--- title: "quincena" translation: "Payday. The twice-a-month pay cycle." type: "word" category: "slang" url: "https://consalsa.app/words/quincena" canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/quincena" published: "2026-10-22" updated: "2026-10-22" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "ConSalsa.App" license: "https://consalsa.app/terms#ip" --- # quincena URL: https://consalsa.app/words/quincena Translation: Payday. The twice-a-month pay cycle. Pronunciation: /kinˈse.na/ Category: slang Region: Mexico Register: everyday, neutral, universally understood Variants: la quincena, ya cayó la quincena, hasta la quincena, la segunda quincena Literal meaning: A quincena is fifteen days. In Mexico it is also the money that arrives at the end of one. Published: 2026-10-22 Quick answer: - La quincena is payday. Most office and government workers are paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last day. - It also means two weeks, and la segunda quincena de octubre means the back half of that month. - Hasta la quincena is a complete explanation for turning down a plan, because everybody knows how many days that is. What it means: - The money that arrives twice a month, and the stretch of days between one arrival and the next. Both senses are live and nobody confuses them. - What makes it worth a page is that the cycle is shared. Because a large, synchronised part of the workforce is paid on the same two dates, a lot of the city has money at the same time and runs out at the same time - which is visible in restaurants, in bars and in how a group chat behaves across a month. It is not universal: construction, restaurant and retail work is usually weekly on Fridays, and most of the informal economy has no cycle at all. Literal meaning: - Quince is fifteen and una quincena is fifteen days. The payday sense is the money that arrives at the end of one, and the word simply took on the second job. It also names either half of the month: la primera quincena, la segunda quincena. - Quincenal is the adjective - a pago quincenal is a twice-monthly payment, and it is how payroll and store credit get quoted. Not rent: la renta in CDMX is monthly, on a monthly contract, with a monthly deposit. How Mexicans use it: - The commonest form is a deadline for being broke. Hasta la quincena is a complete answer to an invitation, and nobody asks a follow-up because everybody can count. - Ya cayó la quincena is the announcement that it has arrived - caer is the verb, as though the money fell - and it usually means the plan somebody turned down last week is back on. It also names the amount itself: ¿cuánto te dieron de quincena? and se me fue toda la quincena. - It measures time as well as money. Te lo pago en dos quincenas is a month, and la segunda quincena de octubre is the back half of that month - which is how a lot of scheduling gets done. - And it prices things. Lo compré a veinticuatro quincenas is a year of store credit, which is how Coppel and Elektra quote furniture. Everywhere else the standard is meses sin intereses - a 12 MSI on a card, which is what you will see at every checkout. - December is the exception that proves the rule. The aguinaldo lands before the 20th, the country spends it, and January arrives as la cuesta de enero - the uphill month, when everybody is bruja together. Common mistake: - Assuming pay is monthly. For office work it usually is not, and a plan proposed for the 27th will get a very different answer from the same plan proposed for the 16th. Worth knowing before you take it personally. - Reading hasta la quincena as vague. It is a precise date - either the 15th or the last day of the month, whichever comes next - and the person saying it has already counted. If it falls on a weekend, payroll usually moves to the Friday before. - Hearing el 30 as the literal 30th. It is a habit of speech; the second payday is the last day of the month, whatever that is. In February that is the 28th. Examples: - Ando bruja hasta la quincena. — I'm broke until payday. - Ya cayó la quincena, ahora sí vamos. — Payday landed, now we can go. - Te lo pago en dos quincenas. — I'll pay you over the next month. - Lo compré a veinticuatro quincenas. — I bought it on a year of store credit. - Nos vemos la segunda quincena de octubre. — Let's meet in the back half of October. Mini dialogue: A: ¿Vamos a cenar el jueves? B: ¿Jueves veintiséis? Uy, no. Ando bruja. A: Cierto, todavía no cae la quincena. B: El sábado sí. Ahí sí te invito yo. A: Va que va. FAQ: Q: What does quincena mean? A: Payday - most office and government workers are paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last day. It also means two weeks, or either half of a month. Q: When is la quincena? A: The 15th and the last day of the month. People say el 15 y el 30, but the second one is whatever the last day is - and it moves to the Friday before when it falls on a weekend. Q: Is everyone in Mexico paid twice a month? A: No. It is the norm for office and government work. Construction, restaurant and retail jobs are usually weekly on Fridays, and most of the informal economy has no cycle at all. Q: What does hasta la quincena mean? A: Until payday. It is a complete explanation for turning down a plan, and it is precise rather than vague - the person saying it has counted the days. Q: What does ya cayó la quincena mean? A: Payday has landed. Caer is the verb, as though the money fell, and it usually means a plan that was turned down last week is back on. Q: What is the aguinaldo? A: The Christmas bonus, and a legal obligation rather than a gift - Mexican employers owe at least fifteen days' pay, due before December 20. Q: What is la cuesta de enero? A: The uphill month. The aguinaldo arrives in December and gets spent in December, so January is when the whole country is broke at the same time. Q: What does a veinticuatro quincenas mean? A: Twenty-four twice-monthly payments - a year of store credit. Coppel and Elektra quote furniture this way. On a card the standard is meses sin intereses instead: a 12 MSI. Q: What is la segunda quincena de octubre? A: The back half of October. Either half of a month gets called a quincena, and it is how a lot of scheduling gets done. Related words: estoy-bruja, varo, lana, no-seas-codo, chamba