How much do "extras" impact your income?

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm currently in a position where my income can fluctuate a lot based on how busy we are. The extras are nice, but the downside is you come to depend on them (especially with a boss not fond of traditional raises) & it's kind of nerve wracking knowing they may not always be there. For 2014, our bonuses are paid & I have a good idea how much overtime I'll work before the year ends. It looks like the "extras" will account for 29.5% of my 2014 income A commissioned sales job would probably scare me to death

DW is the opposite. She knows on January 1 how much she'll make for the year. 0% of her income from "extras".

 

[SirDuff]

I'm like your wife.

The only difference is that we do our year-end at the end of March, so my salary will change starting 1-April (well, actually, it doesn't change until early June, but it is retroactive) and my bonus will come about the same time.
However, by January (usually earlier) I within 1% what my salary increase will be - we get COLA (which can change every year - which is why I may not know until January) plus a performance increase (I know I will get one of two scores which differ by 1% in performance increase). Our cash bonuses tend to be quite small (depends on the department - some seem to like to give more people smaller bonuses whereas others give them to fewer people but they get more), so doesn't really make a huge difference in my overall salary.

 

[sk!mom]

DH and I both have set salaries with very little chance at "extras." Summer school is my only opportunity. You never know until late Spring how many people they will hire and then you throw your hat in and hope. Of the five years I've applied, I was hired 4 times. We always use that money to pad our vacation fund.

DH previously spent 10 years at a company that bonused. He was the CFO and still never knew until the last minute what the bonuses would be or if they would be at all. We always treated it as found money and usually used part for some want and some as additional savings. We never added it into our normal budget or counted on it. It was too variable for that.

 

[LBIJim]

I get a bonus paid in early March. It varies from year to year, based on company profits and other factors. Usually about 4 to 5 per cent of my salary, so I don't "depend" on it. On very rare occasions, for special projects, some days or hours are classified as "overtime" and paid at 1.5 times your salary. The last time I got "overtime" was in 2011.

DW's incomes varies widely. She has a house cleaning business and it totally depends on how many clients she can drum up.

 

[dawnball]

I'm hourly, and could theoretically work more, but generally don't. This year I had a substantial benefit increase, that effectively doubled my wages. I count that as an extra, but it's unlikely to go away.

DH's current job has stock options (annually renewed for a varying amount, but granted over multiple years) and bonus (he has a variable multiplier than indicates how much of the company-wide pool he gets). The two combined are more than a third of his income and unpredictable in actual value. His employer has a calculator that lets you set your own estimates (future stock price, pool-size with prior-year numbers, etc) and it will calculate the value to you.

We live within base salary, and his extras go to retirement, savings, and vacations.

 

[disykat]

Like sk!mom, summer school is really my only option. Sometimes I have tutoring opportunities or overflow pay, but those are small pennies.

Because I had many years as a SAHM, we've always considered my whole income "extra" in terms of how we spend it - so we try not to depend on it for survival at all. Although we'd be heartbroken to lose these things, my income pays for savings, home improvement, vacations, kid's college funds, etc.

 

[Squirlz]

My Wife's website has hundreds of pages of information and she also answers all questions for free. She has a line that says donations are appreciated. We get several thousand per year. It goes into Paypal and becomes a recreation fund.

Our income fluctuates with the seasons as well but there is a minimum we can pretty much count on.

 

[Colleen27]

Dh is self-employed, I freelance. So our entire household income is "extras" in the sense that none of it comes from a fixed, dependable wage. That was nerve-wracking at first but we've adjusted rather well and now it is, at worst, occasionally frustrating.

 

[nene0182]

My husband is salaried so he knows his base pay every year. There is a potential for a bonus but we don't count on it and are surprised when he does receive it. I'm hourly and regularly get 6-10 hours of overtime every week with every 5th week or so being about 15 hours of overtime. So, I never really know how much my check is going to be. However I base my bills and allotments on my base pay, any above that goes straight to savings.

 

[Southernmiss]

Dh and I are both salaried and know our incomes--no pay for OT. Dh may have an opportunity for minimal travel, but we don't count on it. Dh also retired young this year from a 23 year employment. So we know that income to the penny every month.

We've got 1 in college 1 starting college next year and 2 more not far behind.

DH referees soccer for our extra $$. Now that varies. Right now it's high school season and he's refereeing most every night and weekends which should pay for Christmas. As long as his body holds out, he referees as much as possible--rec, select, all-star, high school and adults. Over the whole year he makes up to $6000 extra by refereeing.

 

[SLP958]

Both DH and I have salaried income but DH gets a yearly bonus. We never know how much it will be but we have come to depend on that money to pay for vacations.

I have the opportunity to make a fair amount of extra cash by taking extra weekends/call pay but generally don't unless there is something specific we are saving for.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I was expecting a check. Instead I got enrolled in a jelly club.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I was expecting a check. Instead I got enrolled in a jelly club.

That's the gift that keeps on giving

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I can get overtime right now, but only an extra 6 hours per week, and that's not a normal occurrence. I'm a salaried employee.

I do get a bonus if we make our budget numbers. I don't count on it, though.

 

[sk!mom]

I was expecting a check. Instead I got enrolled in a jelly club.

So my crazy BIL kidnapped my boss and got me my bonus!

 

[disneychrista]

Salary + Bonus are known numbers. No extras.

 

[Happy Snowman]

I'm salaried, no extras.

DH is salaried but receives bonuses. Those go into savings/investments.

 

[Sabeking]

I was expecting a check. Instead I got enrolled in a jelly club.

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.

 

[ronandannette]

Doing quick math, my bonuses amount to about 15% of the total. My bonus consists of a fixed $ amount per unit for hitting a certain benchmark but achieving that goal is actually outside of my direct control. It's a wonky system because there is also no itemization as to which specific unit(s) we're being paid for at any given time and the bonuses are paid monthly instead of an annual lump sum. It's actually very frustrating to everyone in my department.

DH is paid a large(ish) base salary and a small sales commission. He knows how much the commissions will be and when to expect them. We're working on making sure that money always goes into a separate account which is earmarked for annual expenditures like property taxes, Christmas gifts and vacations.

 

[NewRVLady]

Dh worked (newly retired) on salary plus commission. This has been our lives for the last 25 years.

Salary was only 1/3 to 1/4 of his yearly income-depending on sales

2014 ended up being his best year to date- salary was only 1/5 his income