How to Pay Monthly Bills on Time

By eHow Personal Finance Editor

Rate: (20 Ratings)

Paying your bills promptly will help you avoid late fees and interest charges. Follow these steps to ward off procrastination and keep your finances in good order.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Calculators
File Cabinets
In Boxes
Postage Stamps
Calendars
Envelopes
File Folders

Step1

Set aside a special place to put your bills when they arrive, such as a desk cubbyhole, a special section in a drawer or a bill inbox. As soon as you receive them, open your bills, then put them in this special place.

Step2

Set aside two times a month, two weeks apart, to pay bills. The middle and end of the month are good times.

Step3

Call the companies that send you bills and have them revise your payment due dates to correspond with one of the two times you plan to pay your bills each month.

Step4

Mark your calendar to remind you of bill-paying dates and to help you keep to your schedule.

Step5

Pay your bills with checks or money orders, then note the check number, the date and the amount paid on the receipt portion of each bill.

Step6

File these receipts away and keep them for seven years.

Step7

Place the envelopes containing your payments next to your keys so that you will remember to take them with you and mail them immediately.

Tips & Warnings

Some credit card companies, mortgage lenders and automobile financing companies change due dates. Check the due dates for such bills when they arrive.
Utility and phone companies are usually a little more flexible and will wait for a few days before they send you a reminder notice or charge you a late fee. Credit card companies, mortgage and automobile lenders, oil companies and landlords are stricter.
Many banks allow you to arrange for automatic bill payment from your checking account.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 Paying half your monthly mortgage payment twice a month will save you tons of money! Paying twice a month will equal one extra payment a year; no big deal right? Wrong! To get an idea of how much this will save you use this equation:

Monthly Principle and interest payment X (60 months for a 30 year note or 36 months for a 20 year note) = Life of loan savings!

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 There are various excel (.xls) files, which are formatted in a specific format in order to track everyday spending. They report with the use of graphs spread over the whole year.
Those owning a computer or a laptop could find their stress being busted.

Anonymous said

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on 3/21/2006 I keep a daily journal. In my journal I write everything I think I will need to remember later. One of the most convenient things I do is keep a record of my spending in this journal. Like I might buy gas, lunch,
toiletries, use the ATM, as soon as possible these items are recorded in my journal. I also use my voice mail to remind me to make sure I have recorded all.

Anonymous said

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on 2/14/2006 Open a checking account at Chase and any other bank that has free checking. When you set up direct deposit, use this account to pay all your bills online. Free. You can even post date your payments.

Anonymous said

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on 2/14/2006 I get paid twice a month. As soon as I get a bill I place the due date on the envelope (near the stamp) and place it in date order in my bill basket.
Once I get paid I get the bills that are soon to be due and never pay the exact amount. I always round it to the next even amount. i.e, if the bill is $122.34 then I pay $125.00. This keeps you in good credit standings and it is easier to balance your checkbook!

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