My filing system has been a disorganized disaster ever since we’ve moved, and I am still finding bills that are a month (or even more) late. Some of these get assessed with a $5.00 late fee and then get listed as a “previous balance” on the next bill. If I do this with only one bill per month, I’m still paying $60 a year for the privilege of only paying once every other month. It can really start to stack up if we start talking about more than one bill, and especially so if we get to the bill that charges a percentage or higher late fee.
Some bills just got lost in the transition from one address to another, so it probably won’t be as big a deal from now on, but it is still frustrating that between last month and this month, I’ve spent about $20 on late fees (No credit cards or consumer debt, because it is all on auto-pay).
To rectify this situation, I’ve decided that, no matter when the bill is due, I’m going to go ahead and pay it. Right then, right there. There is usually enough fluff in my checking account to handle a bill, even if it comes a few days earlier than it should, and I’m working on getting my short-term emergency fund back up to the place it needs to be so that I can handle paying even a large bill a week or two earlier than normal.
How do you handle bill payments? Do you wait until the last minute? Or do you pay the bill when it comes in?
