I used to know the due dates for my credit card payments back in the old days before I started blogging. I used to wait for the bill to come in the mail and then whip out the trusty old checkbook and write out a check. Then I used to put the check and the payment coupon in the envelope and hunt around for a stamp……walk over to the mailbox and send off the payment.
I needed to know the payment due dates because if there was a problem or if I was out of town then I needed to make sure that I sent off the payment in enough time for the card company to receive the check and deposit it before the due time.
Then along came ING with its wonderful Electric Checking account. I can now push a check from ING without even needing to wait for the statement to come in. Because ING is so fabulous they don’t care how many checks I ‘write’. So with me deciding to automate my finances and set up a zero based budget I now send off a check every week to my credit card. Since they are getting the money every week, it does not matter if one check goes awry (interesting word that one!!!) because there will be another to follow it in seven days. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for any payment to be late because I am even paying more than the minimum payment with each of the four checks that the credit card company gets.
The basics of my Zero Based Budget go like this:
Every dollar has a purpose
All spending areas have a total
All bills are paid automatically via credit card
All credit card bill totals are paid in four payments per month
Amounts less than the budget go to overage account
So let them go ahead and change due dates all they want…..I don’t need to know the date coz the check is ALWAYS in the mail.
How do YOU manage your credit card payments?
I’m using ING services myslef and it’s a great alternative for those having problems with paying their checks in due time. Automating your finances is a great way to deal with many problems and save some money at the same time.
I totally agree on that issue. Why should someone worry about the credit card, if its a waste of money? I mean it were those little plastic cards that brought us into trouble!
I recently got a new American Express card (for the cash back of 1% to 3%) and one of the first things I did when I got the card was log in online to my AmEx account and set the card to pay off the balance in full automatically from my checking account each month.
Be very careful with having the credit card pull directly from your bank account because if there is an unauthorized charge on the card then the bank will pay it automatically and you then have the hassle of going through hoops to get it fixed. Why don’t you just have your bank push the payment to the card instead? That way only what you say will go to the card. You DO have an ING account right?
As long as you are in control of your finances (and it sounds like you are) then there is no need to worry at all 🙂 Great article!
My only issue is that I hate any form of automated bill pay due to some past bad experiences. I know I should change my thinking but for now I’ll stick to the old memory.
I know I should change my thinking but for now I’ll stick to the old memory.
Interesting idea to send in a check every week to stay on task. An idea you may want wanted to consider, would be to take the extra money you overpay each time you send a check in to your credit card company and invest it in a money market bank account or some other account that offers you interest. Therefore, you could be accruing interest on that money instead of giving it to your credit card company to make money off of your money.
I do the exact same thing with my credit cards!