Put an end to evil late fees and overdue notices with this essential guide.
1. Get Organized
Start by deciding which spouse pays which bills, or put one of you in charge of all payments. When the next bill arrives, file your statement, write the bill’s name on its due date (or the date you need to mail the check by) in your calendar. Choose one day per month, preferably one day after you are paid, to write checks. This way, you can budget the rest of your month based on what’s left.
2. Consolidate Billing Cycles
Getting your statements on a schedule that works for you will allow you to attack other projects. Ask your credit card and utility companies if you can select a new due date. You might want all bills due at one time and be done with them, or have them spaced out twice a month.
3. Cancel Some Credit Cards
Opening up that Gap card to get 10 percent off a pair of khakis seemed like a good deal at the time, but now you have one more bill to add to the pile. If you tend to carry a balance on it, you should consolidate your cards. Choose three major credit cards (the ones with the best interest rates or money-back offers/rewards), and designate them as His Card, Her Card, and the Joint Purchases Card. Make sure you have one in your own name to keep a good line of credit, and then transfer your balances from the old cards to the personal one you're keeping.
4. Pay Online
Schedule automatic payments for certain withdrawal dates. This way, you won’t have to worry about missing due dates, paying finance charges, or having enough cash on reserve. Just set your calendar to remind you the day before each bill is paid so you can see your account balances and check online statements for any inaccuracies.
Nestpert Carol Buchman, a CPA and CFP in New York City
-- Grace Jidoun
See More: Money Q&A , Money
60109292 
decoglam42
I worked at a nation-wide financial institution and learned many things about credit accounts and explaining debt management to people. Contrary to what Suze Orman says (I belive MSN.com recently ran an article which essentially said that her advice is not that great) it is ok to close out credit accounts. There are things that go along with saying that though. Lenders will look at your debt ratio, but that is only one of a few things they look at. Another large part of lending money is essentially knowing how much debt you can have- by that I mean they look at all of your available credit (which you haven't spent yet, but can) and determine how much money (or credit) they are willing to lend you. Also, you don't want to close multiple cards out all at one time or lenders may think you are in trouble and can't pay them. When you close out a credit line you need to also ask that the company update (or let the credit bureaus know) that your account is no longer active, not only that but asking the credit agencies (think equifax, transunion, etc.) to update their records which means that account that was closed will no longer show on your report. They are required to do this eventually, but unless you ask it could be a while before they remove the closed account.
59942708 
Schnooks88
I use Entourage connected to my Gmail account along with Excel to keep track of all my bills. It even gives me reminders when to send out a check for each bill. Awesomeness!
59682270 
Caramel2HisMarshmellow
canceling a credit card negatively affects your credit score. a portion of your credit rating is based on your amount of credit available vs. the amount of debt. for example, if you have a credit line of $100,000 amongst 10 credit cards ($10,000 each), and you have $50,000 of credit card debt, your ratio is 2:1 (50%) credit to debt. if you pay off the debt in full of 3 credit cards ($30,000), you now have $100,000 credit, $20,000 debt. your ratio is now 5:1 (20%). your credit is improving. after paying off $30,000 of debt, if you then close all 3 credit cards, you no longer have that $30,000 credit line from those cards. your credit line is now $70,000 with $20,000 of debt. your ratio is now 3.5:1 (28.6% debt) instead of 5:1 (20%). And if you never paid off the $#30,000 debt and just closed the accounts, you would actually have $70,000 credit line and $50,000 debt. 1.4:1 (71.4% debt). your best pay is to pay credit cards down and then cut them up (you can even mail the cut pieces to the company so they know you wont be using your card. it tells them any new card usage is not you and should be pursued as identity theft), or put them away in a safe place for possible emergencies. but NEVER EVER CLOSE A CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT. i can't believe a CPA would give such advice. i'm a 22 year-old college student. and i don't even study finance, i study architecture. i learned this advice from watching Suze Orman on msnbc. maybe you old people should watch more television..
59228842 
nikki3183
something that i do that helps me out is the excel sheet for bills that i made. it has everything that i pay each month, the day they're due and the website with my passwords and stuff. i check it almost everyday and by clicking on the website on the excel sheet, i am able to set up payments right there and see when things are coming out. huge help!