The Easy Way to Pay Your Bills on Time
I am so excited to announce that I am adding some new people to the Adventures of Frugal Mom family. You already know Crystal from the Home Matters Party but she has joined the family as a regular contributor. Look for more articles from her soon.
There was a point in time where I was completely overwhelmed with keeping track of bills and paying bills on time. I was missing due dates and owing extra fees, over-drafting my account! I needed a system, and this is what I use now. I think that having a system to pay your bills will keep you accountable (it does for me) and makes things easier! One less thing to worry about! This really is the easy way to pay your bills on time!
Use a Calendar
Depending on how often you get paid you will want to pay your bills either weekly, or bi-weekly. For example, in our home, we pay bills weekly. So I plug in each bill closest to its due date on the calendar. So, if my phone bill is due on the 15th but I know I only get paid on the 7th and the 20th then I go ahead and put that bill as due for the 7th, that way it gets paid early instead of late. Make sense?
After I plug in the bills and my basic budget items (food, fuel, giving) I go back and look at the month–do we have any commitments that we need to plan for? Birthday parties, dinners out, cook-outs. I plug those in. This way there are no surprises. I know exactly how much we need to make each week to be able to pay all the bills for that week. I print out this calendar here; it ‘s free!
Plan 1 Day of the Week to Look Over Your Bills
This tip is important! What use is having a plan if you don’t implement it? I typically sit down each Thursday and pay the bills for that week. We bank with USAA, so our direct deposit is typically there one day early. Each week I pay the bills online, over the phone or just make sure it was automatically deducted. I personally do not like to set auto-pay for a lot of the bills. I use the auto-pay feature for my student loans and a few other accounts. Everything else I log into a website and pay online. Even if you prefer to auto-pay everything, it’s still a good idea to take one day per week to make sure all of your bills actually went through! I love how easy this system is. It’s as simple as printing out a sheet of paper and telling my money where it’s going!
To Sum, it Up!
- Print a Calendar from here or use your own. Or print this super cute one I found. I love how it looks and it’s free!
- Plug in your bills before their due dates
- Plug in your budget items
- Plan one day per week to pay your bills and cross them off your calendar.
If you are working towards building a budget, debt free living or anything in between, follow me on Pinterest– I have a board set up that you’ll love!
Crystal is the founder of Love More Live Blessed, a blog about family living and everything in between. When she’s not working her day job or chasing her 2-year-old, she’s searching the web for the best and brightest info to pass along to her readers. Crystal loves crafting, coffee and connecting with others! Find her on Twitter @Crystalmendez08 and Instagram at lovemore_liveblessed
These are great budgeting tips! I was getting so overwhelmed with budgeting that my husband took over. ? Although my husband does a great job budgeting for our family of 7, I want to be able to budget well too! I think I need that skill!!
I am excited to be a contributor for your blog Melissa and am having much fun co-hosting on #HomeMattersParty !
I am so excited and happy to welcome you aboard.