I pay my bills the day before pay day. I would love to some day have enough money (or enough self-control) to pay my bills the day they arrive rather than when they're due. I don't see that happening anytime soon.
So I paid bills today.
The actual "bills" portion was 39% of my paycheck. This included our student loan payments, utilities, insurance, and Netflix.
I'll take out 23% in cash, and put into our Food, Gas, and Books budget envelopes.
That leaves 38% of my paycheck. All of which went into savings, in various categories. I'm thrilled with this number, it seems great. Of course some of that is just saving up for bills that don't come every month (or to balance out the bills so that we have enough from each paycheck to pay them), including Water, Taxes, Preschool, Car Registration.
We're also saving in the following categories:
General Savings (I always blow this, I should call it blow money, but I don't), Christmas (2008), New Car!, and Kids' Birthdays
We're getting closer to paying back our emergency fund. It should be back up to $1000 by the end of January.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Pay Bills Day
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4 comments:
Hi GFF,
I'm wondering why you'd want to pay your bills the day they arrive? Why should the bank/credit card company/Landlord/whatever have your money early? Do you bank/pay bills online? I started paying bills online ~1 year ago. When I get my statement/e-statement, I go to the website and request that it be paid about 1-2 days before it's due. This way, I don't have to think about it again until that day (insert calendar reminder) but I know that it's 99.9% taken care of.
Good job in repaying your emergency funds and saving. Keep up the good work!
Hi M! :)
Let's see... You make a great point about the company keeping my money! I guess it's one of those things I think that rich people do. You get a bill in the mail and you just have the money to pay it, no matter when you get paid. I'd like to ever be rich enough to do that. And also to buy oyster crackers instead of saltines! Ha!
Yes, I didn't actually write any checks to pay any bills, since they all get paid automatically online. So, by "pay bills" I guess I mean "write them in the register." Ha. Which, techncially I could do any time of the month. Look at me, I'm rich! ;)
Hmm..I sort of agree on the "why pay bills early". But, then again, it depends on the bill. I'd rather not have to pay uncle sam any earlier than I need to. But, if I have a credit card (for example) and I plan on paying it off in full, why not just send it now.
Although, who am I to talk.. I get paid every two weeks (which stinks, but I've gotten used to it) and I pay my bills twice per month, when I get paid. The joys of living paycheck to paycheck! (um..not! hehe)
Oh, kudos to you for keeping your savings an important budget item. That's the one that most people forget about, and then get stuck in an emergency!
That's true too - if it's something that's accruing interest like a credit card or mortgage, the sooner that payment goes in the less interest you'll pay, so it makes sense to pay those as soon as possible!
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