susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Mar 31, 2021 16:51:18 GMT -5
Pick one: When you receive the bill? When it is due? There are other options like once a week, etc., but that would just muddy the waters. Consider that "when you receive the bill." There's no wrong answer. I pay when I get the bill because I've kept a running tally as a fake entry into my online Quicken account. So the money has been reserved for just that purpose. To do otherwise would seem to me to pay this month's spending with next month's income. That's just me. I suspect this is similar to the YNAB philosophy, but I never could get into the entire YNAB mindset. No special reason for asking . . . just curiosity and something to discuss.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 31, 2021 17:20:17 GMT -5
Due date, though I've missed some so now I check all on the 11th, my Target card due date, and the 24th, which is the due date for my other 2 cards. I just tend to make a payment on any balance on any card on those dates. Keeping up with dates is hard during the pandemic/working from home/not needing to watch the calendar so closely.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Mar 31, 2021 17:32:26 GMT -5
I put all my credit cards on auto-pay, and prefer to pick a date just a couple days before the due date, just in case there is a delay with the credit union for some reason (one card only allows me to select the due date for auto pay, and that always makes me a little bit nervous). I verify all charges a couple times a month though, so I know the amount due is correct so there are no surprises.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Mar 31, 2021 17:32:32 GMT -5
I pay every two weeks on my payday. We cashflow a lot on credit cards to earn travel points but never carry a balance. Paying it every two weeks is just part of my budgeting process.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Mar 31, 2021 17:37:11 GMT -5
When bills arrive, I pay them online for the (future) date bills are due. Electric, cable and cell are auto pay.
Always pay full amount so no fees
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Mar 31, 2021 17:45:53 GMT -5
Mine are on auto-pay, on the due date. Because they are both through my bank there is no chance of them being delayed, and if there is the bank is at fault, not me. Always paid in full, never late, and no effort required at all. Particularly nice when I am travelling.
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bookkeeper
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Post by bookkeeper on Mar 31, 2021 17:50:42 GMT -5
When the bill comes. If I am planning on being away from my mailbox, I call the credit card the night before I leave for travel arrangements and then payoff my balance. That way I am good for 30 days. I have been paying bills by phone since I have been short on check blanks. It is free and easy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2021 17:51:59 GMT -5
When I get the online notice that I have a bill, I post the pay date in my pathetic little paper calendar about 5 days before the due date. The pay date is when I go online and actually pay it. Most of our bills are drafts, but I pay the the various utility companies manually b/c of bad experiences in the past with auto-pay
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2021 17:56:44 GMT -5
I synchronized my two cards so the closing date is the 7th of the month on each. Like Susana I hold the money aside as soon as I've charged something so paying in full is painless. I know to look for the statements on the 7th and immediately set them up to be paid form my checking account a week before the due date.
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Mar 31, 2021 18:14:26 GMT -5
I synchronized my two cards so the closing date is the 7th of the month on each. Like Susana I hold the money aside as soon as I've charged something so paying in full is painless. I know to look for the statements on the 7th and immediately set them up to be paid form my checking account a week before the due date. And I pay it the day after it closes because I have a new month's worth of charges coming up. I pay for almost everything (not house payment, utilities, and church contribution) with a CC for the points.My closing date is pretty much the 1st or a few days after. I like a fresh start each month! I went down the rabbit hole of credit card debt with my ex in the 1980s and 1990s. I paid off my part when we divorced by subtracting half of it from the value of the house. That was 20+ years ago. I refuse to ever go back. I did finance two houses and two cars. But I don't even like the interest-free deal I got from Lumber Liquidators for my flooring.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Mar 31, 2021 18:21:15 GMT -5
"when it is due" is probably the most honest answer of the two. It's not particularly honest or complete, just the better of the two..
I'm on auto-pay and paperless, so I don't really get a bill. The balance in my checking account will almost always cover the amount sucked out and I definitely have enough in a linked savings account to cover any overcharges but I dislike the $3 fee that I get charged for each transfer from savings to checking (they can add up, although I haven't experienced that cascade effect in over a decade) and the $5 fee that I get charged if my checking account falls below $500 at any time during the month, so I selectively pay attention to my credit card balance and pay it ahead of time when larger-than-normal charges are made.
Basically in May and November, when my automobile insurance premium hits, and any time that I put anything of similar size on the plastic, I tend to pay it off well in advance of the due date. This is particularly true when I have to transfer money from savings in order to avoid fees.
I also have a tendency to pay off my entire credit card balance (not just the amount due) any time that the amount in checking makes me feel spendy, or whenever I am afraid for the future Credit card zero gives me comfort and probably slows down my silly spending by much more than I could ever gain by keeping it in an interest-paying savings account.
FWIW, When I joined YM, or at least started lurking, I was carrying a credit card balance that charged about 12% APR and I was paying double the minimum every other month and struggling to pay the minimum in between. I have a healthy respect for how expensive revolving credit can be and how hard it can be to pay off once you have gotten used to paying almost nothing on it. I'm completely at peace with not optimizing the float that credit cards allow me if it minimizes the odds of going back there.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Mar 31, 2021 18:35:48 GMT -5
I'm in the "when I receive the bill" group. I actually 'pay bills' twice a month - around the time I get a paycheck.
My cards have "close dates" that "fall into" first check of the month or second check of the month. the months with 3 checks - means I have one check that is only allocated to "2 weeks of groceries/gas/entertainment" with no allocation to a monthly expense like utilities, mortgages, CC, other loans, etc.
My paychecks are "divided up" and going to a couple of different checking accounts... My main checking is for my Allowance and bill paying. Another checking account is for my mortgage and sinking funds (sinking fund $$ get moved to ALLY once a month.) Another checking account is for the income and then payments to mortgages/expenses for my rental properties. I don't have issues with "overspending" and my credit cards. I guess I'm pretty good at not buying stuff in the moment - although if I do see something I really really want - I will check my "expenses" and my allowance and if I can buy it I will go back a day or two later and buy it. If I don't have enough $$ I'll figure out how it fits into a future "allowance" cycle and buy it later. Sometimes after a week or two I've forgotten why I wanted the thing and don't bother buying it.
My use of sinking funds also keeps me from going into the red. I have X dollars for vacation, holiday spending, b-day gifts, season tickets, property taxes, etc. I "save" for these things with every paycheck.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Mar 31, 2021 18:42:17 GMT -5
And even though I use online banking I still keep the paper "check register" up to date on my checking accounts.
I also use a paper "Year to Remember" calendar. I use to use an electronic calendar - but I had issues where I lost all the dates set up (no back up) and then even when I had a back up it wasn't as up to date as it should be... which meant even with an electronic calendar I needed paper backup... so I just stopped using an electronic calendar.
Yeah, it's old school - but drama and stress free for the most part.
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ners
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Post by ners on Mar 31, 2021 18:44:29 GMT -5
My statement closes on the 17th. I set up the payment for a few days after payday (last day of month) so it hits days before due date. I pay in full and the funds are set aside.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Mar 31, 2021 18:48:49 GMT -5
Always one or two days before the due date. For my main card, that's the 1st of the month. I know how much the bill will be because I check my charges routinely. DH does as well since he's had three credit cards hacked. I've been lucky and only had one hack for a small charge. I get an e-mail when the billing cycle closes and that's my prompt to go schedule my payment. It's pretty easy since I'm checking on my money frequently anyway.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Mar 31, 2021 19:12:39 GMT -5
Whenever.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2021 19:22:40 GMT -5
I did finance two houses and two cars. But I don't even like the interest-free deal I got from Lumber Liquidators for my flooring. Yeah, I don't like those interest-free deals because the fine print usually says that if you don't pay in full when it comes due you get charged interest back to Day One. My first husband was also a train wreck when it came to credit cards. Fortunately they were all in his name only and, since I bought all the groceries, paid for clothes and things for DS, for house repairs etc. there was no way he could claim any of his cc debt was for the benefit of the family. When he ran out of money and was unemployed, I realized that all I was accomplishing in making minimum payments on his cards was giving him room to charge again- so I stopped. Those debts got paid from his share of the house proceeds when we divorced.
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jeffreymo
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Post by jeffreymo on Mar 31, 2021 19:55:55 GMT -5
We autopay the balance on the due date.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Mar 31, 2021 20:34:33 GMT -5
I guess I'll say, "when I get the bill", but in reality, I have no clue when that is. I pay them all off at least once every couple of weeks.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Mar 31, 2021 21:12:45 GMT -5
I make payments when I get paid and I tend to have anywhere between two and four paychecks a month.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 1, 2021 0:41:11 GMT -5
Usually, after my $$ hits my account, I pay the bills...scheduled a few days before they are due.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Apr 1, 2021 7:16:47 GMT -5
My due date is the 17th. I always pay on the 15th because that is just easy for me to remember.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Apr 1, 2021 7:26:46 GMT -5
I get notified when the statement is available. I set up the payment that day.
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finnime
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Post by finnime on Apr 1, 2021 7:45:39 GMT -5
Like Apple and Tallguy, I auto-pay statement balance pretty much everything. I have a spreadsheet to track how much goes out by date and when I get an email statement enter that total into the next month. It works for me, for mortgage, insurances, utilities and credit cards. Pretty much all our income arrives at the end of the month/first of the month, so I've got the funds going into the month.
The few times I've used those 0% offers I set it up to pay the minimum for the year or whatever and then when the end approaches make the balloon payment the month before it ends.
I do monitor our accounts so would catch anything erroneous or fraudulent within a few days.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Apr 1, 2021 8:28:49 GMT -5
Sounds like a bunch of people go to way too much trouble here.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Apr 1, 2021 8:43:39 GMT -5
Sounds like a bunch of people go to way too much trouble here. I track all my spending in YNAB and download from the credit card sites frequently, so I'm in there anyhow. Plus, I have phone apps for all the accounts, so paying them is something I can do to pass the time in a boring work meeting or while waiting to pick up kids. Sometimes I let the balance ride until they tell me it's due, but that drives me nuts. I hate seeing the red! That $274 is making my eyelid twitch, but two of the transactions are still pending so I can't pay it off.
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Apr 1, 2021 9:04:50 GMT -5
Sounds like a bunch of people go to way too much trouble here. I track all my spending in YNAB and download from the credit card sites frequently, so I'm in there anyhow. Plus, I have phone apps for all the accounts, so paying them is something I can do to pass the time in a boring work meeting or while waiting to pick up kids. Sometimes I let the balance ride until they tell me it's due, but that drives me nuts. I hate seeing the red! That $274 is making my eyelid twitch, but two of the transactions are still pending so I can't pay it off. If you are using the phone app, maybe not. But when my statement closes, I just choose "Other" for the payment amount and include the pending transactions in the payment total. Then I have a fresh start for the coming month.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Apr 1, 2021 9:08:24 GMT -5
Sounds like a bunch of people go to way too much trouble here. I usually take a few minutes to check my checking account anyway. My primary CC is on the same page, so it's easy to check. I'm wary of fraud, especially since DH has been hacked so many times. I'd rather catch it sooner than later.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Apr 1, 2021 9:12:15 GMT -5
If you are using the phone app, maybe not. But when my statement closes, I just choose "Other" for the payment amount and include the pending transactions in the payment total. Then I have a fresh start for the coming month. I can't say I've tried with EVERY card, but my main ones won't allow a payment greater than the outstanding balance.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 1, 2021 9:23:37 GMT -5
I have my cards on autopay for min payment, which is $35. Then I pay the balance on top of it, so sometimes it ends up being more than what was charged.
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