How much do "extras" impact your income?

[DisneyDreamer2504]

DH and I are superintendents, so our main 'extra' is end of the year Christmas tips and bonuses. We usually get a bonus from the management company, but what we really look forward to are the tips from individual tenants, which usually totals the amount of a couple months salary. That money is especially important that year bc we are going on vacation in February and not in September like we usually do.

 

[marcyinPA]

I work hourly with sometimes an extra couple of hours. I'm part time, so those hours are not overtime. I don't depend on the extra hours- they are few and far between. I had been getting a year end bonus for a couple of years, but no bonuses this year. My DH is also hourly and tries to get a few hours of overtime every week. Some weeks are more than others- especially if he is traveling for a job. Those pay weeks make me very happy. Some weeks are very light on OT and those weeks are tight. He works a second job, and as long as he works his three nights a week, his pay is the same paycheck to paycheck. That job is flexible and sometimes he takes a night off to to something else ( if the kids have something going on). We have been through many job layoffs, and have seen many pay cuts. I'd love to say we are financially stable, but the fact is that we get by. It is what it is.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

One year before my DH sold his business he decided to get rid of the Christmas bonus. Things were tight that year but he was just not going to give the bonus and tell the employees at the party. I told him there would be a mutiny! I told him I would not go to the party if he did this; that people expected it after 11 years. For once he listened to the woman behind the man, lol!!!! He moved forward with the bonuses and was rewarded in kind.

2009 was a very good year for us, but we knew 2010 was going to be rough. Work actually went into the toilet in 2008, but we had contracts taking us out another 18 months. Anyway, because of the good 2009, we were all expecting a bonus. Boss took us all to lunch to tell us there wouldn't be one because of how bad 2010 was looking. I remember one coworker was absolutely counting on that $$ to cover bills she already had. Not fun.

 

[MSLRAC]

DH and I are both full commission. It's been like that since we met and for many years DH was the only one working. It's going to be an adjustment next year when I start teaching in a salaried position but I'm ready to be out of finance and sales forever!

 

[ronandannette]

2009 was a very good year for us, but we knew 2010 was going to be rough. Work actually went into the toilet in 2008, but we had contracts taking us out another 18 months. Anyway, because of the good 2009, we were all expecting a bonus. Boss took us all to lunch to tell us there wouldn't be one because of how bad 2010 was looking. I remember one coworker was absolutely counting on that $$ to cover bills she already had. Not fun.

Note to self: DO NOT sign a contract for a swimming pool until the cheque is in the bank.

 

[mrodgers]

Hourly and get about 5-10 hours overtime per pay. We have quarterly bonuses based on just our plant and annual profit share based on the entire company. They don't amount to a whole lot of money for us lowly hourly folks, but it's something.

My wife just works part time pretty much paying for groceries and fuel for the cars. If she makes more than $400, it's like a bonus.

Unfortunately, it doesn't pay the bills real easily. The overtime keeps me just above water for the month and the quarterly bonus pays the quarterly car insurance. The annual profit share covers any discrepancies we have acquired through the year on the budget. It's not real easy to eat decently and pay monthly household bills these days on a half decent pay.

I don't know how others that I work with do it. I am at pretty much the highest hourly rate being an original 20 year employee at the top hourly job. On top of that, they all send their money to federal and blow a huge $7-8000 tax return in the spring where I am getting $3-400 or so more in my paycheck that has to pay bills. I guess it pays to live in a slumhole and not worry about your teeth though, as most of my coworkers live like.

 

[soccerdad72]

I'm salaried - the only "extras" that I would possibly get would be reimbursements for travel expenses, mileage, etc. One of my co-workers refers to it as his "second paycheck" - any time he's asked to go to another campus, he marks down every mile and weekly puts through a travel reimbursement. I rarely remember to do that for day-to-day meetings, etc. I certainly file for reimbursement if I travel, but in a couple years, that's only happened a handful of times.

My wife is in a different boat. She's in a partnership, so he compensation works differently. She has a base compensation that varies from year to year and she is given a certain percentage of that each month in an account that she can draw from. Then after each fiscal year, depending on how their revenue numbers and cash collections are, she'll get a final percentage of her base comp - it's varied anywhere from a little less than her comp number to upwards of 15-20% over that number. When years are good, we'll use the extra to fund other projects (or decided to buy a new car that year). Most of the time we invest it or pay down our mortgage or something like that.

 

[U2_rocks!]

My salary is set, but we do usually get Christmas/end of year bonuses. Mine will be declared later this week or next week I expect. The past few years it has been about 120 - 130% of my monthly net salary, but about 8 - 10 years ago it was much more generous. The company has changed hands and I don't think bonuses are going to go back to those old levels.

DH started a new job earlier this year that was about the same set salary as his previous job, but there's now supposed to be a commission on top. We'll see how that works out - he hasn't gotten it yet.

Sorry to say that my bonus is no longer a nice "extra" - things have been so tight for us that for the past few years we have needed that bonus just to get through Christmas and its expenses, and to catch up on property taxes and other such things that we put to credit cards in October/November. I do not know what we'd do without it now.

 

[kamik86]

I'm salaried so no overtime (although some contracts can but mine can't... which sucks I worked ALOT of extra hours this June and the onsite guys I was working with on weekends all got overtime.) I got a "Star Award" which is our companies way of giving merit bonuses for $200 which wasn't nearly what it would have been if I got overtime but I'm paid more then the site guys normally so I guess it balances out.

Other then those awards there are no bonuses so unless you get a promotion during the year there are no extras. Our yearly raises (which are a combo cost of living and merit but are very tiny... generally between 1 and 2 percent) come out each April.

 

[tvguy]

I haven't gotten any bonuses in 25 years. Only option is to work overtime which is normally in the form of a 6th 8 hour work day.

Bonuses and step raises can do funny things though to your taxes. A co-worker in a union shop got his final step raise, which was $150 a week. The week before the pay hike, he bought a new car, figuring the pay hike would more than cover the payment. But it knocked him into a higher tax bracket, and his take home pay really didn't change much, certainly not enough to cover a car payment.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I haven't gotten any bonuses in 25 years. Only option is to work overtime which is normally in the form of a 6th 8 hour work day.

Bonuses and step raises can do funny things though to your taxes. A co-worker in a union shop got his final step raise, which was $150 a week. The week before the pay hike, he bought a new car, figuring the pay hike would more than cover the payment. But it knocked him into a higher tax bracket, and his take home pay really didn't change much, certainly not enough to cover a car payment.

He must not have been thinking about his taxes at all or maybe your state has a crazy high jump in it's tax bracket. The largest "jump" between federal tax brackets is 10% (most are 5% or less) and that would only apply to the $150 or a portion thereof (not his entire income). So, maybe $15 per week less than he should have anticipated. Sounds like something my DH would do......if I didn't stop him!

We try not to count the "extra's" in our budget at all. When I first started working (part time) after being a SAHM, my entire income was to remain an "extra", but over the years we have come to rely on it. Unfortunately, I don't know how much longer I'll have this job. We are in the process of trying to get back to not counting on my income for the day to day. Our plan was always to use my $ to fund the kids college and college is coming quickly!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We don't really have "extras", generally, unless I get a little OT or pick up extra hours, which is rare. DH will get a small bonus this year for the first time in a long time. Our teens holding their own jobs has been nice since they can pay for their own daily expenses now. That feels like an extra.

 

[Sadie22]

I haven't gotten any bonuses in 25 years. Only option is to work overtime which is normally in the form of a 6th 8 hour work day.

Bonuses and step raises can do funny things though to your taxes. A co-worker in a union shop got his final step raise, which was $150 a week. The week before the pay hike, he bought a new car, figuring the pay hike would more than cover the payment. But it knocked him into a higher tax bracket, and his take home pay really didn't change much, certainly not enough to cover a car payment.

He needs to speak to payroll about adjusting his withholdings. Perhaps they are too high.

 

[nugov2]

DH is salary + commission with his commission being 2/3 of his take home. Dh has a solid base salary so we only count on that money in our must have living expenses and his commission goes into savings, vacation and home improvement funds. We also will take off the top sometimes for special activities for the kids, but we have a set amount that has to go into savings every month first and then we view the additional commission as free to go where we want. Maybe we put it all in vacation because nothing is slated to be done in the house or vice versa.

 

[SC Minnie]

I am salaried and know what each check will be. No overtime pay. My boss will give me comp time if we are working on a project that is resulting in a lot of extra hours.

We do have the opportunity for a bonus which usually pays out in late Feb/early Mar but it all depends on a variety of metrics and a formula. For the past 4 years it has gotten less and less. I view it as simply a 'bonus', I don't buy anything counting on that money to be there to pay for it.

We do get annual raises but lately the increase in our insurance premiums have been more than the raise.

 

[Just Peachy]

DW & I are salaried. She's a teacher with no bonus but stable salary and reasonable time off around holidays and (of course) summers. My job can have bonuses but they are unpredictable so we don’t' count on them for paying any bills. Most of our kids are out of the house now so we have a lot more free time and started putting our available time into work-trade or barter opportunities. DW helps a couple of friends at their boutiques (one sells clothing and one jewelry/beauty products) on weekends and over holidays. She trades her time for merchandise. Actually this is pretty much how anyone in clothing/beauty retail positions end up doing it is just that they end up putting their already small paychecks back into purchases at their places of employment after Uncle Sam takes his cut from their salary.

I've been trading some home electrical and light construction work for in-kind work repairing/servicing my cars. We don't keep any records of hours or value of trade, but we do seem to be getting more done with less money than before. I figure that is a bonus.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

My husband works OT/DT whenever he wants - but it probably adds $15,000 or so to his salary.

I get a yearly bonus anywhere from $25,000- $50,000.

So we are impacted by extras. Can't wait until next Friday to see what my bonus is!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

DW & I are salaried. She's a teacher with no bonus but stable salary and reasonable time off around holidays and (of course) summers. My job can have bonuses but they are unpredictable so we don’t' count on them for paying any bills. Most of our kids are out of the house now so we have a lot more free time and started putting our available time into work-trade or barter opportunities. DW helps a couple of friends at their boutiques (one sells clothing and one jewelry/beauty products) on weekends and over holidays. She trades her time for merchandise. Actually this is pretty much how anyone in clothing/beauty retail positions end up doing it is just that they end up putting their already small paychecks back into purchases at their places of employment after Uncle Sam takes his cut from their salary.

I've been trading some home electrical and light construction work for in-kind work repairing/servicing my cars. We don't keep any records of hours or value of trade, but we do seem to be getting more done with less money than before. I figure that is a bonus.

My retired parents do that with golf twice a week - show up early & get all the carts out of the charging shed in exchange for free golf. Saves 'em $100 a week

 

[Andtototoo]

One of the reasons I quit sales was due to the uncertainty of income, due to factors beyond my control. (Such as a competitor went out of business and sold the stock at firesale prices, so our sales went down for 2 months. Or there was a spate when people were buying the products online instead of in stores. Or our competitors started to run big sales and the owner refused to price match...)

There were weeks when, if I made that every week, I would have been verrrry happy. Other weeks, if I made that amount every week, I'd have had to apply for food stamps. It was too much stress. Our annual bonus was based on longevity -- you got a whopping $25 for every year worked with a max of $100. The owners thought they were being SUPER generous. Oh and you had to attend the Christmas party at their house in order to get the bonus (which, when the taxes got taken out of it and I paid for gas to get to their mansion in another county? Getting that bonus ended up costing me money!)

I now work in a job where I make a little more than I did in sales, but I don't have the stress. Much better fit for me.

My dh has worked in salaried jobs his entire life. He has gotten a few bonuses. The biggest one was $1200.

I've never known anyone who gets the kind of bonuses people on here report getting. It always amazes me.