Have you ever wondered why you’re struggling with paying your bills on time even though you typically have the money to pay for them? You don’t have to worry, there are surprisingly simple tricks for paying your bills on time every month, and I can help you with that!
Struggling to pay your bills can be frustrating and have crazy consequences. Simple mistakes with payments can have serious effects on your credit score and your payment rates. Several things are taken into consideration like how late the payment was, or your history with payments with the company.
According to CNBC “Common results of paying late include:
- Late payment fee: In most cases, you’ll be hit with a late payment fee. This fee is often up to $40.
- Penalty APR: A late payment can cause your interest rate to spike significantly higher than your regular purchase APR. However, penalty APRs may be reverted back to the regular APR by meeting certain requirements, such as making two consecutive payments on time.
- Cancellation of intro 0% APR periods: If you’re benefiting from an introductory interest-free period, you risk losing out on the offer if you make a late payment.
You can see how missing one payment could send you into further and further debt! In times of crisis or financial hardship it’s so important to have your bills organized so you are less likely to face excessive fees.
If you make this money mistake once and miss a payment or send the payment in late, you could be forgiven if you call the company. Companies tend to look at your payment history. If you repeatedly make these money mistakes. Instead of getting grace, you are seen as a risk and interest rates increase and late fees are incurred.
What you say to yourself matters!
The big issue with not paying your bills on time, is you start to tell yourself a story that you aren’t good with money, or you are stupid. You made a mistake or several mistakes but that doesn’t mean anything about how capable you are!
There is a saying, “what you focus on grows.” If you focus on being bad with money you will continue to find evidence that it is true. Instead, focus on what’s in your control. Taking action and reading articles like this, to learn more, is in your control. As a result, you’ll probably see an abundance of opportunities to learn and grow in your financial knowledge.
PsychCentral says “Our inner critic can trick us into believing stories that aren’t true — for example, self-limiting thoughts like “I’m not good enough”, “I always mess things up”, or “It won’t work out.” Thoughts influence how we feel — and what we habitually think will affect how we habitually feel. If we have a negative inner dialogue, we will start to act out behaviors and ways of approaching life that make us depressed, unhappy, and unfulfilled.”
Why I created these tricks for paying your bills on time.
I paid off $106,000 in just under two years. When I was $106,000 in debt I sucked with money. I didn’t know any tricks. I just paid my bills as they came in but didn’t have a way to track them. This resulted in late payments. I left too much up to chance by not having a system to pay incoming bills. Once I committed to paying off debt I came up with this simple system.
So, what are the tricks for helping you pay your bills on time?
The first thing you should do is create a system (or follow mine). It doesn’t have to be complex, but if you do the same thing every time it’s easier to do.
James Clear, the author of a book called Atomic Habits and he talks about a concept called habit stacking. James says “One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top.”
The established habit could be going to get the mail. The secondary habit you stack onto it, is putting the mail in the same spot after you grab the mail, every time.
Communicate with everyone in the house where you want the mail to go or declare you will be collecting the mail from now on!
Know where your money is going!
Make an excel spreadsheet, or you can grab the Money Owed Worksheet here! On that spreadsheet you want to create a column across the top that lists the business you owe money to, minimum payment due, the total amount owed, account #, address, phone number, and the due date of the payment.
Make a date!
Next, pick a date and time where you will focus on your bills. Be specific. For example, every Sunday at 5 PM you will focus on your bills. If you have a spouse communicate with him/her about the meeting date and time.
Once a week, go through the mail and fill out the money owed worksheet form (or your own spreadsheet). You only have to fill out the Money Owed Worksheet for a month or two, until you have every payment entered.
Write a check for any payments that are due in the next week or two. If you have a late payment, pay that now if you have the money to do so.
This will help you to be more organized with your bills, and less likely to miss a payment!
Automate your payments.
What bills can you automate? Have them automatically deducted from your bank and it will save time. This takes the stress away from you! After all, you won’t have to think about paying that bill on time every month. Some places will even give you a cheaper rate if you do automatic payments!
Why following a system with simple tricks to pay your bills is helpful.
The goal here is to pay your bills on time and not worry about missing your payments. You can also establish new money habits so paying your bills on time will be second nature to you instead of a burden that you carry. In addition, you will also gain confidence in your skills and abilities to handle your finances! Managing your bills isn’t a frequently taught skill. Give yourself grace while you are learning. Going forward, you will be a Badass at paying your bills on time!
Wanna learn more? Get the Debt Relief system now! You’ll learn how to create a Color-Coded budget, get forms, and a video tutorial.
Click here to purchase Debt Relief System now!
To your Badassery,
Marie
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