Cheques are great when they arrive, but after having two weeks off over Christmas and New Year, then a week 'frozen' off from 5th Jan, followed by another week off at the begining of February with freezing weather, things have been tight for us.
At present I'm owed not far off £1K for a small handfull of comercial jobs and this figure will increase next week by another £200 (ish) for more commercial work (some of whom are in the original total of £1K) that we're outstanding.
I know many of you guys are probably outstanding amounts that makes mine look piddling, but it's a lot of money to me.
Okay, I know Christmas and time off for freezing weather doesn't happen often, but only by collecting from my close-to-home domestic jobs enabled me to pay the bills and feed us in Jan/Mar; and then only just.
I prefer to collect at least twice a month, on a Saturday morning, from my estate areas; since it keeps us ticking over and stops me worrying about getting the bills paid; so mix of cheques and collecting works for us.