1. Keep Your Bills in One Place
When the mail comes, make sure it goes in one place. Misplaced bills can be the cause of unwanted late fees and can damage your credit rating. Whether it’s a drawer, a box, or a file, be consistent. Size is also important. If you get a lot of mail, use an area that won’t get filled up too quickly.
2. Pay Your Bills on Schedule
Bill paying can be simplified if it’s done at scheduled times during the month. Depending on how many bills you receive, you can establish set times each month when none of your bills will be late. If you’re paying bills as you receive them, chances are you’re spending too much time in front of the checkbook. Although bills may state “Payable Upon Receipt”, there’s always a grace period. Call the creditor to find out when they need to receive payment before the bill is considered late.
3. Read Your Credit Card Statements
Most people take advantage of low interest credit card offers but never read their statements when paying the bill. Credit cards are notorious for using low interest as bait for new customers then switching to higher rates after a few months. Make a habit of looking at your statement carefully to see what interest rate you are paying each month and if any transaction fees have been applied. If the rate increases or a transaction fee appears on your statement, a simple call to the credit card company can oftentimes be beneficial in resolving the matter. If not, try to switch your money to a more favorable rate.
Read more on
http://myfreeinfo4u.com/finance/
By: Jas
Posts Tagged ‘Mail’
Your Finances Don’t Have to Give You a Headache!
November 28th, 2009Most people will admit to letting their eyes glaze over whenever somebody starts to talk about financial issues. This is because talking about investments and using words like “fiduciary” is only exciting to a select few. With the current economic crisis, however, more people want to learn about finance and how to take control over their household finances and money issues. Here is the good news: your finances don’t have to give you a headache!
Admit it: whenever the latest stack of bills arrives in the mail you get a tiny but sharp pain right between your eyes. Are you one of the people who tosses the pile in a corner or drawer of your desk and vows to “get to it later, it’s just too much to deal with right now”? It’s okay if you are. This is how a lot of people react to their bills. The good news is that getting your finances under control isn’t hard.
First you need to get all of your bills together. Would it surprise you to know that most people do not keep track of how much money they spend on bills each month? This one detail is the reason that so many people find that keeping track of their spending is such a struggle!
Once you’ve gotten all of your bills together, start calling the companies that you owe money to and ask them to change your due date. The goal here is to get all of your bills due on the same day. This will help you with your budgeting and making sure that your bills get paid on time. If your bills are all due at the same time, you have an “end goal” in place—for a certain amount of money to be in the bank and a day to drop everything at the post office.
You should always pay at least ten or fifteen dollars more than the minimum payment on each bill. This is because a considerable amount of your payment is probably going to your interest rate and while you might be paying fifty dollars or more every month, it is entirely possible that only ten of that is going toward the actual balance of your account.
You should also keep track of your spending for a month—don’t worry about learning how to cut back today. For a month keep all of your receipts and then add them all up. Look at how much money you are spending on groceries, entertainment, fast food, other things, etc. Once you’ve got a running tally, look at the ways you can cut down! It is a lot easier to figure out how to save money when you know how you are used to spending it.
Finances aren’t difficult—at least, they do not have to be. It is mostly about paying careful attention to how your money leaves your possession. Once you know that, figuring out your finances is easy!
For more information on finances, visit http://www.Financemicroblogging.com and http://www.financemicroblog.com.
By: John Parks
