Organize and Declutter 2012: How To Organize Your Bills

Have you ever gotten a cancellation notice from your insurance company because you forgot to pay the bill?  Not only forgot to pay the bill, but couldn't even remember getting the bill?

Trust me, it's not a good feeling.  There may have been a little bit of extra stress in our home a few weeks ago.  Okay, a lot of stress.   So cleaning up the paper piles in our home is now considered top priority and is next on my list of organizing and decluttering projects for this year.  {You can find all of the projects I have completed here.}

This binder idea is originally from Laura at Happy Canadian Home.  I love this idea and knew right away that organizing our bills in a binder would work well for our family.  

Supplies:

folder

3-ring binder

page dividers

3-hole punch

printable calendar

1.  Open the bills as soon as you get them.  Don't leave unopened bills on a counter or table.  They will get lost and after a few weeks you may not even remember getting it. 

2.  After you open the bills, write them on the calendar under the date they are due.    There are many, many, many free printable calendars online.  I printed this one and put it in the front of the binder.  

3.  Put the unpaid bills in a folder labeled "unpaid bills."  Since we still pay our bills the old-fashioned way, I use a paper clip to keep the bill and mailing envelope together.

4.  After the bill has been paid, punch holes in the bill with the hole punch and file it in the correct section in the back of the binder.

Keeping our bills organized this way has already made such a big difference in my life.  I can now sit down at the beginning and the end of the month and see at a glance which bills are coming due.  Since the bills are all together in one place, I no longer waste time sorting through paper in order to find all the bills for the month.

The binder is also a great place to keep a budget, receipts and rebate forms and information.  I have also added birthdays and important holidays to remember {such as father's day} on the calendar so that when I check for bills that are due, I also get a reminder about other important dates that I want to remember.

What system do you use to organize your bills?

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