Where do you keep your unpaid bills?

[Marisa6826]

I really need to get some sort of a better system. I had them in a basket in the kitchen for a while, then in a stack in the corner, but it's just not working.

I would LOVE this doodad from Levenger, but I'm not spending $85 on something to hold my bills. I'm just not organized enough to enter them into billpay as I receive them.


HTTP://www.LevImage.com/IMAGE/PRODUCTS/DESK_ACCESSORIES/MISC_DESK_ACCESSORIES/AD4670S10_0904.jpg

*sigh* I need a wife!

-m

[pixelprincess]

I am going to be of no help as i stack mine on top of my mac's CPU. lol. i keep a mental log on when they are due and pay them online. it hasn't been working as well for me so i need a better system too!

[almostamom]

Hold on, M, let me go ask Greg........

If he dies first, I'm so out of luck!!! I, of course, did all my own bill paying (mortgage, utilities, etc.) when I was single. When we got married, he said he was fine with doing all the bill paying and since it all came out of his checking acct, that was just FINE with me (it was really great when I was still teaching and my whole check was fun money). I don't like those darn window envelopes! I'm only responsible for my one credit card and I'll have to figure out where I put that darn thing because it's due tomorrow!

Anyway, to answer your question, Lillian Vernon had something similar to what you have pictured, but it had a slot for every day of the month so you could put the bills in the slot by due date. I always wanted one, but I never had extra $ when I was single.

-- I sent you something today - you should have it by the end of the week.

Hugs,
~Linda~
DS 11/04

[MarisaSF]

Not too physically organized here. I pile them up (keep them in a box thing, actually) and pay them online at once. What helped was calling all my payees and switching the pay-by dates to be around the 5th of the month. That way, I'd remember to pay them right before the 1st and have them delivered by the due date.


Marisa -- I thought of you when I saw this analysis of our name:
You want to be productive and feel useful, and enjoy helping solve problems. You like to be busy and not waste time. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You enjoy a challenge. You can take thought-directed actions. You are relatively demonstrative in your affections. You enjoy being stroked verbally and physically. You try to be prudent. You have good business acumen. You have a need to be up front.

The "stroking" part cracks me up. I think it was a dog-naming site! Not sure how a dog would benefit from good business acumen though...

[Marisa6826]

Is it a Beanie Baby? :P


-m

[Marisa6826]

It's kind of scary in that it's pretty accurate - at least for me!

How about you?

Oh, and my dogs have outstanding business acumen. Of course it would be better if they conducted their acumen outside rather than behind a chair in the kitchen, ;) :P

-m

[almostamom]

Oh, you're baaaddddd!!!!! I totally forgot about that one!!!
hee, hee, hee, hee, hee! If Greg only knew that's what was in those boxes in the hall closet!

Linda~
DS 11/04

[Marisa6826]

BTW, I LOOOOVE Nana's story about the emergency when her Lifetime for Women went out. I was HOWLING over the prospect of your Mother and her QVC issues.

Who wants to call in and talk about their pants?

ROFL.

I sooooooo want to meet your family! Really.

-m

[LD92599]

I keep them in the checkbook! Our checkbook though is the big three ring binder type so it's easy to do that! I also keep stamps in there along w/ return address labels.

Laura
mom to William

LKibala at optonline dot net

http://lilypie.com/pic/050530/616a731.jpg[/img][img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

[cmdunn1972]

We have a wicker basket that hangs on the wall. It has 2 compartments. When the mail comes in, I open it, and all the bills to on the top basket. My mail and coupon offers that I plan on using go in the lower basket. I also mark the outside of the envelope with the due date and amount due.

HTH! :)

ETA: Hubby is incredibly organized when it comes to actually paying bills too. (He's an engineer, but I swear he was a CPA in a previous life! :P) Anyway, he set up a cash flow spreadsheet in Excel. If you want, I could maybe email you a template. :)

[hez]

Now that I'm just paying them once a week, they go into a in/out kind of setup-- two trays that are stacked up. The trays are on the computer desk, since I always enter it into Quicken as I write the checks (I haven't gotten into the whole on-line billpay thing yet). Bills that haven't been paid go in the top tray. Bills that have been paid go in the bottom tray, and DH is supposed to file them (that's the agreement). The filing ends up falling on me after the bottom tray gets overfull :)

[KrisM]

We have a very simliar set-up, including the overflowing to-be-filled tray :). But, we have 3 trays. The top is fro bills to be paid, the middle is other things that need to be recorded, the bottom is things that are need to be filed (bills and statements). We used Microsoft Money and put things like paychecks, bank stuff, 401k statements, etc into it. It is that type of thing that goes in the 2nd tray.

[babystuffbuff]

The thing that really helps me is that my day planner has a page at the beginning of each month that lists all the days in the month and what day of the week they are and has a line after each one (F 1. ____________ ). When I get a new bill in the mail, I write what it is for and the amount due on the line for the due date. Then I tear off the stub that you have to send with your payment, put it in the designated envelope, and stick it in the front inside pocket of the planner. When it's time to pay the bill, I write out the check and put the envelope in the mail. It's simple, I don't have to be near my computer to do it, and it's nice to see all my bills and what I need to pay in one place in a timeline format. I am horrible at using my day planner to actually plan my day, but it works great for helpimg me keep my bills organized. :)

Sarah

[zuzu]

I've seen organizers similar to the one you posted at Target for around $20-25, though it was a while ago.

We have a small two slot, two drawer organizer that I picked up for $5 at at a PB outlet years ago. (I'd also try there, if you have one nearby.) We keep that downstairs in the kitchen because that's where we sort the mail.

Melissa, mom to Sarah (5/03)

[Sarah1]

I keep them in a file folder, tucked away in a drawer. I have a file folder for unpaid bills, and one for paid bills that need to be filed away (that folder is pretty full, LOL). I used to have one of those organizers like the one you have pictured, but I didn't like having all that stuff out on a counter. I like to pretend that I'm neat...

[emmiem]

I just use one of the smaller paper filers that are available at Staples or Office Depot. Front section is for Bills To Be Paid, nest section is for Return Receipts or Other Pending Don't File Away Yet stuff, and the last section is two envelopes-one for atm receipts and the second for debit card receipts (I put those there after entering into checkbook).

Unable to post pic but here is the info.


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[amp]

Well, they used to sit in a stack, with the checkbook, on a little table near the dining room (which is overflowing).

Now that I'm starting online bill pay, I need it all in the office, so I'm transitioning it to my filing/tray area. A filing tray and a pending tray already exist, but I'm afraid my bills will get lost in the "pending" tray, so I'm planning to buy a 3rd tray just for bills that are pending. Then when I pay them, they'll move the the exisiting filing tray.

[m448]

I have one like you posted (bills get filed by due date) but I only paid about $15 in one of those Lillian Vernon type catalogs. Since we also have them entered in Money (just once but they are reoccuring) the sorting system is just a way to keep them at hand and a visual cue for how many are due and when.

Paid bill stubs are filed in our office.

[ribbit1019]

In our attempts to organize things in the last couple of months this is what we have come up with:

For inbound mail that we can't get to right away it goes in a letter holder/key holder thing (discriptive I know) that hangs on the wall.

After the bills/junk has been sorted the bills are filed.
We use a letter size poly expandable file that zips shut and has a handle. It is labeled with each company's name, and there is a sopt for receipts, and a calendar. It has about 24 slots and is not really that bulky unless a lot of bills/receipts build up.

I bring the bills to work frequently so I needed something I could just grab and go if necessary. I looks like a mini breifcase if you can picture it.... I can't find a pic of it sorry, but it also has a zippered pocket on the front. In the pocket I keep stamps, return address labels, pens, checkbook and the disc for spreadsheet.

Our ledger is on an excel spreadsheet (thanks to DH) which I love because I hate balancing the checkbook.

I think the file cost like $12 bucks at Staples or somewhere similar, DH got it, so I'm not really sure. But I know I could find out if you needed me to.

Now you would think with all this, that our gas might not have gotten turned off last week....lol. Amazing.


Christy
Maddy - binkie free as of 6/28/05

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Grow Baby Grow!
http://lilypie.com/days/060301/4/0/0/-5/.png

[octmom]

I found something similar on the Current Catalog site for $20: http://currentcatalog.com/productDetail.asp?subCatID=702&superprodid=10435&psd=Bill+Secretary+%3Cbr%3E%3Cb%3E+%3Cfont+color%3 Dred%3EPersonalized+Free%21%3C%2Fb%3E++

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/28203.jpg

You are inspiring me! I used to pay all my bills the moment they came in (pre-DH). Somehow, I started leaving bills for DH to take care of a few years ago. we have had several occasions when he has stashed away stacks of mail, including bills, in random spots. I don't even set foot in our home office anymore. It's his dumping ground and it drives me CRAZY! Problem is, unless I start taking some responsibility for bill-paying, I can't really complain if he screws up. Maybe I'll buy one of these and get us back on track.

DH has started paying bills online in the last few months, after hesitating for a long time. He loves it!


Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[Moneypenny]

In theory, they are kept on the desk in the office in an organized manner. In reality, they are on the kitchen counter. I now have most bills paid electronically (phone, electric/gas, cable/internet service), so they don't require me to do anything with the paper bill that comes other than file it away. When an automatically paid bill comes, I just record it in the checkbook and file away. The mortgage, water bill, and credit card (we just have one) require me to either write a check or go online to authorize payment, so those three may sit on the kitchen counter as a reminder that I need to do something. Once paid, they get filed.

What really helped our system was to go down to one credit card. We have the one joint credit card and each of us has one in our own name that is just for emergencies, but is never actually used. I don't use store credit cards unless I will get some great deal (like 15% off a large purchase or something).

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif[/img][/url]

[pritchettzoo]

DH wanted that same thing from Levenger. I found one at Target for $19. So that's what we use. Of course then there are the ones that don't make it to the organizer...

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I've converted everything to online bills, so I hardly get anything in the mail anymore. And I have everything set up to auto pay from my checking account. So I don't have any paper bills to worry about at all. I open the mail standing in the kitchen by the trash can. Junk mail goes right in. Credit card statements get opened, looked at, and tossed. Catalogs and magazines go straight to the rack in the bathroom.

[lukkykatt]

I use an online bill paying service, so all my bills (except water, which they won't send to a different address) go right to the PO Box of the service. They scan the bills and send me an email when they arrive. I just look at them online, and then don't have to file them when they are paid. It costs about $13/month, but to me, it is a beautiful arrangement.

[June Mommy]

Our kitchen table has a drawer in it, so I keep unpaid bills in there, in order of when they are due. I have as many bills as possible automatically drafted, but I still keep the paper bill in the drawer to remind me to write it in the checkbook. I also keep stamps, stapler, debit card receipts, pen, etc. in there, so I just sit at the table and get it all done. I try to make it part of my morning routine to check the drawer while DS is eating breakfast. After I have mailed a bill (or written it in the checkbook), I take the stub to our office to file away in the file cabinet. Actually, I just throw it on top of the file cabinet in the pile of things to be filed! That is a job that I must do when DS is otherwise occupied, so I only do it every month or so!