Argh forgot to pay nursery

[Danceswithkids]

Just got an invoice from nursery pointing out the bill is 70+ days overdue (!).

No idea how I managed to miss it - I received the original email and it's marked as read so I obviously looked at it. It's a small preschool type that only makes enough to cover the bills and I feel so completely shitty.

I just feel like I'm dropping the ball constantly since having kids as there's too much to remember/do. I have endless reminders set up but still can't keep on top of it all.

on pay day spend 30mins paying all bills including the nursery- otherwise set up a standing order

Heartfelt apology and pay up pronto. They could have reminded you earlier though.
Could you set up a direct debit or standing order with them?

As long as you pay up, apologise and you aren’t a repeat offender I’m sure they’ll soon forget it.

I have most things on standing orders to free up my brain space. Could you do this?

Mine fines you £30 if you don’t pay on time which is a powerful incentive

I can't do direct debit or standing order or I would have! (I do this for all household bills).

It's paid termly when they invoice (which varies) not monthly and I don't have a regular pay day (self employed).

You need some sort of physical organiser for things that can't be done using an automated or online system. Whether that is a notice board, an in tray or just a list on the fridge, you need a place to put the invoice as soon as it comes in that is easily and obviously visible so that you deal with it at the earliest opportunity.
Back when my dc were small (before computers and internet) that was a large notice board in the kitchen. Impossible to miss.

just pay it and move on its not that big a deal

The invoice is an email, not a physical letter.

And I do find it a big deal! I am self employed and if someone didn't pay me for months I would be upset (to be fair I'd send a 'did you receive this invoice?' email if they didn't pay it by the date).

Put a bit aside from each pay day and then you won't be waiting to receive money to pay it, you can pay as soon as the invoice comes in.

Pay it now and don't stress

Don't worry about it, apologise and pay it. It happened to me once, I missed the email (although only 1 week late) and I was charged £25 late fee. That really stung because we didn't have much money at the time, but I've never missed another one!

Next time pay the second you open the email, or mark it as unread and set an alert to pay it.

Do you have a partner? Can you forward it to them when you get it and they can be equally responsible for paying.

Ask them for the term dates, put them in your diary with an alert. Flag their email address as VIP or something.

Both DH and I have worked in childcare and I ran my own childcare business. It's a bit sloppy that they've only just reminded you. You obviously feel bad, which is good (because you had no intention of not paying them) but also not necessary. Just apologise and pay the bill and please don't worry about it and I say that as someone who was self employed and reliant on childcare payments - I always made sure I chased up unpaid bills.

How best do you remember things? Are you more paper based or electronic? You need a system that works for you.

I use the Trello app in my phone which is shared with DH. We have a list for each day of the week, with anything that we need to remember to do that day. Then we can access it remotely. I have pinned up in the kitchen a laminated list of recurring tasks - split by time of day eg early morning, morning, early afternoon etc and the things I need to do within each slot eg early morning is make tea, wipe bathroom, get kids dressed etc. Each night I add the relevant tasks from trello where I can see space for them. I use Outlook too for things like pay day and renewals of things like car insurance etc. I'm considering switching Outlook for Google calendar with a colour for each person.

It's really overwhelming when you first become a parent and have all of other people's things to remember. 11 years down the line and I can't say I enjoy that aspect of parenting but I'm used to it. And despite the systems I still drop the ball. Yesterday I realised I hadn't cancelled something due to renew and it will cost me! Just keep swimming!

Can you access tax free childcare? If so set up a direct debit with the total - TFC top up each month into your TFC account and another from there to nursery.

I have a Filofax and write down as soon as I get a bill and the due date. Then I cross each one off as I pay it.

I use folders a lot for my email. Anything that doesn't require action but may need to be referred to later goes straight into an appropriate folder after being read.

Only emails that need me to do something special with are left in my inbox. My inbox is therefore never long and I can immediately see what needs paying etc even if I have read it.

I’ve also been guilty of this! I now invite myself to a meeting when I know something needs to be done so I get the reminder!!

If you get paid on irregular dates, could you set up the payment when the invoice arrives, for the date of your next payday?

Believe me, you won’t be the only one. In my experience, most parents pay when they feel like it and don’t prioritise nursery fees. Some do, obviously. But an awful lot don’t.

Half my life is spent chasing up unpaid invoices. I’ve had to sell things before now to pay my staff and my nursery is full with a long waiting list.