Save Money by Paying Your Credit Card Bills on Time

Here's a simple money saving tip:

Pay your credit card bills on time to avoid those costly late fees.

I know, I know. It's a personal finance 101 tip. But a lot of people just aren't getting it. Here's what I found in the December issue of Kiplinger's magazine:

In 2005 more than one-third of credit card holders paid late fees as high as $39, reports the Government Accountability Office.

More than one-third? Yikes!

As high as $39? Double yikes!!!

I think I've gotten burned on this one time in the past 15 years (during an extremely busy time and I missed the payment date by two days.) $25 later, I learned my lesson. (Yes, I tried to get it waived, but they weren't going for that.) So what I do now is put my bills in a special pile and pay them all within a week of getting them. The measly interest I lose by paying early is nothing compared to the fees if I'm caught late every once in awhile. (Not to mention the fact that paying them in groups helps me save time -- which is worth something as well, of course.)

Comments

[moneysmartlife]

Another kicker is that with some rewards cards, if one payment is late for the year you forfeit all the rewards you've accumulated. Dirty trick but it's in the Terms and Conditions. So you pay a huge late fee AND lose your rewards.

I use an online bill pay service to handle all of my bills so it remembers to send in the payment for me. Now if I could only get a service like that for anniversaries and birthdays!