It's come up before, but I can't find the thread.
Our monthly spending is fairly stable around $4,000.
I get paid every two weeks, and my wife gets paid every Friday. We're also trying to pay down some debt, and I'm struggling with how much cash buffer to keep in the primary checking account (as in, don't go below $xxxx balance). Intellectually, I know that we don't need a large buffer because we get paid so frequently, but I'm having trouble psychologically with setting a number below $1,000. Most of our bills are on autopay, and I don't want to get burned because I made a mistake with my payday math.
Mortgage money gets split from my direct deposit into a separate account, and that's basically all on automatic. We don't use the account for anything else, so it's not like we'd bounce a mortgage payment, but I also don't want to pay idiot taxes. As an aside, we decline overdraft coverage, but apparently bill pay is exempt from the revised overdraft rules that went into effect a few years ago.
Googling turned up some articles recommending a full month of expenses as a buffer, which just seems excessive, especially when we're paying down debt.
Some back-of-the-envelope calculations gave me a figure around $800, but I'm curious as to how other people are choosing their target number?