How do you organize your bills?

[MSWR0319]

I'm trying to reorganize the file cabinet and just trying to be most efficient here. Do you file all monthly bills in their own file (Phone, electric,etc) or do you have monthly files and just put everything in the monthly folder? I'm just trying to figure out what's easiest if I need to pull something later on.

[squimp]

I have done it both ways and I ring it is easier to organize by company rather than by date. It is much easier to find stuff later because I am usually looking for a particular bill. I put most recent in the front. I also pay almost everything online so it is easier to stay on top of everything. I have a one page sheet where I have written down how I am paying and in general when the bill is due.

[KrisM]

I do it by month. I so very rarely ever need to look at an old electric bill, I don't want to spend the time sorting by type every month. I found it piled up on my desk. So, now, I do it by month and then do a sort in January and stick last year's in the basement.

[BDKmom]

We file each type of bill in a separate folder.

[hillview]

um so I toss everything after I pay it except the mortgage bills which I file a copy of every couple of months. Is that bad? I always review it.

[KrisM]

um so I toss everything after I pay it except the mortgage bills which I file a copy of every couple of months. Is that bad? I always review it.

Personally, I'd keep it for a year. DH would keep it forever. We've compromised with 3 years. But, I think most things can be tossed, really. I'd keep medical bills as well.

[wendibird22]

I ebill with my bank. Bank gets an electronic copy of all bills and I pay electronically. Nice thing is that I can look back at prior month's copies if needed. I love being paperless.

When I did have paper copies I sorted by company.

[lizzywednesday]

I was never particularly organized, so I have my bills delivered electronically and I pay them on a set schedule as auto-debits.

DH deals with stuff like the HOA dues, property taxes, water/sewage, electric, cable & gas. He uses a spreadsheet & pays them online, putting paid bills into a file folder labeled with each receiver name (HOA dues; TownName taxes; etc.)

We started doing this with DD's treatment at the children's hospital - all of the bills relating to my maternity care, her hospital stay and follow up visits are in a 3-ring binder. And, yes, we needed the whole binder.

[scrooks]

um so I toss everything after I pay it except the mortgage bills which I file a copy of every couple of months. Is that bad? I always review it.

We do the same. I think now with so much being electronic you can pull most bills up online if you need to check something. Otherwise we end up with a pile of old bills and it annoyes DH!

[belovedgandp]

Now that I pay everything on-line I don't get hardcopies and I do not keep them.

I have a folder per utility with contracts, service appointments, account numbers and basic payment info. I save the e-mails by calendar year with the payment confirmations and then delete them (or I should anyway, forget they are there).

Only paper bill I still get is our mortgage and a couple annual items.

[egoldber]

We also now pay on-line and don't get hard copy bills for most things. The ones we do get, DH scans and then throws them away. I can't tell you how much this has cut down on our paper clutter!

[MSWR0319]

Thanks everyone! I think I'll keep using separate folders. DH suggested using monthly folders but I just didn't want to go digging through something if I knew the company vs not knowing the month and trying to find it. We don't get a whole lot of paper bills, but still do get a few. I toss them yearly though because I can't stand clutter.