Setting up Automatic Payments

Photo Credit:LendingMemo.com

I have a bad habit of losing track of what I'm doing, only to realize later that I didn't do something I was supposed to.  This has led to countless times I've set myself back by incurring late payment fees.  On multiple cards!  No more.  My game plan for tonight was simple: take a look at my credit cards and get an idea of what I owe, and if possible, set up automatic payments.

So I looked through my four credit cards and got the following information: interest rates on each card, amount of interest I've paid this past month, how much the minimum was this past month as well as the due dates, and how much total I owe both in minimum payments as well as interest rates.

The results were at once expected and shocking.  I think the most shocking was that one of my cards interest rates had shot up to 23.99%. This was a weird deal I made with the credit card company devil that I had forgotten about until now.  They promised me a low interest rate for one year if I signed up for automatic payment, which I agreed to.  The stipulation was that after a year, my interest rate would go up.  I was in the middle of work and sick to my stomach with debt at the time, and all I could think about was lower interest rate.

Actually, now that I think about it, I had called them as a mission to try and lower my interest rates on my cards to try and make a dent in my debt.  This was about a year and a half ago.  I'm pretty sure my debt has gone up since then.  So I'm now being charged three different interest rates depending on what money I've owed at what time of "purchase". I haven't purchased anything on that card since I can remember, so I'm almost positive any interest charged after the fact was interest. It couldn't be late payments because, as we've established, I set up automatic payment!!

So, my mission when Monday rolls around is to try and get that interest issue taken care of. I doubt they will give me a lower rate.  If they don't...well, the only thing I can do is what Mint advises me to do...pay of my highest interest card first.  Then I'll never touch Discover again.

The being said, I added up how much I pay in interest every month: $343.  That's IF I don't make any more purchases or incur any more fees. So I worked into my Mint "Pay off Credit Cards" goal plan.  It projects I should reach my goal by March 2019.  If I stick to the plan, of course.  My goal is to get that down a lot sooner, but for now, it'll do.

Come to think of it, I should probably just set up the automatic payment for Discover to take out the current minimum AND the $343, then I don't have to worry about missing it.  The problem is I'm afraid I'll overdraft on my account if I forget to put money into it.  Then again, I've always remembered that I needed the money in there by a certain time...decisions, decisions....

All in all, it's been an intense evening looking at my finances.  I have the Mint app...I've been using Mint for years, and it has kept me at least knowing where I stand financially and from overspending.  Now hopefully I can use its features to help me actually control my finances.

I've gone off topic a little too much...

TLDR; I set up automatic payments and set aside enough payments to pay for interest on all cards each month. Not bad, considering how I've been putting off doing that for months!!! I'm proud of myself.

And now, time for sleep. Thanks for reading!