How Do You Make Sure You Pay Your Bills On Time?

Paying bills on time every month can be a real challenge for many people. But there's no escaping this responsibility as managing bill payments is an essential part of the life of grown-ups.

If you don't pay your bills when due, the services you receive may be interrupted. Your credit line could be affected. Or worse, you may find yourself owing a big debt. So, what can you do to make sure that you pay your bills on time?

Mismanagement is the number one reason why people struggle to pay their bills each month. To avoid this, there are some things to remember that might be able to help you manage your bills payment. Read on to find out the five things you need to do to keep on track of your bill payments.

1. Pay the necessities first

This is especially important if you have limited income. Make sure that you spend your money efficiently. So, look at your bills and pay for the necessities first. What are the necessities?

• Utilities like electricity and water are probably very important, so take care of those first.
• Keeping a roof over your head is also very important. Unless you own your house, be sure to set aside a part of your earnings for rent or mortgage payment. If you already own your house, you should also set aside some money to pay for taxes.
• Know how to spend wisely on your groceries or shopping. Don't buy what you don't need so you avoid paying for what you don't use. 
• Unless your student is a scholar or studying in public school, you need to save a part of your savings for tuition fees, too. 
• If you feel like you can't live without cable or mobile data, consider adjusting the package you have. Instead of subscribing to 100 channels, why not cut it down to 50? Also, adjust your mobile package to suit what you only need or use.
• As much as you can, don't take on additional payment. What you don't spend ends up as savings or additional budget for you. You don't need to join a fitness club when you can use your community center gym or the public park for exercise.

2. Review the accuracy of your bills

Billing companies can make mistakes in charging you for services. So, consistently review your bills.

• Arguing with the billers that their printed bills arrived in the mail late won't help. Switch to receiving electronic versions of bills, so you can know promptly what are your billing charges.
• Call the billing company as soon as possible (usually within 10 days of receiving the bill) if you have questions about your bills.
• Write down your expected bill charges - the date, description/plan and amount. If you request to add or remove services, document that as well.

3. Setup recurring or automatic bill payments

Sometimes people honestly forget to pay their bills. A good thing to do if that's the case is to set up recurring bill payments or automatic bill payments.

What you need is to do is to set up direct deposits from your bank account to the account of the billing company. You can call your bank's customer service for more information on how to do this. Some banks could set it up through phone call, SMS or online banking.

By setting up this payment method, you don't need to worry about missing payments. Just be sure that you have enough money in your bank account to cover the bills.

4. Pay bills online

Taking time out to pay bills can be a real issue if you're a very busy person. Many companies have set up their own online payment system to help their customers pay with ease.

An alternative is to pay your bills through online banking. I like the convenience of online banking because I don't need to go somewhere and wait in line just to pay the bills. This system is usually available 24 hours everyday as long as you can connect to the internet.

5. Know when your bill is due

It is important to track your bill due dates to help you properly manage all your bill payments.

Bills are usually due at different dates. Knowing this can help you spend money smartly. You don't have to settle all your bills at one time. You can use your money for other things first as long as you have the available money before the bill is due.

Through online banking, I could also set up payments for bills to go out on the date that they are due. So, I can go online banking one time and schedule to pay all the bills on their due date. That way, I don't forget to pay a certain bill especially when I suddenly become very busy. Even if I don't have the total amount of money needed for all the payments, it's okay as long as I deposit the money in the account before the bill is due. It's that easy.


I hope that by following these 5 steps, you can make sure to pay your bills on time. Effectively managing your bill payments will help you save money as you avoid late payment fees and interest charges especially if you're paying for credit card bills.

Remember it's your responsibility to maintain a positive history of payments. Try these strategies and you'll see that it's not really that difficult.