What time of month to pay?

[uRabbit]

I have everything that we spend budgetted out, as some of you may know. If you go to my blog, you will find a link on the sidebar that leads to our budget. After expenses, we have over $300 left. I have yet to compile this $300+ into the appropriate area of the budget, but it will be going into my 9% personal loan, which has a minimum payment of $100/mo.

I am wondering when I should make the payment... Should I make the minimum payment when it is due, and then make the additional payment when I am close to the next pay period or month? Or just make the whole payment at once? Hmm... Ideas?

[ktmarvels]

It partially depends on how interest is accrued. If they do it every day, then you should pay it as soon as you have it. If they compound the interest monthly, it doesn't really matter when you pay it--just that you do it.

Also, if you would be tempted to spend that money, I'd recommend paying it as soon as you have the money. You'll be more likely to have it when the bill is due.

[greenskeeper]

I send extra on our mortgage so I just do it when paying the mortgage. Easy and all on one check.

[creditcardfree]

If you pay online, hopefully, there is an option to specify the type of payment you are making...regular payment or principal payment. If so, you can make the payment whenever you have the money available. On credit cards some people make payments several times a week when they find a few dollars to pay on the account. I too think you should pay as soon as you have the money, unless there is a reason with the processing agency not to.

[jpg7n16]

The general rule for getting rid of debt:

Pay as much as you can, as soon as you can.

[dawnwes]

This.

Is that your info on the section that states all the stuff you plan to buy with your tax refund? I really think that should go directly to pay off debt if it is.

We put all our "extra" spending on a long hold while we got out of debt. There weren't large "fun" or extra purchases.

Dawn

The general rule for getting rid of debt:

Pay as much as you can, as soon as you can.

[uRabbit]

Less of half of our returns will go to consumer items. And they are ones we need. Our computer is not doing so well, and it is beyond my scope of skill to fix. It will die out any time now. Pretty sure the motherboard is not happy with me. Haha. So, purchasing a refurbished iMac is a good idea for us, especially since we cannot do on Windows 7 what we need to be able to do on a computer. Also, we need a new mattress. We are using the same one that I've had since I was sixteen.

[scot184]

I'd look into paying off your personal loan with a 0% APR balance transfer...9% is pretty steep.

And yes, if the interest is calculated daily, paying it off as early as possible will reduce the amount of interest accrued.