Keeping Track of Your Incoming Bills

Paying bills can sometimes be a painful experience especially when you realize you forgot to send your payment out on time and now you are getting a penalty tacked onto your balance to boot! Some tips on how to keep track of your incoming bills may help avoid extra stress.

• Make a list of your bills by their due dates. Keeping a list of bills by their due dates can help make sending bills out on time. The list is easy to keep handy. You can also check off or line out the bills you have already sent out to make it easier to know what bills have been paid.
• Make a spreadsheet according to when you receive your paychecks. Arrange all your bills by the due date list you have already created. Place your paycheck amount at the top of your list. This will give you a clear picture of how much money you have for your bills during each pay period. You may find you are able to pay more than the minimum for some of your bills allowing you to pay your balances off quicker. Ensure you give yourself enough time to either mail or make online payments as to avoid late payment penalties. Once the bill is paid, log the payment date in your spreadsheet.
• Place reminders at least one week in advance in your calendar. Should your payment process with certain creditors take longer, allow more time for scheduling your payments. Keeping incoming bill reminders in your calendar helps keep you on track with your bills. Many times, arrangements for payment withdrawal from your checking account, savings account, or credit card can be coordinated with your creditor.
• Not everyone wants to keep a due date folder therefore a tip for keeping track of incoming bills is to place the incoming bills in order by due date in your bill holder by your computer, desk, or kitchen table drawer. Keep the bill that is to next in line to be paid on the top of your bill stack for easy bill payment access.
• If your style is to have a folder with the days of the month to make it quicker for you to organize your incoming bills, an accordion bill holder is a great organizer for placing incoming bills by date. As you receive your incoming bills, place the bills in the date that is at least 7 days prior to the payment due date if you plan to pay your bill by snail mail. If you pay online, typically less time is required. Remember to record the date and the amount you paid per bill.

Keeping a good handle on managing your incoming bills can avoid embarrassing letters or phone calls from creditors wondering bill payments when in reality a simple mistake was made by not remembering a bill was due.