http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/06/banish-late-fees-from-your-life-forever.html Save Money - A Personal Finance Blog By A Husband And Wife Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:16:45 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/2008/06/banish-late-fees-from-your-life-forever.html/comment-page-1#comment-122589 anon Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:35:47 +0000 http://notmadeofmoney.com/blog/?p=629#comment-122589 Timely post. Thank you! I would add that, although utility due dates are inflexible, you can fudge it by being roughly a month ahead (I know, but just overpay a little at a time). That way it doesn't matter when you send the money to them, You're always going to be OK. And Absolutely, CC companies will work with you to adjust due dates. We've worked it so I pay EVERYONE a SET amount on the 28th. It's been working for over a year, now. Biweekly paychecks, except everyone's "allowances", automatically -SAME DAY- go into savings; calculated total bills (automatically, on a spreadsheet) amount is transferred to a checking account, used for nothing else, on the 28th, the same day Paytrust (my third party Billpay service) sends out ALL payments. These have been prescheduled, preset amount, forever. Easy. Since most bills are paid as EFTs I know within 2 days that they've been paid. There is also no chance of those annoying paper checks being overdrawn since I have a dedicated Bills Only account. Oddball bills, like medical, that Paytrust can't handle are grouped in a folder, then I call/sign in and pay by CC on the 28th. Mortgage is a Biweekly Plan (not particularly brilliant I know), EFT'd automatically on Payday, so again brainless. If I had one really fixed pay date, e.g., rent, I would adjust all other bills so they could be paid on the same day. The hardest part is getting ahead enough, to put the plan into motion. You would essentially need to be about half a paycheck ahead for starters, but that can be done with a little hoarding, patience, and strategizing. Once in motion, you just have to be sure you've scheduled all bills, like you say, using a checklist, or spreadsheet, whatever, then account for the payment amount in your monthly transfer amount. It takes only minutes to manage per month, once the system is in place. Sorry, for long winded "sharing" but life is so much easier without worrying about, as you say, late fees! Timely post. Thank you! I would add that, although utility due dates are inflexible, you can fudge it by being roughly a month ahead (I know, but just overpay a little at a time). That way it doesn’t matter when you send the money to them, You’re always going to be OK. And Absolutely, CC companies will work with you to adjust due dates.
We’ve worked it so I pay EVERYONE a SET amount on the 28th. It’s been working for over a year, now. Biweekly paychecks, except everyone’s “allowances”, automatically -SAME DAY- go into savings; calculated total bills (automatically, on a spreadsheet) amount is transferred to a checking account, used for nothing else, on the 28th, the same day Paytrust (my third party Billpay service) sends out ALL payments. These have been prescheduled, preset amount, forever. Easy.
Since most bills are paid as EFTs I know within 2 days that they’ve been paid. There is also no chance of those annoying paper checks being overdrawn since I have a dedicated Bills Only account. Oddball bills, like medical, that Paytrust can’t handle are grouped in a folder, then I call/sign in and pay by CC on the 28th.
Mortgage is a Biweekly Plan (not particularly brilliant I know), EFT’d automatically on Payday, so again brainless.
If I had one really fixed pay date, e.g., rent, I would adjust all other bills so they could be paid on the same day. The hardest part is getting ahead enough, to put the plan into motion. You would essentially need to be about half a paycheck ahead for starters, but that can be done with a little hoarding, patience, and strategizing.
Once in motion, you just have to be sure you’ve scheduled all bills, like you say, using a checklist, or spreadsheet, whatever, then account for the payment amount in your monthly transfer amount. It takes only minutes to manage per month, once the system is in place.
Sorry, for long winded “sharing” but life is so much easier without worrying about, as you say, late fees!

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