Paying your bills on time can be extremely challenging, that is if you don’t have a fail-proof system in place. Today I’m sharing with you four easy to implement ways that will help you finally organize bills in your home. These systems will not only help you avoid late payment fees but save you a whole lot of unnecessary stress every month.
There are so many different due dates, websites to keep track of, and amounts to remember that it can all get extremely confusing and overwhelming. Late fees aren’t usually due to not being able to afford to pay your bills, they are due to not remembering to pay them!
Juggling work, family, the home, and everything in between isn’t easy. These simple steps will help you keep your bills organized and give you peace of mind.
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How to organize bills the easy way
1 – Set a reminder
Paperless billing can not only shave a few dollars off your bill at times, but it can also help reduce the paper clutter in your home! Without the constant reminder, we sometimes forget to pay them all together! To make sure you never forget to pay a bill again, download the Bill Tracker App on your phone. This is the best app to organize bills and the app is very user-friendly.
You can set up reminders that show the due date and even how much money you owe for each bill.
This is an excellent way to help you pay bills on the go, and make sure you never miss another payment. You can even add recurring bills, so you don’t have to keep putting them into the bill tracker.
2 – Set up a bill payment binder
While more and more of our bills are becoming paperless nowadays, we still receive a fair amount of them in the mail. Between bills and everything else we get in the mail, they often get buried under a big old pile of paper making it easy to miss a payment. Setting up a bill payment binder is the best way to organize bills and mail at home. It will not only keep you from losing bills, but also help you figure out what you have already paid, and what still needs to be done. Here is what you can keep in your bill payment binder for easy use:
- Bill tracker (from Amazon or you can download a printable from around the internet)
- Calculator
- Pen and Pencil
- Eraser
- Highlighter
- Cheques
- Envelopes
** This expense tracker is a fabulous, low budget option.
The binder system is fairly easy to set up. Once you have a binder, place the printed bill tracker at the front of your binder. Make sure there is a place to store the items listed above in your binder.
Either place a plastic sleeve or binder divider for each month of the year and as bills come in highlight due date, the amount owing and place the bill in the month it is due. Once those bills are paid put a big line across the bill with “PAID” written on the bill so you know what bills you have already paid.
3 – Go completely digital
If you prefer paying your bills online, or want to reduce your paper clutter, this is an excellent method to help you organize your bills. You can choose to store your items in cloud storage, or even right on your computer. Start by making a spreadsheet in either Excel or Google Sheets.
You can make your own from scratch, or use a premade one. As you make payments, update the spreadsheet.
It’s that simple! Once you’ve created your spreadsheet, you need a place to keep all of your receipts organized. In case you need to dispute or prove you paid something, you want to have these handy. Create a folder in Google Drive or your documents marked Bill Receipts, so you can easily find them later if you need them. I recommend sorting them by month to make them easier to find later.
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4 – Set a monthly withdrawal system
If you want to make it even easier for yourself, a system my husband and I use and love is to have all of our bill payments withdrawn from our bank account each time a bill is due. It is all automated and you can contact your bank to set it all up or set it up yourself online on your bank’s website.
The downfall of this system is that you need to make sure there is money in your bank account every time a bill payment is withdrawn or you will incur an overdrawing bank fee that can be costly. This system doesn’t suit if you are living paycheck to paycheck and struggle to funds to pay bills each month.
There are so many different ways you can organize bills. These four are my favorite ways because I find them very easy to follow. If you prefer files and folders, the bill payment binder method will definitely be the best option for you. If you mostly pay your bills online or prefer going digital, the digital organization method would work best. Whatever method you choose, you’ll be able to easily organize your bills in less time and avoid incurring late payment fees that can add up over the year.
Aside from the satisfaction of keeping on top of all your bills and finances, you may find you save money in the long run for things like family holidays, extra luxuries or savings for your dream home.
Do you have a system you use and love? Share it with us in comments so we can know what works for you.
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