Talk to me about paperless statements, how do you manage them?

[AnnieW625]

I am the oldest 36 yr. old on the planet sometimes and besides my Iphone I feel like I am still stuck in the 1990s when it comes to finances and bill paying (although I have had online bank access since it was new in the late 90s so I am really bad about balancing my check book because I check my balance online at least once a week). I still write checks to pay my bills and I still get statements mailed to me for pretty much every bill out there, but now I am starting to wonder if it would just be easier to get them emailed to a specific email account (just for the bills) and then either print them out as needed or just pay them online. Even if for some reason my computer at home were to die I could access them on my phone or WCS at work.

I feel like statemtents are getting lost way too easily these days in my house even though I have a space for them in my key rack by the front door.

Help me out here!

[BabyBearsMom]

We pay almost everything electronically. The only checks that I write are for daycare. For everything that can be sent electronically, I have the statement e-mailed to me. I have a folder in my GMail set up called "Bills due" and I move the bills into that folder. Then every other Thursday, I go through that folder and pay the bills via EFT that are due in the next 2 weeks. Once the bill is paid, I delete the e-mail (I can always log into my on-line accounts to look up old bills if I need to) so I know that it is done. I also have standard monthly payments set up as automatic EFTs out of my account. So my mortgage, car payments and DH's student loans are paid automatically the day after DH and I get paid. It makes life so much easier. I check my bank balance every other week when I do the bills.

[infomama]

Paperless statements are the way to go. I don't think I get any paper anymore. I just get the email, hop over to my banks website and schedule the payment. Easy peasy.

[lizzywednesday]

Paperless billing is easy - no clutter, no misdirected mail, etc. - and there are multiple options.

For my Macy's charge, as I use it so sparingly, I would open the statement & pay it using my bank's check-mailer.
For my cell phone, I was using it to auto-debit (yes, I know, you're not supposed to auto-debit a cell phone) so I would never forget about it.
For my student loan, I also used auto-debit because it saved me interest money.

We do paperless billing for car insurance as well.

[abh5e8]

we pay all of our bills online. i write checks for our nanny and for some of our regualr local food/grocery purchases but thats it. i just keep a list of the date of the month each bill is due and then log on to the site, check the statement and pay. i dont' print or keep any paper copies. i've never had a problem going to the online utility comapny and viewing my account and previous bills.

[marymoo86]

We pay almost everything electronically. The only checks that I write are for daycare. For everything that can be sent electronically, I have the statement e-mailed to me. I have a folder in my GMail set up called "Bills due" and I move the bills into that folder. Then every other Thursday, I go through that folder and pay the bills via EFT that are due in the next 2 weeks. Once the bill is paid, I delete the e-mail (I can always log into my on-line accounts to look up old bills if I need to) so I know that it is done. I also have standard monthly payments set up as automatic EFTs out of my account. So my mortgage, car payments and DH's student loans are paid automatically the day after DH and I get paid. It makes life so much easier. I check my bank balance every other week when I do the bills.

This is what I do but bi weekly as my bills come around the 1st and 15th.

[specialp]

We pay everything electronically and have electronic statements. It takes a few minutes to set everything up w/ your bank account, but after that it is very easy to click and pay. I pay bills on the 15th and last day of the month. I do have a bill only email account and just save them to their folder, but I never print them out.

[ckso]

I still get paper bills because for me its less likely to be loss than an email that sometimes goes into my junk box (which I auto delete). There's been several times where somehow I couldn't get into my hotmail acct because there were problems with the server.

But all my bills are paid electronically after I review them. Mortgage and car loans are auto deducted

[citymama]

Paperless bills and auto pay is the way to go! Then you go online to view billing in real time.

[Katigre]

We have everything set to automatic bill pay. I haven't balanced my checkbook since the 90's. Imo there's no need Rio balance out as long as you check your account online every month to be sure all charges are accurate.

I get as few paper statements as possible because they just collect clutter. I write a check to my church sometimes instead of auto paying my tithe but that's it.

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[3isEnough]

We pay almost everything electronically. The only checks that I write are for daycare. For everything that can be sent electronically, I have the statement e-mailed to me. I have a folder in my GMail set up called "Bills due" and I move the bills into that folder. Then every other Thursday, I go through that folder and pay the bills via EFT that are due in the next 2 weeks. Once the bill is paid, I delete the e-mail (I can always log into my on-line accounts to look up old bills if I need to) so I know that it is done. I also have standard monthly payments set up as automatic EFTs out of my account. So my mortgage, car payments and DH's student loans are paid automatically the day after DH and I get paid. It makes life so much easier. I check my bank balance every other week when I do the bills.

This is 100% me, with the only difference being that I pay bills on the 1st and 15th as opposed to every other Thursday.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I hate getting statements emailed to me. I also don't go through each company's website to pay. I do everything from the bank's site for convenience. Some bills I have set to autopay. I still get a lot of paper statements. I like the tactile experience of going through them.

[jgenie]

I hate getting statements emailed to me. I also don't go through each company's website to pay. I do everything from the bank's site for convenience. Some bills I have set to autopay. I still get a lot of paper statements. I like the tactile experience of going through them.

:yeahthat:

[wendibird22]

I hate getting statements emailed to me. I also don't go through each company's website to pay. I do everything from the bank's site for convenience. Some bills I have set to autopay.

:yeahthat:
One login, one password, pay everything in one place. If a company (usually local...like my town water bill) can't send the bill to my online bank account I do get either paper or ecopy to my email but still pay it via my bank bill pay service. But 95% of my bills come to my bank bill pay.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks! I am a tactile person as well, but things are getting lost quite easily sometimes. Thankfully I have a great memory so I remember to login to each site and pay the bill if I haven't had time to mail it. My credit union offers free bill pay so I guess I should look into it.

[citymama]

Thanks! I am a tactile person as well, but things are getting lost quite easily sometimes. Thankfully I have a great memory so I remember to login to each site and pay the bill if I haven't had time to mail it. My credit union charges $8.20 a month for the service. What is everyone else paying for the service?

What service - paperless billing? It's free everywhere else. It's *saving* the banks money, not costing them more. You probably have a nice class action lawsuit on your hands if they're charging you to go paperless!

[Zansu]

I don't keep any statements. They're all available on the store/institution's website. Anything that can be paid with a credit card, is, to earn miles. I pay credit card when I receive notification of new statement, setting the pay date as the due date. Mortgage, car payment, tuition are all auto-deduct.

I use Quicken and download everything weekly or bi-weekly, so I can see my complete financial picture.

[Katigre]

What service - paperless billing? It's free everywhere else. It's *saving* the banks money, not costing them more. You probably have a nice class action lawsuit on your hands if they're charging you to go paperless!
I have 90 percent of payments on auto bill from the company. There is no charge to do it. My bank also offers bill pay for free but defending on your account type might charge for more than a certain number of payments (this us them mailing a check to a company).



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