Cheat Sheet - how to make sure those payments get made on time

One of the things that can easily cause adverse credit for sole proprietors and small businesses is not paying bills on time. Not only that, but missed payments cost money - in late fees and often in interest. And sometimes one or two late payments can cause interest rates on credit cards to go through the roof.

So, in addition to a bookkeeping tool like QuickBooks or Quicken, I keep a cheat sheet called "Bills" posted on my office wall. It lists all of my bills - personal and business - as well as the amounts, the accounts they come out of by due dates.

And while many of us try to pay bills as they come in, sometimes things get missed - mail gets mis-delivered, statements get mixed in with junk mail or delayed. But I'm still responsible for making payments on time. With my little cheat sheet, any time during the month I can just glance up on my cheat sheet and be reminded of all of my regular bills.

I find that this little tool carries me a long ways towards reducing my anxiety about making timely payments.