Gray Matter said . . . .
"Even if your spending isn't influenced by it, there is the psychological impact of getting something that seems "extra" even though you've earned it and it was yours all along. And I'm just speculating here, but let's say you had that salary spread out among all your checks and you saved the same amount each month, the impact of seeing your savings grow little by little may not be as exciting as seeing it take two big leaps in the year.
So...from a pure practical perspective, it doesn't/shouldn't matter. But from an emotional perspective, it does/could."
Guess I'm still in that camp. 4 week monthly budget includes all living expenses, savings and investments Re: The emotional perspective, I still think of it as a treat of sorts. Yes, I get all happy when I can add that $ to the stash.
It's similar to teachers who have their pay checks distributed though the year instead of only when they work. If people have forsight and plane ahead, it doesn't matter, but some people don't have the ability to, and they'll need a consistent amount coming in.
I never use the 'budgeting' option for my electric bill, which varies widely in winter vs summer (or it hopefully used to, I love the attic being properly sealed!). I always had some extra 'slush' in my spending that I DIDN'T spend right up to what I made each month, so it was never an issue, even when I had a $600 electric bill one month last year. That puts me in the camp with albert above, but that's only one way of handling money.
Some people spend every dollar they make.. Some of them are mustachian (spending it on debt repayment, or toward a specific future budget goal, into an investment account, etc...). Other people don't budget' at all, just evaluate purchases as they come up, and at the end of the month sweep whatever is left (minus a buffer) into their investment/debt repayment.
I personally am to lazy to do a 'month by month budget for every dollar'. So I look at last year, make any adjustments based on changes (things going up, things being dropped, etc) and average it out per month, and expect to pay somewhere around that much. Other people do say 'I'll have a sewer bill for X and a water bill for Y ever third month, and mobile bill of Z' etc...