I did, I slipped up a bit, but luckily not too much.
I've been feeling pretty proud of myself these days. Always some money in the bank, no late fees lately, and all of my bills are scheduled to be paid on time or early. Until this morning...
I hadn't been checking my checking account every morning like I had been doing this summer. Instead, this week I rode the wave of over confidence. Instead of knowing my balance to the penny, I spent the week guessing how much I had and doing what I believed to be underspending. Well, this morning I got quite a surprise, and not the good kind.
I still was in the black, but realized that one credit card bill was not showing. It should have cleared $80 on Oct. 9th, but it didn't and it was already Oct. 12th. Hmmm....
After further investigation, I realized that I had forgotten to set up an automatic debit for that credit card. Therefore, I was charged a $35 late fee on the 9th instead of seeing a payment made. It's my own fault for not checking my budget daily.
Live and learn. On the bright side, I've been enjoying the thought of being almost done paying my Citibank card. I have one more $125 payment this month (tomorrow) and then a $30 or so last payment on the same account. I get to see that payment in my rear view mirror, and I can't wait.
Also, Larry has offered to take the kids under his health insurance. That means that I will be paying only single person coverage at $600 per month instead of family coverage at $1,300 per month. Wow, a $700 savings per month, or roughly $350 every two weeks? That will feel like heaven at first after a short honeymoon of treating the kids to a nice dinner out and maybe a movie or go karts or something. However, I plan on putting part of that savings into my daughter's college fund and another part of it into a savings account which I plan to add to every paycheck.
It feels good to plan like this. It makes me feel so much more in control than I felt last July.
It is likely you will also take a hit to your credit score with that late payment. However, you can always try calling the creditor and explain that it was a simple oversight. They may be willing to give you a pass if you have been a good customer in the past. It happened to me a few months ago when I was traveling on business and inadvertently scheduled the payment for after the due date. As soon as I realized that it posted late, I called and they removed the negative entry.
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