| I learned this from my mother in law of all people. | | | | When that due date approaches, mail the payment. In |
| We're a farm family and have to write a lot of big | | | | my case I write down a date a few days before it's |
| checks from our operating loan. If you send the | | | | due and use that as the date I actually have to mail it. |
| payment early that means you're paying interest on | | | | That way I'm not figuring out when to send it several |
| that big payment sooner than you would have to. But, I | | | | times during the month, I just look at the envelope. If it |
| don't like to think I may miss a payment due date and | | | | says to mail it on the 20th, I hold it on my desk until the |
| get a late fee, so I tend to write out my check | | | | 20th. By doing this all my vendors get paid on time and |
| payments right away when I get the bill. But I don't | | | | I save hundreds (thousands by now) of dollars in |
| want to send them now, I want to wait. So here's | | | | interest. |
| what she taught me. | | | | When you're writing checks for fertilizer and fuel that |
| Write the due date on the bottom corner of your | | | | run $20,000 and more the interest payment on that |
| envelope. Address, stamp and seal the envelope just | | | | even over a couple of weeks starts to add up to a lot |
| as if you're going to send it right away, but write the | | | | of meals out. We save ourselves that expense by |
| due date on the corner so you know not to mail it yet. | | | | being diligent. |