Tips to Help You Pay Your Bills on Time

Between your mortgage or rent payment, utility bills, credit cards and other loans (all due at different times), it can be challenging to stay on top of your bills. In fact, managing personal finances is one of the biggest challenges many Americans have.

To help stay on top of your personal finances and manage the payment of your bills, it’s important to fully understand all the monthly bills you have, when they are due and how much you plan to pay for each. The following will help you get started:

1. Make a list of the bills you pay monthly.
2. Next, note how much you plan to pay for each bill and when it is due. Be sure to allow extra time as needed for the payment to arrive before it is due; for example, mail delivery dates, holiday closures and/or weekend due dates.
3. After you pay a bill, record how much you paid, and how you paid it (check, cash, etc.).

Once you understand what you’re required to pay each month, as well as how you’ll pay your bills, consider the following tips to help you pay your bills on time:

• Request to change due dates. It’s important to have the funds available to pay your bills on time. So, if you get paid at different times than when your bills are due, it may be difficult to pay your bills on time. You should consider talking to your lenders or service providers to see if you can change the due dates for your bills. For example, if you originally set up your auto insurance payment date on the 15th of the month, contact your insurance provider to change the due date to right after you get paid. That way, you’ll have the funds available to make the payment. Typically, if you make the same payment every month, you may have an easier time negotiating new payment dates.
• Set up automatic repayment for your bills. If you have regularly recurring bills, consider setting them up for automatic repayment – whether directly through the billing provider or BancorpSouth’s Bill Pay. By taking the time to set up recurring payments, you’ll eliminate missing due dates in the future and paying late fees.
• Sign up for reminders. Whether you pay automatically or manually, you should always sign up to get an email or text reminder for all your bills. With BancorpSouth’s Bill Pay, you can set reminder alerts for when your payments are due. You can even add eBill to have your bills sent directly to Online Banking. Plus, you can get email reminders to track the status of the payment.

If you’re struggling to pay your bills by their due date, it may be time to try something new. The right approach can help. While it may seem like a lot of effort at first, it is well worth it as you begin to eliminate the stress you may feel each month – and you may also see your credit score improve.

For additional tips and advice on how to efficiently manage your bill and establish a budget, visit our advice site.