How do I even split my first pay?

First pay split into named jobs (housing, getting around, food, and a later slice) with room to live.

Give the money that lands jobs before it disappears. Take-home first, then housing, getting around, food, a later slice, and a life.

Splitting your first pay means giving the money that lands in your bank jobs before it disappears.

Pay hits. Rent, food, and Friday with mates can eat the lot if nothing has a name. A split is just: this bit has a job. You’re not being punished. You’re steering.

Start with what actually landed

Use take-home. What hit the account after tax (and any study-loan bits). Not the job-ad number. That’s What even is take-home pay? in one line. If you split the ad figure, the week will feel tight for no good reason.

The everyday jobs

Start chunky. You don’t need forty categories.

Housing. Rent or board.
Transport: wheels, Opal, petrol, the trip to work.
Food. Groceries and the cheap eat after a late shift.

That’s enough to see the week. You can split later if you want.

An intentional later slice (start with one)

Point something at later-you on purpose. Even a small bit. Pick one job to start: a buffer (Emergency), a named goal (Savings), or a long-game Investing slice. If those only get Sunday-night leftovers, they often get nothing.

One slice is enough for pay one. You can add the others when the week is calmer. To be a Dosh Hero, aim to invest at least 10% of your pay, with an emergency trickle still on. How much of my pay should I save?. The full first-pay path is in courses.

Live on the rest

What’s left after the named jobs is for living: mates, a gig, sport, doing nothing. A plan that only punishes today dies fast. Future you and this-weekend you can share the same pay.

If you want the map with Landing, cards, and saves: Set up the DoshHero Budget. The “what even is this?” version is What even is a budget?.