Cincinnati Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Organizing/Paying Bills
Ladies - I have a confession to make. I'm HORRIBLE at paying my bills on time. (Even the credit card sometimes.) It's awful. I always pay every month, but it's often past the due date.
I think I could use some help. How to you organize the bills so that they get paid on time?
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Re: Organizing/Paying Bills
When DH & I got married, we started doing online banking for pretty much everything.
The bank's (Nat'l City) system is nice, in that as soon as we get a statement in, I can go in and set up payment, even if it doesn't come out for a week, two weeks, next month.
So basically, as soon as the bill comes in, I go online, and using the due date on the bill, and the weeks we get paychecks, determine when to have the bank send in the payment.
It's become very handy.
GL!
Definitely set up autmotic bill pay if you don't pay on time. If you aren't comfortable with that then set everything up to be paid online. I do mine through 5/3 because it is so easy and I can go in and pay them all at once.
I also have an excel spreadsheet that lists the company (Home Depot, Progressive, etc), the purpose (House payment, gas/electric, etc), the date I paid it and the balance. I list the company and the purpose in case something happens and I can't do the bills, DH can go into the spreadsheet and see what is going on. It can be confusing. For example, our payment to HH Gregg for our TV doesn't go to HH Gregg, but to GE Money Bank.
I pay all of my bills through my online banking. A lot of bills can be paid instantly. I also pay them as they come in. Why wait.
It sounds to me like you have not really worked out a budget. You should try to figure out how much from each paycheck you should be putting aside to pay your bills. It makes it a lot easier to budget.
The Fluffy Cat says... "Boxes are the best toys ever invented!"
I like pen and paper so I just have a list of all my bills and when they are due. Once I submit the payment I check it off and write the date, how much I paid, and if there is a transaction number. I get paid twice a month and certain bills get paid with the first pay check and others with the second. When I get paid I look at my list and pay the half that are due earliest, then with the next check pay the other half.
Good luck finding something that works for you!
Credit cards- I get all of my credit card statements by email and I have them send me alerts when my bill is coming due, when the payment posted, etc. I needed to pay off two my personal credit cards so I stopped using them, had a certain amount of my paycheck direct deposited into my personal account, and had the cc company deduct the minimum due each month from both cards. Ths was less than what I was putting in the account every month so I'd make a big payment on the card with the highest interest rate every time I had an extra $500 or so.
You could set up your cards to the minimum payment is made every month even if you pay them off or are actively using them. If you miss the full payment the most you'll be charged is a few bucks in interest, not a $40 late fee.
House Payment- is on auto pay for every month. I think I can log in and send in extra whenever I want.
Other bills- I have most of the other bills sent to me through email and I use US Bank's online bill payer (I think most banks have something similar). I can set a few of them up on auto pay and I think I can program US bank to send them a set amount every month, ever week, whatever. I don't but it's a nice option to have. I do an electronic payment for our utilities, cable, etc on the day I get the statement or on payday.
I would try to work on the credit card and house payment first. You'll get hit with big fees if you miss those payments whereas Time Warner charges you a $5 late fee. Sure those $5 fees add up, but it takes a lot of them to equal a late credit card fee!
One more thing-I just read an article in a magazine that suggested setting up an email account just for your bills & banking. Have all your bills sent to that one account then log in once or twice to pay everything.
if you are able, i recommend listening to Dave Ramsey. He has a radio talk show about living debt free and having financial peace and freedom. I did not get my "shiit" together until I found him on the radio.
He is on from 2pm-5pm on 1160AM radio.
This, exactly. Also ditto the pps on using your banks electronic system to stay organized.
I honestly just pay them the second they come through the door. If a bill comes today in the mail, I sit down this evening and schedule the payment online and/or write the check and put it in the mailbox. If I don't, they end up in a pile and I forget.
As an aside to that, I take a medication for my migraines that makes me kinda forgetful, so DH and I came up with a little slogan "If you handle it, HANDLE it." As in, if you touch it, take care of it right then. That really helps us keep the house under control, too. I don't end up just putting stuff down in random spots any more either.
Thanks Ladies! This is really more an organizational problem than an budgeting one. We are really good with our budget (which can be hard since I'm base with comission and the numbers change every month.) We typcially have the money in the account to pay any bill that comes in. I never set up anything to auto pay in the past becaue I like the "control" just in case the funds were low.
But since low funds haven't been a problem recently, I'm going to look into the auto pay for the things that are the same every month, and credit card minimums. Also LOVE the idea of having a seperate email account for bills, etc.
Finally - I think the simple low tech solution of the trays is awesome. It reduces bill clutter and is a constant visual reminder of when things are due. Thanks so much ladies!