Just a 47-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH).
http://www.frugalrules.com/what-is-first-bill-you-pay-each-m...
Kind of an interesting article.
"I was reading this article on Yahoo Finance recently and it was discussing what bill people pay first and what it may reveal about our priorities.
So, what bill do most people pay first each month?
Drumroll please…the winner is the car payment.
When comparing credit card payments, mortgage payments, and car payments, the latter of the three comes out as the clear winner."
"The problem I see with making a car payment the first bill you pay is that it’s not a necessity on many levels. Yes, you may need a car to get to work and I cede that point, but if given the choice between my car and my home I’ll let you guess as to what I’m going to choose every time – my mortgage payment as I view it as a necessity for my growing family.
Once the mortgage, or rent, is covered along with other necessities then I believe a car payment should be dealt with. Of course, my priorities may be different than what yours may be, but unless you plan on living in your car then I’d think this would fit many."
"At the end of the day I think it’s important to see what value you’re deriving from the payments you make and more importantly breaking the cycle of a payment mentality."
At face value I Was skeptical about what my "first payment of the month" said about my financial values. But, I guess if I think about it I guess he is right. How we pay our bills does say a lot about is.
Me?
Car loans? None (never)
Credit cards? I tend to pay them off in full, about two weeks before payment is due.
Mortgage? The mortgage is the last bill I pay every month. BUT, it is not technically due until the 10th of the next month. So what I tend to do is pay with mid-month paycheck. But it buys me some significant float if something comes up and I just want to pay it off after the first. The reality is I usually pay it 2 weeks before it is due (like with all my debts - I don't want any penalties or fees, so play it pretty safe).
Most my other bills I pay on due dates because they are small and there are no consequences if the payment is a little late.
The first bill I pay every month? I pay the gardener, the gas company and our HOA around the first of every month. Why? They don't take credit card payments and these are the only bills I can't charge. (Aside from mortgage). The total comes out to about $175.
What else do I pay on the first of the month? Nothing. We pay ourselves first. The bulk of my first paycheck of the month (about 95%) goes to our savings. (Which goes hand in hand as to why we don't have any other payments).
Second paycheck of the month pays off the credit cards (prior month's bills) and pays the mortgage.
Kind of an interesting article.
"I was reading this article on Yahoo Finance recently and it was discussing what bill people pay first and what it may reveal about our priorities.
So, what bill do most people pay first each month?
Drumroll please…the winner is the car payment.
When comparing credit card payments, mortgage payments, and car payments, the latter of the three comes out as the clear winner."
"The problem I see with making a car payment the first bill you pay is that it’s not a necessity on many levels. Yes, you may need a car to get to work and I cede that point, but if given the choice between my car and my home I’ll let you guess as to what I’m going to choose every time – my mortgage payment as I view it as a necessity for my growing family.
Once the mortgage, or rent, is covered along with other necessities then I believe a car payment should be dealt with. Of course, my priorities may be different than what yours may be, but unless you plan on living in your car then I’d think this would fit many."
"At the end of the day I think it’s important to see what value you’re deriving from the payments you make and more importantly breaking the cycle of a payment mentality."
At face value I Was skeptical about what my "first payment of the month" said about my financial values. But, I guess if I think about it I guess he is right. How we pay our bills does say a lot about is.
Me?
Car loans? None (never)
Credit cards? I tend to pay them off in full, about two weeks before payment is due.
Mortgage? The mortgage is the last bill I pay every month. BUT, it is not technically due until the 10th of the next month. So what I tend to do is pay with mid-month paycheck. But it buys me some significant float if something comes up and I just want to pay it off after the first. The reality is I usually pay it 2 weeks before it is due (like with all my debts - I don't want any penalties or fees, so play it pretty safe).
Most my other bills I pay on due dates because they are small and there are no consequences if the payment is a little late.
The first bill I pay every month? I pay the gardener, the gas company and our HOA around the first of every month. Why? They don't take credit card payments and these are the only bills I can't charge. (Aside from mortgage). The total comes out to about $175.
What else do I pay on the first of the month? Nothing. We pay ourselves first. The bulk of my first paycheck of the month (about 95%) goes to our savings. (Which goes hand in hand as to why we don't have any other payments).
Second paycheck of the month pays off the credit cards (prior month's bills) and pays the mortgage.
February 10th, 2014 at 03:14 pm 1392045294
We always pay the mortgage first, just becasue seeing that balance go down is the biggest money thrill of the month. We've never had a car payment. Our credit cards are all at 0%, so we just pay what we can to get rid of those.
February 10th, 2014 at 03:17 pm 1392045458
February 10th, 2014 at 05:53 pm 1392054831
February 11th, 2014 at 01:58 am 1392083914
Working for the state means I only get one paycheck. I pay all bills by the 3rd of the month which means by the 10th everything has cleared (including transfers to various savings accounts) and what ever is left is for groceries, gas and fun. Usually about 450 is used.
At the end of the month just before payday I sweep all the left over into a savings account marked misc. I haven't used the money in there in several years so at the end of 2013 I moved that money into my house down payment account.
February 11th, 2014 at 03:31 am 1392089465