The paycheck from the part-time varies each payday. This doesn't make too much of a difference because I've started saving $50 bi-weekly and using the rest to pay whatever bills are left over. This usually means the bills are paid in advance. Or I use that money for miscellaneous items. This week most of that cash went to buying Claritin, Claritin D, TheraFlu and other household items.

Recently I took a few weeks off from the part-time gig. This enabled me to live without that check for the first time in almost 3 years (yeah it's been that long). Those few week thought me to manage cash flow properly without dipping into savings. It also taught me to be super organized. The check from the part-time gig used to be my back up plan when I forgot to say pay the cell phone or cable bill.

The lesson I've learned is to be organized and manage my cash.