When living with roommates, paying bills on time may end up being a problem if one, if not all roomies ar
e on top of things. With multiple roommates, it becomes even more difficult to make sure each person is contributing their portion in a timely manner. Everyone can get wrapped up in their own day-to-day responsibilities and forget about paying their bills at the beginning or end of the month. Here are a few tips to avoid problems when sharing bills:
- Create a filing system for everyone. Sort bills that are unpaid and paid for better organization.
- Setup accounts with more than one person on the account, preferably 2 responsible roommates. This keeps more people accountable and tends to keep up awareness of unpaid bills.
- Check your account to make sure you have enough funds to cover the bill before you cut a check. This will prevent overdrafts from occurring in your personal bank account.
- Make sure charges on the bill are correct. Cross-referencepaid bills with unpaid to make sure there isn’t a mistake made by the company. This also allows you to keep other roommates informed as to what’s going on with your bills.
- Keep communication levels up. If there is a change in payment amount, make sure your roommates know. They may be in the habit of writing checks for recurring payments, and end up writing a check for an incorrect amount.
Source: Creditcards.com
Picture Courtesy of: catd_mitchell
Posted: August 15, 2011