Week #4 Challenge

This week's challenge is about checking late fees!

I am sure that at one point or another we all have forgotten to pay a bill, or you looked at your banking account and you simple did not have the money to pay the bill until your next pay check which is 2 days AFTER the due date. Then, when you are able to pay, now you have an additional $20.00 to pay for late fees. Some credit card companies have no grace period and they charge up to $40.00 for late fees.(just crazy). Now a days even, utility companies charge late fees, depending on your balance.

Various accounts, such as phone or cable may charge only $5.00 per month for late fees, but that is $60.00 a year. That is a nice "trip to the spa" money. So your challenge is to look at your accounts and find out how much you are spending on late fees a month. Let's try to eliminate late fees all together. This will take time so have patience!

So here are a few tips to help avoid late fees:

1. Change your due dates. Sometimes it's as simple as a phone call or logging online. If you get paid twice a month, put your due dates around your payday.

2. Organize your bills. Keep all bills in one place and in order by due date. This will help you to quickly view and pay your bills.

3. Use your online bill pay service. You can actually sit down and pay all of your bills once a month. You can schedule your payments out for a month to assure that they are received on time. Just make sure you keep track of your spending!

4. Sometimes if you call a company and say "Hey, I am going to be a few days late" they will waive the late charges for you.

So let's avoid this unnecessary waste of late fees! Any other suggestions?