Energize and Organize: Pay Your Bills Week

The third week of February is officially Pay Your Bills Week!  I'm not certain who designates particular themes to random weeks throughout the year but the title is catchy and we all have bills to pay!

While researching the topic of timely bill paying on the Internet, I came across many terrific articles. These two particular  Internet article resources credited to  Investopedia.com and Wiki How to do anything, were selected because they are especially well written,  informative and current.  

Investopedia.com has an interesting article, "Procrastinator's Guide to Bill Payment". You may view the article in full at www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/.../stop-paying-bills-late.a...
In summary, author Katie Adams recommends the following ...
1.  Sign up for auto-pay. ... 
2.  Use financial software with automatic bill-paying reminders. ... 
3.  Consolidate bills. ... 
4.  Schedule bill-paying time. ... 
5.  Create a bill-paying location. ... 
6.  Organize bills. ... 
7.  Give your payment time to arrive. ... 
8.  Learn your bill cycle.

Wiki How to do anything also provides an informative, current article, "Keeping Track of Your Bills".  You may view the article in full at www.wikihow.com  and then search for  Pay Your Bills 
Reviewed by Michael R. Lewis, the article in summary recommends the following ...
1.  Open bills immediately.
2.  Put bills in same place.
3.  Pay bills as they arrive.
4.  Divide bills into two categories (due at beginning of the month, due at middle/end of the month).
5.  Negotiate more convenient due dates.
6.  Mark your calendar.
7.  Check out APPS that help with bill paying organization.
8.  Schedule online payments.

Remember, when you designate a particular basket, tray, file and/or zone to hold your bills,  you will know exactly where they are when you are ready to pay them.  When you  pay your bills on time,  you avoid late fee penalties and prevent poor credit scores.

Being organized saves you time looking for misplaced bills and saves you money because those bills are paid in a timely manner.  This might be the official Pay Your Bills Week but in reality, every week is bill paying week.  Getting your paper management in order frees up your time for more pleasurable activities with family and friends all 52 weeks of the year!  

Donna LaRoche, M.Ed., Professional Organizer Serving Cape Cod, MetroWest and Eastern Massachusetts     Contact:  617.640.2366    www.energizeandorganize.com​​