Avoid Late Payments By Using A Bill Organizer To Sort Your Bills

By Edwardo Amabo

Missing the due date for a bill can be embarrassing and costly. Many credit cards are no longer offering any grace period for paying a bill and late payment fees can be over thirty dollars. In addition, the company may lower your credit line. If you want to avoid ever paying a bill late again, then you will need to have a bill organizer. A bill organizer is a great way to remind yourself of bills when they are due.

There are many types of bill organizers available. A organizer can be either a physical device for organizing bills as they come in the mail or it can be a computer program that organizes your bills and sends an alert to you when you have a bill coming due.

If you choose not to use a organizer, you can just pay each bill as it comes in the mail. Write a check for the amount due, insert it into the envelope and put the payment back in the return mail. While this way does work to keep you from being late on payments, few people have the available cash for it to be a good solution to bill paying. In addition, you may not know if you can afford to pay more than the minimum payment due with this method.

If mailing a payment, you should give at least a week for the payment to make it to the recipient.

Physical bill organizers can be simple. A three ring binder with twelve pocket folders will work if you do not have a lot of bills. Each bill can be slipped into the folder when it arrives and its amount due and due date noted on a chart on the front of the folder. When the bill is paid, enter the date and check number for easy record keeping, then remove the bill from the folder. At the end of the month or after all the bills in the folder are paid, it can be moved to the back of the notebook.

A more advanced system has thirty one slots and bills are filled according to due dates. Bills are organized as they arrive in the mail according to due date. After payment is sent, the bill is removed and filed.

Another type of bill organizer uses your personal computer. The same basic information as was used in the binder system is entered into your computer and then an alert pops up before the bills are due in order to remind you to pay the bill. As payments for the bills are sent, they are checked off in the system or the check number is entered. Paper copies of the bill are kept nearby using whatever system works for you. This gives you easy access to the return envelopes and mailing addresses.

Whatever method you choose for organizing your bills, it is helpful to also have the items necessary for paying bills, such as pen, checkbook and stamps available.

By paying bills online, you can avoid the cost of a stamp. Additionally, you may have an on line bill pay option through your normal checking account. While you can use the bill pay system as an organizer, you must be cautious to be sure that the payments are being sent and that you keep enough money in the account to make the payments. - 30445

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