How do you remember to pay your CC on time?

[lazylane]

I use the stickes (post-it notes) on my macbook widgets to keep track of all of my bills. I get paid every 2 weeks so I have a sticky for each month and for each month I have a list of the bills that I'll pay from each pay period. It's not fancy but it works for me. I also have payment reminders set up on some of my cc acounts but I usually pay the bill before the alert is sent.

[LS2982]

I liked the excel spreadsheet, set one up myself.

[Gray]

Post-it notes and spreadsheets is a disaster waiting to happen. Something will come up. Accident, personal life issue, sickness, etc. You could also have a computer theft or data loss incident. If you pay by mail, you're staking your credit score on the USPS.

The only sure way to avoid this is to authorize your credit card company to deduct the minimum due from a bank account you know will have funds.

You can then make above the minimum payments through whatever scheme you desire, knowing that if something were to happen, you're covered.

[UFGuy2006]

Although I do not carry balances, I use a Google Calendar just for statement closing dates. This reminds me when to look for a statement and when I need to PIF. I like using a google calendar as I can get to it from anywhere with an internet connection.

[LS2982]

Also if you use the spreadsheet, Updating it as soon as each statement comes in should be fool proof. Also setting up direct debit is good!

[the_jan_b]

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@mAndrew1980 wrote:

How do you all pay your credit card bills? Do you give the cc company your bank info/routing numbers and transfer money in directly? Or do you send checks through your bank? I've been sending in checks but think I'm going to just start transferring it in.

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I pay my bills through my credit union's web bill pay

[Anonymous]

  Excel seems like a lot of work.   My monthly expenses are very consistant and it's not hard to remember to pay them.  For instance, every month I know I need to pay rent, phone bill, utilities, credit cards, etc.  I make sure to check each balance every month so I'm never late

[Anonymous]

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@Watchmann wrote:

I have almost all my bills on autopay:  credit cards, mortgage, health insurance, utilities, car payment.......everything that can be put on autopay is on it.  A few bills like homeowners maintenance fee, yearly insurance payment, etc is manual.  I'm amazed at the OC behaviour people show in managing their financial affairs.  Do not let your bills rule your life, that is not the purpose of life.

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Agreed, this is the way to do it if you can.  It's what I do, but I recognize that not everyone is fortunate enough to be in the postion to do that; there are many people living paycheck-to-paycheck, and some deduction a day or two off could get them hit with overdraft fees.

All my monthly bills either get paid automatically via ACH debit or charged to a CC.  I have a reminder for every bill I get or could get (e.g., seldom-used store cards) in Outlook, so I check their accuracy as those pop up and print them out. I also check my CCs and bank balances about every day and notate the payment details as they occur, and then I file them away.

I know some people don't like using ACH debit in case a bill has errors, but I've been doing it for more than a decade and never had an issue.  The only bills I get that don't support this are my water and trash, and for those I just pay $200 at a time so I have a credit balance for 6+ months.

[RyVision]

All of these ideas were really great to read and learn from.  I do a couple of them myself.  I use autopay for a few accounts, then check them before they go through to see if I want to up the amount of the payment (I don't PIF 0% accounts and my income varies, so I allocate).  I also use e-mail alerts from whoever allows it (it's really handy for me about 10 days ahead of the due date).  Since I usually pay online, I keep a folder of captured "payment sent" pages so I can glance at them for reference while at the computer (kind of reminds me to double check).  I also use an old trick of my fathers, he would use a calendar (paper, hung by his desk) and write down the creditor (in the square for that date on the calendar) and the amount due when he'd get a statement. Then when paid, he'd put a check by that date and list what he paid and when as well as in the date he paid it.  He checked that calendar every day. Only takes a minute and it's easy to see what's due when and what's been paid.

I somewhat remember the dates, so I don't have too much of an issue remembering. Even with tracking 14 accounts I have yet to have a late show up. I have been off a day and paid then called and they reimbursed the late fee (only a couple times in the last several years has that happened).  I really like the idea of icons with dates right on the desktop, for some reason I never thought about that one.

I don't have an Iphone or smartphone (I think they're cool, but I'm too rough on my phones and I'd be paying for things I wouldn't use).  Mint  and Pageonce(?) sound interesting though, I wonder if there are "apps" like that for my phone being it's not a smart phone but has email and internet etc. I've never checked into it. Oh, I do get text alerts on my phone, reminder for due date coming up and when a payment has posted (for those that offer it).

Again, great thread, and thanks to all those that took the time to share ideas.

[Jazzzy]

I'm an Excel spreadsheet user because I can customize it, change the order, etc. If you're good at Excel, it only takes a few minutes. My spreadsheet gives me my utilization percentage, my total balances, payments due, etc I track 9 cards and check balances almost every day. We put everything we can on credit cards for the cashback and miles. I have adult children as AUs on some of the cards, so I like to know what we have coming in.

I pay the minimum due as soon as the statement cuts and pay the remainder due shortly before the next statement cut date. I pay from the credit card websites. I don't pay anything by snail mail.