Don't drink the milk after it goes bad

[jackfaire]

This isn't about milk but rather about expiration/due dates.

Lately I have had a lot of customers call in wanting me to change the date their bill is due.

For example someone calls in complaining that having their bill due 28th of the month is bad for them and it would be better if they could pay it closer to the middle of the month. *forehead* I then advise them that of course they can pay their bill in the middle of the month since that is when it comes out.

The horribly stupid thing people seem shocked with the very idea that they can pay their bill before the due date.

It's enough to make me want to go to a PTA meeting and demand a class start being taught about actually being an adult and make it mandatory.

Cirriculum consist of paying your bills, balancing check book, etc.

[XCashier]

It's enough to make me want to go to a PTA meeting and demand a class start being taught about actually being an adult and make it mandatory.

Cirriculum consist of paying your bills, balancing check book, etc.

That actually would be a good idea, considering how many people graduate without knowing the basics of running a household.

Classes would include "Housecleaning 101", "Budgeting", "Making Choices; Why Paying The Rent Is More Important Than That Fabulous Louis Vutton Handbag You Saw At Macy's", "Making Choices 2; How $30 In Groceries Will Feed You Better Than $30 Of Fast Food", "Basic Hygiene 101; Don't Fear The Reeker", etc.

[spookysonata]

The horribly stupid thing people seem shocked with the very idea that they can pay their bill before the due date.

It's enough to make me want to go to a PTA meeting and demand a class start being taught about actually being an adult and make it mandatory.

Hell, sometimes I pay my CC bill several times a month, especially if I've been making more purchases that usual. Correct me if I'm wrong but as long as you're not late you can pay whenever?

[DeltaSierra]

Hell, sometimes I pay my CC bill several times a month, especially if I've been making more purchases that usual. Correct me if I'm wrong but as long as you're not late you can pay whenever?

It depends on whether you carry a balance or not. I once made the mistake of paying my CC bill TOO early and instead of them applying the money to the normal "minimum monthly payment" they applied it to the principal and then I got slapped with a late fee on top.

[mharbourgirl]

It's enough to make me want to go to a PTA meeting and demand a class start being taught about actually being an adult and make it mandatory.

Cirriculum consist of paying your bills, balancing check book, etc.

My high school actually had a class much like that. It was called 'Consumer Math'.

Unfortunately, it wasn't mandatory. It was the class you took if you just couldn't cope with Algebra and higher mathematics.

[TOLady]

It may have even been me that talked to you . I think I've been quite polite (even in the R*****s debacle).

Problem with me is that I was getting all my bills in the mail between the 23rd and 30th, all due between the 2nd and the 8th.

I've been very fortunate to have the companies I deal with change the due date for me.

Now, if the due date is the 18th - as it now is for R*****s, I'll receive the bill on the 2nd or 3rd and everything's hunky-dory. I'll be able to pay it on the 6th or 7th with the first paycheque of the month - ahead of the due date.

It's been a really strange year pay wise. I get paid every two weeks. For example, I got 2 checks in September one on the 10th and one on the 24th (when I start to receive the bills in the mail). The last one had to last me until the 8th of October and during that time I had to cover rent, Metropasses, utilities, plus all the bills. That really doesn't leave me with anything left if I have to pay all the bills at once.

The one on the 10th covered basic living for the entire month. Switching the due dates just spreads out the bills and makes it easier to manage so I don't have to use the credit cards I'm paying off .

So - thanks for doing what you do! Much appreciated by those that pay the bills!

Everything will be coming up perfectly again in December when it's 3 checks for the month, and the last one is on the 31st.

[jackfaire]

TOLady \I applaud you for being polite and if the date a customer wants to pay fallsz outside of the normal range I will change it for them. It makes my brain hurt though when someone calls and essentially says, "So my bills are mailed on the 15th I receive them on the 18th can you change my due date to the 20th"

In that case the customer either wanted me to make the due date earlier or they wanted me to push it out so far that it wasn't due until their next bill had been out for five days something for us that is illegal.

[otakuneko]

What's a checkbook?

[Merriweather]

That actually would be a good idea, considering how many people graduate without knowing the basics of running a household.

Classes would include "Housecleaning 101", "Budgeting", "Making Choices; Why Paying The Rent Is More Important Than That Fabulous Louis Vutton Handbag You Saw At Macy's", "Making Choices 2; How $30 In Groceries Will Feed You Better Than $30 Of Fast Food", "Basic Hygiene 101; Don't Fear The Reeker", etc.

When I was in High School, business majors had to take a "home business" course (can't recall what they called it). It included how checking and savings accounts work, how to write a check (this was pre-ATM's), how to make a budget, etc. Should have been required for all, IMHO.

In fact, I think (and I believe some do variations on this) all high shcools should have a one year "life skills" class, with perhaps one quarter devoted to Financial (balancing a budget and a checking account, how savings and intereste work, how credit cards work, having money to actually cover the debit card, what expenses the "real world" generally consists of, etc); another quarter of Home Ec (sewing on a button, repairing a rip, basic nutrition, basic cooking, how to do laundry or clean a bathroom); one quarter for DIY (how to use basic hand/electric tools, how to fix a leaky tap, hang a picture, etc); and one for Auto (change a flat, put in oil and other fluids, put air in your tires).

[EricKei]

I think the check-writing part should still be mandatory, at least for business students -- Almost all of our clients who are close enough for us to do business with in person pay all of their bills with checks, both to us and to everybody else. Some of them even FAX us checks (we have check-writing software to allow us to process those) as payment.

[rvdammit]

What's a checkbook?

In the UK a book of bits of paper you can rarely use to pay for stuff.

[Indigo_X]

That actually would be a good idea, considering how many people graduate without knowing the basics of running a household.

Classes would include "Housecleaning 101", "Budgeting", "Making Choices; Why Paying The Rent Is More Important Than That Fabulous Louis Vutton Handbag You Saw At Macy's", "Making Choices 2; How $30 In Groceries Will Feed You Better Than $30 Of Fast Food", "Basic Hygiene 101; Don't Fear The Reeker", etc.

Ohman, oh man. You win. You win a billion internets. Some gals I was going through training for my last telemarketing job could've used the third class- they kept chirping on how they were gonna blow their first paychecks on handbags and shoes.

...don't fear the reeker. LAWL.

[Seshat]

Some of the charities here offer such courses as part of their services.

Of course, it would be better for people to learn those skills BEFORE they go bankrupt....

[jackfaire]

I will admit that when I first struck out on my own married settled down I had no fricking clue how to budget money but I never held the companies responsible for it.

Eventually I learned things like if I have the money to pay the bill on the 15 but the bill doesn't come out until the end of the month then I save the money until then rather than spending it.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

My high school actually had a class much like that. It was called 'Consumer Math'.

Unfortunately, it wasn't mandatory. It was the class you took if you just couldn't cope with Algebra and higher mathematics.

I remember Consumer Math . . . I took that to fill up a period during my senior year. And after having one year of Algebra (and almost failing) and one of Geometry (and barely making C's) I really didn't want anymore math (too terrified of it, actually. )

Aced that one anyways . . .my stepdad not only taught me how to balance a checkbook, but also to do taxes. And my mom has always kept me in the loop as to what had to be paid each week, how much it was and who it was owed to.


BTW . . .did someone mention Louis Vuitton? *checks closet* Yep, my Speedy satchel is still in there (and so are my Ducks.)