Smart Spending

One Simple Rule for Organizing Monthly Bills

Let’s face it, as parents our lives are hectic.  Paying a bill can be the last thing on your mind with school plays, parent-teacher meetings, music lessons, and sporting events to attend.  Keeping organized in every aspect is a number one priority to balance a growing household.  Shouldn’t your monthly bills receive the same attention to detail and structure as other things you may have going on?  One of the best ways to keep track of your upcoming payments is through the use of a calendar.  It is convenient and easy to manage, which is what most parents are always looking for.

If you have trouble making sure your bills are paid on time, you can try using a calendar to solve your payment problems.  Nothing is worse than the feeling you get when a bill is paid late while you have more than enough money to pay for it.  When you pay a bill late, you can be faced with late-payment charges, costing you more money, and negative reports to credit agencies, which will lower your credit score and make any loan process harder.  By using a monthly calendar, you can keep your bills more organized and even start saving extra money on a regular basis.

Start by printing a calendar for the current month, purchasing a yearly calendar, or you can draw one of your own.  Gather up your monthly bills and examine them, searching for the due date and the amount due.  You can even circle this information if you wish.  Find the corresponding date on the calendar for each bill’s due date.  You can fill in the title of the bill and the amount due in the space for the specific date.  If your electric bill is $200 and is due on the tenth of the month, you would write “Electric Bill – $200” on the square for the tenth.   Another great way to stay organized is by marking the days you get paid.  This way, you will know how much of each paycheck is going to the bills for that week.  You can then set aside a certain percentage of what is left over for your savings accounts.

The rest is simple.  Put the calendar is a place that is convenient.  You will want to check off which bills have been paid already, so you can avoid the uncertainty of whether the bill is paid or not.  You will also want a convenient location in case you have to add anything to your current list, which is inevitable if you have a growing family.  A great place to hang your calendar could be the fridge or a wall in your home office.  The final step is to stick to it.  This plan is fool-proof if you can continue to use your calendar.  Never pay another bill late and put money into savings for your family’s future.  Your credit scores will go up and you can refinance your credit cards and loans for a lower interest rate.  What are you waiting for?  Good luck with all of your monthly bill planning.

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