Yvonne Glasgow
Forgetting to pay your bills when they’re due can lead to excessive fees and shut-off notices. If you want good credit and to spend less money, use these tips to help you remember to pay bills when they’re due.
Set Up Auto-Pay
From credit cards to the electric bill, most places you pay monthly fees to have auto-pay options. You enter a credit card number, or your bank account info (account and routing numbers), and the company automatically takes your payment each month.
With auto-pay, the most important thing you need to remember is to keep track of the money coming from your bank account to pay bills, and when those bills are due. You don’t want to incur any overdraft fees because you forget about an auto-pay bill this month.
Write Them Down
If auto-pay isn’t an option, or you’re worried about potential overdraft fees, you can track your bills with a list you keep or a calendar hanging by the area where you work on bill pay. You can write down the bills you need to pay, how much they cost, and when they’re due in a notebook. Or, you can invest in a bill-pay journal where you put this info and also keep any paper bills you receive.
Use Reminders
Whether you use an app, your Google calendar, or you have your credit card company email you with a reminder, getting an email or text notification before a bill’s due date will help you remember to pay it on time. While you’re at it, don’t forget to set a reminder to renegotiate your bills and get a lower rate.
Schedule a Bill Pay Day
Consider scheduling one day a month that you set aside for paying your bills. Doing it this way will also help to make sure you’re paying your bills early enough that it gives checks and credit card payments time to clear before your payment ends up late.
Have your bill payday, or days, coincide with your payday. Get paid once a month? Pay all of your bills for the following month as soon as your paycheck clears. If you get paid more than once a month, schedule more than one bill payday to break up your payments a little, so you don’t end up living paycheck-to-paycheck.
