Get Organized Mission #3: Organize Your Bill Payment

imageWelcome to Mission #3 of our 52 Organizing Missions.

If you’ve completed the previous two missions Get Organized Mission #1: Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag and Get Organized Mission #2: Detox Your Briefcase/Tote/Bag, congratulations!

Keep up the momentum with this week’s task, which helps you get your finances sorted.

This is one of those high-payoff projects. It takes only a little time to set up yet saves time, bother and possibly penalty charges later on.

Disclaimer: This post is designed to provide organizing help, not financial advice. Please be proactive and decide whether you should talk to a financial professional.

Remember – you only have to spend 30 minutes to complete the basic mission. If you want to go further check out the Extended Organizing Mission Options below.

Ready?

Get Organized Mission #3: Organize Your Bill Payment

Step 1: Gather copies of all your regular bills

Your regular bills might include:

  • Mortgage/rent
  • Utilities
  • Internet
  • Cell phone
  • Landline
  • Car loan payments
  • Credit card payments
  • School fees
  • Subscriptions.

Step 2: Set up automatic bill payment where available

Many of your regular bills may be automatically payable each month from your back account or credit card. Check for details on the back of your bill or look up your account online.

You can generally set up automatic payment by phone, online, or by using an ancient type of admin called ‘a form’. (Don’t fight it – whatever effort you make now will be worth the saved time, money and hassle.)

It goes without saying that you need to be able to cover these bills from your credit card or bank account. But I’ve said it anyway.

Step 3: Set up internet banking or phone banking

Ideally, all your bills will be automatically payable. If so, your organizing mission is complete and you can spend any remaining time tidying your financial papers.

For any bills that aren’t automatically payable, set up internet banking or phone banking to pay these bills at your convenience. Phone, visit or get online to set up your accounts.

Ongoing

When a bill arrives, check whether it will be autopaid. The bill will say something like: ‘Payment of $287 will be made by autopayment from your credit card on 28 November 2009. Please ensure funds are available on this date.’

If it’s a pesky one that can’t be autopaid, diarize the due date. If you use something like Outlook you can set a reminder, too. And on the due date, pay it.

Alternatively, if you have several bills that aren’t able to be autopaid, you might prefer to save time and batch the tasks by paying them all at once, online or by phone – but before the earliest due date.

Dos & Don’ts

  • Don’t procrastinate on organizing your bill payment. These 30 minutes of personal organization will save you time – and possibly money – every single month.
  • Do keep any passwords for phone or internet banking safe and secure. Be organized and smart!

Extended Organizing Mission Options

Want to go beyond this 30-minute organizing mission?

  • Since credit card payments are at the higher end of interest charges, pay them off in full in each month if you can.
  • If you have high-school-age kids, this is an excellent mission to complete with them. Teach them valuable financial and organizing skills all in one go.
  • If you have ancient bills and receipts you no longer need for tax or accounting reasons, consider shredding them now.

Ready, Set, Go!

Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.

Before You Go – Please Check In

You’re now accountable to your organizing mission-mates! Once you’ve completed this week’s Get Organized Mission please add a comment to let us know you’ve done your assignment and you’re keeping your commitment.
(Click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)

And see you back here next week!

Update

You can get your weekly organizing mission delivered to your inbox.

Click here to sign up for 52 Organizing Missions.

Image by *_Abhi_*

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Michele | Get Organized Gal

Michele is into writing, books, simplicity, love, TV, productivity, and staying thin in a world of chocolate.

145 thoughts on “Get Organized Mission #3: Organize Your Bill Payment”

  2. Michele Connolly says:

    Hi everyone,

    Like I said to Deb, I realize this is a pesky mission.

    Thanks for persevering, though. The short-term bother will be long-forgotten, but the peace of mind and convenience will make life easier for years to come.

    That’s what I call a good use of time!

    M 🙂

    Reply
  5. Deb says:

    This turned into a difficult task with one bill. I found that someone had set up a username and password on my account that was not me. I had to contact the company and have their assistance in resetting the username and password. Other than that, this was a great thing to do. I set up every thing from credit cards to the gas bill. I can now pay all of these online when or before they are due.

    Reply
  6. Sarah says:

    There was nothing much I could do for this one. I have my bill payments set up exactly how I want them. And I’m up to date with my budget and all that.

    Reply
  7. Brenda says:

    This is one area that I do keep organized so this task was a cinch. Thanks though. I am looking forward to the next challenge.

    Reply
  8. tammy says:

    I have done it!!. IN fact, I got so organized, I am caught up even on payments until September. OOhhhhhh I feel good.
    Thank you

    Reply
  9. Nicki says:

    Okay this was an easy one for me as we have always had all our bills direct debit and most are paperless, so it feels cheating to say i’ve done it!

    Reply
  11. Belinda says:

    Mission #2 was completed so I jumped straight into #3. Most were already organised, just needed some fine tuning.

    Reply
  13. Minima says:

    I’m happy to get this one out of the way. Dealt with the bills that are solely my responsibility and I’ve pruned my filing to the current year other than tax matters.

    Ticking the missions off one by one and will hopefully get up to date by the end of this home vacation! It’s a good feeling.

    Reply
  14. Donna says:

    My bills are already paid on line, I’ve got online banking! The only thing left is the shredding and getting rid off papers. No shredder so I may have a little bonfire outside tonight@

    Reply
  16. Amy says:

    I went and bought an accordian folder and sorted bills by month and by date due. Once I did that I continued onto my file cabinet. What a mess! Some things are better left untouched. Im still working on the cabinet. Ebill has been signed up for and also mobile billing! So much better than paper trails. Bring on the next task. Mission accomplished!

    Reply
  17. Tracey says:

    Got there in the end – sorted my filing out – don’t think I’ve done it for a year!
    I’m good at paying things but then throw it in a drawer instead of filing – so mission well accomplished!

    Reply

  18. Pingback: Linkdump: Woz, Waking Up and Bills

  19. carol giambri says:

    I got domains, but not sure which one will be developed first so leaving no url here.

    Just discovered you and read the bill payment one. Working for me still is either online monthly or call in to payment lines for each bill. I’m not ready to switch as it takes only a very short amount of time. Not enough to bother with.

    I hope I will see some on email explosion organization or did I miss it? Oh, what about getting those attachments or being on teleseminars and get tons of downloads? Printing them all off or saving them.

    It would be nice to go into your organized brain. It sounds like you love organizing as much as I love health/wellness and excellent customer service. Two area I’m exploring to develop. Which one first is question that remains unsolved. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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