Set Up Reminders to Avoid Late Fees

Do you have your 2012 calendar yet? I got my Moleskine calendar on sale and I'm ready to go. This year, I'm also going to keep reminders and tasks in my Google calendar.

When I worked in CorporateWorld, I used my work calendar in this way to remind me of projects and deadlines. I really prefer paper over virtual when it comes to meetings and planning (I know it's odd given what I do all day). For those tasks and standing appointments, I do better if I get a pop-up or email reminding me.

I'm returning to reminder method for everything and several reminders will be for bill due dates. While we do pay our bills online to save, there are a few bills that are variable each month (electricity, water, cable, etc). And I'm not comfortable with anyone doing an auto-draft from our checking account so I continue to pay them online as soon as I receive them.

Or I should say as soon as I receive them. Last year, things were quite crazy with my work schedule and me trying to get into a routine that we did actually pay several late fees. It wasn't because the funds weren't available, it was truly because I was disorganized (I will 100% own that).

I know if I had a reminder set up, I would have physically stopped what I was doing and looked for the bill to pay. I'm also using Mint.com this year to help with reminders (more on that in a few weeks as I've just started using it again since I didn't like it before). For now, I have all of our due dates in my Google calendar (which is free) to avoid paying ANY late fees in 2012.

Do you have any ways you stay on task with your monthly payments to avoid those annoying late fees?

Have a great tip to help someone save more?
Share your Everyday Savings Tip and you can win cash each week!

Disclaimer: This post contains a link to an affiliate. See my Disclaimer Policy for additional information.