A few blogs ago I professed the dire need for using my daily planner/organizer on a daily basis. If I don't use it habitually, I become extremely disorganized. As I utilized my planner this evening to pay my bills (see tip below), I wondered how many other people use their planners/organizers on a regular basis? And, if you don't already, I hope that I have encouraged you.

Today's Tip:
Schedule bill payments in your daily planner. More specifically, let's say you have a bill that is due on the 15th, record it on your calendar page as: Pay Bill: [Insert bill name such as "credit card" or "mortgage"]. ,
To avoid late payments, always record your bills to be paid at least 2 weeks prior to the bill due date. This will ensure that you have mailed the payment out in enough time for it to be received and posted to your account.

If you make your payments online, it is usually required that you pay 3-5 days prior to the due date, to give it enough time to post to your account.

The problem with recording the bill due date in your calendar is that you have to remember to pay those bills in advance. It's much easier to schedule the date you need to mail out the payment or pay online. The goal here is to simplify our lives.

One last tip, while many companies allow for online payments, verify beforehand that they don't include a service fee. I made the mistake of paying one of my bills online, rather than send it by mail, only to find out that they charged an additional $10 service fee. We pay enough for our bills as it is, why pay more?