Bill Organization 101

I have come up with an excellent system to organize my bills and paperwork, and cut down on paper clutter. I have also created my own Bill Organizer tailored to my own needs.

First, when a bill enters my house it immediately goes into a Bills Due folder located in a five tier organization rack on my kitchen counter. Any important financial papers received go into a folder labeled To Be Filed. This is my family's information area and all important papers are kept here. On payday, which is every Friday for us, I pay my bills. Many of them are paid online, so I use this day to check all financial websites to make sure everything will be paid on time. It is important to keep up bills that are automatically paid to make sure there are no errors.

My Bill Organizer has all my financial information right at my fingertips. I purchased tabbed dividers to separate various sections of my organizer. My first section has all of my basic bill information . I have a list of all my banks and accounts with phone number and address information. I also have a list of anything I do online with sign-ins and passwords. The second section is a basic list of my regular monthly bills. Sections three and four are debt/loan info and savings information. In the back I keep a "Plan Ahead" calendar that has sections for monthly and weekly. I use the calendar to keep track of when things are due and when they are paid. I record all bills due on the monthly calendar and all income and money spent on the weekly calendar. This keeps all money information in one easy to find spot. Also kept in my organizer are a calculator, stamps, envelopes, pens, pencils and a highlighter.

On bill paying day I pay all necessary bills and write the date paid and check number on the bill stub. The bills that need to get mailed are put in the front of my five tier organizer which is where all outgoing mail is kept. Any bills being paid online are checked to make sure they have gone through or are pending. I record these dates in my Bill Organizer. Next, I file the bill stubs and any other financial papers received that week from the To Be Filed folder. I keep all my files in a filing cabinet near my computer. The top drawer is for current or active files and the bottom drawer is for permanent files. I have a folder for each month of the year. All receipts and bill stubs go into the monthly folder. At the end of the year I go through these monthly files and toss what is not needed. These papers then go into a Yearly file in the permanent file drawer. Also kept in my permanent file drawer are medical info, tax info, warranties, vet info and loan info. Having a Current and Permanent file makes things very easy for me to find. If I need a receipt I simply go to the monthly folder and find it. If I need important medical info I go right to the permanent drawer.

This system has worked well for me the last few years. It keeps bills in a central location and make any financial information easy to find.