Thread: Do you plan bill paying days?

we are fortunate enough to be able to pay the bill as soon as we get it that way it does not get lost or forgotten

I wrote a list of my bills and there due dates then I put all the ones that are due on the 1-15 of the month in one list and the 16-31 of the month in another list. I pay my bill 2 times a month on the 1st (bills due 1-15) and the 15th (bills due 16-31). I also did a cash flow chart for a month to make sure the money would be there. It worked out pretty good, there is barely no late payments unless I forget something by accident when I forget to look at my list.

I do as bleedingace does as well. I have a google spreadsheet with all of my recurring bills. All of my payments (the company, the minimum amount due if credit card, the amount to pay off in 3 years since that's my goal, the interest rate, the balance, and the due date) are listed and I have 2 columns per month - amount paid, date scheduled since I pay them online.

I've switched to online/email bills since I already know what's due when.

Since I get paid twice a month (15th, last day), the bills due at the beginning of the month get paid out of the last paycheck and the bills due at the end (2nd half) of the month get paid out of the check on the 15th.

With my rent and car payment, I split them in 1/2. So I pay 1/2 of my car payment each paycheck. This saves me a small amount on the interest. I also pay an $20/month towards it as well. Next month I'll probably up that extra per month payment to $40. I don't "pay" my rent early, but I save 1/2 the money from the 15th paycheck. It works wonders.

So when my purse full of cash was stolen (just got the $ out of the bank for the cash envelope system), I had already "saved" 1/2 of the rent separately.

I also do a bit of the envelope method at home. When I get paid I take $300 out of the bank in cash. I try to get smaller bills to make it easier. Then I have a specific amount that I put in envelopes. For example, I have envelopes for: groceries, gas, clothes, misc, each daughter has an envelope, gifts, the salon (hair and/or nails), emergency planning, holidays, etc. The envelopes stay in my home until I need to make a specific purchase. I do keep gas $ in the car (hidden). This also helped save me so I could go back and forth to work after my purse was stolen.