7 Easy Steps To Organizing And Managing Your Bills Online
The time to organize your finances is the day you have forgotten that unpaid bill and have come home to find your electricity shut off. And the problem isn't because of money that the bill didn't get paid on time. It could be something as simple as the bill has gotten lost in the endless piles of all of the other bills, statements and paper mail, and is completely forgotten in the mess and mire.
Many people have their finances organized and planned right down to the cent and you are probably like most. Many of the most organized people need help with organizing and managing their bills to avoid having their electricity shut off by losing bills or forgetting to pay them.
The solution? Pay and manage bills online. Here are 7 steps to take your financial and household accounts digital:
1. Make a spreadsheet. Record all the accounts that you use to pay bills. Enter that information into the first column in a basic worksheet in Excel. Use the second column to note how much that bill is for, the third column to enter the due date of the bill, and the fourth column to write an "X" once the bill is paid. Some of the bills you can keep track of are credit cards, electricity, cable and cell phones. You will then have a good idea which accounts you can pay online. Most companies provide online bill pay, so you should be able to pay your major bills online without a problem.
2. Set up online bill pay. Once your spreadsheet for the accounts is complete, you will need to go to the respective company's site and set up each with an online account. (An example we can use is for AT&T Wireless. If you are not already registered on the site, register as a new user under the Wireless portion of the site. If you are already a registered user, then this is one less account you need to sign up for! Once you're logged in, you should be able to view all of your AT&T account information and pay your bills right from the site.)
3. Go paperless. Now that all of your accounts are set up online, there is no need to receive paper mail from those companies. It will cut down on paper clutter and keep your mail from becoming confusing. You can log in to all of your online accounts once you have set them up with online bill pay and click the paperless option to stop receiving paper mail. This option is under the sites Settings portion for most companies. You can go the Customer Service page or call the company if you are having trouble finding it.
4. Set reminders for yourself. Even if you start paying your bills online, you may need to remind yourself when the due dates are approaching. Some sites will send you email alerts when it's almost time to pay the bill. Peruse the Settings portion of the site to see whether this is an option. If so, customize your alert options so that you receive bill reminders far enough in advance of the due date that feels comfortable for you. If the site doesn't offer a bill reminder option, manually enter the due dates for each bill into your calendar so you don't forget to pay them! Digital calendars, such as Google iCal or Outlook, are helpful because you can set digital reminders that will alert you automatically.
5. Pay your bills. You can use the online bill pay options from the provider to set up no-hassle, easy payments online! You may need to make a note like in Step 1 on your financial spreadsheet if the company doesn't offer online bill pay. That way, you will still be able to use paper mail to pay those bills.
6. Check it off. Mark your spreadsheet once the bill is paid so you will have peace of mind for the rest of the month.
7. Consolidate with bill-organizing software (optional). One way to avoid having to complete steps 4 and 6 is by purchasing software that will automatically do them for you. Instead of using several different websites, you can manage and organize all of your bills in one place. Family Finance and Moneydance are a few options you can use to create a financial budget, pay your bills and even send an alert if you are surpassing your budget.
You can manage and organize your bills online and use one of the most convenient and easiest ways to handle your financial life. Even for those who never miss anything, having to sort through perpetual paper mail could end up with misplacing a statement or bill and missing the payment. So what are you waiting for? Make your financial life a whole lot easier by finding an online bill pay system that works for you.
Many people have their finances organized and planned right down to the cent and you are probably like most. Many of the most organized people need help with organizing and managing their bills to avoid having their electricity shut off by losing bills or forgetting to pay them.
The solution? Pay and manage bills online. Here are 7 steps to take your financial and household accounts digital:
1. Make a spreadsheet. Record all the accounts that you use to pay bills. Enter that information into the first column in a basic worksheet in Excel. Use the second column to note how much that bill is for, the third column to enter the due date of the bill, and the fourth column to write an "X" once the bill is paid. Some of the bills you can keep track of are credit cards, electricity, cable and cell phones. You will then have a good idea which accounts you can pay online. Most companies provide online bill pay, so you should be able to pay your major bills online without a problem.
2. Set up online bill pay. Once your spreadsheet for the accounts is complete, you will need to go to the respective company's site and set up each with an online account. (An example we can use is for AT&T Wireless. If you are not already registered on the site, register as a new user under the Wireless portion of the site. If you are already a registered user, then this is one less account you need to sign up for! Once you're logged in, you should be able to view all of your AT&T account information and pay your bills right from the site.)
3. Go paperless. Now that all of your accounts are set up online, there is no need to receive paper mail from those companies. It will cut down on paper clutter and keep your mail from becoming confusing. You can log in to all of your online accounts once you have set them up with online bill pay and click the paperless option to stop receiving paper mail. This option is under the sites Settings portion for most companies. You can go the Customer Service page or call the company if you are having trouble finding it.
4. Set reminders for yourself. Even if you start paying your bills online, you may need to remind yourself when the due dates are approaching. Some sites will send you email alerts when it's almost time to pay the bill. Peruse the Settings portion of the site to see whether this is an option. If so, customize your alert options so that you receive bill reminders far enough in advance of the due date that feels comfortable for you. If the site doesn't offer a bill reminder option, manually enter the due dates for each bill into your calendar so you don't forget to pay them! Digital calendars, such as Google iCal or Outlook, are helpful because you can set digital reminders that will alert you automatically.
5. Pay your bills. You can use the online bill pay options from the provider to set up no-hassle, easy payments online! You may need to make a note like in Step 1 on your financial spreadsheet if the company doesn't offer online bill pay. That way, you will still be able to use paper mail to pay those bills.
6. Check it off. Mark your spreadsheet once the bill is paid so you will have peace of mind for the rest of the month.
7. Consolidate with bill-organizing software (optional). One way to avoid having to complete steps 4 and 6 is by purchasing software that will automatically do them for you. Instead of using several different websites, you can manage and organize all of your bills in one place. Family Finance and Moneydance are a few options you can use to create a financial budget, pay your bills and even send an alert if you are surpassing your budget.
You can manage and organize your bills online and use one of the most convenient and easiest ways to handle your financial life. Even for those who never miss anything, having to sort through perpetual paper mail could end up with misplacing a statement or bill and missing the payment. So what are you waiting for? Make your financial life a whole lot easier by finding an online bill pay system that works for you.
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