Wednesday 8th Feb 2012 02:19 PM
Welcome to Qotion.com!
Qotion.com is a website for you to browse and discuss financial products. Currently, we are undergoing further development, and hope to serve you when we relaunch the site with new features.
Tue, 02/26/2008 - 01:34
I need a Credit Card alerts system to tell me when my bills are due and how much i have to pay.Late payment fees are probably gonna kill me, help!
I would expect other people to be in the same boat as you.
A credit card system alert is do-able. But perhaps such a system will require the person to manually key in the dateline and the bill due. And could it be easier to note it down in a notebook with the handphone tying in as an alarm?
But yes, I see a value in such a system.
What do the others say?
I'll agree!!
Perhaps not so "tedious" in those methods highlighted by JagFoo, here's my take on suggestions:
(1) Periodical alarms: Since credit card bills usually come around the same date each month, just ONE setting at the start is needed. E.g. 26th of the month, an alarm will remind me to expect my Citibank card bill (so I'd know to worry if the bill was lost in the mail) and on the 18th of the month (2days before due date), another alarm reminds me "Have you paid Citibank bill"? - and so on for the other cards. This can be done using HP alarms too.
(2) File together all bills in a folder, by bank, or by month, whichever works for you. Once a bill is paid, make a note or attach the receipt to it. Look through this file on a set day each week to keep up with unpaid bills.
(3) For those dilligent users, using a simple excel spreadsheet to keep track of all credit cards bills is good too. Chart all the monthly figures which come in, empty cells means you're "waiting" for a bill to arrive. Good way to also monitor month-to-month expenditure.
Hope these help! I practise these methods dilligently - never missed a bill ever =)
Hmm a simple excel spreadsheet & a file to keep track of all receipts will do the trick :)
Yep. An excel sheet will do the trick.
OR...like GOLDRIBBONS said, simply file them up, and note down the due ones.
Best is, spend using one or 2 credit cards, to keep the whole affair manageable.
GIRO is a good way too. I just applied for my Citibank GIRO payment today as a matter of fact! Do be warned that you might end up paying more (or less which is GOOD!) for the occasional erroneous bills.
==================================
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed - for lack of a better word - is good..."
My style of tracking is two way checking & cross referencing
Upon receiving the bill, i place it in a folder in with the earilest due date on the top and so so, place it somewhere where you will take notice of it. for me i bring it along with me everyday.
whenever i make a credit card payment, i update it into my excel file when purchased, what purchased, which bank, which card. Upon receiving the bill, i update the due dates into my excel file. As i keep a record of my expenses i tend to access the file everyday, so poping in on one of the tabs and taking a look every time i open that file is really 'shun pian' (along the way).
hmm..for me, usually after I use my credit card, after a few days, once the transaction is recorded in the online database, I will just proceed to make payments...I will not wait till end of the month to pay...
Firstly, i will not forget to make payments. Secondly, I will not get into debt..
Well Credit cards gives you the benefit of stretching your limit and planning ahead as it gives you 30 days of credit grace. And furthermore it offers rewards programs like discounts and points and some even offering cars or holidays.
Personally i feel... personal point of view.. paying immediately upon usage or when it appears ... means you dun make full use of the benefit of 30 days credit that the credit card offers. However like i mention, its P.O.V and everyone has their own preference.
I use Microsoft Money. It allows me to track all expenses, bills and investments in one place.
Visit the Den of the Lion Investor
Hmmm...worth considering.
Is it difficult to master?
u can request the bank to bill u on a certain date or within like end of the month, mid-month or beginning of the month.
my hp bill, cc bill come about the same time... so i just settle them once and for all when i have received all.... not that many also lah.....
or assign a particular day each month to make sure you go through the bills and write the cheques....
some self-discipline and organizing is needed only... no need to have a system
or can go back to good ol' sticky notes.
If you want, just use GIRO. Settle the bills once and for all - on autopilot.
The only thing irritating about GIRO is that you can't verify the individual expenses incurred and minus off. They only give the total sum deducted off like for my CC bill. So I have to log in to my internet banking account to manually check through with all my receipts.
Quite time wasting. Oh well...something's gotta give...
Jag
==================================
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed - for lack of a better word - is good..."
Gordon Gecko, "Wall Street", 1987
I've not tried before Microsoft Money. Used Quicken and it's pretty good. Pity they do not have the localized versison.
Maybe Qotion can come out with such applications. Any members here want?
Jag
==================================
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed - for lack of a better word - is good..."
Gordon Gecko, "Wall Street", 1987
i used to use giro for my hp bill
every month jus deduct.... so that i don't have to manually go pay bills
but it will deduct on time every mth regardless whether you have money inside or not....
may not be good for some..
STM (singtel mobile) has this giro-on-demand feature...
i haven't explored yet... going to sign up for it soon....
suppose to deduct when you want it to deduct... more control....
for credit cards, u can pay thru internet banking if u have an account with the bank
i do so for my UOB cards.
I would prefer payment of credit cards verse GIRO...GIRO, u just see your money disappear without knowing while credit cards always provide you with a statement at the end of the month...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contest theory: More entries = More chances - Concept of Probability.
Time & Tide waits for no Man.
I used to use a Program (lots of freeware actually) to settle my personal finance, take care of bills etc, but I tell ya, the habit really doesn't stick, after a few months (6 to be exact) I just simply got lazier & lazier & less up-to-date with keying in. Same for Excel too, I'm not keeping up with it anymore. The idea by Deathsender is good too, keep all stacked up in a file, earliest due dates on top. My file's getting thick but I'm on top of it!
Simple ideas work, NO, still no GIRO for me for now, but the method that has stuck with me forever is simply to key in the credit card's to-pay amounts & due dates into HP to-do list. Earliest payment date first, then whenever I'm out, just take a look @ the list & can pass by any ATM/AXS to pay. Works fine for 1 year now, never been late =)
I agree.. Sometimes simple things work the best, too complicanted stuff tends to makes things messy, so far i have never been late since i use the method of placing my bills with latest due date on the top. So each time i see, i will be able to know when's the due date for my bills...
I will never pay by GIRO as GIRO never gives me any benefits to do so. No lucky draws, no freebies, no rewards points ...etc ... i rather pay by other means to give me benefit to do so.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contest theory: More entries = More chances - Concept of Probability.
Time & Tide waits for no Man.
sharing this though not really applicable to SG
but i guess the basics are the same
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/money/5-sneaky-ways-you-re-ruining-your-credit-score-199379/
managed to clear all my debt in 1 shot yesterday...feel so great not to be tied down by debts!
BTW, anybody can answer this?
I mentioned I never used GIRO to pay for my card bills so that I can slowly go thru the items one-by-one. By the time I pay, I always try to pay on last day (payment due date) as, to follow Deathsender's mentality, the bank doesn't give me an incentive to pay early anyway. I keep $ elsewhere still have daily-rated interest.
For those who DO use GIRO, may I ask, which date does the bank deduct the $$ to pay the outstanding amount? Is it on the payment due date (last day) itself? Or on the first day, e.g. once the bill is issued to you, they take the $$ already???
Due date. Using giro is good. :)
Come visit the Den of the Lion Investor for more investing ideas.
http://www.lioninvestor.com
Come visit the Den of the Lion Investor for more investing ideas.
http://www.lioninvestor.com
Haha this is exactly what the CSOs from the banks always tell me whenever I call in for issued pertaining to credit cards. But still i'm their stubborn old customer who prefers to check bills 10x before I make the payment.
**Maybe coz in the past, I was forced by my mum to call the U.K. to dispute a payment (already) made on a web service which we already cancelled. Ugly experience, write emails and all too. Bank finally waived it after proof documents were submitted. Boo-hoo...
on my singtel mobile bill, the date the giro is deducted will be stated there (which is the due date of the bill)
usually i receive within the 1st week of the month, and the due date is every 27th of the month
i just applied for the giro-on-demand for my singtel bills
GIRO-On-Demand (GOOD) is a flexible on-line payment mode that lets you control how much and when you want to pay. It allows you to pay for your SingTel bills as well as for others. With GOOD, you initiate when and how much to be deducted from your nominated bank account. It is a convenient and secure on-line payment mode that does not require you to open an Internet banking account.
You need to fill up the GOOD application form just once for your payment transactions. Please make sure you have activated your account in SingTel myBill before submitting the application form.
anyone tried this?
http://www.mint.com
http://www.mint.com
This is great to know how resourceful our very own members are. The Qotion.com team has been working on this ever since before the site was re-launched. There will be a similar engine soon...
How? Any comments on the usefulness or particular feature which is a must-have?
hmm...it's an american site?
i registered...anyhow entered 5 digits for american postal code...haha
My thoughts:
For me, i always make it a point to pay credit cards bill via AXS/SAM machine..
Why? well, i feel that would make me feel more disciplined, and the fact paying MANUALLY realli allows me to control spending next time.
Using GIRO to pay for c.c bills, well..yup its hassle free and you wont miss any payment..
but then, without checking i-banking transaction, the money will kinda like disappeared easily, and my wallet wont feel so "hurt"..haa
i am using this method to pay for my citibank credit card bills...
however, i am using e-payment for my uob cards. Reason being i have internet banking with uob and savings account with them and therefore it is much easier to pay the bills at home straight.
This is a TEST Comment
Salman Khan
Salman Khan
http://www.google.com/