Too many bills, not enough brain space!

[Ima saver]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

I keep all of my bills in a bill holder in the cabinet next to the fireplace. That is where I put them when they come in. I keep my stack of paper right next to it. Not being used to computers, I have never paid my bills online.

[contrary1]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

I too, keep the bills in a folder. Inside the folder I have stapled a one page sheet that has the bills listed, and the months of the year. One sheet for each year. (I know there is a way to do this on my PC, but I'm just too old to figure it out I think. spread sheets .........ACK!!)
I can see at a glance what is due, what's been paid & what is coming up extra in a certain month (real estate taxes, etc).
I get great satisfaction in paying off something, as I get to draw a line through the remainder of the year for that bill......... Don't get to do this often, have only the cc bills left that fall into this catagory. The rest are all household bills that just won't go away!!
I do pay my bills online, have figured that out. Think I mastered this so I wouldn't have to pay postage!

[JBinKC]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

My bills are set up where they are automatically paid on the due date either through an automatic withdrawal from my bank or done by an entry online through the bank on the due date. No stamps and maximum time use of money without any potential damge to your credit however, if you do this you better have enough money in the bank to pay your bills.

[flash]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

My DH is the pigeon-holer. I like the one-touch rule.

We recently changed over to online payments for several things, since security has improved.

For other things, I set up my computer reminder to remind me a few days before the bill is due. The reminder sits there until I take care of it. Especially good for things you need to cancel or get to before another charge is made.

[miclason]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

I take it that you are on the computer alot? If you have a money program on it, set up a to do list that automatically tells you when bills are due and then when you pay them you check the next date that they are due. you can set it up where they notify you several days in advance. I think that this will also work on Outlook and you don't have to use the email section of it. Outlook is included in most computer programs. but you do have to remember to open the program!

.

You set it up as a recurrent TASK in Outlook, and request a reminder for it. I think you can also set this in your yahoo mail.....to do it in Outlook is easy go to NEW, TASK, click on the RECURRENCE button and set it up (say: subject: AMEX payment, recurrence pattern: every 30th of the month, it should be at least 1 week prior to bill's due date), tick off the REMINDER box, click on SAVE AND CLOSE...tada! task is set to remind you automatically! If you keep all the bills in just one place, all you have to do is look for the bill and write the cheque! - no hassle!

I use a spreadsheet because I get paid twice a month, but my salary is NOT split evenly into 2 payments, so I know I have to pay X,Y and Z bills on the 30th, and A,B,C,D and E on the 15th (when I receive the most money!)

Good luck!

[Ima saver]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

Wish I knew how to do this, but I have done it the old fashioned way for so many years, that I know I will never change. Do what works for you! I have never once had a late bill except once. I mailed the elec. bill without a stamp and it took 2 weeks to come back to me. I was embarassed!

[lrjohnson]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

This maybe outside the box, but: how about reducing the number of bills to organize?

This can be done a couple ways. One is to decide to stop getting the item/service: cancel either land line or cell if you don't need both. Cancel storage space because you can sell it at garage sale/mom's garage. Cancel the gym because you never go and you only feel guilty. Cancel cable because you could use a TV break. Now, none of these may be true for you: I am not anti-TV anti-excercise! I just mean as you look at a bill, re-evaluate whether you are getting a good value.

The other way I can think of is just pay it off. Pay off the credit card, pay off the department store card, whatever has a balance . Instead of getting a gas card bill, pay with a debit card. Now this might not work either, if you are using a credit card for rewards, or can't pay it off, or prefer using a Sear's card to a VISA and therefore need both. But maybe a person could go from a VISA, Sear's, and Chevron bills to just a VISA -if it works for them.

And one either kindof idea: pay ahead. There are items I pay for that are cheaper to pre-pay for me-insurance 6 months at a time saves installment fees, an online game I subscribe to is significantly cheaper to buy 6 mo at a time. Maybe you have a gym membership and actually go all the time and make great use of it, and maybe instead of paying monthly they discount for prepaying a large chunk.

I guess where I'm going is that if bill paying organization is not your favorite, maybe reducing the amount of bills monthly in whatever way works for you may help. Me, I have cable/internet, phone, rent, and gas/electric monthly -four. I would stress out if I had the amount of bills some friends have. (I'm not talking the amount of money the bills represent, I mean the organization, choosing mail or electronic, remembering passwords, paying timely, stamps, checks, envelopes, sending, etc. ) One friend mentioned at least 15 MONTHLY bills to juggle-that'd be hard for me.

[tomkat]

Re: Too many bills, not enough brain space!

I am an online bill-pay fanatic! I have money to pay my bills, but I had a habit of writing the check, putting it in the envelope, sealing it and stamping it, and throwing it in my purse only to walk around with it for a week or two before I mail it. Also, sometimes I just forgot to send in a payment. So, I set it up so that everything is done automatically for me. My mortgage company, telephone company, power company, cable company, water company , and two of my credit card companies all automatically draft my account each month for payment. I've set up bill pay through my bank to handle my HELOC and my home security bill--they automatically send a check on my behalf based on when I tell them to pay the bill. The one credit card that I use daily and my SAMS bill I have to physically log on online to pay those bills, and even then I can set up payment for the future. I haven't mailed a bill in several years!

It also helps to reduce the number of bills you have to pay (a long term goal, I guess). Currently, I use only one credit card regularly (the one that I have to physically log on online and pay), and I pay it in full each month. All of my other credit cards are paid off. I do have a dental bill, but that's automatically drafted, and I plan for it to be paid off later in the year. So, I have only one bill that I have to think about each month (well, 2 bills in the months that I use my SAMS card).

Yay for online and auto bill pay!