How do all of you keep up with the avalanche of bills/paperwork?

[eyeamdry]

I  know I can't be the only one with this problem, but I am always buried in bills, junk mail., flyers, shopper guides etc.  We do not have many what most people think of "bills", just one or two and then each month a bunch of medical bills.  I keep up with them and do not allow them to get behind and usually pay all of the amount due unless hundreds and then I may ask for 2 or 3 payments.

I have done the no junk mail thing more than once and maybe I should do it again.  Any good suggestions will be helpful.  I try to do them once a week, but sometimes it goes a little longer.  But, sometimes it takes me two nights of prime time tv to work on all this stuff.  Blech. I am so tired of this.  Any one else?  Lucy

[irish]

Oh Lucy, This is really going to be the main cause of my first nervous breakdown. We get so much junk mail and it never ends. I have learned several things. Never, ever throw away what you think is junk mail until you open it and check. How often have you found it to be something really important???

I have also learned to make out the check and put in envelope the day I get the bill. The envelope with the stamp on it saves me from throwing away a bill. I have learned to put things in a pile or 2 and go through it every few days. I can't do this every day as I have to wait for a time when my brain is working on all 8 cylinders.

I have done the "junk mail thing" as you call it but it didn't do any good. I think we are all doomed to drown in all this paper. It really is pathetic. If the post office closes a lot of offices I am betting that it may get too inconvenient and spendy for the junk mailers to keep on inundating us.

The other big thing that I struggle with is getting all the stuff that is important filed away in the file cabinet. I can put that little chore off for a long time and then end up with 3 months worth of filing to do. I hate all this bookkeeping stuff. Take care now. Irish

[Meld256]

Lucy,

I know the struggle! I don't know if I have a solution, but I've made a couple of changes that keep me from not drowning in the stuff:

Every day we get mail, I try to scan through it right away. If it's obviously junk, it goes to the trash immediately.
If it's a bill in an envelope, I toss the envelope and put the bill in a file-slot on the desk. 

I no longer keep those EOB's (estimate of benefits) from the insurance co. The insurance site online has all that listed, so I don't need to stuff my files full of it.  If it's a medical bill, it goes in a file for those.

If it's a utility/internet bill, I pay them online and toss the bill as soon as it's paid.

It's not a perfect system, because I'm not as disciplined as I would like; sometime they sit there for a couple days.    It's a never-ending battle to keep it under control!

[irish]

Meld, Do you make a copy to disc of all your paid bills. The reason I ask is all the bills that we need to save for the IRS in case of an audit would be gone if not saved or copied.

I have to save some of my bills because of itemizing, etc. We have some special circumstances. I know I don't throw enough of the stuff cause I always live in fear of needing it for some reason.

You probably know a whole lot of things that I don't. Thanks Irish

[Bucky]

Lucy - have you been peeking at my dining room table and kitchen counter?!?!   

This has been my nemesis since Moby Dick was a minnow!! 

My Uncle, many years ago, sent around an email that said to mail back those postage paid envelopes you get for credit card applications, etc. . . . stuff them with other "junk" mail.  It will have a two-fold effect . . . . . 1)  The party receiving the mail will have to pay the postage 2)  Maybe, they will get tired of getting junk mail just like we get tired of getting it too and STOP!!

My big problem is I keep e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!     My "goal" is to go through all the plastic shoebox totes I have and shred the gazillion copies of bills that I don't need to keep.  (i.e. phone bills from 2004, electric bills from 2006, receipts for items we don't even own any more, etc.).  Hubby and I have been married 20 yrs, I probably have all the bills from the last 20 years!     I know, I know . . . it's something I'm going to work on streamlining to the really important ones and shred the rest.

I have this little slotted sorter that I put the current, to-be-paid bills in.  I check that several times a week.  This is one of the few areas that I have under control.  Whew.  I pay the bills in the family, so I keep on top of this as I don't want to pay any fees for being late.

Another big paper avalanche for me is filing stuff away.  There are sooooo many files a receipt, piece of paper can go into . . which file do I put it so I remember where it is when I need to refer back to it?  There could end up being hundreds of file folders.

I think the solution is, I should be paid to do all this.  I'm very organized at work, files look great - I can find what I'm looking for.  It's the pay, I'm sure that makes the difference!  LOL   

Bucky

[eyeamdry]

One thing, or two I am contemplating.  One is to stop saving the EOB's.  I keep them in a big notebook but actually I've never had to go back and find one.  I may get another notice and then I know something is wrong and to look into it. 

Also, I do not save the slips from credit cards, gas bills, phone, etc.  I look when the new bill comes and make sure the previous payment shows as "paid" on it and then when I am tearing off the new pay slip, I shred the big part of the bill.  We do not need to keep these.  In another life, I was a debt counselor and actually paid bills for people and we never kept everyone's old statements.  Once the paid part shows, you know the card company, gas co, or whoever is on track.

I am going to see about paying bills online.  My sister does this and if she can, so can I.  I started setting it up one night (around midnight as usual) but I actually should do it when I can call the bank for help if I need it.  I just always have piles of papers all over.  I actually have done a few of writing the checks the day the bills come in and that isn't too bad.  I hardly ever get more than one or two things that have to be paid on any day and some days all I have is junk.  I hate that most of them send to my hubby also.  We each get our own from the same place.  How nice.  Funeral homes and free dinners by investors.  No thanks, I'll eat hot dogs at home rather than visit with an investor.  Lucy

[Meld256]

No, Irish...certainly don't think I know a lot you don't!   

Copying your paid bills to a disc might be a good idea for you and hubby if you need those at some time.  Everyone's situation is different in what they need to keep.  If you keep a lot of receipts there is a really cool item out now that scans it and saves to the computer; I'll post the name when I can remember. 

Many of us are in the age group where we didn't grow up using computers. Keeping everything on paper was the only way to do it.  I admit it's been a bit of a struggle for me to give up those ideas.  Like the EOB statements; just realized recently I didn't need that big fat file of them. 

And the old utility bills. I used to keep all the paid ones til I realized I really didn't need to know if last August we used $12 more in electricity, and if something wasn't paid, they'd let us know!!

I am what I call a "recovering perfectionist."    I wanted everything *just so* but spun my wheels til I didn't have anything sorted out.  It's like AA; I have to watch myself or I'm back in my procrastinating perfectionism. 

Bucky, I just had a thought; unlike at work, at home you can set up things as you want and sometimes it helps to do it "the way you think."  If you're forever looking for something thinking it should be with ______ then go ahead and move it there.  Just a suggestion... Like me, I had several files for car-related stuff til I confused myself!  Finally I stuck it all together- now I know where it is. 

Lucy, paying bills online is great.  Especially if it's set up securely through your bank. I pay several things that way; my MIL thinks I'm crazy  but that's another story.

[Cricket]

I have been paying my bill through My Check Free for the past 4 years and never had a problem with them.  It is super easy to sign up and they send you an e-mail when your bill is to be paid.  They have a good list of institutions they do business with.  I love this co. it is free to me and they always pay on time.

mycheckfree.com

Cricket

[irish]

I would never pay bills online cause my computer has issues. I have some virus that is still crawling around and rising up to bug me on occasion. I can tell when it is about to set things off and have to shut off my computer and restart it. Had a repair man to fix and he said that there is no way he could get every last thing without doing something more drastic. I didn't opt to do the more drastic. Figure I will need to get rid of this computer as it is XP and about to give up the ghost. So little memory that I am about to run out of space.All these darn updates. Irish