My desk often needs to be de-cluttered so sometimes important paperwork gets solved aside. This month I had to pay a late charge for my credit card bill and I know this negatively affects my credit rating. I've promised myself to clean up my desk but what other ways can I be sure to avoid late fees? — Nelle Negligent

Dear Nelle: First, I truly can empathize with your clutter; my desk is a No-Man's Land of papers that irks my husband's soul when his computer’s on the blink and he has no choice but to use mine! However, with that said (and not mentioning that New Year's resolution you might break…), the instrument I've found works best for this type of scenario is an old-fashioned telephone. Yep, I've had to pay at the 11th hour, as I'm sure have many other readers. We all need to be concerned with our credit ratings, especially in this dire economy; fortunately, those whom we owe are generally as eager to collect our money as we are to avoid FICO-heck.

Two available methods work to get that check paid on time, even if the due day is today. I noted that your bank card issuer is Bank of America so call the 1-800 number and arrange to pay by phone or online. As long as you can transfer the funds from the same bank, you're okay. In contrast, if your checking account is located at a different bank, you may have to pay a fee, although most card issuing banks allow online payment without extra charge. A surefire way to guarantee crediting your account is to zip on over to — in your case — a Bank of America branch and hand your payment to a warm body. Be sure to obtain a receipt.

Finally, a third approach is to set up automatic bill paying online from your checking and/or savings account, which not only is safe and secure, it also guarantees those bills will be paid each and every month, whether you edit the current monthly amounts or not. (Even if you're stranded on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and have no access to a computer, the bills still get paid. You may have to adjust the amount the following month, assuming you're rescued, but that monetary tweaking is still much better than having a black mark on your credit rating.)

Editor’s Note: Ellen Phillips is a retired English teacher who has written two consumer-oriented books. Her Consumer Watch column appears on Saturdays in the Business section of the paper. An expanded version is at www.timesfreepress.com under Local Business. E-mail her at consumerwatch@timesfreepress.com