New ways to dodge $100s in late fees!

If you've ever missed a bill's due date, then you know that the typical $25 to $60 late fees add up quickly! Lucky for you, we found easy ways to avoid these pricey charges

- Gabrielle Lichterman

For credit cards

Great news: There’s a growing trend among financial companies to eliminate late fees as a way to help their customers save money. For example, the installment payment service Affirm (Affirm.com) doesn’t charge you for past-due payments. And PayPal (PayPal.com) has recently eliminated late fees when you use their “Pay in 4” or “Pay Monthly” installment payment plans. Also great? More credit card issuers have been nixing late fees for cardholders, including Apple (Apply. AppleCard.Apple), Citi Simplicity (Citi.com/creditcards/citi-simplicity-credit-card) and Petal 2 (PetalCard.com/petal-2). To find more no-late-fee credit cards, visit Bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/ best-credit-cards-with-no-late-fees.

For personal loans

Need to make an expensive purchase (say, dental work) and worry that your current credit card’s high-interest rate will lead to a monthly charge that’s too difficult to cover? There’s a new kind of low-interest personal loan that’s offered by the banks LightStream (LightStream.com) and SoFi (SoFi.com): It doesn’t charge late fees!