never been paid monthly. Since I started my big-boy salaried job, I've been:

• paid weekly
• paid semi-monthly
• paid bi-weekly.

My favorite was semi-monthly - for the same reason you like monthly.

Simplest, especially since you're getting a pretty good raise, is to ignore the occasional third check of the month. It all goes into savings or is invested or however you handle unbudgeted cash.

For a few years when I got paid bi-weekly, that third check of the month was different -- benefits like health insurance were NOT taken out of it. Now for me, they are taken out of all 26.