Monthly or bi-Monthly payment? Which of the two suits freelance writers?

What is your take on this?

ASAP payment usually works best ;)

A bi-monthly system. It is the best maybe a little biased.

I saw an advertisement from a custom writing service a few years back (I did not apply) that paid its writers by PayPal after every order. I like that system.

Due to a variety of reasons, my payments process at all different times. If anyone actually makes their living as a freelancer of any sort, budgeting and saving have got to be part of their discipline. When payments process shouldn't really matter to much, as long as it actually gets processed (and of course, a six-month timeline or something like that would be ridiculous).

You have to be careful about terminology too: bimonthly can mean getting paid every two months (ugh!) but semimonthly specifically means twice a month.

It not only can mean that, it does mean that. Anyone who uses it to mean anything else is using it incorrectly.

I agree, but there is some debate over this.

Really? Where is the debate? "Semimonthly" means "half-monthly" (therefore twice a month), and "bimonthly" means "two monthly" (or once every two months). This is etymology, not a subjective interpretation of meaning.

data.grammarbook.com/blog/definitions/bi-vs-semi-weeklymonthlyannually/ - Here for example.

As someone in the comments section of that article quickly pointed out, the use of "bimonthly" to mean "twice a month" has no etymological basis whatsoever and is the result of modern grammarians deciding that a frequent incorrect usage warrants a change in definition. It's like the fact that "literally" can now be defined as "Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling." It's bs arising from laziness and inaccuracy.

Payment the next instant is unparalleled! But twice a month shoud work fine as well.

The companies that I was previously attached to had different payment schedules.

I always went for the twice a month (bimonthly) payment because I needed the regular inflow of money in order to cover my expenses.

Twice a month or bimonthly payments worked best for me because I was able to properly budget the incoming cash and also schedule the appropriate payments for my bills and other expenses.

While I did pay more in terms of Paypal transfer fees and the companies had me shoulder the Paypal fees for the transaction, I found that this was the best method for salary payment due to my needs at the time. These days though, I opt for once a month (monthly) payments due to the increasing Paypal fees involved in the bank transfer fees. It now makes better sense for me to consolidate all of my earnings into one schedule for Paypal remittance.

That way, I lessen the fees involved, the companies I work for shoulder the Paypal fees, and I still manage to work out an acceptable payment schedule for all of my bills. So I guess my short answer to the question is, either way works for me.

My writers have long opted to receive their salaries on the first of every month. It saves them the bother of having to pay PayPal fees twice a month. However, I decided to shoulder the PayPal fees for them since they only get a once a month transfer. It costs me less to pay them via that method as well. They don't mind being paid only once a month as it is usually the time when they need to pay their monthly expenses anyway. So it suits their purposes best. The writers these days have to be practical because the bank charges have been increasing and PayPal fees may follow soon. That is why I do not see my writers ever opting for a bi-monthly payment now or in the distant future. It will just not be wise for them to do so.

I think I'd have to agree with a few people above. Monthly payments are sufficient. To be honest, it doesn't really matter to most writers for as long as you don't scam them by not paying. Not unless you treat freelance writing as your only source of income. In this case, then some people would opt for a more frequent method of payment because they need it to keep up with expenses - the usual stuff. Personally, once every two months would be a stretch for me. I like having the luxury of enjoying the fruit of the work that I do as early as possible. But that's just me.

I prefer to collect from my writing companies on a bi-monthly basis. It just results in a healthier financial status for myself. However, my writers prefer to be paid on a weekly basis. So I require them to earn at least $50 in a week if they want to get paid every Monday. That signifies a full 7 days worth of work. They seem to prefer that schedule. It appears that they allot their salaries based on whatever due date is coming up for their various bills. It helps them to meet at least the minimum payment on their credit cards and allows them to get other financial responsibilities paid earlier than required. Whatever works for them is fine with me, provided they always meet the clients requirements and always bring in repeat clients to the company.