When do you pay bills?

[PeggyHefferon]

I used to see stories about people stealing gas, but most gas stations I go to have a ton of cameras. Seems pretty stupid to risk going to jail for a tank of gas.

[bigdaddybus]

On payday (every two weeks) I pay off my CC (where most of my expenses go) and any bills I have on hand using online bill pay.

I leave $1000 in my checking account and shift the anything over that into savings.

every 2 weeks I repeat.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

usually 1st of month habit when i was paid once a month.

[terri77]

My utilities, insurance, and utilities are paid on automatic payments. My credit cards I schedule to pay on the due date.

[JBinKC]

Recurring bills - autopoay on due date; Credit card - electronically on due date; Property and Income taxes Home association dues - check postmarked on on or before due date.

[saver17]

When do you pay your utilities, car payments, money to savings, etc? Do you pay them all on a certain day of the month. Do you base it on what day you get paid? Do you base it on what day they are due?

I'm sure there are many ways to do this, but curious what some of you do and why?

I've tried it several different ways, but normally on our paydays I pay everything due between then and the next payday.

I pay all my bills in the middle of the month so that when I pay rent the only thing I have to buy is food until the next check.


So whatever check I get in the middle of the month is when I pay bills

so for example I get paid on 4/14 and I use that check for all my bills

[HarryPatton]

I usually pay them monthly.

[saver17]

I usually pay them monthly.

I think the OP means in the beginning of the month, middle of the month or end of the month

We all pay bills monthly

[annibe11e]

Our bills are paid automatically out of our checking account mostly. We have 2 bills that have to be paid manually and my husband does that because I'm forgetful. Our checking account is for bills and household expenses. Our spending allowance is cash. That way, we were able to build up a cushion in our bill account, so the bills can be paid as they come due without worrying about whether or not there's enough money on that day.

[Gailete]

When I first got sick when coming down with RA my brain was like a pile of mush so I found if I put a sticky notice on my monitor to pay bills on Wednesday, that is what I did (when I got paychecks I got them on Wednesday and now my SS comes on a Wed. So I got into a habit of balancing checkbooks and paying bills every Wednesday. before any trip to go shopping I also balance my accounts so I don't go thinking I have $100 when actually it has been used already.

Any payment, like fire insurance that has a billing fee, I try to pay ahead and round up the payment due as much as I can for that month. Since we ended up putting a lot on credit cards last year, I try to make partial or full payments on the cards weekly. Since every bit of principle paid off makes for less interest added to the bill, I have during some better months paid on bills up to 4-6 times in a month. I've been working hard to getting them paid off. So far one credit card bill is paid in full as is the car. Another bill is soon to be paid and I think one of the insurance bills is or almost paid off.

I think making those extra payments, helps to not only get the bills down, but also keeps money out of your wallet and not available for shopping for wants not needs.

[AnnieG]

1st and 15th

My excel-based budget includes a section for bills in each monthly tab. Bills not due monthly are grayed out for the months they aren't due, so it's easy to see what has to be paid. On the 1st and 15th I pay any bills that have to be paid manually AND verify that all automatic payments processed. Auto payments glitch every once in a while, so I find it useful to verify, plus, of course, I need the values for my budget.

I still have quite a few bills that are paid manually, most of which can't be set to auto. Monthly that is just CCs and mortgage, but I also have to manually pay house, auto, umbrella, LTC, & life insurance, all 3 property taxes (1 house), 2 HOAs (yep, still one house), car registration, and several others that I can't think of off the top of my head.

We've used the 1st and 15th method for almost 30 years.

[Gailete]

I couldn't pay bills as usual yesterday, but I am glad that I do this once a week as I discovered that I still hadn't gotten my bill for my MC-D prescription program. Last thing I need in my life is my prescription program canceled! I was able to get it paid before I had trouble and get set up for automatic billing for the rest of the year. I like staying on top of things especially since most income comes in as direct deposits so I rarely have actual cash to spend, but my debit cards get get their workouts. I set up my bill notebook with monthly bills showing up on a page for each month divided by weeks, so things like the bill that almost slipped by at least shows up that it will need paid and when. Before I started doing things the way I do them now, it was too easy to forget about once a year and quarterly bills until the bill was in hand and no money set aside for them. After handling my bills this way, it wuold take a big crowbar to get me doing it any different way. the only thing that has changed is the amount of bills paid on line which saves on stamps.

[Jellymint]

Paying the bills a day after I get my check is a routine for me.

[saver17]

I;m actually paying bills today but won't do it until I get back from clothes shopping and having brunch with my mom