Living paycheck-to-paycheck is stressful and frustrating. When your check hits your bank account on payday, it feels like Christmas morning. But as soon as all the bills are paid, youre once again struggling to stretch those last few dollars for another two weeks.

If you can relate, youre not alone. Just over half of Americans consider themselves to be living paycheck-to-paycheck . But it doesnt have to be that way forever.

If budgeting has always been a struggle, you might need to ditch traditional monthly budgets and try budgeting by paycheck instead.

The Problem With Traditional Monthly Budgets

Conventional budgets tend to follow a monthly format, where all your income and expenses are planned out for about 30 days at a time. Theres nothing inherently wrong with budgeting this way, but its important to recognize that it doesnt work for everyone. If you live paycheck-to-paycheck, you probably know what its like to run out of cash before the end of the month despite all your best intentions.

In other words, budgeting strictly by month might be the most common strategy, but its not necessarily the best one for you.

Kumiko Love (her pen name), an accredited finance counselor, blogger and founder of The Budget Mom , wasnt always a money maven. Her business was born out of years of struggling to pay off debt and make ends meet. And she realized that part of the problem was how she was budgeting her money.

In the beginning, I couldnt figure out why I was having such a hard time managing my income on a monthly schedule. I would pay my bills on time, but by the end of the month, I would always come up short, Love said.

But one day, it clicked. I was paying my bills every time I got paid, so why wasnt I budgeting my income with every paycheck?

How The Budget-By-Paycheck Method Works

As you might have guessed, following the paycheck budget means you create a budget thats based on how often you get paid (for many workers, thats every two weeks). Instead of budgeting in larger time frames such as a month or year, this method breaks it down into smaller chunks, explained Jovan Johnson, a certified financial planner and founder and CEO of Piece of Wealth Financial Planning in Atlanta.

This allows you to manage and monitor your spending much better. Every dollar has an assignment, Johnson said, adding that he actually budgets his own finances this way.

Love added that the paycheck budget allows you to check on your budget more frequently and have a plan in place before you receive any income.

Another benefit of the budget-by-paycheck method is that its totally customizable to your lifestyle and preferences. For instance, Love is a visual learner, so she relies on calendars, workbooks and a highlighter system to manage her budget. She also incorporates the envelope method into her system.

Budgeting by paycheck can be as simple or elaborate as you want. The point is that it allows you to see exactly where your money is going and to be more hands-on with your finances.

Heres the gist of how it works.

1. Determine how much money you take home every pay period. The first step is fairly simple take a look at your pay stubs and find out how much money you get paid every pay period once taxes, retirement contributions, etc. have been taken out.

2. Put your monthly bills on a calendar. Next, go through your bank and credit card statements to come up with a list of all your recurring bills, such as rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, child care, subscription services, etc. Jot down the due date for each and organize chronologically. You might also prefer to write these down on an actual calendar, along with your other appointments and events, as Love does.