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Never miss a due date again. A payment schedule helps you manage bills and avoid negative impacts on your credit rating.
I have created a bill payment schedule for you to print and include in your budget binder, which will help keep you organized and ensure your bills are paid on time.
Not paying your bills on time is a big deal, and it could see you smothered in debt or, even worse, on the naughty list with creditors.
A simple bill payment schedule will ensure you know when your bills are due, so you pay them by the due date.
Pay Bills On Time Using A Bill Payment Schedule
One of the most significant problems with late bill payments is that it can negatively impact your credit rating.
Defaulting on a bill payment means you don’t abide by the contract rules when accepting a loan, credit card, or service.
You will most certainly see a note in your file indicating that your bill was not paid on time, which creditors will be aware of if they need to access your credit report.
This can cause problems if you plan to apply for a mortgage loan or use a credit card.
Even if you have a mortgage and default on a payment, they will come after you faster than you can say sorry.
For example, if you apply for a credit card and the credit company notices in your credit report that you don’t pay your bills on time, they may offer you a higher interest rate.
They may also decline your credit card application as they don’t want to risk not being paid by you.
Throwing yourself under the debt bus means you need to work yourself out from underneath the tires, which can take some time.
Importance Of A Bill Payment Schedule
This is why it’s crucial to Budget and stay organized with your finances, so I created this bill payment schedule.
You can print this bill payment schedule and place it in your monthly budget binder along with your Budget and other printables.
I’ve kept the bill payment schedule simple so you can use it month-to-month, which means you’ll print a new one each month.
Adding the entire year of bill payments on one page made it confusing for some people, so I kept it clean.
You can edit the document on your computer or use a pen or pencil to mark the information needed.
There are only four columns in the bill payment schedule that you need to focus on.
- The Bill- This is where you will write in the name of the bill
- Amount of the bill- Write in the amount of the account you owe
- When is the bill due? – Write the due date in.
- Paid- Did you pay the bill? Leave a ‘yes’ when it is paid, or even the date you paid it, so you know it’s paid.
How Do I Pay My Bills On Time?
I created this document because quite a bit was happening in our lives at home.
If you’ve read the blog, you know we’ve been through a lot over the past couple of years with our family.
Our attention has been so focused on dealing with death and healthcare that we are falling behind.
We weren’t paying our bills late, but were scrambling at the last minute with our Budget, which scared us.
It always seemed that we were wasting time looking through our bills online to see if they had been paid.
The most logical thing for us to do was create a bill payment schedule that we keep in our budget binder for easy access.
Every time we get a bill notification or paper bill in the mail (yes, we still get those for credit cards), we mark them down.
Pay Your Bills BEFORE The Due Date
We always ensure that we pay our credit card bills at least 4-5 days before the due date so the bank has time to process the payment.
If you wait until the due date to pay the bill via your bank, your creditor may still mark that payment late.
You can be sure that they will contact you immediately to speak with you, as they fear you may not pay them or miss additional bill payments.
They want the money in their hands by the due date and don’t care if you paid it on time with your bank.
You can also contact your bank to determine the processing date for online bill payments, so you know exactly what to expect.
Credit card companies might not make a big stink about missing one credit card payment, but if you continue, they will.
You will almost certainly incur a late payment charge, which will add to the debt you already owe.
The key is to avoid all of this by making sure you either automatically set up payments via your bank account or manually pay your bills on time.
This bill payment schedule will serve as your guide, and it can be a lifesaver for those of you with families and busy careers.
Auto Bill Payments vs. Manual Bill Payments
A bill payment schedule is an excellent budgeting tool that everyone should have, even if you set up auto payments.
It’s always important to follow what is going in and out of your bank account throughout the month.
You can check off what bills have been auto-paid on your bill payment schedule for peace of mind.
We do that now because you never know if some fluke happens and the bill doesn’t go through.
Some might forget to move money to their chequing account, which we did once.
As a result, our investment company notified us of insufficient funds and charged us a fee, as did our bank.
It was depressing because the fees were ridiculous, but it was our fault.
Thankfully, when I spoke with our bank, I discovered that our overdraft had been removed when we updated our bank accounts.
Since we discovered that our bank accounts could be frozen if one of us died and we were not named on the budget, we had that changed immediately.
The bank forgot to add our overdraft protection and waived the non-sufficient funds charges. Phew.
Just remember, if you don’t pay your bills on time, the interest rate hikes because of your lack of organization will cost you.
Over time, an interest rate hike can amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars based on what you owe, including late payment fees.
The Bill Payment Schedule Budget Binder Printable
I recommend printing the free bill payment schedule available on my free downloads and money-saving tools page and using it each month.
If you think you’ve got it all sorted out or use a different system to track your monthly bills, that’s awesome.
However, for those who require support, there’s nothing better than using a visual aid, which we’ve created with this bill payment schedule.
It’s not only for us, but it’s also for you!
Happy Budgeting, friends.
Discussion: How do you track your monthly bill payments to ensure they are paid on time?
Leave me your comments below, and I’ll be sure to respond.
Income Report September 2019
Where did the money go in September?
In September, we bought paint for our bathroom and paid for our son to start swimming lessons and soccer as our 12-week session ran out.
They will be billing us monthly as they have changed the billing process.
We also paid for a year’s worth of pizza for our son at his school, a spirit shirt, donated money, and bought new shoes and pajamas.
Autism Assessment
Another significant hit to our budget was an assessment we had done for our son, which cost us $450, but our insurance company only paid $175.
You’ll also notice I paid $500 under my work category because I had to renew my yearly parking pass.
It’s ridiculous, but that’s just the way it is: expensive.
Again, our petrol costs were up due to all the traveling back and forth to deal with personal family issues.
I was happy to find a used flat-screen TV for my mother-in-law to use in her new home for only $60.
The person I bought it from was upgrading to a smart TV (which I will never buy again) and was selling her old TV at a low price.
That was our big bargain of the month.
This blog generates a decent monthly income, which I will disclose one day if you’re interested in the numbers.
It has taken me some time to start seeing some cash flow, but I’m happy to say it’s finally here.
I’ll continue to work on updating all of my blog posts, and from time to time, you may see a sponsored post; however, please keep in mind that they help support the running of this blog.
It’s not cheap to run a blog that offers you an income, as you must pay for many things to keep it running smoothly.
Anyway, that’s our month. I hope you had a significant budget month.
We look forward to seeing you at the beginning of November with our October budget update.
Mr.CBB
Budget Percentages September 2019
Our savings of 42.68% include investments and any protection for this month, based on the net income of $ 8,213.20.
We set aside money in our projected expenses for upcoming payments.
All categories accounted for 100% of our income, indicating that we covered all of the September payments.
Monthly Budget Expenses
Below is a breakdown of our expenses, which helps us understand where our money is going.
Since May 2014, we’ve been mortgage-free, so a significant portion of our money will be directed toward savings, investments, and renovations.
I appreciate that you look forward to receiving this budget update each month.
Still, I hope you view this as an educational tool rather than comparing your financial numbers, as our situations are unique.
Spending less than we earn and budgeting our money has been the easiest way for us to pay down debt and save money.
Budget Expenses and Bill Payment Schedule
- Chequing – This is the bank account where all our debts are paid.
- Emergency Savings Account– This is a high-interest savings account.
- Regular Savings Account– This savings account holds our projected expenses.
- Monthly Budgeted Total: $5902.63
- Monthly Net Income Total: $8213.20
- (Check out our Ultimate Grocery Guide to see where our grocery money goes.)
- Projected Expenses: These are expenses we know we will pay for throughout the year = $324.98
- Total Expenses Paid Out: $6902.00
- Total Expenses Paid Out: Calculated is $8213.20 (total net monthly income) – $324.98 (projected expenses) –$986.22 (savings to emergency fund) = $6902.00
- Actual Cash Savings going into Emergency Savings: Calculated is $8213.20 (total monthly net income) – $6902.00 (actual expenses paid out for the month) – $324.98 (costs projected) = $986.22
Monthly Budget Results
It’s time to review the juicy category numbers and see how we did with our monthly budget.
Below, you will see two tables; one is our monthly budget, and the other is our actual budget for July 2019.
Budgeted Amount
This Budget represents two adults and a toddler, as well as retirement investments.
Budget color chart: If highlighted in blue, it is a projected expense.
Actual Expenses
CBB Budget Updates Month By Month
If you missed our budget updates and would like to conduct a quick search, I’ve compiled them on a handy page: Monthly Budgets.
2019 Budget Challenge
When I was looking for people to join the CBB 2019 Budget Challenge in December, I had over 20 individuals express interest.
September 2019 Budget Challenge Update:
We started the year with 20 participants and are down to four.
I’m so proud of these budgeteers!
As our budget challengers progress, you may notice their budget reports increasing in data, which I expect, mainly because it’s a learning experience for everyone.
The more you do a task, the better you get at it and learn about what you are doing.
The budget reports below will remain anonymous unless the writer chooses to use their name; each will be unique.
They get to choose how they report their Budget back to us.
Here we GO!!!
Budget Challenge #1
This has been a fabulous month for us!
My husband has finished staining the house’s exterior, so we’ve been taking “day trips” frequently.
It’s also soup season again at our house! We’ve been trying new recipes and resurrecting some of our family favorites.
I have to say that my vegetarian roots are showing!
Very few soups in this month’s meal plan contain meat -2 / seafood -1.
Our scallops were bought on a BOGO sale, so we had to make a Scallop Chowder!
It was so good that it transported me back to our trip to Digby, NS, many years ago.
All the rest of the soups are strictly vegetarian, my personal favorites.
The first weekend of September was busy on Saturday, with early morning blood work at the lab, running to four different banks, and shopping at Costco, as hubby’s toothpaste was on sale.
Accounting And Investing Payment Schedule
On Sunday, I was up to my armpits in accounting…nearly 15 hours of it!
It’s cash-stashing time again!!
Remember back in April, I swept any spare funds into investments? Well, it’s that time again.
With the inverted bond yield curve predicting another recession, I want to invest as much money as possible before interest rates drop.
The Federal Reserve’s need to rush in with $ 200 billion to stabilize overnight lending markets doesn’t bode well for the economy’s stability.
Analysts predict that the Bank of Canada will be forced to start cutting rates again in October.
So…I have locked things in for 5-7-year terms at pretty decent rates. Once again, I feel broke.
Hubby tells me I’m not broke; I have nothing in my bank account. How is that not broken?
Emergency Savings Is A Must
I continue to keep our EMERGENCY ACCOUNT in cash; however, I am earning 3% at the moment.
It has two years’ net replacement income in it…just in case everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
I also have a month’s worth of cash in one of our safety deposit boxes as an additional buffer in case the Emergency Account falls short of our actual needs in a crisis.
I expect the final 2019 “cash stash” will occur towards the end of December when I once again transfer any “surplus” funds to our brokerage account.
You’d think I’d get used to feeling broke, but you have to understand that once funds are invested, they are never liquidated back into the Budget for general use.
Hubby says the funds will be gone until at least 203,2 when he turns 71, and I will be 7!
He’s smart, though…he put in his dibs for a new car purchase in 2020 when he received an inheritance from his Mom, and before I invested every penny other than the cost of the car. LOL
High-Interest Bank Account Change
On our 2nd weekend, we included a meeting with one of our bankers to change the kind of accounts in which we hold our cash.
I finally convinced my hubby to open a better-paying, high-interest account for his little “Mad Money” account.
I convinced him by explaining exactly how much interest money he had left on the table by letting his funds sit in a low-paying account.
Once that was out, the rest of the day was devoted to cooking and baking.
Recently, I reconnected with my longtime friend by telephone, whom I’ve known for almost 50 years.
I was sad to hear that life has been challenging for him, with severe medical issues, a failed marriage, and some nasty financial challenges resulting from his medical situation.
I had lost track of him when his marriage ended.
Later, I found out he is no longer in Ontario but has moved to Saskatchewan for a cheaper cost of living and better medical care for his particular illness.
Hubby met him and his now ex-wife many years ago when they were in BC.
So, I updated him on our friend’s life status.
We had a moment where we just stopped and gave thanks for having each other.
Neither of us is suffering a crippling illness nor is in such sad financial shape that we can’t afford a hot meal.
I think it’s essential to be grateful for what we have and how fortunate we are, even if I do like to whine and complain about feeling broke! Hahaha!
Dinner Celebrations
For the 3rd weekend in September, on Sunday, we met up with our friend for the “annual birthday celebration lunch” for her and my hubby.
We always go to Olive Garden partly because it doesn’t break the bank.
Thankfully, we got out of there for under $30, including the tip, by hubby having pasta with salad, breadsticks, and iced water.
I have a Virgin Caesar drink with olives and pickled onions, which they serve with it.
It’s less about the food anyway…and more about just catching up with one another.
Road Trips And My Payment Schedule
Our most extensive trip of the month was catching a ferry to Nanaimo for a wee visit with my girlfriend.
We haven’t seen her in a few years, but I talk to her every week.
There’s nothing like a good face-to-face chat, though, is there?
The Transportation and Parking Account picked up the tab for all the gas we used and the ferry costs…which, to me, are considerable.
It’s over $250 for a day trip between the gas and the ferry!
Fortunately, our Entertainment and Gifts Account was flush with cash so that we could spring for a lovely lunch at Whitespot for the three of us!
My girlfriend is 78 and not in good health, so who knows how many more chances we’ll have to spend time together.
Visiting with friends before the weather turns cold is an annual pastime for September.
With my fibromyalgia, I don’t tend to feel nearly as well when the weather is cold, wet, and blustery.
That, in turn, means we don’t tend to wander far from home or as frequently as we do in the summer.
Winter is my busiest time of year in accounting, so I am pleased we were able to enjoy as much quality time with our friends as we did this month.
Vacation Budget Update
Again, we remain on track with our vacation budgeting and have finished with $3,113.94 in our vacation accounts. However, let’s say that’s $1,500.00 for 2019 and $1,613.94 already saved for 2020.
Of the $1,500.00 allocated to 2019, we have already spent $200 on hubby’s early birthday celebration getaway, and I paid off the credit card as soon as the statement was issued.
That means we only actually have $1,300 remaining to spend on our 2019 vacation and have it planned out as follows:
Portland & Burlington – $400, Bellingham – $250, Bellevue – $650
Budget Challenge #2
Budget Challenge #3
Hey Mr. CBB,
September got away from me. I just realized I haven’t even read the posts from all the August participants in the challenge.
The last couple of months have sucked, to put things lightly.
September 1st started with the death of my grandmother.
It’s been a tough time, and as an emotional eater, I’ve resorted to fast food/restaurants more often than I should.
However, this has been a trend each month – I, for one, am a stress eater, and it’s something I will have to work on.
Vacation Payment Schedule
September also saw vacation time.
We vacation every September as my boyfriend’s work closes for a week, and we always go to PEI.
His family lives there; we don’t have too many costs as they usually house and feed us.
Hurricane
The biggest surprise of the month was the hurricane, which left us without power for six days and caused us to lose all our food.
I also went over my data plan budget because, well, I’m addicted to the internet, and I needed it to keep my sanity.
Budget Update
Outside of my usually allowed expenses, I went over the following:
Restaurants – $85
Groceries – I didn’t go over because I was on vacation and eating out so much, but we lost about $250 worth of groceries.
In some ways, it’s good, though, as it allowed me to clean out all those weird condiments from God knows when and get rid of the freezer-burned food.
Transportation – Having to visit family after my grandmother’s death and travel to another province, including bridge tolls and extra driving, put me at about $150.
Cellphone data: $5.75 extra on my bill (phew, I thought that would be much worse).
Budget Challenge #4
Here’s my September update.
Current Status 112% of Budget
Reflecting on the past months of my budgeting journey, I realize I have not given it my all.
The reason is that I have been struggling with anxiety and depression since having my baby.
All I want is for things to be easy; I know letting things go for the last few months will bite me in the butt one of these days.
However, I am secure knowing I have savings for such things.
I’m lucky to have quite a bit more time off until I return to work, though some days, I dream of returning to work so I don’t have to deal with the baby as much.
He’s so cute and a happy baby when he’s awake; the anxiety comes up when I have to put him down for a nap or bedtime, as he cries.
However, I know this won’t last forever, but I’m ready for this phase of his life to be over.
I recognize these feelings get worse when I don’t sleep enough, so that’s what I’m focusing on.
For now, I don’t want to be on medication.
Budget Payment Schedule Wins
I’ve been paying more attention to my Facebook mom’s group this month.
They sometimes have kids’ clothes available for a steal. I scored a big box full of baby clothes this month for free.
I couldn’t be happier that they all fit him and have come in handy.
It helps me want to be more giving in the future.
I’ve also been researching baby sleep, and I’m thankful to have a library nearby, so I don’t have to spend as much on reading materials.
We saved a little bit on auto because I’m using less gas. However, we did sign up for replacement cost insurance for my husband’s truck.
It gives us peace of mind in case he gets into an accident.
Our most significant monthly expense is the payments on his truck.
Budget Fails
Failed again with food, mostly eating out.
The easy stuff. Once I get my mood under control, maybe I’ll be better at restricting my family.
However, I am proud to say that we mostly cook at home on the weeknights; otherwise, I think we’d probably break the bank on this.
I also failed at saving this month; I didn’t put away as much as I wanted to because I lost my work maternity leave top-up.
We bought a few Christmas presents this month, which we took out of our misc category, so we spent a bit more than we budgeted.
That’s my update; see you next month!
This is invaluable to me. thank you so much!