Comments on: Change Your Credit Card Due Dates

By: liz

liz — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:21:53 +0000

I just tried to change my due date with HSBC! They were horrible. Not only will they not change the due date, there is also no grace period. So the fact that when I get paid doesn’t go with their due date make me either late every month or paying an extra $13 a month for a rush payment!!! FYI – NEVER GET A CREDIT CARD FROM HSBC!!! Stick with Citi, they are awesome!!!

By: Morgan

Morgan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:37:35 +0000

Yes! This is exactly what I do. The best advice I got was to pay attention to my statement closing dates, so that once I’m on a new statement period I use that card until the next one comes up. I always pay in full and keep my money in an online money market account to earn decent interest on it while it’s waiting to pay my bills.

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:53:51 +0000

I changed a billing date with my car loan company once. I was charged a fee to compensate for the extra days between the old and new billing cycles, which came to about about 7% of my monthly car note.

By: JerryB

JerryB — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:48:51 +0000

I had no problems with my Credit Card providers adjusting the due date for me. The only lender I had any problem with was my auto loan. Guess what got bumped to the top of my Debt Snowball?

Although it did take two phone calls after that to get them to apply the extra payments to the principle instead of “future payments”. Now they are gone and my next car will be financed from my car savings account.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:06:06 +0000

Wow! I never even knew you could do this! I’m all about the paperless billing, but I guess I must be totally behind the times. Making a small change like this really can make all the difference, as they say in my new favorite book, The Power of Small. I’d argue that this is a prime example. Just as a reminder to anyone who decides to do this though, if you have automatic payments set up in your online banking, remember to update them.

By: Jorge

Jorge — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:28:53 +0000

This is a good tip as it help you remember to pay your bills on time as well. I have two credit cards and they used to have different billing dates. More often than I would like, I’d end up paying one of them late because I had too many other things going on and it was sitting in my “to do” pile.

I changed the dates to coincide with each other and it’s now much easier to remember and no late charges to boot!

By: TStrump

TStrump — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:10:01 +0000

Actually, I have done this before.
My bill was always due before I got paid, so I asked if they would change it and they did!
I got charged a bit of interest but it was worth it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:29:35 +0000

If you’re paid biweekly as I am, you get your paychecks at radically different times each month (I get one every other Friday), so no credit card due date will coincide consistently with a payday. This is why I hate biweekly pay periods. Everyone’s obligations are based on the calendar month, so getting paid once or twice a month makes sense, but getting paid 2-1/12 times per month makes no sense at all. If you’re lucky enough to be paid every week (as some temps are), you’re never very far from a paycheck, so this problem is mitigated, but it never goes away.

By: MLR

MLR — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:32:21 +0000

I did this to get the payment date more inline with my other credit card payment dates. But then I realized it didn’t matter as I had the money and paid in full, anyways.

It was a good thought while it lasted for me.

By: My Crossover Point

My Crossover Point — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:16:28 +0000

That’s a great idea! I hadn’t really thought about it.

I have a problem that a lot of my monthly bills are lopsided. I get paid semi-monthly and I have some bills that come in at the beginning of the month, and some that come in at the end.

I suppose that one could call to get other due dates changed, too (auto insurance, phone bill, etc.).

Paul

By: John @ Hard Work = Money

John @ Hard Work = Money — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:08:27 +0000

A major convenience for me has been to change due dates to match paychecks when i change jobs. Since different jobs have different schedules this works well. Also job changes let me change a due date for one card after i was told i could not change the date. After i said i changed jobs and get paid on a different date this was no longer a problem.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:47:27 +0000

I always, always do this and, concidentally, I just called Citi too Jim!

I get them arranged at the end of the month so that I can pay them off at the same time. It’s easier and more convenient. I’m surprised a lot of people don’t do this (maybe they just don’t know).

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Great tip – an easy way to make life easier for a lot of people. You could even change it to fall on an easy to remember day, and make sure all your credit card statement billing cycles align. I think I’ll probably call soon to do this myself.

By: BillShrinkGuy

BillShrinkGuy — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:28:20 +0000

Great tip. Chase customers have a bit more flexibility and can even request the due date change online in their online account. Simply log-in, click on the Customer Service tab, look for the “Change bill due date” link, select the account you’re interested in changing.. and you’ll be able to specify the day of the month (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc…) you want your bill to be due on. Shuffling due dates definitely won’t fix major cash flow problems as you’ve mentioned, but its definitely a major convenience factor when you don’t have to log-in different accounts everyday to pay the bill!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:17:49 +0000

Ooh, glad you mentioned that not all cards will do this. I have changed my dates before because I got a monthly paycheck on the 1st of the month at one employer and moving my bills to be due early in the month made sure I didn’t run out by the end. This is a really good tip for people who get paid once a month.

I remember that not all companies will do this, I just can’t remember which ones. Currently all my cards are clustered around the same cycle closing date, so even though the due dates are different, I pay as close to the closing date as I can to reduce my interest.