Bills that come due when traveling

I have every account set on automated payment (ACH debit linked to my checking account or a charge on my credit card). I haven't used a stamp and envelope in years.

Doubling your payment risks either underpaying or overpaying because you'd be essentially guessing based on the prior month(s). In my experience, monthly bills vary at least a little (some more so, like gas/electricity having seasonal variation). Overpaying will get you a credit, but underpaying will likely get you a late fee.

Almost all of our bills are on auto-pay. Something like our property tax bill that’s due twice a year, we will just pay before we leave. We do have one of our adult children stop by & pick up our mail weekly in case there’s something urgent. But, I can’t think of anything where they noticed a bill would have come due.

Some of my bills are autopay, the rest I pay online. I always at least have my phone to pay online, preferably using data, otherwise via wi-fi with dual authentication or other security precautions. Have not "Mailed a bill" in years, in fact I had to write a check for a service call recently, took me a half hour to find the checkbook.

In the old days, we would write out checks, even overestimate something like utilities, and have family or close friend mail them on a specific date.

Thank you all! I should add that I do pay all of my bills on line through my financial institution.

Paul that's funny about looking for your checkbook!

As above, all utilities are set up to be paid automatically. Credit cards are the only ones I consciously pay each month. These can be checked for balance prior to travel, guesstimate use before due date and set up online payment for an amount on a set future date. I do not bank online from phone or tablet so do this from a secure computer ahead of time. As I pay off balance each month, I am willing to pay more than necessary to ensure no carrying charges.
Perhaps a brief explanation of what bills and mode of payment you are worried about can solicit specific advise.
Edit since you pay on line, then double plus 10% pay cover utility fluctuations.

...Thank you all! I should add that I do pay all of my bills on line through my financial institution. .....

You can continue to do that on the road as well. I am not a big fan of auto pay because of issue related to control of the account. About the month before we try to make sure to use only one credit card so the others should be zero while we are gone. However, I have moved nearly all of our accounts to the same due date. Also have a roster of credit cards and other items that are monthly re-occurring and on nearly the same due date. About ten days prior to the due date, take an hour or two and call up all of the accounts and pay them. When I get home I will call up all of the credit card accounts and check for accuracy of the charges. Never had any problem with this approach.

You're all awesome! Thanks so much! :)

I'll just echo what others have said, but with our online bank - we can set the bills to be paid on a specific date - so we can set everything up before we leave - oh, we're going away on the 15th, but the bill is due the 21st? Just set the bill up to be paid on the 20th. If worse came to worst, we could use the banking app on our ipad and do the payments that way while on the road.

Just post date the check for when you get paid.

My checking accounts have a feature called, "bill pay" I just schedule the payments in advance while I am out of the country.

Auto Pay. I do everything online. This way I know none of my bills will be late. For non-recurring expenses, I pay those manually but online.

I know where my checkbook is but I rarely use it.

One suggestion.....if you are going to be accessing your finanacial records away from home, you might want to install a VPN for security. Most financial websites and apps are safe but I like to add an extra layer of security.

Yes, autopay on everything that can be set up. I also have my credit cards set up to send email notifications me on all international charges, all phone/mail charges and all charges over $500 -- so can keep current on new charges while traveling without having to go onto bank sites.

A combination. Some are autopay, some I double up on the month before the trip, some I pay when I return, and occasionally, I make an online payment from wherever I’m at.

in fact I had to write a check for a service call recently, took me a half hour to find the checkbook.

Mine took longer to find, eventually found it, the adress was my old one from 11 years previously and not a single cheque had been written from it. The schools were the last one's to require cheques for trips etc but even they've moved on to online payment.

Many of my bills are on auto pay, so I don't worry about those at all. I just quickly look at my bank account weekly to make sure there wasn't an error. My mortgage I pay online, so I can just do that from the computer wherever I am. I set a calendar alert for the first of the month so I don't forget - when running around on vacation the exact day can get away from you. Setting a calendar alert and a specific day - maybe look in and pay the bills online once a week or once every 2 weeks, depending on your bill due dates.

Paying double is an option if you don't pay online. Anything you pay via online banking can be accessed from your trip, if you will have a smartphone or laptop. I'd be wary about using public computers for banking.

When I go for 3 to 9 weeks, I have to take the bill payments, obviously, into account. The checks are written out, I always have some them mailed for me while I am gone, ie, time it so it will be received a week prior to the due date.

Other ways used in paying the bills: I have the the account numbers, (the last 4 digits with their due dates) in my wallet and go an internet cafe, always located close my hotel, hostel, or Pension, to make the payment over the phone...easy, no problems.

I don't use auto-pay. The pension and Soc Sec checks are direct deposit, so that reinforces/pads the checking account from which the bills are paid.

I have not mailed a payment for anything since 1999 (except for a life insurance policy where the company absolutely resists moving into the current century) and have a mix of auto payment where the company pulls the money from my account and mostly where I initiate the payment to push it to them along with direct deposit of my pay. Makes a great combo allowing me to pay anything from anywhere.

I remember my first few tours to Europe where I had to hunt down an Internet Café that looked safe enough to use to pay some of my bills (yes, I know, never was a safe thing and it was very risky in those days but luckily I was never compromised). That prodded me to pay in advance what I could for my longer journeys. Now with smart phones and WiFi everywhere, it is much less worrying and I pay my bills as I normally would.

Oh, and post dating a check does nothing for most monthly payments if you mail it in early -- the merchant will deposit the check on receipt. No one looks at the date anymore.

Emphasizing what Paul said:
"I always at least have my phone to pay online, preferably using data, otherwise via wi-fi with dual authentication or other security precautions."

While the bank's website may be secure, the "passage" between your device and the hotel or cafe wi-fi may not and that's where passwords can be intercepted. So use your data plan for banking, or only access those sites with dual authentication so that if someone does intercept your password that gets them nowhere without the second authentication (usually a code sent to your phone). Or as another poster suggested, set up a VPN, virtual private network, before you leave.

I'll add one thing - I have a couple of yearly or semi-annual payments listed on my spreadsheet for my "To-Do Before Travel" list. I have that so it starts 30 days out and have my car insurance (March and Sept), my PO Box rent (May) and my AAA (May). At least that also cues me to think about setting it up on my Bill-pay before I travel.

There have been those rare times, admittedly, when due to oversight I came close to missing the payment by not writing out that needed check to be mailed from here while on the trip or it was due on the day I discovered the oversight, then I go to an internet cafe always near, say 2-6 mins, from the train station in Vienna, Paris, Munich, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt too, Berlin ( ca 10 minute walk from the Pension near Savignyplatz) to pay over the phone.

Accessing a computer is no problem if no internet cafe is nearby, which I hardly have a problem in locating, even in London where I've noticed their disappearance more obviously than in German cities or Paris. If no internet cafe and neither the B&B nor hotel has one for its guests, then I go to a hostel, both HI and private hostels have computers, the cost is usually 50 cents for 30 mins but that depends too. There are always hostels around.

All of this is part of the trip preparations on what has be done prior to flying out. For those required chores, I make a list.

stacy,

I normally use the "scheduled payments" online option offered by my credit union. I have a list of the due dates and amounts for the usual recurring payments (utilities, credit cards, etc.) so just program those payments to take place on their respective payment dates.

I've found this method works really well, and means that I don't have to bother with making payments while on holidays (getting away from this sort of thing is one reason I take holidays). I also don't have to worry about security concerns accessing bank websites using Wi-Fi that may not be well secured. If I do have to access the credit union website, I normally switch Wi-Fi 'off' and use LTE as it's somewhat more secure.

You can set payments to occur one time only. You don't have to set up regular auto pays. Hope this helps.

Anything that is not set up with auto pay gets paid while I travel. I log into my bank account and make a payment....there are few places in the world where you are entirely without some internet access.

Wow, I'm impressed by the number of people who don't write checks any more. We must be in the dark ages here in Vermont. I have as much set up for auto-pay as I can, but I still write at least 15 checks a month to individuals/businesses that won't accept electronic payment (vet and farrier for the horses, lunch money to the school for the kids, swim lessons for my son, riding lessons for my daughter, property taxes to the town (they would take a credit card but charge me 3% extra, so I pay by check), end-of-year income taxes to the state (again, could pay online, but it costs more), seasonal hockey rink fees for my husband, on and on]. True, I could set everything up through my bank and do bill pay through them, but in most cases, I'd have to mail the checks to myself and physically hand them over to the school/teacher/etc. anyway, because this is their business process; they want me to hand deliver a check or attach it to a specific paper form. So it's just easier and faster to write a check myself.

We don't travel longer than 2 weeks at a time (those horses are expensive to leave behind.....I leave a big, fat check for the housesitter!), so bills aren't a huge issue when we go away. Anything that will come due when we are gone and is not set on auto-pay, I mail the check right before we leave. All of the variable amounts (electricity, credit cards) are luckily on auto-pay, so I don't have to worry about figuring out those exact amounts ahead of time. I make sure to move plenty of money to the checking account before we leave so that all the payments will be covered without any hiccups.

I do check my bank accounts periodically when we're away to make sure everything is being paid (and we are being paid!) as it should. Glitches happen.

This thread caught my attention because I just had to take one of my daughters to the doctor. I paid the co-pay as well as an additional $30 to help offset a bill that I anticipate will be due while we're in Europe. We will be gone for two months, and typically it takes many weeks for the insurance company to decide how much of the bill they will pay. It is a crapshoot as to when the doctor's office will send the final bill after they receive their insurance money. I guess I can try to contact the office mid July to see if anything is due, and pay it over the phone. That's the only bill that I can think of, though... everything else is auto-debited.

@DebVT here in LA still write some checks simply because I like the ritual of doing it.

I also have auto pay arranged for some bills.

When I travel I mail in advance. Not a big deal.

I’m also of the frame of mind of what chaos there will be when the internet crashes. Think about how upset you get when your cable goes out...just saying.

Keeping up with the bills is a good topic. Here's the technique I'm using:

First, you need to have bill pay through your bank and an app you can look at when traveling. That way if something comes up, you can pay it online while you travel. To the extent possible have every bill send you an email when it's due (helps remind you if you forgot to plan for it).

Second, map out your bills into categories:

Some can wait until you are home - utility bills are generally no big deal to pay when you return. If it's no big deal, worry about them when you get home.

Some need to be paid on time. A double payment on a credit card balance doesn't relieve you of having to pay at least a minimum payment next month. They'll process the first but still record you as late on the next payment. Schedule a second, at least minimum, payment after it bills but before it's due.

I plan out and schedule my regular monthly payments, mortgage, HOA fees, car payments, insurance, etc., online with bill pay to make sure everything gets paid on time.