Keeping track of credit card payment due dates
After forgetting to pay a credit card bill one month 馃槥 , I first called the company to credit the fee 馃檶 and then came up with a system to make sure that I will never forget again.
- Schedule a recurring transaction for when the statement closes and tag it blue
- Schedule a recurring transaction for when payment is due and tag it red
- After the statement closes, I reconcile. Then, I go to my CC company's site and schedule the automatic payment. After scheduling the payment, I return to YNAB and change the "Statement Closes" transaction into the actual scheduled payment and tag it green.
- Don't delete the Payment Due transaction until the due date - you don't want to delete your recurring transaction.
With this system, I am able to look at YNAB, see the red and green tags, and know that I am good to go. If I see red and blue, I know that I haven't yet scheduled the payment.
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This is a very clever solution! I just changed all my cards to the same due date and created a recurring task in my to do list app. A non-YNAB solution, but coupled with having automatic minimum payments turned on (just in case) it鈥檚 worked wonderfully.
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My answer - don't. Instead, once per week I check in on my budget and as part of that log into my credit card app and pay the current balance. This way I'm always paid up, don't risk the due date, don't risk having my Age of Money impacted by single large credit card payments, and avoid the possibility of "living on float."
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Cadet Blue Mask (28dfb84175b2) OMG I do this too! I pay my credit card bill at the end of every week. I don't even know when my bill is due. Its awesome to not worry about dates because the process takes cares of it.
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Matt I used to do this, but then I discovered two problems with this approach. First, since you always pay off this month's transactions before the statement closes, this credit card appears as unused on your credit report. Second, some credit cards calculate benefits based on statement balance (as opposed to the daily balance). What I do is waiting for the statement to post and pay it off the next day (before the due date -- I am definitely NOT advocating to carry balance, this is a harmful myth).
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I put the due date in the name of the Credit Card. Chase 13th. I need to keep things simple.
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Slate Gray Lion (b9297737fda8) I do this, too! And then I order my bills based on due date. This made it MUCH easier for me to budget when I was initially budgeting paycheck to paycheck. Now that I am budgeting a month (or more!) ahead, it matters less. But I still like to make sure I know when all my bills are actually due!
Also, in my recurring bills memo line I make a note if they are auto-pay (like my cell phone) or I have to manually pay (like my electric bill). Once I have paid the non-auto-pay bill I can put the confirmation number in the field.
Having a recurring transaction, the due date in the name, and the auto-pay status in the memo, serves as a another check that I am on top of it and that it was paid, and on time.
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Slate Gray Lion (b9297737fda8) This is what I do to, also have them listed in order of due date, and have a ** next to ones that need to be paid manually.
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Cyan Cartridge Yeah, I do the same, it just seems to me, adding a Due Date would be far easier. It does not violate any of the 4 principles.
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I added a "Note" (below the "Goals" section in the right hand screen that pops up when I click on each credit card) that says when the due date is. But I go in an pay off all my credit cards every couple of weeks (similar to prior posters).
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So many great suggestions here!
Another one: put all those bills on auto-pay, and just watch the transactions sail in to your account.
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Jen - YNAB Team great if your auto pay amount doesn't change. I have my cell phone, cable/phone/internet and insurances auto pay. don't like it for my credit cards since those amounts fluctuate but if i consolidate my 2 cc's to a loan, that's going on autopay since its a set amount
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Tomato Sloth (b8c84b13d752) I have my credit card on auto-pay even though I pay off the balance in full every month and the amount is different each time. Doesn't your bank or credit card provider or whatever allow you to set it up like that?
Then because you have budgeted everything in YNAB the money will just be sitting in your checking account when the transfer comes in.
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I just pay them all at the turn of the month, when I budget for the next month. And the minimum is on auto-pay in case I ever forget.
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Coral General (06c6b62b9aa9) i like this idea of putting the minimum on autopay
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Tomato Sloth (b8c84b13d752) I did this after just missing the due date because of the inconsistent number of days cit takes for payments from my bank to post to my credit card. I then manually pay the extra amount. This is for cards I鈥檓 paying off. For the card I use for everyday transactions to earn cash back, I make lump sum payments every couple of weeks.
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MXMOM Interesting about your bank's bill pay. Mine (First Internet) is liable for any late fees/etc. for payments delivered after the date I specify.
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Great tips everyone! I'm going to try to synch up due dates and set up auto-pay minimum this weekend. Might still keep my little system as a safety net for now. It was my first credit card fee and it was a little eye-opening. Fortunately the company credited it back to me.
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i would go nuts with all those colors :-) what i've done is set goals for the months and then just put a note on it with the due date. Since I look at YNAB daily, it works for me
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I'm with Jen. Am a paid in full each month user on most of my credit card and automatically pull the total amount due each month from previous statement. All my spending is budgeted spending. Sure, my payment changes each and every month, and the money is sitting in the category to pay my card in full, today. Have set up my accounts to pull full amount of last statement out every month. It is paid in full on the due date. Before that, I keep the money in an interest bearing account, the same one the card pulls from. I get maximum mileage out of those dollars set aside to pay the card in that while the money is set aside for the card payments, it's earning a little interest while it sits in my account.
Since I use my cards for just about all spending (cash back rewards) there is almost always a balance on the cards, this month's spending which was not included in last months statement, and I never pay a dime on interest or fees. I earn 2% on credit card spending and another 1.3% on money in savings (Synchrony). I believe this means I earn 3.3% on my credit card spending. It isn't much and it's much better than nothing.
This will not work if you carry any balance. If you carry a balance, purchases are charged interest from the day charged.
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Just to add another suggestion, I set up my payments as soon as the bill hits, if it鈥檚 not an automatic subscription cost. I can set the payment date to the due date, and then enter the amount for that expected future date in YNAB.
One thing to watch out for with this method: Your bank will likely withdraw the money earlier than your due date, so if you set your future payment to the due date, an auto-import might duplicate your work.
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I keep an ongoing scheduled transaction in YNAB for the due date. When my statement closes, I schedule the payment for the upcoming month with my bank, and enter the new amount in the scheduled YNAB transaction. Then I add to the memo line the month of the payment I just entered. For example, I just paid yesterday, and my statement will close Sunday. On Sunday, I'll find out how much I'll owe in December. I'll schedule the December payment, change the amount in YNAB from $1234.56 to $2345.67 or whatever, and then change the memo from "November" to "December."
As I look at my list of scheduled transactions, I know that when I see a transaction which will come out in December which has "December" in the memo, it means the amount is correct and that I've scheduled the transaction. If the memo still says "November" but the date is December, I know I need to investigate.
If I could, I'd put my CC on auto pay but my bank are (insert unkind word) and they only allow you to autopay the minimum. Thy don't want us deadbeats who pay it off every month to be able to do that any too easily!
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Both my credit cards are due on the 1st, I do the majority of my YNABing on the weekend that follows payday (the 20th). So, that is when I pay my credit cards. That way I never have to worry about forgetting.
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All these workarounds and Im sitting here thinking "why hasnt YNAB put in a tab under Reports with a simple calendar function?"
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Cadet Blue Griffin (2f117398f504) put that in their suggestion box!
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I have due dates right in the name of my bill in YNAB. For example it says, "Capital One ($25/9th)" so right there it says what the bill is, what the minimum payment is and when it is due. Since I look at my budget most days, I don't forget. As a matter of fact, I've gotten to the point where I know all my due dates by heart. I also have them listed in order of due dates, which somebody already suggested but I find extremely helpful.
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All of my credit cards are on autopay except the 2 big ones. For those I configure the payment when I get the statement.
As far as the transactions are concerned for the manual ones, when I set up the payment, I enter it into the register now and add the confirmation number to the memo field. Then change the date back to the date it will be paid. This separates it from the recurring ones that have not been set up yet.
No confirmation number, then it hasn't been configured yet.
For the ones on autopay, I update the amount when the statement closes and reconcile the account.
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I use a combination of:
1. Online bank notifications of payment due, payment posted.
2. Automated payment of statement balance on due date for my PIF budgeted spending on rewards cards
3. Automated payment of other amount (higher than minimum payment) as part of a payoff plan for on card with remaining pre-YNAB debt (@ 0% interest)
4. Scheduled transactions in YNAB for the due dates of the various payments mentioned above.
This does require that I pay attention to when my statements close. I do that via my mobile phone's reminder system.
Love reading about all the other ways to do this.
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Why not just add a Due Date Attribute, why are the creative solution when YNAB Devs can just add a Due Date.
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Hi ynabHammer !
You can submit a Feature Request to let our Product Team know you'd like to see this option added! :)
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Faness Thanks, Will do
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ynabHammer Sorry, I meant to say why are there so many creative solutions for tracking due dates when YNAB can just add a due date field.
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ynabHammer Because a Due Date field doesn't solve the problem and takes up screen real estate. Just add it to the category name, and you have it without waiting on YNAB or forcing others to have it.
The real issue is getting you to arrange payment, not having the due date visible at a glance.
It's a To Do function. Whether you cobble together something with scheduled transactions, kludge reminders on a calendar, or use a dedicated To Do app is your call.
Personally I think it makes the most sense to integrate these with all the other to-do tasks in your life. Process consistency is a good thing.
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dakinemaui Not sure how that is true and one should be able to sort on Due Date, Its a simple requirement that makes life easier. Plus if you are adding this to the category name then moving categories around, is that not the same thing. Not sure from a UI/UX Point of view how one fld would take up UI real estate.
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ynabHammer I agree sorting makes budgeting easier, which is why it is very common to add it to the category name and then drag the category to sort by date within the group. Don't hold your breath on YNAB making such a change.
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Leonid99 said:
What I do is waiting for the statement to post and pay it off the next day (before the due date -- I am definitely NOT advocating to carry balance, this is a harmful myth).No, it's not. I've been only paying my statement balance on the day it's due for many, many years. The cash to pay the remainder of the balance is sitting in my account, not the credit issuers'. It is not harmful in any way.
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Superbone said:
No, it's not.Which part of my comment are you disagreeing with?
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Leonid99 "I am definitely NOT advocating to carry a balance, this is a harmful myth."
I always have a balance but pay no interest by paying my statement balance on the due date. There is always 1-2 months of transactions on my credit cards depending on where I'm at in the cycle. There is nothing harmful about this when you have the cash to pay them off sitting in your account at all times. But maybe you were talking about keeping an interest bearing balance? In that case, of course not. As Dave Ramsey says: Debt is dumb! 馃檪
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Superbone Pretty clear they were talking about paying the statement balance immediately following the closing date.
Personally I'd consider missing out on that interest to be the harmful practice. Not to mention I can automate the payment on the due date in my bill pay service and not take the chance I make a mistake arranging payment manually.
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dakinemaui That鈥檚 what I understood as well but I was under the impression he was saying it was harmful to carry the balance until it was due. That鈥檚 what I was in disagreement about. I鈥檓 with you in that I want got gain maximum advantage from my credit cards.
I stopped using my bill pay service and have each credit card issuer pull the statement balance from my account on it鈥檚 due date. This way it is on the credit card issuer if they were not to get their payment in time for some reason (assuming you always have a large enough balance to cover it of course.) I鈥檝e never had this issue to date though.
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I have a text file open in one of my always open terminals where I keep 2 months of credit card/loan due dates listed with the current status based on where in the cycle I am.
For example, I'm currently in the Due November/Due December Cycle on everything:
Due November:
CapOne (02) - Budgeted
BoA (03) - Paid 10/9
Chase (14) - Budgeted
BH (16) - None
Car (14) -
Due December:
CapOne (02) -
BOA (03) - Budgeted
Chase (14) -
BH (16) - None
Car (14) -
Not a fancy method, but it works for me and keeps me organized.
No Status - not due yet/no statement yet and not budgeted yet (although for credit cards, each transaction will have been budgeted for already of course, this basically just means the statement hasn't posted yet for me to verify everything, or in the case of the car I haven't hit the part of my budget cycle where I budget the funds to the car payment category).
None - no activity for the period.
Budgeted - Statement posted, everything verified and budgeted to pay it (exception is BOA which just has one transaction per month, so I don't have to wait for the statement to post to verify).
Scheduled - Payment Scheduled.
Paid - Payment posted.
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Google Calendar, reminders and task lists. Even my kids have their own calendars so we can allstay on top of everything, and it's portable.
On the other hand, getting your statement should be enough reminder that you need to set up your payment.
