Bimonthly: a word that means two different things
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Key takeaways
Bimonthly can mean either twice a month or once every two months, and the word alone doesn’t tell you which.
In a pay schedule context, “bimonthly” is often used loosely to mean semi-monthly, paid twice a month, though technically bimonthly means every two months.
Semi-monthly pay typically lands on two fixed dates each month, such as the 1st and 15th.
Biweekly pay, a related but different schedule, pays every two weeks, resulting in 26 payments a year rather than 24.
Confirming an employer’s exact schedule and definition avoids planning around the wrong assumption.
Bimonthly can mean either twice a month or every two months, which causes real confusion. Here’s what it means in the context of pay schedules and planning transfers.
What does bimonthly mean?
Bimonthly is an ambiguous term that can technically mean either twice a month or once every two months, since the prefix “bi” can be interpreted either way depending on context. Because of this built-in ambiguity, many people and even some employers use “bimonthly” loosely to describe a semi-monthly pay schedule, paid twice a month, even though the more precise term for that specific schedule is semi-monthly, not bimonthly.
Why pay frequency terminology matters for managing your money
Understanding exactly how often you’re paid, and being clear about the specific terminology an employer uses, affects how you plan a monthly budget and any recurring international transfers:
Semi-monthly pay typically lands on two fixed calendar dates. Common examples are the 1st and 15th, or the 15th and last day of the month, meaning the exact number of days between paychecks can vary slightly depending on the month. According to the U.S. Department of Labor(opens in new window), the federal Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t specify a required pay frequency, but most states require nonexempt employees to be paid at least twice a month, which is part of why semi-monthly and biweekly schedules are so common.
Biweekly pay follows a fixed number of days, not calendar dates. Paid every two weeks, this schedule results in 26 paychecks a year rather than the 24 you’d get with semi-monthly pay, and it occasionally produces a month with three paychecks instead of the usual two.
The specific schedule affects how much arrives in a given calendar month. Since biweekly and semi-monthly schedules don’t line up identically with calendar months, available income for any specific month can shift depending on which schedule an employer uses.
Budgeting for international transfers around your specific pay schedule
Knowing precisely when a paycheck arrives, and how often, is one of the most practical pieces of information for scheduling a regular international transfer to family, since sending consistently around a predictable payday helps both sender and recipient plan more effectively. If an employer describes a schedule as “bimonthly” but it’s unclear whether that means twice a month or every two months, clarifying directly with a payroll or HR department removes the ambiguity before building a budget around an incorrect assumption.
For a related, practical look at how pay and rent timing interact, this guide to how much of your income should go to rent(opens in new window) is worth a look.
Quick calculation
Imagine being paid semi-monthly, receiving a paycheck on the 1st and the 15th of each month, and planning to send an illustrative 200 units of currency to family abroad with each paycheck. That works out to 400 units sent per month, or 4,800 units across a full year. If paid biweekly instead, every two weeks, that’s 26 paychecks a year rather than 24, meaning two months each year would include a third paycheck. Sending that same 200 units with every paycheck under a biweekly schedule would total 5,200 units across the year, 400 units more than the semi-monthly schedule, purely because of the extra two pay dates biweekly pay produces annually. Understanding which schedule actually applies changes the real, annual total being sent, even if the per-paycheck amount stays the same.
How to confirm your own pay schedule with certainty
Check a pay stub or offer letter for the specific term used. Many employers state “semi-monthly” or “biweekly” explicitly rather than using the ambiguous word “bimonthly,” so the more precise term may already be documented somewhere in the paperwork.
Count the actual number of paychecks received last year. Twenty-four paychecks indicates a semi-monthly schedule, while twenty-six indicates biweekly, giving a concrete way to confirm the schedule even if the terminology used by an employer is unclear.
Ask a payroll or HR department directly if still unsure. A quick, specific question, “am I paid on fixed calendar dates or every two weeks,” clears up the ambiguity definitively.
Mark specific pay dates on a calendar for the next few months. Seeing the actual pattern laid out visually often makes the underlying schedule, and any month with an extra paycheck, much easier to recognize and plan around.
Why this distinction matters more than it seems
Beyond the specific numbers, understanding an exact pay schedule shapes how someone experiences their own cash flow throughout the year. Someone on a biweekly schedule experiences two months annually with a noticeably larger combined paycheck total, purely from the extra pay date landing within a single calendar month, and recognizing this in advance allows treating those months as an opportunity to catch up on savings or send additional support, rather than being surprised by an unusually large deposit and spending it without a specific plan. Someone on a semi-monthly schedule, by contrast, experiences the same two paychecks every month without this periodic bump, making monthly budgeting somewhat more uniform but without that occasional extra cushion.
Common questions about bimonthly pay
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Is bimonthly the same as biweekly?
No, though the two are often confused. Biweekly specifically means every two weeks, resulting in 26 pay periods a year. Bimonthly, when used to mean semi-monthly, refers to twice a month, resulting in 24 pay periods a year, and the two schedules produce a different number of annual paychecks despite sounding similar.
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Why does my employer use the word “bimonthly” when they mean twice a month?
This is a common, informal usage, even though it’s technically imprecise, since bimonthly can correctly mean either twice a month or every two months depending on the source. Many employers and even some official documents use “bimonthly” loosely, which is exactly why confirming the specific schedule directly, rather than relying on the label alone, is the more reliable approach.
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How does understanding my exact pay schedule help me send money more consistently?
Knowing precisely which dates a paycheck arrives, and how many paychecks come in a given month, allows building a specific, realistic plan for how much can consistently be sent with each paycheck, rather than estimating loosely and either over-committing or under-using the capacity to support family abroad.
In Summary
Bimonthly is genuinely ambiguous, and confirming whether a specific schedule means twice a month or every two months protects against budgeting around the wrong assumption. Once the exact pay schedule is understood, planning a consistent, sustainable transfer amount becomes considerably more straightforward. See how much you can save on your next transfer by planning it around a specific, confirmed pay schedule.
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