What I Wish I Did Before I Got a Mortgage, Pt. 1

The most important thing I didn't do properly was to remember that I get paid twice a month. I was budgeting my income on a monthly basis, which works out great when you don't have a mortgage, but badly, when mortgage goes right out your bank account the second it goes in there from your company.

This month is the first month I paid my mortgage (the first real month is paid for in closing costs), and so I'm realizing that too much of my cash is going out the door in the first week of the month, and almost nothing in the last week of the month. This will cause a 2-3 week period where credit cards can not be fully paid off, since I don't actually have the cash to do so.

What I should have done was to call my credit card companies and change all my due dates to the second half of the month. That way, cash outflows are not so front-loaded in a month.

Most credit card companies will allow you to make a due date change every 6 to 12 months, but you'll only need it once.