How do you all organize your bills?

[falling5tarr]

I usually keep mine for a year, but they are scattered EVERYWHERE! I need to get more organized and sort out all of my bills/statements, etc. What's the best way?

[bluemoon2]

i have a section in my filing cabinet marked "bills" and manilla folders for each company I have to send a bill to. I just put them in there after I pay it.

[The Zoo]

Ditto. Current year in one filing cabinet, previous year in another filing cabinet. Other previous years boxed,marked and stored.

Edited August 20, 2005 by The Zoo

[Athena53]

I pay 'em and shred 'em (in that order). Never had a problem. If I need statements from the credit companies or the mortgage company, they're all on line. It's worked for me.

[BooM]

http://www.organize-everything.com/filboxwithan.html

 

i bought this from office max....and no i didnt pay $31.99. it was like $9.95. i couldnt find it on office max's site so i googled it and found that site selling it. i just seperate by company and place in its own hanging file folder. i even have a binder sitting perfectly inside behind my hanging file folders with my dispute stuff...drafts of letters and letters ive recieved in response to my disputes, copys of CRs that i get back with my disputes, envelopes, and CMRRR stuff so i can have my letters ready before i goto the post office. i wasnt ready to spend on a file cabinet when this thing can do the same for $9.95.

[sboram24]

BooM - I also have the same, except mine is plastic with a cover. I like the hanging folders. I divide up by bank statements, credit cards etc. and then include sub-folders (the manila kind) and label each acct and cc acct.

 

I use post-its taken from work to mark the statements that are due soon, so when I look in the box, I can see immediately what's due.

 

Online banking helps too.

[SmartAlec]

I have the same thing as you BooM only mine is black mesh. I got mine at Staples. I keep it right on my kitchen counter where I go thru the mail. I tried putting on my desk in the computer room but I never

 

I have 2 folders in the front one for bills that come in that I pay with our first paycheck of the month (due dates before the 15th) and another for bills that come in that I will pay with our 2nd paycheck of the month (bill due after the 15th).

 

After I pay the bills I put them back in their folders. When the next month bills come in I check to be sure they are correct (my payment has been accounted for) then I destroy them. I've stopped keeping them for a long time unless I need them for taxes then I put them in our tax folder (also in the file holder).

 

This has been working for me. But I only pay bills twice a month.

[lbjones]

Ditto.  Current year in one filing cabinet, previous year in another filing cabinet.  Other previous years boxed,marked and stored.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I do this too. I have them about 10 years back I guess. I couldn't imagine shredding it the way some of you do. Not that it's bad, just that it would make me crazy anxious.

[justin28004]

pay, shred

[Kona]

Pay and file in appropriate folder in one of those portable filing deals. Keep a minimum of one year. Pays off if a problem develops.

[Subprime]

I have a plastic tub with a lid that takes hanging file folders. I keep 2004 & 2005 in there and the other years are in other boxes. I am 1099, I have to keep accurate records so I can keep more of my money and not give it away to the government.

 

-Subprime

[menegt]

pay then shred - bill pay on bofa keeps my payments in chronological order also.

[Guest Muggle]

Well, DH's self-employed, so we have a large filing cabinet for his business stuff. I have it separated into three categories. Business receipts, Monthly bills, Important Papers (stuff I don't want to throw away, like mortgage doc., owners manuals, receipts for large purchases, my "sockdrawer", etc.). I also have a bill organizer that I put the bills in as they come and file them when I pay them. The bill organizer is a wooden box with dividers and #1-31 written underneath each divider so I can organize them by the date they're due.

 

Anyway, it seems to work for me.

[Frisbee]

I purchase a new 3 inch binder every year. I use dividers labled to correspond with each bill.

 

When I pay a bill, I punch holes in it and insert it into the binder. If problems with any bill ever occur I write notes with the date, person I spoke with, time, etc right on that particular bill. That has saved me lots of problems if something unexpected pops up down the road.

 

The entire binder is labled with the year. At the end of the year, the binder goes into the file cabinet.

 

Piece of cake solution to stay organized and also a nice way to stay on top of budgeting.

 

I pay via Quicken with alerts.

[genseeker]

I have afile foder with month dividers. Bills go at the front, pay stubs at the back for each month. Bank statements are in a binder with dividers for account. Planning ahead for buying a house so keeping lots of things like this.

[hopebaby]

Hey Frisbee, that binder is a great idea. I keep current year in a plastic filing box with handle-lid but previous years are in cardboard boxes and it is sometimes difficult to find things when I want them. I think the binder at the end of the year would work out well for me. Thanks for posting!

 

Hope

[MisterJ]

As much as possible, I pay everything online and stop the paper statements. My bank will have records of the payments. If I was truly paranoid, I'd save all the payment confirmation screens as seperate files in a "bills" folder somewhere on my computer.

 

J