BILL PAYING TIPS

One of the biggest obstacles for achieving good credit is paying bills and managing debt. Bill paying is much more complex than merely writing checks for the amount you are being billed for and then waiting for the creditor to cash the checks. If you are looking to avoid overdraft charges and/or late fees, you will need to develop a bill paying strategy. Outlined below are some simple tips that when followed, will equate to effective bill management and payment. We suggest you also learn about how to keep bills organized. You can also apply for a loan for paying medical bills.

Bill payment is a priority over leisure.
The urge to spend money on pleasure as opposed to settling bills can be overwhelming. You will face major penalties for neglecting to pay your bills. Alternatively, there aren't any consequences for not spending on leisure. Always make sure you pay all of your fiscal responsibilities first and then utilize any leftover funds on fun.

Remit your payments before the due dates.
Make sure that you give your bill payee time to receive your payments by mailing your bills early. If you wait too late to send your payments, you run the risk of missing the due date and incurring late payment fees. A good idea would be to enroll in online bill paying if available and pay a few days early. There are online bill paying services like MyCheckFree.com and Pay Trust that work with thousands of different merchants and service providers that will allow you to make all of your payments from one portal.

If you can not make your payment, CALL!
Never wait until after the due date to contact and ask about making plans for payment. It is more difficult to evade the penalties of a neglected payment that way. Instead, get in touch with your service providers and creditors the instant you think that you may not be able to make your payment. Request for an extension and for any associated late fees to be waived. But, it is very important that you satisfy any arrangements that are made. If you do not, you will likely eliminate the opportunity of making any type of future payment plan.

Look for billing mistakes.
It is always a good idea to review all of your bills and make sure that they are accurate. If they are not, contact your service provider or creditor and discuss the issue. Don't take matters into your own hands and pay a lesser amount.

Spread your bill payment out over multiple paychecks.
In the event that you are not collecting a weekly paycheck, it is important that you balance your bill paying so that you don't run out of money for everyday expenses. That may mean that you don't pay all of your bills at once. Instead, spread payments out over the entire month. A good idea would be to set-up a budget that will detail how much of your paycheck is going where each week.

Make sure you write your account numbers on every check.
No matter if you are paying your credit card company or one of your utility service providers, every account that you have will have a unique identifier associated with it. This is your account number. Writing your account number on your checks pretty much guarantees that you account is credited with your payment.

Balance your check book.
Only when all of the checks you have out clear will your checking account reflect the actual amount of money that you have. It is important that you balance your checkbook by subtracting all outstanding checks from your balance so that you are fully aware exactly how much money you have to spend. If you neglect to balance your checkbook, you run the risk of inadvertently overspending and bouncing checks. The cost of bouncing checks is very expensive and can result in damaging your credit and/or having the services being provided to be cut off as a result of non-payment.

If you build all of the above tactics into your regular bill paying routine, you will most likely be able to balance your financial well-being.


Related Reading:
 
How Not to Pay Your Bills
Paying Medical Bills
What is Debt Consolidation?
Paying Off Credit Card Debt
Negotiate Medical Bills

 


 

 

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