Having all your bills due at one time during the month can be inconvenient, especially when you get paid more than once a month. You may be able to lighten the load on your first or second paycheck by changing your credit card due date. You can often change your credit card due date with a quick call to your card issuer's customer service department.
Steps the Change Your Credit Card Due Date
First, decide which day during the month will be better. If you get paid on the 1st and 15th of the month, you might pay some of your bills on the first and others on the 15th. Make sure you think about the amount of your credit card and other bills before you change your payment due date. That way, you have all the highest payments due at the same time of the month.
Call your credit card's customer service department and ask to change your credit card due date. Depending on your credit card issuer, you won't have a problem changing your due date to another day in the month. Unfortunately, not all credit card issuers let you change your due date.
What to Expect After the Change
It could take one or two billing cycles for your new due date to be effective. Continue to pay close attention to the due date on your billing statement. Once your due date change becomes effective, that's the due date you'll have each month.
Your first statement after you change your payment due date may have a higher finance charge because your billing cycle may longer. Your minimum payment should return to normal with the next billing statement.
What If You Can't Change the Due Date
If your credit card issuer doesn't let you change your payment due date, you might be able to simply send your payment earlier in the billing cycle. For example, if your payment is due on the 17th, you might pay it with the paycheck you get on the 1st of the month rather than the one you get on the 15th. If you sign up for online billing, you can confirm your payment amount as soon as your billing statement is ready rather than waiting for it to come in the mail.
You can also try changing the due date of another payment, like your phone bill or utility payment. If you change the due date of one of these services, your first payment after the change could include some prorated charges.
