Utility bills, monthly mortgage payments, subscriptions, we all have these kinds of monthly expenses to deal with. Sometimes it becomes harder to manage those different bills resulting in late payments, which will mostly cost us extra fees or lead to service cutoff.
Eventually, late payments may lead to financial stress. You can easily avoid falling into this kind of situation by making bill payments on time. It may take you some time to come up with a solid plan to achieve this, but we are here to help. Here are some tips on how to your bills on time:
List All Your Bills
We are stating the obvious here; you can’t follow up with your bills unless you know what you own and to whom you own it.
Choose your preferred listing method, an application, maybe an Excel spreadsheet, or the traditional pen and paper. It doesn’t matter, the important thing is to ensure you list everything.
Don’t think about disregarding small payments; these can accumulate without you knowing, forcing you to make a big payment at once. It would burden you financially.
Include the due date for each payment; the goal of this list is not to miss your bills due dates. If you dismiss this part, the list won’t be serving its purpose.
Go back to the list every month to see what bills are due, and check every payment you made.
Do Some Budgeting
Make sure you have allocated the right amount to pay your bills. Once you receive your paycheck, put that money aside to make sure you won’t spend it unknowingly.
Budgeting will help you stay financially stable and avoid any late payments due to a lack of funding.
Set Automatic Payments
It is best to automate fixed monthly bills that charge a fixed amount. If possible, link these payments to your bank account and spare yourself the trouble of following up with them each month.
When the payment is due, the amount will be automatically withdrawn from your bank account.
Account for Manual Payments
Not all payments can be automated. When making your list try to categorize the bills based on their automation possibility. This way, you will ensure not to confuse things and miss due dates for manual payments.
The goal is to pay these bills once they are due, and there is no better way to do this than making online payments.
You have two options; visit the creditor or vendor website to make the payment, or use your bank’s mobile app. Today, banks are leveraging the digital advantage of this era to attract clients. Your bank will allow you to do many financial transactions, including paying the bills, with one click.
Set Reminders
If you are skeptical about whether you can or can’t keep up with the list we have suggested earlier, you can always set reminders.
Use your mobile calendar to track your bills due dates. When it’s time to make the payment you will be notified. It is a very convenient option for those who struggle with keeping track of checklists and schedules.
