Alinnell -- I hear you. DH is self-employed and has the same issue when he bills clients, all of which are financial services firms. You'd think that financial services firms would pay promptly, but they don't. (Or, maybe they don't pay promptly because they're trying to eke out another month's interest on DH's money...)
I went to the store at 7 am yesterday to get the non-perishable T-day fixings, thinking that no one else would be there and I'd be able to get in and out quickly. Turns out, half my town had the same idea: so not only was the grocery store packed, it was packed with people I knew and I spent a lot of time chit-chatting. Kinda fun, but not what I had in mind for my Saturday morning!
//kaw