinner out and, while you’re at it, that thing you’d been putting off for months. Then January, and the slump: the car insurance renewal, the card statement with the presents on it, and an ordinary paycheck to cover it all.
A good part of the January slump is exactly that: December’s extra paycheck, spent twice.