By Nick Heckman
MoneyMix Contributor

I have a confession: I am an enormous procrastinator.

In school I would always wait until the last minute to write a paper. It takes me forever to reply to e-mails. I usually wait until I’ve worn all my clothes at least three times before I find it absolutely necessary to do my laundry. And when bills arrive in the mail, I forget to pay them until a day or two before they’re due.

It’s not that I don’t have free time. I just get so stuck in my everyday customs and habits that I forget when I’m supposed to do something that breaks my routine. I know that I’m tempting fate by running against all the deadlines in my life, and I’m looking for ways that I can change this part of my personality.

It is especially important for me to figure out a way to be timelier with my bills. Paying bills on time is the strongest contributor to an excellent credit score, and if I ever decide to borrow money good credit will go towards getting me the lowest possible borrowing rates.

saving time and money

Online banking offers a lot of options to a procrastinator like me. I can enter the information off my bills and pay them online with a few clicks. Even better, some of the recurring services I use such as my insurance and utilities offer an option to automate my payments at regular intervals.

An added bonus is that this help save me time and money, cutting costs since I don’t need to buy as many paper checks, envelopes, or stamps. Small stuff, I know... but it all adds up.

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