When you are inundated by a deluge of monthly bills it can be difficult to keep track of them all unless an organized system for dealing with them is put in place. As the brown envelopes arrive reminding you of utilities, credit cards, mortgage, loans, store cards, insurance premiums, all to paid by a specified date, you need a method to take control. It is actually a very simple matter to arrange an easy system to track monthly bills which saves time and money.
If you don’t have a system in place it can be easy to lose track of one bill and forget to pay it on time, particularly if the traditional way of popping a check in the post is your usual method. Why waste time writing checks and paying for postage stamps when there is no need? There is certainly no need to risk a late payment charge, a penalty interst rate, or even the chance of missing a payment, if the bill fails to arrive in the post.
Anyone with a current bank account can sort all their monthly bills out by paying them through free automated payments. Make a list of all the bills which are received on a monthly basis and contact the bank to have them paid automatically. Utilities can be paid on as an average estimated amount by dividing the typical annual cost by 12 months. This avoids the ups and downs of seasonal amounts playing havoc with your budget.
Any bills which are paid on this estimated basis should be checked twice a year to ensure you are paying enough to keep track with the annual amount or that you are not going too far into credit with the utility company. A call to the company can sort out an adjustment if you find you are paying too much or too little to keep the annual amount on track. Some companies will even offer a small discount of typically .25% if you pay your bills in this way as it ensures they receive their money on time and saves on reminders.
If you have credit card bills these should be arranged so that the bank pays the full balance monthly to the credit card company, thus ensuring you never get stung for unnecessary interest payments. If this option is not affordable never arrange to merely pay the minimum, but add a few dollars more to ensure that there is a least a decrease in the balance. Paper bills will still come in and can simply be filed as a record.
Monthly automated payments can easily be arranged online for those who use online banking. In the UK bills can be arranged through the automated BACs system as direct debits. Always remember to arrange a monthly payment to a separate savings account as the bills are arranged, thus ensuring that you pay yourself first and build up a cushion of savings.
Arranging all your bills in this way saves you time, money on postage and may well bring in an automated payment discount. It reduces the risk of an unexpectedly high bill and makes budget control extremely simplified. If you haven’t already utilized the advantages of automated monthly payments then set the wheels in motion now as the optimum way of keeping track of all your monthly bills.