# How would you like to be paid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789 "2011-12-11T01:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![littlespeedysuperbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@littlespeedysuperbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littlespeedysuperbike)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/1 "2011-12-11T01:22:43Z")
Not the amount, per hour or per year, but the frequency? Daily, weekly, biweekly, twice a month, monthly, quarterly, one big check once a year? I think I’d enjoy it if I were paid once a quarter - easier to save, easier to make a big purchase - but I’d think I’d be singing a different tune if I had an unexpected expense on July 15 after making a big payment on the first of July! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/2 "2011-12-11T01:49:44Z")
I get paid once a week and I’m pretty happy with that. I have a good flow of money coming in so if I do run in to trouble (and don’t want to tap into savings) I’ll have my next paycheck in a few days. Also, I keep very good track of my finances. Every single transaction in or out of my checking, savings or credit accounts is in Quicken and reconciled on a regular basis. Getting paid more then weekly (daily) would be a PITA. But I suppose if I were waiting for my paycheck to buy groceries, I wouldn’t be too concerned about the bookkeeping. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/3 "2011-12-11T01:52:41Z")
i have a friend who does not trust banks, and gets an annual income near the first of January every year, he puts the money in 12 envelopes, puts them in his safe and doles them out each month to himself. I would rather trust a bank, but whatever. Same as I used to do with my monthly income, I divided it up into envelopes for rent, utilities, food and play money as I got paid. When the bills came due I took the money out, and went and paid stuff in cash and got reciepts. At the time I did it because I was in college and getting paid under the table so I didn’t want any bank records being reported to the IRS. My legal money went into the bank and paid for my tuition and food plan, and books or other supplies. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/4 "2011-12-11T01:59:13Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > i have a friend who does not trust banks, and gets an annual income near the first of January every year, he puts the money in 12 envelopes, puts them in his safe and doles them out each month to himself. I would rather trust a bank, but whatever. I had a couple years where things were slim and past due balances from prior tax years were looming. Cash in a safe, is far more difficult to seize than a bank account thats a phone call away for the IRS. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/5 "2011-12-11T03:12:10Z")
Not too picky about the payment intervals (though at least once a month or more is preferable) but I do like to be paid on a regular schedule because it makes it much easier to budget and plan. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/6 "2011-12-11T03:25:20Z")
Weekly paychecks can be a burden, because typically rent or mortgage take more than a week’s worth of money to pay. You’ve got to be dedicated to set aside money each week for that expense. Most people get paid twice a month or every two weeks. And it’s easy to set up your bill paying because it seems like everybody wants money at different times of the month. When I first started working for the State of Confusion, I mean, California, it was hard. The State has a law that employees must be paid at least twice a month. Oh, unless you work FOR the State. Then you get paid once a month. That first month, when you are trying to make a two-week paycheck stretch to cover a whole month, OH that’s rough! And then things are a little shaky until you get all the bills to line up to come due around the first. Once every thing is in place, though, it’s rather efficient. Money comes in, you pay your bills, rent/mortgage gets paid, it’s all good. My son remarks that making the money LAST for a month is the hard part. He said you get T-bones on payday, and Top Ramen at the end of the month. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/7 "2011-12-11T03:26:13Z")
I think I’m satisfied with the current system. My husband and I are paid every other week, with our paychecks on alternating Fridays, so this works out great. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/8 "2011-12-11T03:36:06Z")
In advance. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/9 "2011-12-11T03:36:33Z")
I don’t care really. I don’t live paycheck to paycheck and my pay is direct deposited. The ideal situation for me would be daily payments just so I could maximize interest earned although that is so tiny not to be much of a consideration. Realistically, once a month would work but the more frequent the better. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/10 "2011-12-11T04:01:13Z")
The more frequently, the better. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/11 "2011-12-11T04:23:52Z")
Every 2 weeks works for me, which is what I have. I get paid 26 times a year, 27 every…9 years or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/12 "2011-12-11T04:58:46Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t care really. I don’t live paycheck to paycheck and my pay is direct deposited. The ideal situation for me would be daily payments just so I could maximize interest earned although that is so tiny not to be much of a consideration. Realistically, once a month would work but the more frequent the better. All of this, pretty much. Last time I was low on money was 5-6 years ago - had to ask to postpone paying rent until after payday. These days its just numbers going up and down. When we switched to getting paid every 2 weeks to getting paid once a month, it had no effect on me really. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/13 "2011-12-11T05:40:34Z")
Same amount only twice as often. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/14 "2011-12-11T05:44:17Z")
I guess in Skittles, my friend. fuckin’. skittles. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/15 "2011-12-11T05:44:41Z")
I would like to be paid, period. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/16 "2011-12-11T06:52:12Z")
But hey, why don’t you play me on some Knorr and Coke stock. I’ll bet on both of them as well as sweet potatoes… really, any tuber. See how well they do against pepsi and the packaged “kitchen” stock. Baked goods are also going to be popular and reliant this year… where protein is expensive, we make up for it in sidedishes and dessert… ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/17 "2011-12-11T07:02:07Z")
Fortnightly works just fine for me ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/18 "2011-12-11T10:58:30Z")
I prefer to be paid in cash at the beginning of each day. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/19 "2011-12-11T11:13:09Z")
Once a month works for me. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789/20 "2011-12-11T11:41:54Z")
Regularly would be good. I’m self-employed, so I get paid irregularly, depending on the job. I do get a nice quarterly royalty payment from a book I wrote in 2003 and plan larger purchases around that, although I never quite know how much it’s going to be. For several years I had a crap content-writing gig that for a while paid twice per week, which was fun. Otherwise my painting business income is wholly dependent on the jobs, and sometimes the weather. Although it’s a nice bonus when the client asks me if I’d like to be paid in cash. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-like-to-be-paid/605789.md?page=2)