What is a late payment? According to the Credit Reporting Resource Guide: your payment can't be reported late until it's at least 30 days past due. Reporting you late when the bill is not at least 30 days past its due date violates federal law.

You can establish a plan to not be late in the first place by doing the following:

1. Choose payment dates that are either at the same time, if that works for you, or staggered, such as on the first and 15th of the month. Many credit card issuers permit you to select your due date.

2. Arrange text or email alerts that remind you about bills due in a few days. Consider using automatic payments. Auto-pay works well with bills that do not vary in amount every month, like your car payment.

To preserve a healthy credit score, your best bet is to create these good habits:

1. Pay your bills on time and in full.

2. Maintain low credit card balance, at least below 30% of your credit limit.

3. Monitor your credit reports to analyze any mistakes. You can receive free credit report annually and directly from each of the three credit reporting bureaus.