FinanceGrrl

Those pesky bills. They come each and every month and sometimes it just seems impossible to keep on top of all of them. The more they pile up, the less likely you are to want to do anything. As long as you have a system in place for organization (see other article), you are ready to maintain that organization as bills arrive.

FinanceGrrl is proud of the system it has developed over the years for its ease and simplicity, and we’re confident that if you apply these techniques you will not fear the yellow envelope again. If you are already in the habit of paying all of your bills immediately upon their arrival each and every time, you probably aren’t reading this… but if you are, pat yourself on the back. We’re super impressed. However, your cash flow analysis can still benefit from using the calendar system (described below) to mark when you pay your bills.

Let’s get started:

Step One: Create your TO BE PAID folder

This folder lives in the front of your system, be it a File Cabinet or File Box. It should be easily accessible. You will use it often. It will hold your bills after they arrive and before they are paid. Take out a colored file folder and Knight Thee your TO BE PAID folder.

Now – here’s how it’s used.

Step Two: What to do when a bill arrives

• Open and toss everything you don’t need. What do you need to keep? Really, all that’s useful is the actual bill. Toss all of those ads; shred any page of a bill that has your account number on it, but no real bill information; and if you pay your bills online, toss the return envelope too.

• Locate the “Due Date” for that bill

• On your CALENDAR, locate the date one week before the bill’s due date and write the name of the bill and the amount due on that day. For example, if your $46 water bill has a due date of the 20th, you would find one week prior on the calendar - or the 13th - and write “Water Bill – $46

So, what if your bill’s “due date” falls on a weekend? It’s always best to err on the safe side. If you bill is due on a Saturday, Sunday or Holiday, go to the closest work date before (usually a Friday) and use that as your unofficial “due date.” For example, Memorial day is Monday, May 31 and that’s the day your bill is due. Go to the first previous work day, which would be Friday, May 28 and that is your new due date. Go to one week prior, Friday, May 21, and that’s the day to mark on your calendar and pay your bill. Better safe than sorry.

• As necessary, reconcile the statements with your receipts. Statements that will be reconciled are primarily bank statements, credit card bills, and investments. Details on How To Reconcile are in another article – don’t sweat it right now

• File the bill in your “TO BE PAID” folder

Step Three: When a bill’s pay date arrives (using the example above, today is now the 13th of the month)

• Look at your calendar and notice that you have to pay a bill today

• Take the bill out of the TO BE PAID folder

• Make your payment [Online bill pay is a dream. You gotta do it. It saves time and money (no more running out of stamps)]

• Write directly on the bill the Date of Payment, Amount Paid, and any confirmation number given (if paid online)

• Record the transaction in your check registry or other tracking program (details on this step are in another article)

• File the bill in it’s own file folder in the current year’s accordion folder