Now that I finally have a full time job that pays well, we are starting to attack our bills again. Here's the question, though: how do y'all keep your bills organized? Do you do an excel spreadsheet, file them, stack up in a pile!? We are trying to figure out what others are doing because our way isn't working.
On a positive note, I got a call today from the training department at my new company and they're having all out meals for the next two weeks catered. So thankfully I don't have to pay anything out of pocket for food! Praise God! I am packing a few snacks and my faithful vitamin water and pomegranate juice, though. Yum!
I have a folder and each time a bill arrives I use highlighter to mark the amount and the date due, then I punch holes in the bill and put them in the file in the due date order.
ReplyDeleteEach payday I pay the bills that fall in the next two weeks, I take them out of that file and file them in the filing cabinet and then I pay what is left off my snowball.
thats great about the food being provided for two weeks, it does help a lot.
I have a budget in excel that has every expense in it. I break it down by what expenses are getting paid by each pay cheque. Once the bill is physically paid it gets filled in with a colour and I track the confirmation number beside the amount. Then I write paid on the paper copy of the bill. I can tell at a glance what has been paid and what is still outstanding. This prevents me from forgetting to pay a bill or from paying it twice.
ReplyDeleteMy budget and bills are tracked in Excel. I do the same thing that Little Lamb does; only I don't write paid on the paper copy. But since it's a good idea, I'll probably start doing that too.
ReplyDeleteI'm old school. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have a folder on my desk, next to my monitor. I throw the bills(minus the envies they come in)into that folder.
Once a week I take out any bill and pay it(either online or via snail mail). The stub I keep gets PAID and the date written on it and filed....so once a week my folder gets emptied out.
I also put a sheet of paper in the folder each month that lists all bills that will have to be paid. As it's paid, I check it off and write in how much was paid out. That way, if a bill gets lost in the mail, I can see from my list what hasn't been paid since I can't remember every bill.
At the end of the month I use that checklist paper to figure out what we spent for the month-by listings any cash taken out also and then the paychecks that got direct deposited. subtract the OUTGO from the INCOME and if there is any money leftover, it gets thrown into a separate account and the cycle starts all over again the following month.
I have a notebook with a hard copy balance book in it. I throw all bills into this and sit down on the 15th and the 30 or 31st and pay anything that comes in. The house is due on the 1st the studio loan on the 5th, studio rent the 13th,so those bills are paid at the end of the month. Everything else on the 15th. Then I mark them paid in he book. I make a new sheet on the 30th for the next month, then I file and clean desk.
ReplyDeleteI actually keep things written in a notebook. I don't pay bills when they are due, but on a 2-week schedule (half of them go the first half, the other goes on the later half of the month). Most people/places really dont mind you paying early, and a lot of them will move your duedate a few days back or forward if needed. I prefer that, since I only want to think about bills twice a month, if that! I'm not comfortable with billpay just yet, but maybe later on.
ReplyDeleteBills - I grabbed all mine from last month, sat down with my calendars (yes all of them, including the one at work and on my computer at work) and found all the dates the bills are due. Because I can pay a bunch online, I moved the date they are due back four days, to give the payment time to clear the account and not be late. The others that I pay at the bank, I wrote those in four days before to account for the same thing. Then I keep a folder in my purse with them in it so i have them with me to pay - and I don't fall into the "Ack! It's due today and it's at home!" problem.
ReplyDeleteYou'll find a way that works for you.
we use an old fashioned pencil & paper - I have a notebook - write down the month on top - then the dates that paychecks come in - at that point I will fill in the bills where they need to be paid & check them off! (I also keep track of when & how much I paid on an excel spreadsheet) I have tried to get away from pencil & paper but it is what keeps me in check! :) good luck
ReplyDelete