Please share your (successful) system for managing bills and other paperwork.

[smilesonly]

i've given myself till saturday to get this aspect of my life under control. i would love to hear how others handle/organize/manage bills and various paperwork.

 

thx:)

[TranquilMind]

i've given myself till saturday to get this aspect of my life under control. i would love to hear how others handle/organize/manage bills and various paperwork.

 

thx:)

 

You will probably get lots of techy advice here and if you are techy, then go for it.

 

I'm very low tech, a product of the last century. I have an actual ledger BOOK (not an online program) into which I keep all actual bills that arrive and then I pay them all every two weeks (or earlier if necessary). But hey, I don't need the computer to do any of this and I'm not lost if the internet goes out.

 

I record the check number, Item, Amount, Date, and check off whether it is paid or not. One book lasts like 5 years so it is easy to compare today's bills to any other month (one page per month). It's also easy to see if all monthly bills have been paid, because I repeat the same page every month and can easily see when they are all checked off.

 

This system has worked flawlessley for over 30 years, in which time I have never been late on a bill. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I have a file for every year's bills, both for our home and for our rental properties. Spouse has advanced tax knowledge so he does taxes every year, inputting the bills in at that time, which I have organized for him into groups, usually.

[smilesonly]

You will probably get lots of techy advice here and if you are techy, then go for it.

 

I'm very low tech, a product of the last century. I have an actual ledger BOOK (not an online program) into which I keep all actual bills that arrive and then I pay them all every two weeks (or earlier if necessary). But hey, I don't need the computer to do any of this and I'm not lost if the internet goes out.

 

I record the check number, Item, Amount, Date, and check off whether it is paid or not. One book lasts like 5 years so it is easy to compare today's bills to any other month (one page per month). It's also easy to see if all monthly bills have been paid, because I repeat the same page every month and can easily see when they are all checked off.

 

This system has worked flawlessley for over 30 years, in which time I have never been late on a bill. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I have a file for every year's bills, both for our home and for our rental properties. Spouse has advanced tax knowledge so he does taxes every year, inputting the bills in at that time, which I have organized for him into groups, usually.

 

thx! i am no tech savvy at all, but dh is. although, since i'm the one who pays 99% of the bills, i want to do it w/i my comfort zone.

 

can you please walk me through your system from the time you get an envelope out of your mailbox?:blushing:

 

(i'm dealing with lots of unopened mail....)

[justamouse]

Let Dh do it. :D OK, he's financially gifted, and loves organizing paper, so that helps. :001_smile: And I hate paper, forget to write down checks and can't keep a cash flow cycle in my head like he can. Every Sunday night he pays bills, with a checkbook and ledger. Every Monday he mails them from work. He writes the amt and date paid on the bill envelope, and from there he makes piles. Don't touch the piles. :-)

Edited December 28, 2011 by justamouse

[Night Elf]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. We have a filing box with labeled hanging folders. Each bill has its own folder. When we pay a bill, we write the date paid and check # on the stub and file it in the appropriate folder.

 

We only keep receipts for big ticket items. I do not save all the daily receipts like groceries, gas, hair cuts, etc.

 

We used to have a budget that I kept in a binder, but it never contained regularly occurring bills like mortgage, utilities, etc. We only kept record of what we spent in areas where we wanted to track how much money we spent, like grocery store and gas for the cars.

 

We record all debit charges and checks written in the plain jane small ledger that comes with a box of checks. When we finish a book, we put it in the box of check duplicates.

 

FWIW, I tried using an online software that kept track of all our purchases and money paid for bills. It was a pain in the neck to keep up with so I went back to the simple filing method. :)

We hold onto most items for 3 years and then shred them.

[funschooler5]

I'm actually in the middle of filing a bunch of bills right now. All I have is two of those crate type boxes from Walmart that hold hanging file folders. We do have two cheap metal filing cabinets, but they are getting bent, and the drawers are difficult to open. They need to be replaced.

 

I write all of the dates that our bills are due on a calendar, so I can see everything in front of me (and lately, know what I can hold off on paying :glare:).

[Hannah C.]

I have a post-it flag for each bill. I put it in my planner on the due date (or a month from the previous due date). I used to write bill due dates down in the planner itself, but I got tired of all the writing. ;)

 

When I get a bill in the mailbox, I open it and check the due date. I adjust my post-it flag accordingly. Then I put the bill in my "inbox," which is a paper tray on my desk. I should go through this and put all those papers where they belong more often than I do...

 

Every week, I look at the next week and see what bills need to be paid. Once I pay them, I move the post-it to the next due date. If I was writing the bill due date down in the planner itself, I would cross it off and write the date it was paid. I then write the date I paid the bill on the bill and file the bill in the appropriate folder. I get rid of those every year or two. I like to write down the totals for things like gas and electricity, so that I can average them and use that to budget.

 

HTH!

 

(Most of my bills are paperless, which means I get emails instead of physical mail, and I pay all of my bills online, which means that once it's paid, it's paid - no worries about the check getting lost in the mail. I find that helpful and it cuts down on paper!! But if it doesn't work for you, that's okay. :D )

Edited December 28, 2011 by Hannah C.

[regentrude]

Big ring binders with dividers. Separate binders for "credit cards", "house", "utilities", "taxes" etc.

Bills and mail go on top of microwave in kitchen and get filed every week.

The key is to not let paper accumulate and to have a specific location where everything belongs - putting it there is much easier if you do it on a weekly basis and you know exactly where it needs to go.

 

It also helps decrease paper volume to do as much as possible electronically: banking, paying utility bills etc.

I can strongly recommend an account aggregation program like Yodlee that collects the information for all your bank accounts, credit cards etc on one screen. you can click on the individual accounts to see detailed statements.

We pay all utilities and phone by electronic debit and never have to think about deadlines because it is done automatically.

Edited December 28, 2011 by regentrude

[TranquilMind]

thx! i am no tech savvy at all, but dh is. although, since i'm the one who pays 99% of the bills, i want to do it w/i my comfort zone.

 

can you please walk me through your system from the time you get an envelope out of your mailbox?:blushing:

 

(i'm dealing with lots of unopened mail....)

Ha. A kindred soul!

 

Go buy your ledger book. $5-$10 at Walmart or Target. It will be blank but have lined columns. Open book to first page. Entitle January 2012 . Make a list of your regular bills which you will recopy from month to month on the next page. You will add the intermittent bills like Car insurance (we pay twice a year so it is listed in March and in September)

 

My last month looks like this:

 

__________ (Name)MORTGAGE $XXX.XX (I fill in amt) 11/22/11 (when I paid)

(check #)

 

__________ XXXX Water XX.XX 12/10/11 Check mark

 

___________ XXXX Electric Xx.XX Date Check paid

 

And so on. I list mortgage and all regular utilities. Skip a line and then I list rental properties, skip a line and list regular charities supported. You will group yours how it makes sense for you. Then as you remove your bills from the exterior envelope, keep the bill and envelope and tuck that into your ledger page on whatever month you are on. Every day take your bills directly to your ledger book.

 

Then sit down and pay twice a month or three times if you just want to do so. Keep them stacked in order of what is due first. I take a couple of bills to a bank and pay them directly, then tuck the paid receipt in my file for 2011 Household Expenses. Because I like a paper trail, I keep the bill itself after I have torn off the top part to send in with the check, and write on it "date paid", " Amount" and when I mailed it.

 

That's how I have done it since I was 21.

[Parrothead]

I utilize my bank's bill pay.

 

Statements go to the bank for everything but the vehicles and the power/water company.

 

Since most every payment (except power) is fixed I pay a year in advance. I sit down with it in September of each year and set up the bills. Then I only have to check the progress monthly.

 

Starting next year I'll be out of debt and will pay all utilities a year in advance so I only have to monitor monthly.

[linguistmama]

We do as much electronically as possible with mint.com. It pulls the info from our various accounts and has it in one place. Statements and bill reminders go to my email. I can get email payment reminders from mint.com or from banks and utility companies. I can pay online at a company's website or use the bill pay from my bank. We only get a small amount of paperwork now. I have a small file drawer with labeled folders for the few paper things we need to keep. The last 2 times I was pregnant I also had hg and it was difficult to deal with the paperwork. But this time it is so much easier because there is little paperwork and I just get online at the beginning of the month and pay bills for a few minutes.

[Random]

We hold onto most items for 3 years and then shred them.

 

Just a note on this...the IRS or your state can audit you up to seven years after you file your income tax returns. It's prudent to keep your records for that long, just in case you have to prove something to them.

 

Ask me how I know. :tongue_smilie:

[smilesonly]

thx for the ideas.

 

tranquil-that seems like a very simple solution.:tongue_smilie:

 

i have tried a filing system in the past and have failed. maybe i'm crazy, but it bugs me that papers slip to the bottom of the file and then i end up missing them.:glare:

 

i like the binder idea-haven't tried that. thx regentrude.

[mlktwins]

I have gone to on-line bill paying for most bills, but can easily start paying manually if necessary. I don't get any of my bills on-line (I like having the paper statement, checking my receipts against credit card statements, and knowing the bill will come if something happens to the computer). I do get my bank statements on-line, download them every few months and back up to an external hard drive.

 

I just got everything organized again after about a year (we moved and other things happened). Feels so good to be organized again. I have a small file drawer in my kitchen desk. When I get the mail, I immediately sort out the bills. I open each bill, recycle anything not necessary (the mailing envelope, etc) and immediately put it in a folder labeled Bills to Pay. I go through the rest of the mail and recycle what I can, I put anything that just needs to be filed into a To Be Filed folder so at least I know where to get my hands on something if necessary. I file once a month in a file cabinet in our unfinished basement. I do not like uncessary paper, magazines, etc. sitting around. Just my personality so it feels good to keep up with this (after not being caught up for a while).

 

Once a week I look in my Bills to Pay file and sort out what needs to be paid that week and leave the rest to look through the next week. I have a notebook with names and numbers of companies we've used (carpeting, painting, car repairs, etc). It also contains our utilities, hoa and mortgage info (acct numbers, phone number to call) in case I need it quickly. I also have a spreadsheet with all our health history and I jot down whenever we go to the Dr., what for, what tests were run, what the results were and any prescribed medications. I got caught up on this during a blizzard 2 years ago and it feels great to keep it up to date. We don't go to the Dr. much, but it is very handy when needed. My spreadsheets are by person by year.

 

There are so many different ways to do this. I wish I could go all paperless, but I was an auditor for many years and like the paper trail :D.

[smilesonly]

I utilize my bank's bill pay.

 

Statements go to the bank for everything but the vehicles and the power/water company.

 

Since most every payment (except power) is fixed I pay a year in advance. I sit down with it in September of each year and set up the bills. Then I only have to check the progress monthly.

 

Starting next year I'll be out of debt and will pay all utilities a year in advance so I only have to monitor monthly.

 

:huh: where is a bowing down smilie?? that is truly amazing.:thumbup:

[KrissiK]

I have a budget that I set up on Excel. I try to pay as much as I can on line to cut down on actual paper. All our bills are on Excel so I know if I've paid them or not each month and I keep detailed track of our spending on my budget, even down to toilet paper. It sounds kind of complex and maybe it is, but it's something I've been able to stick with for 6 years now and I don't usually do well with "systems" of any kind.

[Parrothead]

:huh: where is a bowing down smilie?? that is truly amazing.:thumbup:

Thank you. It has been a long hard road to get to this point. I'm looking forward to the end.

[bnrmom]

As soon as they arrive, all bills go into a file folder on our desk. They all just get put into one folder, no organization. Every Friday, dh (or I) sits down and opens them, sets them for online bill pay (even if it's a few weeks out) or writes a check if needed. He prints out the summary from online bill pay and staples it to the stack of bills that have just been paid, and this gets put in a "paid bills" folder in our desk. That's it. Takes about 10 minutes. Super easy, and works great. No need to track due dates, etc. You have to do it once a week though. If you put them in there and never open the file, you're doomed. :)

 

Other paperwork? No idea. My desk is a nightmare.

[Mommyof4ks]

I have a spiral notebook with each bill written on one side and the months written across the top. When a bill gets paid I write the amount I paid in the correct spot on the grid. There are a few paper bills I get each month, but most of them come in my email. Bills get filed in my filing cabinet once they are paid.

[Tigger]

I pay everything online.

 

I have a bills folder in my favorites - each link is to the bill due and I note the date due for each with the link; the links are in date due order, example:

 

Mortgage 1st

Credit Card 3rd

Electric 8th

 

...and so on.

 

I have requested all of our bills due dates fall before the 14th, that way I can pay all of them in one day, once DH gets his check sometime in the first two weeks of each month since most bills, like our mortgage, have a grace period, so it's really due by the 14th to not be reported late.

 

I stay ahead too - for example, our credit cards are due on the 3rd, but I paid them this month on the 13th for January 3rd's due date, so the next due date is actually February 3rd - so when DH is paid next week, I'll pay the February billing date due when the statement is released, probably on the 5th or so?

 

When I make a payment online, I change/edit the due date in my bills folder of links to reflect the next month's due date so I know, if I look later, that I did already pay it and it's not due until the next payment cycle.

 

I have one piece of paper - a table in a word document, printed, with the 12 months across the top and the bills in the rows along the left column - each month as I pay online, I "X" that the bill is paid so I don't miss any....I also have quarterly, semi-annual, or annual payments noted with the months we don't pay X'ed already and only the month(s) I need to make a payment left open for a hand-written X when I pay it.

 

I do still get paper statements on many things, but don't bother to open them - just toss the envelope in the file in case I need it sometime in the future.

 

ETA: I don't use our bank's bill pay online, I go to each site and pay via our checking account or credit card we're using for that bill (reward points in some cases)....to me it's easier to pay directly at the website and not worry about the bank's option sending a check to the merchant or company we're paying.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Tigger

[LostSurprise]

When the mail comes, its placed in a letter holder (one of those with 4 slots) on the kitchen counter. If I bring the mail in I filter out the chaff and just put the bills in there, although others just shove the mail in.

 

When dh gets paid I pull out my 3-ring binder with ledger. In the front is a piece of paper with dates/price of non-monthly bills and money-out (insurance, title renew, school bills, etc). Inside the front cover are vital passwords and bank account numbers.

 

I go get the bills out of the holder. I sort them: pay, trash, file. Then I sit down with my computer and go to my bank's website. I consult my ledger to see which group of bills are being paid (since dh is paid biweekly) and I pay online them from the account. When I pay a bill I mark the date, name, and amount in the ledger. If I use a check I write that number in as well.

 

Then I go to the account page and check that last pay periods bills were paid and write dh's checks in the ledger (he doesn't balance a checkbook). I make sure we have a suitable balance beyond the bills, I transfer money to or from savings, plan for upcoming expenses, and copy the list of bills to the next month (so I don't forget, even if the bill gets lost between the mailbox and the kitchen counter).

 

When I'm done I put the ledger/binder away and I'm ready to file.

 

I started out with a file folder for each bill, but honestly I just tossed them in the drawer beneath the cabinet when I was busy. Now I toss all bills in a manila envelope, bank sheets/check stubs in another manila envelope, and medical papers in a third envelope. I always file tax information (even if its bank or medical information), insurance forms and receipts...although I may let them pile up a bit. At the end of January I get rid of the previous year worth of non-tax-stuff in the manila envelopes.

 

That's it. I know many people consider a paper ledger to be redundant, but I like being able to see the whole process. I've caught insurance mistakes and tracked spending changes. I'm not worried if our computer crashes. The whole process takes @20 minutes every 2 weeks.

 

I wish you the best, every system starts with what you need and what you know you will actually do.

 

Good luck,

the daughter of an Auditor

[smilesonly]

When the mail comes, its placed in a letter holder (one of those with 4 slots) on the kitchen counter. If I bring the mail in I filter out the chaff and just put the bills in there, although others just shove the mail in.

 

When dh gets paid I pull out my 3-ring binder with ledger. In the front is a piece of paper with dates/price of non-monthly bills and money-out (insurance, title renew, school bills, etc). Inside the front cover are vital passwords and bank account numbers.

 

I go get the bills out of the holder. I sort them: pay, trash, file. Then I sit down with my computer and go to my bank's website. I consult my ledger to see which group of bills are being paid (since dh is paid biweekly) and I pay online them from the account. When I pay a bill I mark the date, name, and amount in the ledger. If I use a check I write that number in as well.

 

Then I go to the account page and check that last pay periods bills were paid and write dh's checks in the ledger (he doesn't balance a checkbook). I make sure we have a suitable balance beyond the bills, I transfer money to or from savings, plan for upcoming expenses, and copy the list of bills to the next month (so I don't forget, even if the bill gets lost between the mailbox and the kitchen counter).

 

When I'm done I put the ledger/binder away and I'm ready to file.

 

I started out with a file folder for each bill, but honestly I just tossed them in the drawer beneath the cabinet when I was busy. Now I toss all bills in a manila envelope, bank sheets/check stubs in another manila envelope, and medical papers in a third envelope. I always file tax information (even if its bank or medical information), insurance forms and receipts...although I may let them pile up a bit. At the end of January I get rid of the previous year worth of non-tax-stuff in the manila envelopes.

 

That's it. I know many people consider a paper ledger to be redundant, but I like being able to see the whole process. I've caught insurance mistakes and tracked spending changes. I'm not worried if our computer crashes. The whole process takes @20 minutes every 2 weeks.

 

I wish you the best, every system starts with what you need and what you know you will actually do.

 

Good luck,

the daughter of an Auditor

 

i like that! your parent raised you well!:D

[kalanamak]

My low tech method is to put the check in the mail the same day I get the bill, often in the next 10 minutes.

 

I walk in from the mailbox working my thumb under the flap of the bills, have them read by the time sit and pull out checkbook , and then, luckily, we have a sealed mailbox in our communal box, and I stick them out right away. (The next thing I do is dump all the junk mail in recycling.)

Before I had that, I had an Edwardian toast rack on the front table, and would leave the sealed, stamped payment right there and pick them up on my way out the door and mail them before I got on the hiway in the morning.

 

Where is your sticking point? Lubricate that point. If you have a stack of unopened, that is the sticking. Open them as soon as you get the mail out of the box, and have your checkbook at hand.

[Ellie]

"File--Don't Pile!" by Pat Dorff. It totally changed the way I handle paper. Love it.

 

I pay all bills on-line now through my bank.

[smilesonly]

My low tech method is to put the check in the mail the same day I get the bill, often in the next 10 minutes.

 

I walk in from the mailbox working my thumb under the flap of the bills, have them read by the time sit and pull out checkbook , and then, luckily, we have a sealed mailbox in our communal box, and I stick them out right away. (The next thing I do is dump all the junk mail in recycling.)

Before I had that, I had an Edwardian toast rack on the front table, and would leave the sealed, stamped payment right there and pick them up on my way out the door and mail them before I got on the hiway in the morning.

 

Where is your sticking point? Lubricate that point. If you have a stack of unopened, that is the sticking. Open them as soon as you get the mail out of the box, and have your checkbook at hand.

 

sticking point would be years of medical bills, leaving me in a state of avoidance and a habit of, "out of sight, out of mind.";)

 

too many bills, even though we are way better than, say, 5 yrs ago.

 

the other sticking point is the lack of funds to pay medical bills which have gone to collection. we are basically spread as thin as can be in that area, but we are about to pay off all our medical debt, leaving us with a costly 100 yr old house/utilities.:tongue_smilie:

i think i may need a friend to be my "accountability" partner when it comes to just opening the super scary mail.:glare:

 

(thx!)

[smilesonly]

"File--Don't Pile!" by Pat Dorff. It totally changed the way I handle paper. Love it.

 

I pay all bills on-line now through my bank.

 

i'm searchin' it out....:auto:

[Laurie]

For bills, I have something like this on my desk...

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/153280/Christopher-Lowell-Emporium-31-Day-Bill/

 

There's a slot for each day of the month so when I open a bill I can put it into the slot for the day it will be due. There's storage for my stamps, letter opener, etc. too.

[mom31257]

:lurk5:

[HSMom2One]

I started out with a file folder for each bill, but honestly I just tossed them in the drawer beneath the cabinet when I was busy. Now I toss all bills in a manila envelope, bank sheets/check stubs in another manila envelope, and medical papers in a third envelope. I always file tax information (even if its bank or medical information), insurance forms and receipts...although I may let them pile up a bit. At the end of January I get rid of the previous year worth of non-tax-stuff in the manila envelopes.

 

May I ask you to please clarify a bit on this? I'm not sure if you have a manila envelope for each bill and use each separate envelope for the whole year, or if you have manila envelopes for bills, bank sheets/pay stubs and medical bills for each month, or what. Just how many manila envelopes are there?

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[EmilyK]

Our issue is that both my husband and I hate paying bills and both work outside the home. We use busy periods at work as an excuse to ditch it on to the other person, who may not do it. We also get what seems like mountains of mail.

 

The only thing that begins to work for us is to put everything we can on autopay, and everything else that we can pay online, do. (We seem to have a real aversion to the check writing part.) I had to make it a project one day to do that, and we're now at the point that I need to do that again -- we seem to have different bills now, different payment sources etc. Reading your post made me think of at least 5 bills that I need to put on some sort of autopay (2 papers, one utility that didn't use to have autopay etc). I really need to make that a priority!

 

My other coping mechanism is to treat bills as a totally different item than the rest of the mail so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Have a good spot that they go and attend to it frequently. I'll never get away from some of the monthly checks that I need to write for kids' music lessons and the like, but I try to put those invoices and information in a certain folder and deal with it often.

 

I love kalanamak's idea of just forcing myself to pay them right away. That might even be better.