Welcome to Mission #3 of our 52 Organizing Missions.
If you’ve completed the previous two missions Get Organized Mission #1: Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag and Get Organized Mission #2: Detox Your Briefcase/Tote/Bag, congratulations!
Keep up the momentum with this week’s task, which helps you get your finances sorted.
This is one of those high-payoff projects. It takes only a little time to set up yet saves time, bother and possibly penalty charges later on.
Disclaimer: This post is designed to provide organizing help, not financial advice. Please be proactive and decide whether you should talk to a financial professional.
Remember – you only have to spend 30 minutes to complete the basic mission. If you want to go further check out the Extended Organizing Mission Options below.
Ready?
Get Organized Mission #3: Organize Your Bill Payment
Step 1: Gather copies of all your regular bills
Your regular bills might include:
- Mortgage/rent
- Utilities
- Internet
- Cell phone
- Landline
- Car loan payments
- Credit card payments
- School fees
- Subscriptions.
Step 2: Set up automatic bill payment where available
Many of your regular bills may be automatically payable each month from your back account or credit card. Check for details on the back of your bill or look up your account online.
You can generally set up automatic payment by phone, online, or by using an ancient type of admin called ‘a form’. (Don’t fight it – whatever effort you make now will be worth the saved time, money and hassle.)
It goes without saying that you need to be able to cover these bills from your credit card or bank account. But I’ve said it anyway.
Step 3: Set up internet banking or phone banking
Ideally, all your bills will be automatically payable. If so, your organizing mission is complete and you can spend any remaining time tidying your financial papers.
For any bills that aren’t automatically payable, set up internet banking or phone banking to pay these bills at your convenience. Phone, visit or get online to set up your accounts.
Ongoing
When a bill arrives, check whether it will be autopaid. The bill will say something like: ‘Payment of $287 will be made by autopayment from your credit card on 28 November 2009. Please ensure funds are available on this date.’
If it’s a pesky one that can’t be autopaid, diarize the due date. If you use something like Outlook you can set a reminder, too. And on the due date, pay it.
Alternatively, if you have several bills that aren’t able to be autopaid, you might prefer to save time and batch the tasks by paying them all at once, online or by phone – but before the earliest due date.
Dos & Don’ts
- Don’t procrastinate on organizing your bill payment. These 30 minutes of personal organization will save you time – and possibly money – every single month.
- Do keep any passwords for phone or internet banking safe and secure. Be organized and smart!
Extended Organizing Mission Options
Want to go beyond this 30-minute organizing mission?
- Since credit card payments are at the higher end of interest charges, pay them off in full in each month if you can.
- If you have high-school-age kids, this is an excellent mission to complete with them. Teach them valuable financial and organizing skills all in one go.
- If you have ancient bills and receipts you no longer need for tax or accounting reasons, consider shredding them now.
Ready, Set, Go!
Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.
Before You Go – Please Check In
You’re now accountable to your organizing mission-mates! Once you’ve completed this week’s Get Organized Mission please add a comment to let us know you’ve done your assignment and you’re keeping your commitment.
(Click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)
And see you back here next week!
Update
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So I looked ahead to this challenge, after finishing week #2. I already use bill pay whenever I can and have pretty good system for paying bills. I do struggle with budgeting and I am determined to come up with a better budgeting system this month.
Posted October 5, 2013 by Terry Currie! The following are my group’s ideas and suggestions:
Our regular bills include:
• Rent
• Internet
• Lifeline Free Cell phone with free monthly minutes
• Landline [Cancel if you don’t need it]
• Cell Phone
• Credit card payments Cut credit cards up; pay them off; pay cash to save interest & late fees
• Store Charge Cards: Cut Store Charge Cards up; except keep one for unforeseen emergencies
• School Education fees: Necessary school supplies & student loans
• Insurance: Auto, Furs/Jewelry, Health, Life or Renters
• Subscriptions [read magazine articles online; cancel mailed subscriptions].
Only use your credit card for unforeseen emergencies i.e. car breaks down or need cash to get home from vacation; medical co-pays. PayPal is the most secure bank online.
Done!
i need to do these!! you’ve inspired me, lol
It’s so helpful, I love it.
This is such a good thing to get scheduled Sarah!
I finished! I also found a great app for iPhone called 24me that integrates your financials and it automatically reminds you of the bills due this week and I can pay them through the app!
I’ve already got most of this done. While only a few things are on “auto-payment” for me, I do EVERYTHING except my rent via online banking, and I’m OCD about checking my statements a few times a week and keeping my credit cards paid off entirely 🙂
Sounds like you’re on top of this one Catherine. 🙂
My bills were almost organised already, but I have now put them on an expenditure form and its easier to track
Sounds good Hannah! 🙂
Most of my bills are either auto pay or paperless already!
Cool Kelly! it saves so much time and hassle. 🙂
Fortunately I already decluttered my bills and bill pay and have it all organized so that I have to do very little each month to get my bills paid. However, I’d like to change from a bank to a credit union and need to call one venue where I question their charges. That’s the stuff I tend to put off–forever. I’m committed to getting those done by the end of this month.
How cool that you’ve got this under control, Rebecca. And yes – tick off those last niggling tasks by the end of the month. Nice one!
With the exception of two weekly bills that have to be paid in cash I have this all organised 🙂
Cool Amanda. This one saves time AND a lot of potential stress.
This one is already a quite organised system for us. So not much for me to do on this one. Therefore I did a few more 30 minute sessions filling Huuuuuge Trash bags instead. Looking forward to next week’s session!
Already have a good handle on the bills which can be delivered electronically. Set up a toll card even though I don’t travel on toll roads much – I was forgetting to pay the toll notices I was getting in the mail, and getting hit with admin fees to boot!
I’m a couple weeks behind but I got this one done this week 🙂
Done!
Done, there was just one last bit to do and a nudge in the right direction was what I needed.
Well I have spent the last couple months overhauling the way I track our expenses and pay our bills…. all in the name of simplification, so this came at a good time. So this week I am going to put the last of my bills (all the docs and kid related stuff) into the bill pay on my bank site so I can sit down once a month and pay everything. I have already worked out the direct deposits and transfers to ensure money to cover the bills come the end of each month. Now to stop using my credit cards!!!! Hoping all the organizing helps me cut down on the need for stuff.
This one was already DONE!
I learnt along time ago that I forget to pay bills on time and so when ever I received a “reminder” notice I set up auto payment.
We now only have to pay rates, regos (including the dog’s) and insurances. Everything else pays it’s self.