As Marc said, pay online. I've had checking accounts at many different banks and they all offer "online billpay."
Here's what you do.
- Login to your account online
- Find a link the says "billpay" or "pay bills online"
- Add an account by entering a name, address, account number (whatever is on car payment bill, for example)
- Then do it again with your three other bills.
- You'll only need to enter these accounts once, then they'll be in there until you delete them.
- You can enter set amounts to be paid automatically each month, or make onetime payments at your leisure.
I am certain that your bank offers an online feature like this. If not, open another account at a bank that does (BofA, Wellsfargo, Citibank, Wamu, etc...)
Doing it this way, you will only need one password and that's the one you use to login to your own online bank account.
Here's a quick
Bank of America video demo.
You'll be able to pay bills online no matter where in the world you are traveling, for whatever length of time.
As for you car. It is a tough economy. I was working in the yellowpages industry recently and soooooo many businesses have fold up or lost a tremendous amount of revenue the past couple of years, especially mechanics. They are hurting because so many people lost their jobs or housing, that they can't afford to pay a mechanic to fix their cars. They'd rather use the money to put food on the table.
In California so many big car dealerships have shut down after years of service (70 plus last year).
I built a website for a mechanic and he didn't pay, so I sold it to another mechanic (through a friend) and he's had to pay in payments because times are tough.
What this means for you is that you're going to be "upsold" wherever you go because the few customers that these dealerships and mechanics are seeing, they need to make a living from. Meaning, they're going to fatten your bill by adding a bunch of parts and services to it that may not be immediately needed. Make sense?
If you don't really need the car, then get rid of it. Buy a good used car instead, without payments, or a scooter/moped.
Have you ever backpacked before? I guess even if you have before, then get back to basics.
Perhaps you should take a one month trip instead of four months and you won't stress as much because your goal and all the responsibilities/obligations at home that come with it won't seem so daunting.
Once you get this trip out of the way, another trip will be 1,000 times easier to plan and it will be easier to save for since you'll be running on adrenaline and you'll be wanting to keep that momentum going.
Keep your eye on the prize...