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I have an Excel spread sheet with all the accounts in order of the due date. Each time a payment is made it is entered in the spread sheet.
@newUser0 wrote:All my payements are paid in FULL till now. I don't know, I some what have a fear that if the Auto Payment of too many cards might get confused and might miss a Payment.
Did any one had a bad experience/ missed payments while using the auto payment?
Unless you need to carry a balance (actually carry, not just report with one) then the first line of defense should be setting auto-pay to Pay Statement Balance on Due Date.
This is the most reliable way of avoiding missed payments and paying interest etc. (But obviously only if you have the funds!).
Can there be issues? Possibly, but I have never had one. The point is that it is (sort of) their responsibility to pull, and unless there was a good reason, such as your bank account didn't have enough funds, you could almost certainly get any late fees refunded etc if there was an issue. Now the language in the auto-pay agreement probably will contain denial of liability, but if it came to it, a consumer-friendly small-claims court would probably side with you (But no guarantees of course)
Also, anything can go wrong with anything, your manual push or pull can fail, your check can be mishandled etc. I would use autopay as the best safety net, and add other things as you feel the need (paranoia, OCD, "just common sense" etc)
I use mint.com to track the total balance of my credit cards. I then have a direct deposit goto one checking account and I always make sure the balance of that checking account is greater than the total balance of credit cards. With automatic full payments setup (I think the term was "Pre-Authorized Debit" in Canada) I didn't have to worry about the due date.
@AgentofGaming wrote:I use mint.com to track the total balance of my credit cards. I then have a direct deposit goto one checking account and I always make sure the balance of that checking account is greater than the total balance of credit cards. With automatic full payments setup (I think the term was "Pre-Authorized Debit" in Canada) I didn't have to worry about the due date.
Right. I should have added that the one thing people don't like about auto-pay is that it gives credit card companies some access to your bank account. So one solution is as AgentofGaming does, set up a bank account just for the purpose of paying credit cards. The downside is that do you then need to keep track more carefully to ensure it is funded enough at the appropriate times.
Between DBF and I, we have 15 credit cards, 2 auto loans, and a student loan. I manage these with a spreadsheet that I keep on my iPad and update it as I pay things. I have each account, balance, statement date, due date, and a checkbox column where I mark each as I pay it. Works well for me. I also ALWAYS log on to double check each one right before they're due.
I move my due dates to the same date, or spread among two dates (one for Chase, one for all others so I don't get confused about which date is which card).
I don't think this has been suggested yet.
I like the idea of setting up autopay for the minimums just in case... but I don't know if that could lead to a card reporting a (+) balance. I have trouble trusting autopay. I get a small discount on my student loans but I fear one day the bank will mess up. Especially when changing checking accounts as I just did recently.
Also I pay more than once a month.
@DaveSignal wrote:This is a miniaturized version of part of the spreadsheet that I created to keep track of this kind of stuff:
This is awesome, is this on Excel or what is this on? I use excel but it looks nothing like this!!
@newUser0 wrote:
As the number of cards you have increases, how do you all manage to keep track of it and pay them on time?
This is a fairly common topic around here. I use the same Excel workbook I've used since 2004 (though it has grown and evolved over the years) for crude budgeting, balancing my checkbook and tracking credit cards. I refer to that workbook on a very frequent basis -- not quite daily but almost. At the very least, I fully review everything each time I get paid (twice/month) and look at the items due that fall into the time period covered by that paycheck. I generally go ahead and then manually schedule all payments that can be scheduled immediately when I'm paid. While I'm a tech geek I'm also a bit of a control freak on certain things and don't care for or trust autopay but that doesn't mean that it isn't a useful tool for others.
Other typical responses includes finance apps, services like Mint and Manila, etc. The key is that you have to find and use what works for you and stick with the number of cards that you're able to manage. If autopay is a fitting solution then use it. If you need to use reminders in your calendar then use them. If you're a pen-and-paper type of person then get yourself organized with a physical solution. If you need multiple layers to protect you from yourself then use them.
I don't quite get the distrust of auto-pay, as any other method seems to have at least as many moving parts that can go wrong, and I feel, rightly or wrongly, that auto-pay pushes at least some of the responsibilty for mistakes onto them. Obviously people differ!
But maybe I am trusting it too much. Has anyone had an issuer/bank problem with auto-pay when set up correctly (i.e. the bank account and routing number were entered correctly and there were sufficient funds for the payment)? And if so, did the credit card company reverse any charges for late fees and interest etc?
@AgentofGaming wrote:I use mint.com to track the total balance of my credit cards. I then have a direct deposit goto one checking account and I always make sure the balance of that checking account is greater than the total balance of credit cards. With automatic full payments setup (I think the term was "Pre-Authorized Debit" in Canada) I didn't have to worry about the due date.
Life without Mint.com - I cant imagine it!
I love the site, and its awesome Android App!
Everything in my financial life is on there. I set up an account for my grandmother, too. (Yes, it's that simple and easy to use)
Its more than just credit cards; although it is one of my favorite features.
TU: 818 EX: 809 EQ: 801