Avoid late and missing bill payments by setting bill priority and using multiple bank accounts
Paying your bills on time is extremely important because penalties can range from minor to very serious. This means you may be charged a late fee, your service may be suspended, or in the worst case, your account may be closed and related products or services removed entirely. Keep money in multiple checking accounts at the same bank or at different banks so you don’t have late or missing bill payments. Group bills by importance so critical bills like mortgages are kept separate from less important expenses like recreation. This ensures you have peace of mind when you fall behind on payments or experience cash shortages.
Set bill payment priority
You contribute monthly fees for multiple services and products that you need. However, some are more important than others. Give them a higher priority when you set aside money each month. Some examples of high priority or critical bills are your rent/mortgage, car insurance, health insurance, electricity, and internet service. In addition, you may also want to include money for home maintenance or repairs. On the other hand, non-critical services are those that you still need but can go without for a month or two or for which you need less money. Mark them as lower priority bills and allocate the funds last. Some examples of overhead expenses are groceries, clothing and shoes, recreation supplies, entertainment such as concerts and music, and cable service. Remember to include the online services you use, like Netflix or Hulu Plus for entertainment, Pandora One for music, and Amazon Prime for shopping and shipping.
Use multiple checking accounts
After you establish your bill payment priority, you may decide to open another checking account at your bank or go to a different bank. Assign one for critical and the other for low priority. Transfer money to the most important account first. Then you would transfer the remaining funds to the low priority account. Arrange to pay bills from the bank or directly with each service provider.
Keep track of payments
Record the due date of each invoice and verify that you have sufficient funds to cover those that are more important. Check and update your budget after paying each invoice. If you don’t have enough cash or experience a pay cut, you still would have paid essential bills first. Therefore, you would still have peace of mind knowing that you managed your basic needs.
Avoiding late or missing bill payments is important to keeping your services connected so you have peace of mind. Keep multiple checking accounts and assign one for high priority bills and the other for low priority bills so you can manage your payments much more easily. Transfer your salary to the most important account so that you pay for those services on time, even if you experience a salary cut or shortfall due to unforeseen circumstances. Then he would pay the other bills with the remaining cash. Those are the ones you can live without for a few months or don’t mind experiencing a reduction in service.
