Can you do any of your banking online? I keep a ledger of all the bills that are due in a month, with the amount or estimated amount and due date of each written down, then pay as many of them as I can using either Checkfree or my bank's bill-paying service (because they clear much more quickly than checks do). Then I check my balance online to see how much I've spent on necessary incidentals not budgeted--like cleaning supplies and fig trees--and cross off the bills that have cleared on my ledger. Then I use the calculator to determine how much of the remaining money needs to go to bills, how much to food, etc., and how much is left for discretionary spending.

I've found that keeping daily track of my account is the only thing that prevents me from getting in the situation you describe (btdt).

Very similar to Echoes, seems like, who gave you good advice. If you design a structured system to follow, you should find you don't end up paying late fees or running out of money before the bills are covered.