What I want to be doing is sharing with you some of my "Christmas-y" Delightful Order. But, before I do and since my last post was on my mail organizer, I'm going to show you, real quick, how I organize my bills.
I have found, that for me, this is the best method on Organizing Bills:
The first thing that happens in my bill paying process is the mail gets put into the incoming mail folder of my mail organizer.
I have three filing systems for my bill paying & mail organizing:
1. Immediate Daily Filing
2. Intermediate Filing
3. Archival Filing
This is my Immediate Daily Filing System
I found this great expandable folder at Target & have set it up like so:
I open the mail (standing over the garbage can, for all "the junk mail") and sort the mail/bills into these dividers as labeled. I print the online payment reminders and file in here as well.
About 2x a month I pay the bills.
I have set up a report in Microsoft Excel to help me track the bills due each month, as some are paid online & some I don't receive statements for etc. This spreadsheet works great for me - I can see what's due and when it's due.
I attach all paper bills behind the spreadsheet, with a paperclip, file in my Bills Due this Month file (in the expandable file) and when it comes time to pay the bills this is the sheet I go off from.
When I actually sit down to pay the bills (2x month) I use Quicken Home & Business to track it all in my computer. Quicken is awesome, I highly recommend it and with Quicken, you can set up reports similar to this one. I just choose to use the above report.
When I actually sit down to pay the bills (2x month) I use Quicken Home & Business to track it all in my computer. Quicken is awesome, I highly recommend it and with Quicken, you can set up reports similar to this one. I just choose to use the above report.
Once I've made payment, I write "paid, the check # & the date" on the statement and file in a file drawer at my kitchen command center located in my kitchen.
This is my Intermediate Filing System
Once a year, I go through this file drawer, clearing it for the new year, shredding what does not need to be archived, and filing all the important files (ie. mortgage, etc) into my Archival Filing System, which are paper file boxes, stored elsewhere in my home.
That's my way of organizing, tracking and paying my bills.
Read all about it HERE.
:)
* UPDATE* I've changed my bill paying a little. I now use my All-In-One family planner. The way that I pay the bills continues to be the same. I've just changed to a binder and added a few more things to it.
:)
