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Take The Time To Get Organized |
| By Terry Rigg |
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It can be a real pain to find all of your bills and receipts and organize them in a manner that makes it easy to pay your bills on time and be able to find a receipt if you need it. However, this is just as important as developing a budget or setting your financial goals. If you don't have your finances organized, eventually you will miss paying a bill or have to pay a bill twice because you couldn't find the receipt.
There are many methods you can use to get your bills organized. I recommend using the method in The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer (linked at the bottom of this article) because it combines your budget, bill paying and filing system into one simple binder.
No matter how you do it, here are a few tips that may help:
- Assign one person to take care of the bill paying and filing.
- Keep all bills and payment books together and label it "Bills To Be Paid".
- Include the date paid and check number in your payment books or on your copy of the bill
- Do your filing immediately
- Include account numbers on all checks
- Make sure your spouse or other adults that may need to know, understands your system.
- Use the Monthly Bill Summary or similar form to list your bills in the date order they need to be paid. This will prevent you from missing a bill.
- When you receive your bills, remove any unnecessary paperwork. Keep only the bill and the envelope you will use to mail it.
- It is very important to review the bills when you receive them to make sure it is accurate. If you find a discrepancy, call the company immediately.
Most problems people experience paying their bills have nothing to do with not having the money. Getting your finances organized will make your life a lot easier.
You are welcome to use The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html absolutely free for this to help you get your bills organized.
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About The Author:
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/ebookadpage.html and editor of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher web site http://www.homemoneyhelp.com. He has 25 years of experience counseling individuals and families concerning their personal finances. |
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RE: Take The Time To Get Organized
I have an easier time filing when I do it once or twice a quarter. I rent a movie or two, grab something to drink and file for several hours. Until the papers, receipts and paid bills are filed, they are in a labeled box in my buffet, which acts like a second desk :) The file cabinet itself is portable, so I can move it to any room in the house. If this is not your case, you might want to think about putting the most recent paperwork in an inexpensive filebox and the older papers in an "archive" i.e. a larger file cabinet.
I have also created a 'master list' of where important documents (land deed, marriage license, birth certificates, etc...) are located, in the event they are needed and I cannot get them myself.
I have saved quite a bit of money over the years by being able to produce records from years before. Some companies, when you sign up for an extended service or change plans, will attempt to charge you an account transfer/start-up fee. If you can prove you already paid it before (when you started service), some will remove this fee.
Hope this helps,
-Siren
RE: Take The Time To Get Organized
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Post By COOKIEPOM (Guest Post)
(10/01/2004)
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I have found that the very best, easiest, and frugal way to pay my monthly bills is by electronic bill pay service. I use my credit union for my bills and they charge zero to do this service. Once you have set up your accounts it is really easy. I can set up my own monthly average bill pay on accounts like my phone bill. I just figure up what I usually use each month and set up a payment. I saves me tons of time and money on postage, late charges ect.....
plus I have a "history" of my payments on hand at anytime I need. I even have my yard service on my bill pay plan! Ooops, I just told on myself, I do use a yard service, it is my "splurge" as my husband is disabled and I work 50 hours each week. I do clean my own house! So I cut back everywhere except on my yard! Anyway, this is a great way to pay your bills. Check out a credit union near you and see if you can get this service! Banks have it but they charge too much! I love "free" and crecit unions are non-profit too. Gotta love that! Hope this helps!
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