Here's What Happens When You Pay Your Credit Card Bill More Than 30 Days Late

Sometimes, life gets in the way of paying bills on time. You might forget to pay a credit card bill because you're busy at work, you're spending the week nursing sick kids, or you're running around trying to plan a big event. You may also end up paying a bill late due to not having the funds.

Paying a credit card bill a few days late isn't ideal, but from a credit score perspective, it generally isn't so damaging. It's when you're 30 days late or more with a credit card bill that major problems can ensue.

A mistake that could cost you

Your payment history carries more weight than any other factor when calculating your credit score, and it speaks to how timely you are with bills. Once you have a credit card bill that's 30 days or more past its due date, you'll generally be reported as late to the credit bureaus. From there, your credit score has the potential to take a big hit.

Now you may be thinking, "What's the big deal -- it's just one late payment!" But actually, it is a big deal.

Experian says that a single late payment of 30 days or more will remain on your credit report for seven years. During that window, it has the potential to impact your credit score in a big way.

It's also worth noting that the higher your credit score is before you're reported as being late with a payment, the more of a hit a single late payment might cause. On the flipside, an individual late payment may not have the same extreme impact on your credit score if it's lower already, or if you have a history of late payments.

In the first situation, that late payment is an out-of-the-ordinary event. And the shock value of that, so to speak, might drag down your score a lot.

How to avoid being late with a credit card payment

There are two reasons why people tend to be late paying their credit cards -- they forget to submit the payment, or they don't have the money to make their minimum payments. The first item is a pretty easy one to address -- just mark your credit card due dates on your calendar and set reminders so you don't end up being late due to forgetfulness. 

The second issue is harder to manage, but one option is to check your credit card balances on a weekly basis. That way, if you see them climbing to an uncomfortable degree, you'll know to stop spending and wait for your next billing cycle at the very least.

You can also avoid late credit card payments due to a lack of funds by giving your savings account a boost. That way, if you end up with a minimum payment your paycheck can't handle, you can tap your personal cash reserves and get that payment in by its due date.

Paying your credit card bill more than 30 days late has the potential to damage your credit score, making it harder and more expensive to borrow money when you need to. So it pays to do whatever you can to avoid that situation altogether.