I don't get the whole payment process

I've been meaning to post about this for quite a while now. The whole bit with the Muppets discussing how to save the theater kind of threw me off. Miss Bitterman said the payment was due on Christmas Eve. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew said that with things the way they were, they wouldn't be able to pay anyone until new years of the following year. I assume that by "anyone", he meant the Muppets themselves and not the bank. But what throws me off is: how would the Muppets deferring their paychecks all year long help things? All the money was due on Christmas Eve of that year. If Kermit meant it would just be until after Christmas, that would have made more sense to me. Then, later on, when Kermit announces they had enough money to save the theater, would that still involve all the Muppets going a full year with no payment? In fact, I wasn't even sure about the very end. Even after Miss Bitterman was thwarted, did that mean all their financial problems were over? I'm a bit fuzzy on this subject. Some help would be appreciated. Thanks.