We tend to get so busy in our lives that we miss out the simplest but the most crucial things- making sure our bills are paid in time.
The simple solution would be to come up with a simple checklist that will tell you to see at a glance what are the bills that you have paid and what is outstanding. I’ve made a checklist for myself and I’ve included a sample of the checklist in Word document. Please feel free to download and modify the file for your own payment.
Download the file Checklist for bill due date
Else you can also draw the table in your organizer so that you can see it at a glance. I actually drew it on my notebook that I carry around with me all the time.
You may arrange according to the bill due dates, or you can modify the due date to be between 3 to 7 days earlier than the actual date to ensure you pay on time.
As for bills, you can assign standing instruction or direct debit so that either your banking or credit card account are automatically debited every month for the bill payment.
However, I usually don’t autobill the few main utilities bill like Telekom, TNB or Streamyx because it takes time to set up the instructions- 2 to 3 months and equally long to cancel or reassign to new card (which happens when we change credit card numbers due to lost or stolen card). These bills you can conveniently pay by online banking service or at ATM machines of selected banks- no need to queue at the post office and have to double park.
Setting up online standing instruction is probably a one time pain- but a lifelong convenient. Online banking enables you to pay your bills anytime the fancy hits you at the convenience of your own home. You only have to go through some initial steps of figuring out how their system works and setting up the online banking.
The only thing you need to remember is never respond to any emails asking you for your online login and passwords. These emails are not sent by the banks but by hackers who wanted to obtain your login information. Despite Bank Negara, all banks and the paper issuing warning after warning, many people are still falling to the trap by providing the information. Once you get that straight, you are all set.
