Should Bills Have an Any Date Due Date?

When you think about it, sometimes the struggle for some families isn't that their paychecks overall are not enough to cover their bills. It's when the bills that come are due that force families to make choices that can be the problem.

People are paid in many different intervals. Some are paid weekly. Some are paid every two weeks. Some are paid on the 1st and 15th such as military families. Others are paid once a month.

You get three bills on your first pay cycle, but the check itself is only enough to cover two of them. What do you do?

You borrow, or pull from savings, or you postpone paying the third bill then incurring late fees which just adds to the problem. Beyond that, there are other life expenses that have to be dealt with on a day to day basis. 

You need gas for the car. You need to buy groceries. Sometimes things come up like parties or gatherings, or birthdays or holidays that you need money for. Again, even if you earn enough overall in any given month, you may fall short only in terms of when you get paid.

Many people make up the difference by using their credit cards. And statistically, most people do not pay those off each and every month, but instead carry a balance, costing thousands of dollars a year in interest charges which only further exacerbates the problem.

The idea of the any date due date could help millions of families to better navigate between paydays and bill that are due in any given month.

If a bill could be paid any day that is convenient in the month it is due, people would not be forced to make other choices and even when it comes to paying for necessities, or even discretionary things, people could better manage those expenses as well.

How many times have you gotten a paycheck only to determine that once you pay all the bills that are due at that time eat up every dollar you have and you're left scrambling until the next payday, even though you know you are technically making plenty of money to cover everything?

It puts people in a bit of an unnecessary pickle, if you ask me. Of course, businesses want their money when they want it. They have bills to pay as well, as well as salaries. But so long as they get their money sometime in a given month, how difficult would that be for businesses to navigate?

The savings rate in the United States is abysmally low. And I think part of the reason for that is the stress being constantly cash strapped can cause people. When they do have a payday where there happens to be something left for them, rather than save some of it, they simply have the urge to relieve the stress and feel like they are doing something for themselves for a change.

It's an idea that will never happen, of course. But perhaps businesses ought to consider it. If people are making enough money to cover their bills when all is said and done, they should not be forced into a situation where they are still behind when in reality, they are not.

Their paydays simply don't agree with when the bills are due.

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© 2024 Jim Bauer