28 Day Cleaning/Organizing Challenge (Day 18 - Mail/Bills)

I used to be one of those who would pull things out of the mailbox and then put the envelopes on our kitchen table.  Inevitably, they'd then migrate to another location (ether a shelf, counter or possibly my purse)...from there, all bets were off.  Over the years, I've had several methods of keeping track of what came in and their due dates...with trial and error my current system seems to work best.

www.anishu.com has a great app called Home Budget. Don't have stock in this company, so aside from having used the product for close to 4 years I can only provide my personal experience in using it as a tool.  It's wonderful!  Since starting to use this product, I've not "forgotten" to make payments.  It has a great feature where you put bill dates on a calendar and will remind you days in advance.  It's kind of like a financial personal assistant in one.  Not only does it have that fabulous feature but it'll also keep track of your account balances and can provide reports of where/how you are spending.  Best $5 spent...however, if that cost is steep for you or you'd like a more simplified app there are a ton out there.  My only suggestion is finding one that'll remind you when things are due...it makes the rest of my system work swimmingly.

The other thing I do, and as some might have seen on my Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/theclosethousewife, each January we get a new redwell dedicated to the year:

Inside I put 12 manila folders and envelopes each labeled with the months.  All bills go into the folders along with their "paid" confirmations and receipts go into the envelopes.  When bills come in, they automatically get put into the app as far as what amount is due and then when I need the actual bill, it's easy to find in the respective monthly folder.  I cannot tell you how many times we've been saved by keeping all the receipts in one place!!!  It's been a lifesaver.

There are some additional files that I also keep in the redwell.  Ones for both my husband and my paystubs, savings/checking account info and tax paperwork get their own subfolders.  NOW I have one just for future shredding...all in all, this method keeps me straight.  The best part is that it's portable so it can be taken with me to work (for paying bills at lunch) or left at home in a desk - it really is convenient!