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Post by suchamess on Jul 27, 2008 1:20:52 GMT -5
I too have found myself behind on bills. Not due to lack of money (but that is now an issue since they've gone late ..ugh) but due to my situation of squalor.
I would always lose things in the shuffle of it all. Sometimes things would spill, or fall in the floor and get peed on by the cat and I had to toss it.
I'm sure you all remember my property tax situation last month.
After getting 20+ phone calls a day from creditors, I decided it was time to get it together and become somewhat organized.
Our bank offers online bill pay, so I gathered every bill I could find and entered them into the system, and set it up to remind me via email each month to make a payment online. I may not be paying the full amount each time, but some money sent is better than none. I really hope to get them all caught up so I can go on auto pay and not become late again.
I hate having to go to the post office, and you know, I manage to do that like once a month...and when I do, the stack of mail comes home to the table of older mail (or it stays on the car floor) Yet another reason for being late *sigh*
This is one small step for me taking control of things..let's hope it works!
(and no, I didn't let my family come this weekend. We met them and treated them to dinner. I've slacked on the house..time to get in gear again!)
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Post by BDG on Jul 27, 2008 6:59:06 GMT -5
Sounds like a great plan to me. It is so much easier than actually physically having to write out checks and get things in the mail, find stamps and addresses. (You ever notice how you can be tripping over a collection of bills from one company and the day you need the address to send in the payment, you can't find that stack of bills anywheres. I have actually spent hours looking for one bill.)
When I started doing this type of thing, it fell under the, "make my life easier" mantra.
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Post by Carrie on Jul 27, 2008 7:24:12 GMT -5
Good for you suchamess, getting your bills caught up! I'm usually behind on one or two, but like you I do try to get something in on them each month so that they know I'm attempting to pay. Since one of my largest bills (a $250 a month payment to an old credit card) is FINISHED as of this month, I expect I'll be better able to meet the rest of them from now on. However, I'm afraid to go on auto-pay because my pay each pay period is variable, so I'm never sure how much I'll have in my account. Since I don't have a buffer in there at this point, I can't afford to risk something bouncing, so I make the payments myself. I'm working only part-time (on doc's orders) so I can't increase my income right now. However, I do pay most of my bills online (I think I have only 2 that need to be mailed in) and it is SO much easier than handling it all by mail!! I get paid bi-weekly, so whenever I get a paycheck I just go online and check on what's owed to whom and prioitize. (internet is ALWAYS paid up! hehehe!) I also have direct-deposit of my check from work..........trust me, if you don't have this, GET IT!!! It's wonderful not to have to go to the bank all the time..........just log in to your account on payday and there it is!!! Anyway, while I wish I had the guaranteed income to be able to go on auto-pay, it's just not practical for me right now. Besides that, it would be almost TOO easy, I think.........that is, I would be tempted not to bother even going over the bills to make sure they are correct, and I know from experience that many companies, etc, make MISTAKES and end up over-charging you!
Congratulations on taking this small step towards getting control of you life, and thanks for sharing!
Carrie
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Post by stressedbythemess on Jul 27, 2008 21:26:32 GMT -5
I do about the same thing. I pay all my bills by debit card or by automatic pay or by transfers from checking. There is only one bill (rent) I have to write a physical check for, and that I walk across the street. Everything else I have put a reminder on my work calendar (so I really can't miss it) to go pay the bills that don't auto draft.
I once got into some not so awesome trouble with the power company years ago (loooong story, partially because they lied, partially because my bank had just changed my account number, and partially because I was absentminded.) After having my father straighten it out with them (3c alls and i was nowhere but tears, he set them straight). I just put it on auto draft. It has to get paid in full no matter what else i do..so..yeah.
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