Ideas for Monthly Bill Organization

March 23, 2009 by Nikki 

Have you ever lost a bill?  Or realized after your next statement there is a late charge, because you did not pay last month?  23% of Americans receive late charges because they simply can not find their bills!   Here are some easy steps in setting up a system, which allows you to always know where your bills are and have the supplies you need to pay them.  

1.  When you get your mail, make sure to place your bills separate from the rest of the mail.  Put them in the same place all the time.  It can be a basket or a file with a label that says Bills to Pay, it doesn’t matter what it looks like, it just has to work for you.  

2.  You want to set up some kind of box, bin, maybe the same basket you are putting your bills into, that has all of the supplies you need to pay your bills.  These items include: stamps, envelopes, pens, calculators, monthly budget, etc.  The idea is to have all of your supplies in one place, so you do not have go searching for a pen that works.

3.  It helps some people to set a schedule when paying for bills.  It prevents paper pileup, and you will know if you miss anything.  If you get paid twice a month, know what bills are due during those time periods.  Also account for any bills that come up that are not monthly, for example- car insurance or property taxes.  

4.  I recently had a speaking presentation with the employees of a non-profit group in Eugene, Oregon, and one of the attendees had a great solution on filing your bills.  She said instead of having separate categories for each bill, for example; utility, cable, phone, etc.  They have one filing category for the month of January, February, and so on.  So every bill that comes in for the month of March, goes into the March folder.  I think this is a fantastic solution for those of you that may be looking for ways to eliminate steps in your filing!  

5.  Consider Online Bill Paying.  Many Banks, Credit Unions, and other companies offer this to their customers.  It saves you paper, stamps, and your time!

March 23, 2009 by Nikki  · Filed under: Home Organizing · Tagged: , ,

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