‘Living off scraps’: 21-year-old wants pay norm banned
A young Aussie has shared a pay normal she wants immediately banned – she quickly found out things could be worse.
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A fired-up Gen Zer has declared being paid fortnightly in Australia should be straight-up “banned” because she finds it difficult to manage her salary.
Ren Adelina, 21, has amassed over 700,000 views on TikTok by declaring she’s unhappy with a fortnightly pay cycle.
“Getting paid fortnightly needs to be genuinely banned,” she said.
“One week I am so rich, I am so rich! The next week … I am living off genuine scraps.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, fortnightly is the most common pay cycle for Aussie workers, followed by weekly and then monthly.
Speaking to news.com.au, Ms Adelina reiterated her position and said she’d much prefer to be paid more frequently.
“I think it should be banned because for us Gen Zers we were never taught how to manage money properly,” she said.
“Getting a huge influx of money at once, of course, we are going to get excited and are going to blow it all on food, shopping, outings, etc.”
Ms Adelina said the problem with that is that once it is gone, it is gone, and then she’s got to hang out for another gruelling seven days.
“Then, after we spend it all, there is none left for the next week. Maybe I just have a shopping addiction,” she said.
The 21-year-old doesn’t just want to ban fortnightly pay with no other solution. She’s got plans.
“I believe we should get paid weekly instead as it provides more frequent income, making it easier to manage all expenses. I think it also simplifies budgeting,” she said.
Ms Adelina’s suggestion of banning fortnightly pay quickly took a turn when people on the internet broke the news to her that some people get paid … monthly.
One warned, “Wait until you get paid monthly.” The 21-year-old replied, “Stop, that is so scary!”
Someone else chimed in and said getting paid monthly is “criminal” and another demanded to know what professions get paid monthly so they can avoid them.
The commentator quickly discovered that monthly pay isn’t specific to one industry. Everyone, from childcare workers to tradies, get paid monthly. It is just up to the employer’s discretion.
The comment section quickly became populated by workers getting paid monthly who argued that fortnightly wasn’t so bad in comparison.
“Babe, I’m counting my coins on monthly pay,” one said.
“Monthly is horrendous,” another shared.
“I get paid monthly. You got lucky,” someone claimed.
“Every adult I know gets paid monthly. Budgeting is hard,” another worker shared.
“Fortnightly isn’t bad. Wait until you see monthly,” one warned.
“I applaud those who can wait a whole month. I can’t even do two weeks,” someone else shared.
Quite a few people also suggested to the 21-year-old that it wasn’t how frequently she was getting paid but rather how she managed her money.
“Just budget. It really is not that difficult. I love getting paid fortnightly,” one shared.
“Not knowing how to budget should be banned,” another joked.
“I get paid fortnightly, and when you get paid, literally just split it in half and put it aside in another account until the following week,” someone else said.
Originally published as ‘Living off scraps’: 21-year-old wants pay norm banned
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