3 Reasons American's Aren't Paying Bills On Time

I was shocked recently to learn that over a quarter of Americans regularly don’t pay their bills on time.  I was even more shocked to learn that this is not just a result of not having the funds.  Actually there are 3 reasons, besides having the money, that top the chart of reasons why Americans are paying their bills late. 

1.      Don’t want to/Don’t Care- there is a lot of talk about how younger generations have very different priorities and this has to be an example of that.  In a recent survey of young adults (18-24) who regularly miss payments or don’t pay their bills on time many of them listed that they “don’t care about paying” the bill as a reason.  WOW, what a message that sends.  Many listed that they don’t feel they owe the bill as a reason as well.  While they did note they know that the late/non payments are hurting their credit and their future they still didn’t care.

2.      Slips their mind- Americans today are busier than ever.  With increasing workplace demands, ever growing list of social obligations, and the list of activities they want to participate in; it’s no surprise that things occasionally get missed.  Bills are delivered in a variety of methods by email, mail, and even text messaging but they already know what is inside those emails, envelopes, and notifications.  If they arrive at an unfavorable time people just skim right over them planning to open them later, but that isn’t happening.  If the bill does get opened it then is possibly tossed in a drawer or added to a stack of other similar items that Americans just aren’t ready to handle at that moment.  Sadly the bills stay unopened or lying in a pile of to do’s and are simply forgotten.  The only reminder comes in the form of a late payment charge or shut off letter.  So even though the funds were there and they had the best on intentions to take care of the bills, they simply forgot.

3.      Have misappropriated the funds- learning to build and stick to a budget used to be taught in school; however, more and more Americans learn money management through trial and error.  Budgeting consists of much more than scanning your banking app to see if there is enough money for a fancy coffee or new pair of kicks.  Building budgets that plan ahead and then sticking to them is another reason many Americans can’t get their bills paid on time.  People who were surveyed and responded that they didn’t have the money to take care of a bill were then asked why.  Was it that they simply don’t make enough to cover all their monthly expenses or that they make enough money to pay all their bills but choose to spend it on other unplanned expenses?  Many people remarked that they just ended up spending the money somewhere else.  That is a very dangerous financial habit!

So what do you think?  People usually assume that not paying your bills on time only happens when you simply aren’t making enough to make ends meet.  For the first group that don’t care to take care of bills on time a lesson will be learned when it comes time to apply for a loan.  For the other two groups a few simple changes can lead to having bills taken care of on time consistently.   Having a bill payment service monitor and disburse funds each month is a great way to stay caught up without carving out precious time to monitor all your accounts yourself.  Considering that most companies charge a penalty for late payments having and account administrator could actually pay you…

To learn more about bill pay services and what they can do for you CLICK HERE.