A 4-figure tax bill would mean you did it wrong going the other direction. Would also mean additional fines/fees if you did it repeatedly. The goal is to try and NOT get a tax refund, or have them only owe you a couple hundred bucks (or you owe them slightly). As for not being able to 'afford' that, it doesn't make sense. In the "get a refund" example, say I give you $80 to live off of, and then another $15 as a tax refund in April. How is that better than an example where I give you $90 to live off of, with $5 as a refund in April? You're better off with the correct withholding, and can take the extra money and save it, making interest on the money. Hell, you could even MISS slightly, and I'd give you $100 upfront, and you'd owe $5 later on. As long as you're smart enough to not adjust your spending to max out the money you receive, you're good. It's the same money either way, getting a tax refund is just basically giving an interest-free loan to the government. Better off in your savings account as an interest-bearing loan to yourself, isn't it? Of course, self-control is an issue there.
As for the "bonus" paycheck, I'm still not really seeing it, but i usually base my budget, and expenses, based off of my salary, and what I'll be making, rather than a single paycheck or the income that comes in on the 27th, etc. Too easy to get into trouble that way, IMO. Also, if you get paid every 4 weeks, like in the OP example, you really CAN'T blow that extra paycheck in a month. That second paycheck came at the end of the month, and because you get paid every 4 weeks, you won't get another one until almost the end of the next month, so that one still has to get you though almost an entire month's expenses. For things like heat, electricity, food, etc, a longer month could mean extra expenses.
it's only a "bonus" paycheck through lazy accounting, like I said. It's just the numbers you're choosing to use that makes it look odd. Break down your expenses another way (say, weekly), and the bonus money isn't there anymore. Only an extra payment because the system you're using to count income isn't the same one that you're counting expenses with.
Of course, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, you'd be pretty dumb to count ANY money as "extra" anyway. Too many people want to 'treat' themselves with that 'bonus' money instead of saving it, or taking care of longer-term expenses not in the monthly budget, etc, and are basically creating their own problems...
Delicious.
