# When's payday? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065 "2002-06-14T18:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/1 "2002-06-14T18:24:35Z")
Weekly? Bi-weekly? Monthly? What do you prefer? Fed payday is every other Friday, and mine is usually deposited in my account Thursday night. I like it just fine. I don’t think I’d like monthly because budgeting would be trickier for me. I guess I could deal with a weekly check, but I’ve been paid biweekly for so long, it’d be a hard habit to break. My kid gets paid on the 7th and 22nd of the month, or the Friday before if either of those days fall on the weekend. I had a job that paid on a similar schedule and I hated it. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/2 "2002-06-14T18:31:24Z")
Hubby gets paid every 2 weeks. I have a hard time with it. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/3 "2002-06-14T18:51:51Z")
Bi- weekly as well here. I get paid on firdays, but through the magic of direct deposit, the dough clears midnight thursday. Just in time for drinking 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/4 "2002-06-14T18:52:03Z")
I get paid bi-weeky: like FCM, on Friday although it’s normally deposited into the account late Thursday night. My Mom also gets paid bi-weekly, on the same schedule Dad on the other hand, is monthly: so his check goes towards the big-ticket monthly items (mortage, etc.), and Mom’s goes towards the weekly stuff, like groceries. Mine, I keep. 😃 (I pay them ‘rent’ by doing house-stuff and being a big fat tax deduction for 'em.) * * * \<\< Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for though art crunchy and taste good dipped in chocolate. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/5 "2002-06-14T18:55:38Z")
Today! And every other Friday (meaning every \other\ Friday as in bi-weekly not \every other\ Friday as in every week). It’s nice because there are two months of the year where I get “bonus” checks. My honey gets paid on the 10th and 25th of the month. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/6 "2002-06-14T18:56:42Z")
Semi-monthly, on the 15th and the last day of the month. I’ve had bi-weekly in the past. I like Semi-monthly because I have my routine for bills, the First paycheck of the month is the car bill, utilities, etc. the second paycheck of the month is the house & insurance. Nice and dependable. When I had bi-weekly, I had to plan more. The plus was when I got that “extra” paycheck twice a year - those three-paycheck months. If I had done my job, and learned to live off of two paychecks a month, then the “extra” one was basically free money - it didn’t have a predetermined payee. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/7 "2002-06-15T00:09:19Z")
Another federal worker on the every-other Friday schedule. My first “real job” (after I graduated from college) paid weekly, and when I got my current job I had a little trouble adjusting to the fact that my paycheck had to last twice as long. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/8 "2002-06-15T00:42:51Z")
I don’t know if it’s all of Interior or just the Park Service, but I get my pay every other Tuesday, rather than Friday. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/9 "2002-06-15T07:49:18Z")
Another Federal employee. My paycheck is direct deposited bi-weekly, on Friday but the pay statements don’t come out until the following Tuesday. It was a little hard to adjust to after getting paid weekly but, as I budget based on two checks every month those two left-over checks are kinda fun. ---
**Author:** ![donnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@donnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/10 "2002-06-15T12:56:08Z")
The entire country of Sweden gets paid at the same time on a monthly basis. It is the worst nightmare one could imagine. The stores are jammed, the lines at the money machines are jammed…the liquor stores are jammed. It’s aboslutely insane. They don’t have checks and checking accounts either…those are considered terribly obsolete. In the good ol days in the states I could always float a check safely before my every other friday paydays…I suck big time at budgeting and this monthly thing gives me a headache. Everyone also knows what everyone else makes here too…they discuss salaries in the breakroom, on the toilet, at the pub. This is also a strange cultural thing. Anyway, look out on the 24th of each month…8 million people just got paid!!!:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/11 "2002-06-15T12:57:52Z")
Every Friday, direct deposit. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/12 "2002-06-15T14:02:05Z")
Every other Friday, paper check. _sigh_ The company says they “can’t afford” direct deposit, so I have to shlep to the bank. And I’m a night worker - thank the Invisible Pink Unicorn my bank opens the drive through at 7 am. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/13 "2002-06-15T14:23:19Z")
Every Friday via direct deposit. I used to work at a place that paid out on Tuesday! Also, we were closed on Wednesday (for a while), so that you could blow your paycheck and have to come back to work on Thursday. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/14 "2002-06-15T14:28:04Z")
End of the month for my full-time job, 3rd of the following month for my part-time one. I found myself running short when I first got on a monthly system, but I’ve gotten used to it now. (A higher salary doesn’t hurt, either). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/15 "2002-06-15T15:02:16Z")
**Semi-monthly insults** are delivered on the 15th and 30th/31st of the month. [sub]My dad, who was a federal employee, called them “bi-weekly insults”.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/16 "2002-06-15T15:43:24Z")
Every other Friday, but insurance comes out twice a month. So for those lovely months where you get three checks…one of them is bigger because there’s no insurance taken out!! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/17 "2002-06-15T16:34:42Z")
My checks come when the clients decide to send them – usually 3-4 weeks after they receive my invoice. Then I get to chop off ~40% for taxes, retirement, etc. So sometimes I get a bunch of checks in a row, and other times it’s a looooong stretch in between. Takes some careful planning. So all you regularly-paid people, kwitcherbitchin! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/18 "2002-06-15T17:25:38Z")
Last weekday of the month for regular pay, last weekday before the 10th of the month for overtime (if either the last day of the month, or the 10th, falls on a weekend we get paid the Friday before). ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/19 "2002-06-16T04:38:14Z")
Every other Friday at the store, every Wednesday at the newspaper. Both are traditional paper checks. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065/20 "2002-06-16T15:26:57Z")
**Scarlett67** , I know what you’re talking about. I remember losing ten pounds once during a lean period. I’m paid biweekly now. It makes financial planning _much_ easier. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whens-payday/114065.md?page=2)