Anyone else have this prblm? Bill paying lateness?

[kwynn]

I know exactly when each and every bill is due. I am extremely organized in that regard.

I just really procrastinate and hate to do it. I think it comes from the following "reasons":

1. I have to be really, really careful with my money and time when I'm going to pay each thing, move money, and check accounts prior
2. There's so many log-ins for all the bills and some involve actually mailing checks old school style..and while I'm on the checking account, the checks don't have my name on them. So that's a huge hassle. And some checks have to be dropped off (aka rent and car insurance). I loathe anyplace, like my new health insurance, where you can't just call it in or do it online---hello, it's 2013? I'm actually considering switching companies over this minor issue.
3. I just hate to part with the money. I'm down to the last dollars on my husband's last check and I'm getting scared about starting to pull from savings every month.
4. My husband used to do this part of things.

I write down that bills are due on the 31st when they're really not due until the 3rd or so to give me extra time, and I still paid late once.

I went to take my rent over yesterday (ON the first when it's due instead of much earlier like I used to when my husband was alive) and they were closed already. It says "late fee will be waived if paid in full by the third day at 5pm following the due date" so I'm hoping Monday will be okay--I put it in the lockbox but no one works all weekend.

It makes me sad because I hope I'm not wrecking my perfect credit by paying late (it was only one day late on a charge card).

I'm really hard on myself---I know it's because I'm depressed. It's so hard to get started on everyday tasks. I can't just write "pay bills" because there are literally like 12+ bills and log ins for all. I can't get started. I have to write out each step to get myself moving and not get overwhelmed like I do when i look at the huge list of things to be done. Is that weird? Anyone else have any tips on how to get through stuff faster and not get so defeated?

I'm going to beef up my checking account to give me more cushion so I can stop having to check it so much--hoping that will take away some stress.

[mmmomof2]

Does your bank have online bill pay? We use that for 90% of our bills. It's free, and once you set it up it's only one log-in and you don't need to know the account numbers.

[kwynn]

Feb 2, 2013 5:54:51 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Does your bank have online bill pay? We use that for 90% of our bills. It's free, and once you set it up it's only one log-in and you don't need to know the account numbers.

I don't think it has the ability to do all of the bills like I want it to. Do all of your bills integrate with it? That would be great if I could get this!

[londoncalling]

Online bill pay will send a physical check for you if one of your vendors doesn't accept online payments. We do everything via online bill pay and then auto debit for non variable things like the mortgage, student loans, car payment and car insurance. When a bill arrives i just login and set up the payment for the due date I'm done. A lot of my vendors support e bills too so they come directly trough my bank and when i login it prompts me to schedule the payment My checking account is linked to another interest bearing account that it can automatically pull from in case of overdraft. There are no fees for the account or for an "overdraft" since they just automatically move my money between accounts.

[momof2boys]

I use my banks online pay option for 90% of my bills. Like the poster above mentioned you only have to log in once, and once you get it all set up (can take some time to get all the payee information in the first time) but afterwards its so easy! I don't do automatic payments through it, though you can for even more ease, but i'm too paranoid for that I log in about twice a month with my stack of bills next to me and pay all the bills I have. It usually involves transferring money from savings to checking but that can be done right there. Once they are all paid I start collecting the next stack of bills. About two weeks later I pay all of those. I have had a few instances in which I was late, and paying every two weeks certainly wouldn't work for some. But I find they send them out far enough in advance that it works for me. Getting my credit card bill in the mail is usually my cue that I need to sit down within the next few days to pay. Credit card seems to be the one bill that doesn't give me much time to pay and I don't want late fees! Mortgage is also due right around that time so I take care of the two big bills then. Once you get into what system works for you it will be much easier!

[kwynn]

I'm so paranoid about auto-debiting, too, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I think my issue is paying myself. Like getting on a system where I actually pay myself at regular intervals so I have money going into the checking account. I have money coming in, it's just not like a 9-5 where they put in your check at the bank and then they have already taken out taxes, retirement, and insurance---those are three additional bills I have to pay.

So I need to get myself set up with moving money regularly over as a "paycheck" for me.

I shouldn't be so confused about this---we didn't mingle any money until we were married, and so four years ago, I was the bill payer. But that was in a different state, totally different accounts then, and I had a traditional job, so it was so much simpler.

[bostonmichelle]

I use a combination of Quicken, autodrafts, and bill pay. I set up all my bills with their due dates in Quicken and somehow when I view the calendar it shows the amount as well, so for my credit cards I know when they are due and the amount that is currently on the card to pay off, we pay our cards off in full at that time. I entered in all my auto payments that are non-variable, like car payments, mortgage, student loans. Then I entered in the bills that I pay electronically that are variable with an estimate, such as electric, heat, etc. I tend to review this on Sundays and Wednesdays, Sundays I use to pay the bills and make sure that the account has enough money in it, and Wednesdays I review to make sure that everything cleared timely. I only have 3 checks to write every month and I write those on the first and mail them out right away even though they are not due until later in the month.

[Deleted]

While paying bills isn't an issue for me, some other things are. My method is to write it in my calendar and on that day set the timer for 15 minutes. I have to work on it for that time. Its amazing what you can get done in that short amount of time.



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[scout8]

Like you, I am self employed, so I have to move money around myself. I am not depositing a pay check every 2 weeks. I don't like seeing the money coming out of my other accounts (either savings or my business account). I have found that I do better if I keep a larger amount of $$ in my checking account so I don't have to move it around as much. It doesn't really make sense as it is all my money, but there is some sort of mental issue going on there. Otherwise, I think your plan of transferring a certain amount every couple of weeks is a good one.

I ditto everyone else on the online bill pay. I pay pretty much every bill through it. It is so much easier and you don't have to remember to get stamps, put envelopes in the mailbox, etc. You should be able to pay all your bills through it.

[Deleted]

Fellow procrastinator here. I have several bills set up to autobill to my CC (get points). I then have the cc set up to auto-debit the minimum payment from my bank account on for date. Then, I am protected from late fees. I pay the cc in full each month so it's usually not a problem but this gives me a back up.

I use 'my checkfree.com' for eletric and gas (there are other utility and CC bills available that you can set up as well.) It's free - and might actually be a good solution for you as it would put everything in one place. I manually log in and schedule what I want to pay or direct an immediate payment.

I use my bank's bill pay for anything that can't be autobilled to CC or paid via my checkfree. For example, mortgage.The only thing I have auto debited is my student loan.

I used to contract and had the same wariness of taking money out of my business account and putting in personal. This is solveable.

[imojoebunny]

I have to keep a box with everything I need. Stamps, pens, envelopes, checks, logins, bills, and that's it, no extra stuff. It is a plastic box I keep on the conter were the mail goes, so every time I get a bill, I can put it in there. I pay most bills on line, but some cannot be paid that way. I also second keeping some extra in your checking account. I keep $2,000 in mine all the time, so I don't have to worry about bouncing a check I forgot about. I view the $2000 as a zero balance, so I know I can't just spend it.

Then I can sit down with the box a couple of times a month and pay them without having to run all over the house to get the form or what I need. Once I get up, I get distracted.

Hugs. It is a very difficult time.

[ghost]

We use on-line bill pay..It is marvelous! The few bills that can't be paid this way, usually sit on my coffee table. However, I have gotten in the habit of using the cc for these bills (no worries we pay that off every month). I memorized the cc number and security code. So now when i get a bill I right it down and stamp it and send it. Easy peasy!

[coconutchips]

I even used online bill pay in college to pay rent to the apartment complex. I was too lazy to drive to drive the check to the office, idle in the 15 minute parking space and drop the check in the box... Even though couldn't leave the complex without driving passed the office! Online bill pay could be one of the best services invented in our generation

[pitterwoo]

Feb 2, 2013 7:57:31 GMT -5 @ruralrabbit1 said:

While paying bills isn't an issue for me, some other things are. My method is to write it in my calendar and on that day set the timer for 15 minutes. I have to work on it for that time. Its amazing what you can get done in that short amount of time.



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I love the timer too.  I use it a lot at work to focus on one project at a time.  You've built up kind of a mental block over this stuff and there's nothing wrong with breaking it down into very small steps so it's less overwhelming.

[sweetnsour]

I am sorry. I think you are sad that you have to do this stuff now so you put it off. Just remember that putting it off won't make you any happier. Definitely set up bill pay and make it easier on yourself.

[RandZB]

Most of our utilities are on auto-pay so they won't be late. The only bill that has been late has been the water bill (DH used to drop the check on his way to work, but recently changed jobs and we just completely forgot to pay the water bill for about three months, oops!). Since my credit card amount is variable,I have reminders on my calendar for the day before it is due so I can pay it online. It works well for me. We just have the normal utilities (water, power, gas, cable, cell, security) and the mortgage so there aren't too many moving parts to our bills. I've had a few past dues on medical bills, but it's because I just put them in my purse and forget about them until I get that second notice. Since they're not regular bills I just can't remember to pay them. I need to get better about putting reminders for those on my calendar.

I do agree with @fivedogs (or rather, her psychiatrist) that procrastination can be a form of anxiety. We had a rental property (our first home that we held onto when we moved for DH's job) that was destroyed by tenants, and we had to evict them and spent the next four months renovating the house to fix the damage they did. We had our own mortgage and a car payment at the time, in addition to our normal bills, and having to pay the mortgage on the rental property really ate into our budget (as did traveling for those four months, the rental was in Birmingham, AL and we live in Atlanta). On top of that, I had forgotten that we had an ARM and it adjusted and increased our payment by about $300 a month. I had such anxiety over our finances for those six months from eviction to the sale of the property that I could not bring myself to look at our bank account and as such could not do my share of paying the bills. I told DH he had to do it all because I would just shut down if I had to worry about that. I'm very much the worrier when it comes to money, and he is Pollyanna and thinks it will all just work itself out. It worked out and we never missed a payment for anything, but it took me almost a year before I was comfortable getting involved in our finances again.

I will say that the experience really pushed me toward becoming debt free. I started getting angry about paying my credit card, since the things I bought with it were usually groceries and dinners and things that I no longer had anything to show for having bought them. I would just think about how much we could use that money we were paying on the credit card that month, or the car payment. So we did everything we could to get the card paid off, and then when we came into a chunk of money we went ahead and paid the car off. It might have been more MM to invest it, but when DH lost his job last year I was super happy to not have a $500 car payment, which would not have been possible on my income alone in addition to our other bills.

[zacksbride]

i dont know how you feel about credit cards, however if you are someone who pays them off every month you might be able to use them for recurring bills.  this would avoid the auto debit from your checking account if that makes you nervous.  we use our cc for pretty much all of our recurring bills - internet, cell phone, direct tv, gas company, electric company, car insurance - so the bill is automatically paid by the credit card each month.  i think you will find that most companies have a way to set up recurring payments on a credit card.  then we only have to log into our online bill pay either through the bank or through the credit card company and pay one bill for the total.  plus, we get cc points for all of those regular bills. out of all of our bills, i think there are 2 that we can't pay with a credit card - life insurance and disability insurance. 

[doctorsbaby]

All of our income is from self employment as well. What I finally found that worked for me was to keep a second checking account that only bills are paid from. I keep a one month cushion in that account, so if I don't get DH's paycheck cut from his business on time there is still money there to pay all the bills. I deposit DH's check into that account and then have an auto transfer money each week for our day to day expenses to an account linked to our debit cards. 

I have everything except our cell phone bill setup to auto pay through my bank or through the utility company.

[ESF]

I think you are doing great and you are being too hard on yourself.

While I think the others here have very good advice, I also think that it's ok that you are struggling with this right now, and you shouldn't stress out because you are having a hard time adjusting. You don't NEED to get online bill pay set up today or figure out a system ASAP. From everything else you've posted, it sounds like you've about a 99% grasp on your finances - which is more than most people on a good day. Take care of yourself, and handling this will get easier in time.

Also, you should know that places do not report things to the credit bureaus if you are one day late. EVER. Or even a week late. EVER. Credit cards and other lending services are usually 30+ days late, and many other places (like utilities, landlords, cell phone, etc - it's months and months). It costs places money to report items to the credit bureaus. For credit cards, it's worth it them, because if your score drops too far (which in your case would take at least several late payments), they can use that as a reason to charge you a higher interest rate. But for everyone else, they get nothing in return for reporting you, and for the most part, they are generous with the grace periods. Places like rental offices know that people get stuck in traffic, or held up at work, or just forget to bring the check down, which is why they allow for due dates to be later than the first. And I bet if you call up any place that does assess a late fee, and tell them that you are going through a rough time, that this is something your husband used to handle, and mail the check tomorrow, that they will they waive the late fee for you.

Good luck with everything and lots of hugs to you.

[aurora]

You've gotten some great advice so I won't duplicate it, but one thing I didn't see mentioned was paying car insurance either every 6 or 12 months instead of monthly.  Honestly, unless I were getting a super amazing deal I wouldn't stick with a company that required me to physically drop off my check every month.  Most places actually give you a small discount for paying annually or semi-annually.  From your posts, I get that it would probably be emotionally hard for you to part with that much money at once out of your savings, but you might consider whether having one less very annoying bill to pay each month would balance it out.

[Deleted]

Ditto others on getting online bill pay. I pay everything that way - I never write checks and never log into other websites. Even my cell phone bill, which I send to my mom since we're on a family plan with her and my sister, I can pay through my bank because it lets you transfer money to a person. It's awesome! I use US Bank but I think most major banks have that option.

Personally, I usually go in 1-2x a month and set up all my bills to be paid. Most bills are fixed or relatively close to the same amount each month - utilities are the only ones that vary a bit. So I go in and schedule payments out for about a month - which means I don't have to PAY all of them that moment, but I get them scheduled so I don't have to come back and pay each separately or even think about it again. It's so easy and convenient!

I often don't pay bills much before they are due, either, but I do schedule them. I have DH's car payment, not due until the 25th, already scheduled but I'm not paying it until whatever the Friday before the 25th is.

[Deleted]

I used to be terrible with paying bills. Here is what has worked best for me:

1) I don't open the mail during the week. If something interests me or looks urgent of course I can open it, but I wait until the weekend. Opening the mail is my last favorite task. I'd rather scrub toilets.... because I'm terrified of bills.

2) I put all bills in a fancy dish-thing so they look organized. In the dish-thing I keep envelopes, stamps, a pen, and a checkbook.

3) Either Saturday or Sunday I put on some kind of comedy- Family Guy, 30 Rock, whatever. I watch while I open bills. First I sort them, then I write the checks that need to be written, then I go online and pay whatever I can. If it needs to wait until next paycheck, it stays in the dish thing until the following week.


Having a set time, and giving myself the out during the week, both helped me overcome my procrastination.

[awkwardpenguin]

If you can mail rather than drop off the checks, do them with online bill pay. I used to be late with my rent all the time when I had to drop off a paper check, so now I just have my bank send a check to arrive on time. The only disadvantage is they debit my account on the 25th of the month and I get paid on the last day of the month, so I need a cushion. If you do the check manually, that will give you more control over the process.

I'd also suggest you think about a way to simplify your finances in a way that works for you. I have a bunch of accounts that serve as virtual envelopes and pay bills on each individual site. It looks complicated to other people but it works for me. DW is the opposite. She has all her accounts and insurance with USAA and uses just their online bill pay so its all in one place and that works for her.

I've found the book "Get it Done When You're Depressed" to be really helpful. You have to remember when you are depressed, your brain is not working right, and thing don't just seem much harder, the ARE much harder. I have mental health related cognitive issues and it sucks and makes me wonder what's wrong with me. Be gentle with yourself, you are doing a good job.