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Paying Your Bills/Pagando Sus Deudas1
Mary N. Harrison and Nayda I. Torres2Paying Your Bills
Pay your bills when they are due. It is important. Paying late hurts your credit rating. Paying bills slowly means credit will cost more. Credit becomes harder to get.Always mail your payments early enough for the creditor to get it by the due date. Due dates are printed on your bill. Payments must, by law, be recorded when it is received. Payments mailed, but not received by the due date, are late.
Read your contract carefully. Learn what happens if you make a late payment or miss a payment.
You may have to pay a late fee. Late fee amounts depend on the credit agreement. The kind of credit used affects the late fee amount too. Many credit cards charge $20 to $30 for a late fee. Other types of credit, the late charge may be more. Late house payments, for example, may be $65. Credit contracts must tell you if late fees are charged. Your contract will also tell you how much it will be.
Total unpaid balance of the debt comes due in some credit contracts. Missed car payments can be an example. The lender may repossess the car if you don't pay the balance off in full.
Non-payment on credit cards adds interest to the amount owed. Credit cards may also add interest from the date posted. You lose the grace period on purchases made during the month.
Credit Cards
Credit card companies send a periodic (monthly) bill. The bill lists all purchases and payments. The total amount of your monthly credit card bill depends on how much you have charged. Amount due is different each month. The minimum payment is a percentage of the unpaid balance.
You have choices in how much of the bill you pay:
If possible, pay the total amount. Pay at least the minimum amount every month. The quicker you pay the less interest you will have to pay.
- Pay the total amount of the bill.
- Pay the stated minimum amount.
- Pay between the minimum amount and the total amount.
Installment Loans
These are credit contracts for buying things and paying for them over a stated time (example: one year). The payment is the same amount each month. You usually are given a "payment book" and do not get a bill each month. You must take a receipt out of the book each month and send it along with your payment to the creditor.
Credit Reporting Agencies
A credit reporting agency keeps these records:
Creditors check your record when you apply for credit. If you pay your bills promptly, you will be able to get the credit you need. If you are slow to pay, you may have trouble getting credit.
- Who you owe
- How much you owe
- How prompt you are in paying.
Pagando Sus Deudas
Es importante pagar sus facturas antes de la fecha de vencimiento. Si paga tarde su registro de crédito se afectará. Si usted es lento al pagar sus deudas, el crédito le costará mas. También, le será mas difícil obtener crédito.Siempre envie los pagos de manera que le llegue al acreedor antes de la fecha de vencimiento. La fecha de vencimiento está escrita en la factura. Por ley los pagos tienen que ser registrados cuándo son recibidos. Si el pago ha sido enviado pero no se ha recibido antes de la fecha indicada, se considera como un pago tardío.
Lea su contrato de crédito con cuidado para saber que va a pasar si el pago es tardío si no lo hace.
Con las tarjetas de crédito, usted recibe facturas periódicamente (mensuales). La factura incluye la lista de los cargos y los pagos que ha hecho. Usted puede pagar la cantidad total, o puede pagar la cantidad mínima permitida. Si le es posible, pague la cantidad total. Si no puede hacer el pago total, asegúrese de pagar la cantidad mínima. Mientras más ligero pague, menor será el interés que tendrá que pagar.
- Puede que tenga que pagar un cargo adicional. La cantidad del cargo adicional depende del acuerdo y de la clase de crédito que usó. Muchas tarjetas de crédito cobran entre $10 y $20 por pagos tardíos. En otros tipos de crédito el cargo puede ser más alto. Por ejemplo, en el pago del préstamo de la casa, le pueden cobrar hasta $50. Su contrato del crédito tiene que indicar si hará una multa para pago recibido tárde y tiene que indicar la cantidad de la multa.
- Con algunos contratos de crédito el total del balance adeudado se vence immediatamente. Por ejemplo: si no hace el pago del automóvil, usted quizás tenga que pagar el total que debe o el auto será reposeído.
- Con tarjetas de crédito, los intereses son añadidos por el período que no ha pagado. Algunas tarjetas de crédito también añaden interés desde el día que el cargo fue hecho en su cuenta durante el mes anterior. Usted pierde el período de gracia en los cargos hechos durante el mes. Algunos añaden un cargo por pago tardío.
El total de la cantidad adeuda en su tarjeta de crédito depende de cúanto usted ha cargado. La cantidad adeudada varía de un mes a otro. El pago mínimo es un porciento del balance adeudado y varia dependiendo del total adeudado.
Los contratos de ventas son usados para comprar artículos y pagarlos durante un período de tiempo (ejemplo: un año). El pago es la misma cantidad todos los meses. Por lo general usted recibe un "libro de pagos" y no recibe una factura mensual. Usted tiene que mandar el recibo del libro de pago con el pago del mes.
Las agencias que reportan sobre el crédito mantienen un registro de a quien usted le debe y la cantidad adeudada. También mantienen un registro de la prontitud con que usted paga. Cuando usted solicita crédito el acreedor revisará su registro. Si usted paga sus deudas con prontitud, usted recibirá el crédito que necesita. Si usted es lento al pagar, usted puede tener problemas si desea obtener crédito.
Footnotes
1. This document is FCS 5047, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date: July 2000. First published: January 1994. Revised: December 2005. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu2. Mary N. Harrison, Professor, Consumer Education, and Nayda I. Torres, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.