Feast or famine

It's been nine months since I quit my full-time job and started working part-time as an independent contractor. One of the most notable adjustments I still haven't quite gotten used to is the stark difference between a regular salary cadence and irregular, delayed invoice payments.

All my previous jobs had one thing in common — a steady paycheck structure. Whether it was twice a month or every two weeks, that check arrived via direct deposit without fail. If you get paid twice per month, that's 24 paychecks per year, but every two weeks is 26 paychecks. The latter leads to the mythical "three-check-months" that are supposed to offer a free bonus check to blow, but it somehow never works out that way. 

As a 1099 contractor, my pay structure is completely different. I submit an invoice twice per month, and the terms are "net 30," which means the invoice is not due for 30 days. That's if the company pays on time, which hasn't been the case lately. Once the payment is issued, it takes 3-5 business days to hit my business bank account. It's usually sent on a Friday, which means I don't have the payment until deep into the following week. Then, there is another delay transferring the money from my business bank account to my personal bank account, which can be sped up for a fee, of course.

On top of all this, there's no more paid time off. When I took the week off after July 4th, that's 20 hours I didn't invoice, which means the invoice for the first half of July will be about half the normal one. 

I look forward to the days when cashola is rolling in on a more regular basis so that it's not feast or famine.