The most common mistake in debt tracking is writing down the amount but not the date. A record without a due date sits quietly in the list; neither you nor the other person remembers it. A due date turns a record from information into a task.
What a due date is and why it matters
A due date is the day a debt or receivable should be settled. It's a calendar day, not a time: "20 November". Once records have due dates they fall naturally into groups:
- Overdue: past the due date with something still left. Deal with these first.
- Today: what should be paid or collected today.
- This week: upcoming payments to plan for.
- Later: things you only need to know about for now.
Picking the right due date
- Turn spoken agreements into dates. "Start of the month" means the 1st; "payday" means that exact day.
- Each instalment is its own due date. Track instalments separately instead of one record with one date, or use a recurring record.
- Update when plans change. If you agree on a new date, change the due date instead of deleting the record; past payments stay.
Set reminders that help
A reminder is only useful if it comes before the due date. As a rule of thumb:
- A heads-up a few days before,
- A reminder on the morning of the due date,
- Another nudge if it becomes overdue.
It also matters that reminders arrive in your own time zone at a sensible hour; a reminder at midnight helps nobody.
Privacy on the lock screen
Debt notifications are personal. You may not want "You owe Alex 500" showing on your lock screen while your phone sits on the table. Use a tool that lets you choose whether notifications show amounts and names.
Due dates in Sudeb
In Sudeb every record can have a due date. The Today screen shows overdue, due-today and due-this-week records separately, and reminders arrive at your local time. Detailed notification content is off by default; you can turn it on if you like. For the overall method see how to track debts and receivables.