You’ve got an apartment. Now you want to be sure and get the rent paid on time each month. That way, you won’t incur late fees, wreck your credit rating, or damage your relationship with the management (you’ll probably need them at some point down the road).
Six great ideas for keeping that rent paid on time:
- Set a calendar item in your phone for three days prior, with alerts one and two days before that. Then if you have to get the funds together, you’ll have a chance to round it up and get it paid.
- Better still: set up an automated payment from your checking account. Be aware, however, that these payments can take several days to generate. So if your rent is due on the 1st, best to set it up for the 20th-24th. You can inquire when the money is actually received.
- Set up a savings account to automatically transfer funds to your checking account, so if it’s short of funds, the savings will cover it. Throw any extra cash or unexpected windfalls into your savings account.
- Add a “pay the rent” note to any wall calendar or Daytimer, for the 26th of each month. (And buy a box of envelopes and a book of stamps to have on hand if you actually mail the rent).
- Ask your management company if they can auto-deduct your rent using a credit or debit card. They will keep it on file, so you might inquire how that is securely done. It could be risky to have your card numbers on a piece of paper in the manager’s file cabinet.
- Look at your lease and find out what the late fee is. Think of all the things you could do with that money instead, from a treat at Starbucks to a new piece of décor for your home.
Can you think of other ways to make sure the all-important task of paying the rent happens on time? We’d love to know them. Please share your comments!