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"The last thing any of us need in this economy is late fees. (The average charged by credit card companies is a whopping $39.) But when you&amp;#039;re living paycheck to paycheck and juggling bills&amp;#039; due dates, these painful penalties may feel unavoidable. Worse, they can cost you doubly: &amp;quot;Not only do they add to your debt, but if you&amp;#039;re late enough, they can increase your credit card interest rates because you appear to be a bigger risk,&amp;quot; says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for credit-reporting company Experian North America. To the rescue: these smart strategies. Follow this insider advice to minimize or even eliminate late fees. Understand Your Deadlines First, get to know your lender&amp;#039;s policies. If your mortgage statement says payments are due on the first but late fees are charged only after the 15th, don&amp;#039;t assume mid-month is your real deadline. &amp;quot;Your mortgage company may assess a late fee even if the check arrives just a few hours past the 15th,&amp;quot; says Sweet. If you need some wiggle room, do a little research to determine how much time you have before you&amp;#039;ll be hit with a late fee. Rick Doble, coauthor of Cheaper: Save $5,000 a Year and More, advises reading the fine print on the back of a bill to learn the lender&amp;#039;s rules and making a call to confirm that you understand them and to make sure that the company won&amp;#039;t report your payment as late even if the late fee hasn&amp;#039;t kicked in. To make sure you don&amp;#039;t accidentally forget a payment, write the bill&amp;#039;s due date on the envelope you got it in and stack your bills in due-date order, or write the dates on a calendar in red \u2014 and then check it often. Smart tip: Sign up for a service like Quicken Online (quickenonline.com.) or Google&amp;#039;s calendar feature, which will send you free bill-due reminders via e-mail or text-message. Watch the experts at Good Housekeeping offer their advice on how to avoid late fees.      Spread Out Your Due Dates If, say, six out of your seven monthly bills are due on the 10th and payday is on the 15th, take control of the situation and change the dates on a few of them. This way, you&amp;#039;ll avoid running short of cash and triggering late fees. &amp;quot;Today, more lenders will accommodate people who want to move due dates so they can make payments on time,&amp;quot; says Mike Schenk, senior economist at Credit Union National Association. Call and say, &amp;quot;I have several monthly bills due at the same time and realize I could manage my cash flow better if I spread them out over the course of the month. So can you please move my due date a week later next month?&amp;quot; Next: Paying bills online or by phone can help you avoid late fees. Another idea: Ask your mortgage lender to convert your loan to one with biweekly payments, so you won&amp;#039;t be socked with a huge, account-draining bill every month. While doing so usually triggers a fee (often a single payment of approximately $300), and it increases the amount you&amp;#039;ll pay over the year, you&amp;#039;ll get the extra benefit of paying less interest over the loan&amp;#039;s life. For instance, with a biweekly plan, you&amp;#039;ll save about $17,000 in interest over the life of a 30-year, $100,000 loan at 5 percent. Smart tip: Falling short just this month? Ask for a onetime extension. Say, &amp;quot;Unfortunately, I can&amp;#039;t pay my entire balance this month. May I pay $200 now and the rest in two weeks, without a charge, since I have a good credit history with you?&amp;quot; Pay Online or by Phone If the previous moves don&amp;#039;t solve your problem and you&amp;#039;re still racking up late fees, know this: You can also send cash electronically at the last possible moment (sometimes even on the bill&amp;#039;s due date) rather than depend on the mail. You&amp;#039;ll need to set up online payments on a recurring or onetime basis through the billing company&amp;#039;s Web site or pay by phone with an automated system, which is usually free.  Smart tip: Payments may take a few days to process and, if posted after a certain time of day, may not be credited until the next day. Thus in some circumstances, a bill that&amp;#039;s paid near the deadline could end up being considered late. To avoid this scenario (and the associated late fee), read and follow the company&amp;#039;s processing rules before setting up an electronic payment plan. The details you need can usually be obtained on the company&amp;#039;s Web site or by calling its customer service helpline. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/advice/a18705/credit-card-late-fees/>