Did anyone do this about bills?

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Okay so I always wait towards the end when bills are due by. But my husband cancelled Qwest and we got our last bill from them but it had no due date on it so I didn't pay it. I would pay it when I want to and on January 8th, we get another bill from them and they tell us it was due January 5th and it was already the 8th. My husband pays it. He told me it's good to pay right when you get the bill and I asked him why. He said it was good for our credit. I told him I have plenty of time to pay bills and they have the due date. Why have the due date if you're supposed to pay it NOW. He said it's for in case if we lose the bill or we didn't get it in the mail. It gives us plenty of time to fix it. He said I took the due date too literal. All these years I have been doing this thinking "It's not due till (insert date here)" and putting it aside. Then paying it towards the due date. My dad does the same. I asked my husband how does he know this and he said he took business class in high school. My husband has been paying the bills instead because I'd wait and he didn't want to.

Did anyone do this with bills and thought you didn't have to pay them till the due date?

Depends for me. If the bills are big then I want to pay them rightaway, easier to know what I have left over to spend "madly". Due date doesnt mean they want payment on this date, it means they want it any time before.

My husband tends to put all bills up to be deducted on the due date itself, cause the longer money stays on his account the more intrest rates to him... but two weeks worth of a few euro on the account is hardly enough to buy something extra from. So I never really cared. ^^

I don't think it even negatively affects your credit unless you pay it 30+ days after the due date.

I was kind of automatically the opposite: I have a bill, therefore I owe someone something. I don't like the feeling of owing someone something, therefore it must be paid - IMMEDIATELY.

Partly my experience growing up though as some people do try and manipulate or take advantage of you if they feel you owe them something i.e. I lent you $5 for a hamburger so you have to help me move house or similar sorts of things.

Same here.

Except things like my uni accomodation and phone bill, I have copied my mum with them in terms of paying them as late as possible. I once asked her why she didn't pay the TV licence when she got the notice but she said the longer it's in your bank the more interest you get, even if it's just a tiny amount. However I am quite good with a timetable in my head and can usually remember and plan when bills are due, but I prefer to get them out the way so am not worrying about them.

I pay the bill as soon as I get it so that I can forget about it. Once it is paid, I no longer have to remember to pay it. If it sat there unpaid, its' due date would occupy space in my mind as I would constantly have to remind myself that the due date was getting closer and closer. For me, it's better to pay it immediately and then wipe it from my mind.

I'm bad about putting it off but sometimes I literally don't have the money until the next paycheck. There's an acronym one of my brothers told me about to help absent minded people in regards to things that come in the mail. O.H.I.O. which stands for "only handle it once", meaning take care of it right away.

I just set all of my bills to automatic payments. That way, they get their money when they want it and I don't have to worry about forgetting.

If you are absolutely sure you can get the payment to the vendor by their "due date", you can wait, I would think. But you need to be sure that you won't forget it or have anything come up at the last minute that interferes with your ability to pay them. (Sudden illness, accident, etc.) If you have to do something other than just going in and handing over cash/pmt to a teller, you should figure in the time it will take for the payment (in whatever form) to get to the vendor. If you are even a day late, they can and sometimes do slap late fees on the account, which you will then have to pay. Some of those fees can be amazing.

If you can afford it, I'd just pay them as you receive them. Or set your bank account up to automatically pay them all on a certain date.I have almost all of my accounts set up to be paid on the 2nd of each month (I'm paid on the 1st) directly by my bank. Some transfer electronically and are considered by the vendors to be paid immediately, but for some the bank actually cuts a paper check and puts it in the mail. That can take up to two weeks to reach a vendor. Hence, I make sure that if a bill is due by a certain date and it has to be issued as a check that I set the payment date to be at least 14 days earlier than its due-date.

I have not heard of anyone being reported to a credit bureau for being a few days late, but being 30 days late will get you reported. That will remain on your credit report (in the USA) for up to 8 years. The vendor may keep an internal record of when you paid, and late payments - even if not reported to a credit bureau - could hurt you if they ever need to review your account for a limit increase or if they're considering cutting your amount of credit, etc.

You'd also want to check the terms on your agreements - somewhere in the fine print it may say "due upon receipt" and thus you should pay immediately, even if they give you a courtesy date later than that on the statement.

Good luck!

I do this too.

That way I know what day money will be charged to my account, and I can more easily keep track of the total of my monthly bills.

I only get money once a month so my bills get paid close to the 4th of the month every time. I can't spend any money on anything until the bills are actually paid. They MUST get paid first. A very strong sense of urgency there.

Bills have to be received by the company on or before the date due, otherwise it's deemed late and it can effect your credit. The more you pay on a bill, and the more you pay on time increases your credit "score". The better your credit score the better chance you have of getting loans, and access to lower interest rates. Also, having large balances effects your score, although it doesn't give you "bad" credit, just not "better" credit standing.

I pay my bills based on each paycheck and when my bills are due. Some I pay early to save on interest, like my car payment and mortgage. I make more money saving interest than I do accumulating interest in my checking account. I get paid every week, and pay certain bills with each check, and spread it out over the month. That works for me. That way I know what's paid and what isn't, and that everything is paid on time.

Wish I could say I had a system.... my system is more like letting everything pile up until the electric is shut off, or phones, or the creditor is calling up asking for their money.

I do it like that whether or not I have the money. Right now I don't have it, for the first time in a long time, and can't figure out where to get it.

Much easier to have that system when the money is in my account so I can just "Oh, sorry, here it is," then it all works out.

^Ditto. I have never understood people who wait for the shutoff notice to pay a bill. First, the longer you wait, the more likely you'll end up spending that money on something else and be unable to pay it when the time comes. I fear homelessness far too much to risk that. Necessities first, all other wish list items to be prioritized later. The first thing I've always done after depositing a paycheck is sit down and pay whatever bills were due, by due date. The only reason a bill would wait, was if I had more bills than my paycheck could cover - then the one with the farthest due date would have to wait until the next payday. I always thought of it as 'distributing my paycheck to it's rightful owners.'

Now that I'm only paid once a month its even more critical that bills be paid the very day I get them. If I run out of money, there's no second chance, and its not like Uncle Sam's gonna bump me a bonus next month to make up a shortage. Gone is gone and screwed is totally screwed. I get irritated waiting for them to show up in the mail, I want to get them paid and over with so I don't have that sword hanging over my head.