The postal strike starting Friday is the most common way vast numbers of people destroy their credit. You have to remember that every debt that you signed for has a clause that states that the company is not responsible for sending you bills or statements. It’s YOU that’s responsible for paying every month by the due date!
Yes, most do send statements, but they don’t have to. Yes, many of your bills may be automatic payment from your account. But you have to get a list together of the bills that are not auto pay.
That’ll include your credit cards, maybe your cell bill, utilities, etc. In fact, credit card issuers love a postal strike. It’ll have a massive impact on their profits because they’ll charge you $30 to $40 the day after you missed a payment.
Call the 800 number on your credit card to get the date your payment is due and the balance, or minimum payment amount.
Make sure your cell bill is paid. The report to the credit bureau and can destroy your credit over a $40 or $50 issue. You can pay it at your bank or pay it at one of their retail locations.
Pay your utility bills, property tax installments, or insurance at your financial institutions as well. You just need the account number and they’ll be able to process it that day.
If you manually pay your vehicle payment to Ford, Honda, or whoever, you can drop it off at a dealership. They have a courier going to Ford Credit, Honda Credit or whoever once a day. Just make sure you get a receipt that you did drop it off. If it doesn’t get to your loan, you need proof you did pay it or you’ll never get your late charges reversed or your credit rating restored!
It’ll take you five minutes to list the bills you need to pay. If you don’t, saving that five minutes can cost you five to seven years of problems with your credit ratings! You should have this list and a plan on how to pay your bills anyway. In the Money Tools book, it’s one of the top 20 things that actually make you a financial adult!