In ancient Athens the last day of the lunar month was called "the old and the new", and it was the day your debts fell due.

Aristophanes has a character in The Clouds lying awake dreading its arrival, which is how we know the anxiety was completely ordinary. The month ended when the Moon vanished, so the deadline was written across the sky and nobody could plausibly claim to have missed it. Rather a lot of ancient dread was scheduled by the waning crescent.