While everybody can agree that having to pay bills is not a lot of fun, it’s essential if you want electricity, running water and a roof over your head. While the actual amount of the bills themselves is generally fixed, there are a number of things that you can do to save money when paying those bills, and that’s just what this blog today is all about. By implementing these tips you’ll actually save money while paying your bills and also save yourself quite a bit of time and stress as well.
Tip #1 – Use Online Bill Pay . Not only is paying your bills online quicker and safer than sending a check, many banks and other financial institutions like it when you pay bills online because it’s much more convenient and secure for them as well. It doesn’t save you huge amounts of money but, if you pay a lot of bills and send them all through the mail, you may well end up saving a couple hundred dollars a year. Cheaper or not, it definitely is safer.
Tip #2 – Use a Reminder App or other Reminder Program. These days and there are plenty of smart phone apps that you can download for free and use to remind you to pay bills. Whatever you decide, a reminder system is vital as it will help you to avoid late fees and other fines that you will be charged if you forget to pay a bill. Since late payments can affect your credit score as well, a reminder system of some kind becomes even more essential
Tip #3 – Pay More than you Need To. Many people simply pay the minimum balance on their credit cards, mortgage payments and automobile loans. If you pay more than the minimum however you will have that debt paid off quicker and thus pay less in interest. In effect, making money by paying early. You can also sometimes receive discounts for paying early and it allows you to pay down your debt faster, which will positively affect your credit report.
Tip #4 – Take advantage of Automatic Payment Programs. The best way to remember to pay a bill is not to have to remember to pay it at all. Automatic payments that you can set up through your employer, or that you set up with the financial provider, take the guessing game at of bill paying completely. With some companies you actually receive a discount when you sign up for automatic enrollment.
Tip #5 – Pay Loans with Higher Interest First. The higher interest rate a loan has, the more money you are paying towards interest rather than paying down your debt. Better to calculate which of your bills has the highest interest rate and pay those off first, checking them off one by one as you pay them. Depending on how much debt you have, this could save you literally hundreds of dollars.
Tip #6 – Search for Promotional Offers and Use Them. Balance transfers, “90 day same as cash” and extremely low rates of interest are promotional offers that some financial institutions use to gain your business, so why not use them yourself to save money? While using them sparingly is good advice, using them wisely could save you big bucks in interest fees.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when paying bills is that they simply don’t read the fine print and educate themselves about not only the penalties but the pluses that come with a particular bill. If you take a little time to familiarize yourself with not only your bills but the organizations behind them, you’ll usually find that there are a number of different ways to pay more quickly, easily, conveniently and, best of all, cheaply.