To ask for my pay early

I’d ask for it all, then start requesting payment in advance for each half term starting after the next half term. That’s how I pay for my child’s lessons. Have they signed an agreement? I sign an agreement at the start of each academic year stating the tutors terms & that I have to give a full terms notice to stop lessons. She’s amazing so I’d only stop lessons if I really really couldn’t afford it anymore.

This change things a bit. He owes you money. It would be totally professional to ask for it. He should be expecting a request for payment of the rest of the December’s lessons. It wouldn’t be unprofessional to ask for payment to date, since your initial agreement was payment after each lesson. It would be a little unprofessional to ask for payment to the end of the month (in these circumstances - payment in advance is perfectly fine if it’s what’s been agreed on in advance), but he might well be happy to since he’s been getting free credit for a while.

If you were paid on the 11th for lessons you would do later in December (and then did) then again you should have budgeted.

How many lessons did you do between the 11th of December and now? And what were you paid for?

If you were paid on the 11th December for sessions you had done between the 1st and 11th and then did more lessons between the 11th and the 31st, then you should have been paid as normal on the 31st December (or whatever date at "the end of the month" you normally get paid for those lessons.)

If you normally charge for weeks where you would happily take the lesson but they are away/ill, and the lessons between the 11th and 31st of December were these, then you should have been paid for those weeks by the 31st December. (or whatever date at "the end of the month" you normally get paid.)

If they had no lessons between the 11th and 31st, and the reasons for this mean you wouldn't normally charge for this period (e.g. you were sick or away and didn't provide the lessons, or they were away and gave you notice of being away if the contract states they should), then there is no outstanding pay. That would mean that they owe you nothing for 11th-31st December, they WILL owe you on the 31st Jan, but we're not there yet, so you should have budgeted for the gap and should wait to be paid next time they should pay you.

No, I wouldn't ask a client to pay early. If you can't afford your bills, you need to speak to your bank or to your utility company to pay them later. Or just not pay this month - I don't know how it's all done now, but 20 years ago when I was struggling a lot, I missed many payments and not much happened aside from being issued with a reminder notice, so if you can pay next month, I would be tempted to just freeze the payment and sort it out in February (as I say I haven't had to skip a payment recently so there may be harsher penalties these days that you need to check first).

OP, do you have enough to survive until your next payment date - enough food, the mortgage paid and other absolutely essential bills paid? So long as these absolute essentials are covered then everything else can wait.

Almost all posters agree that it would be unprofessional to ask, @MsReacher2025 perfectly outlined why. I hope you don't mind me saying this but I think it might be helpful to get budgeting advice. It's important you plan ahead to avoid being in this situation again. Mumsnetters can help by sharing budgeting tips if you ask here, or start a new post.

This

I wouldn’t unless I run out of food or couldn’t pay rent or mortgage.

I usually request payment half-termly in advance, or cash on arrival. That way I never have to worry about not being paid, and if they cancel a lesson for any reason, it becomes their problem, not mine.

It sounds harsh, but I've been tutoring privately now for 24 years, and whilst the majority of parents have been reliable with payments, I've been burned several times, so have learnt to be cautious.

This changes things I think & yes in this situation I’d say it’s fine to ask for payment now. I have a tutor for my child and wouldn’t have a problem with this at all.

At the end of the day as long as you’re still providing the service they’re paying you for, and if you are struggling financially I’m sure they’ll have sympathy, compassion and pay early. Especially if next months outgoings isn’t as bad as this month I have no doubt they’ll understand! (Well I hope so!)

For example our lovely cat sitter invoices us after every cat sit but on the invoice it says ‘2 weeks payment is due’ but if she said ‘hey I’m so sorry would you mind paying me in a few days because it’s been a tight month due to Christmas etc’ I would totally understand.

December is such an expensive month - we get paid early before Christmas and it is super hard especially after paying for presents etc!

good luck I hope they understand and even if you can’t budget it’s not a poor reflection on you at all

No, please don’t ask. It would be uncomfortable for everyone involved. It appears you only charge for lessons taught (not ongoing contract) if so, they have right to cancel and not pay. Essentially they only pay for what they get and therefore they should not pay in advance

if your contract is different and this is not the case……I still wouldn’t ask as they may feel uncomfortable and put upon, which could ultimately lose you business

You are unbelievable, unprofessional and incredibly rude.
What is in your contract with regards payment?
From your posts and even if I need a tutor, which I don't, I would not let you within a mile of any of my charges.

I'm also a private tutor, and think this may depend on what you've previously agreed with the families you tutor for.

If you have an agreed schedule of lessons over the month or term, then they should still have paid you for any lessons in December they missed by being on holiday, and hence you should have the expected funds to last until your January payment.

If however, you've agreed a zero hours contract (such that they only pay you for hours worked), you should expect to cover lean periods when they are away so don't pay you.

It's not clear from your post whether you're struggling because they went on holiday early in December and didn't pay you, or because you didn't budget for the Christmas break, but either way, it seems YABU for not setting expecations or not budgeting.

You sound as though you are self employed (so your clients are not responsible for your holiday pay) and this is one of the families you work for, did you not fill their December hours with your other students? If these people are you main income you need to keep your relationship professional otherwise they may find another tutor.

I wouldn’t ask, it’s really unprofessional, and while some people would be ok with it, for many it would leave a bad taste in their mouth. It could risk the professional relationship in the long run

What's your actual employment situation with them? Is there any paperwork in place? Just wondering if it's really OK for you not to receive any holiday pay for 11th-31st Dec while they were away.

This changes things. You are at least due from 12th to end of Dec? Or are you not being paid while they were away? If not then no don't ask.

No, its wrong.
You need to learn some budgeting skills and also, when you are paid early in December to hold it untouched until the true date.

Take a look at Money Saving Expert for some tricks.

That makes it sound like the fact they paid you on the 11th instead of the 31st is irrelevant because there was nothing else to pay you for. So the issue really is that you didn’t work as much in December, so you didn’t have as much money coming in and you haven’t budgeted for this?

It’s difficult when you are reliant on being paid for jobs like this over a regular salary. Asking for money early will look pretty unprofessional, I think. But they may not care, it’s hard to know how they’ll see it.

It's not an advance or "wages" if your self employed, it's just a business billing for its services.

Do you have a contract with them that states a date?

If not then it's as simple as your self employed and you can invoice them as regularly as you like as long as only invoicing for services you have provided. Don't overthink it, unless you are contractually prevented from doing so you should be invoicing at your convenience and to suit your business.