Credit card companies WANT you to be late. When you’re late on your payment, they make more money. This can do some pretty rotten things to your wallet, but more importantly, it can sabotage your credit report.

Late or missed credit card payments can drop your credit score faster than you can say “grace period,” so it is vitally important to get those bills in when they’re due. Your credit score is your magic number for getting credit card companies and other lenders to take you on as a customer, so you want to keep this number looking good.

The other thing that can happen when you don’t pay on time is your interest rate and monthly minimum payment can skyrocket, leaving you shelling out big bucks to cover your credit debt each month. And the worst part is that most of that money is not going towards your principal balance.

However, there are things you can do to remedy this problem and keep it from happening again. Debt counseling is available to help you work through the issue, plan a budget, and manage your finances. These counselors have a thorough understanding of how consumer credit works and how to successfully budget and manage your money. Talking with someone specializing in debt counseling a great way to banish late payments from your life and get your credit debt back on track.

Another option that can help you avoid late payments is to seek credit card consolidation help. This is especially useful if you have several cards with different due dates. By consolidating these credit cards, you move everything into one account and, you’re left with one due date and one easy payment each month. Credit card consolidation help does just what it claims to – it helps you by combining your credit debt into one manageable account.

A final solution that is often overlooked is as simple as surrounding yourself with reminders about your payment due dates. This can be as easy as marking your calendar, putting sticky notes on your computer, or signing up for email reminders.

No matter which method you choose to avoid late payments, it’s extremely important that you do something, anything, to send those bills in on time. The damage done by late or missed credit card payments can be lasting and severe, so take steps to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.