Pay Your Bills On Time To Save (Who Knew?)!

“Pay my bills on time”, you ask? “Avoid late fees?!” What’s all this crazy talk about? Does this sound nice to you? Well then, let’s get started!

Go ahead and grab your bills for a second! If at all possible, start thinking about automatic bill payments while you’re gathering them. That’s right, today most utilities companies and other “makers” of bills (yea, I know— sounds like ol’ GWB a little) will let you set up your bills to be either charged on a credit card or directly deducted from your checking account. Who knew? Also, many banks now offer free bill-paying programs. Is that right (note: it is)? So what’s your excuse going to be now for forgetting to pay on time, which always leads to unnecessary late fees? “I’m already late, so who cares?” you answer (wow, a curve-ball)? Well, why not call the company and “politely” request a late fee waiver (most of the times, they’ll give it to you).

Important to remember: if you pay your bills on time you’ll save in at least two ways. First, when you pay by the due date you’ll avoid any late fees, which would have significantly ramped up your costs. Next, paying on time helps you avoid credit blemishes, which in turn would tarnish your credit history and lower your credit score. You don’t want that, do you? Didn’t think so! Continuing on, poor credit scores attract the least favorable interest rates and fees on loans and credit cards. So, never become complacent after you get a great loan rate (most idiots do). Your lender will be monitoring your account periodically to see how you’re managing your accounts. Just one late payment can trigger an interest rate increase from all of your other creditors, even though you have paid their loans in a timely manner.

A fool can see how easy paying bills on time can save money in both the long and short term. What may be more difficult to do, however, is finding the time to gather the bills, writing the checks, getting them in the mail and balancing the old checking account. We’re all busy these days and bill paying seems like nothing but a tedious chore. Well, for you lazy bastards, why not thank technology for coming to your rescue? Read the following to see what it has done for you lately:

Online banking. Bill paying shouldn’t be a time consuming task. Online banking, which usually has no costs to you, helps you by paying your bills automatically. “Do I have to use any stamps or checks?” you ask? NO, now stop with the dumb questions (I mean it). Your bank makes sure that your payment is delivered on time, and as for fixed expenses you might want to also consider signing up for automatic bill pay. Why (what’d I tell you about that?)? Well, as long as you have enough cash in your account you will never have to worry about late payments again!

Email notification. Many companies will be more than happy to send you an email reminder of payment notification (it helps both you and them). This is certainly helpful if you’re the type of person who can’t keep dates together in your head, or you can’t tell your Mondays from your Fridays. I use this valuable service, because I have both problems! I might not be good like that, but I never get stuck with late bills!

Company websites. If you don’t trust online banking, you can still pay your bills online. Many vendors such as credit card and utility companies accept payments through their websites. It only takes a couple of minutes to register: simply provide identifying and account information, choose a username and password, and that’s all there is to it. Next time you’re ready to make another payment just log onto your account. Most sites even include an email receipt of your bill and payment history. You’ll often get credit for your payment instantly (for you guys who like to wait till the last minute).

Whoa, this article ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated. Hopefully, I haven’t put you to sleep with all this boring saving money talk! Despite the lengthy beating-around-the-bush process, I hope it helps you in never having to pay another late fee again. Use what you just learned here and apply it — all that money you don’t have to pay for being forgetful can really add up, and you’ll be able to either save it or spend it on things that really matter!

Last Note: companies actually love it when you pay your bills late (this adds a lot of money to their revenue). Why not disappoint them, and get yours in on time (and add to your revenue instead)?