Paperless Society

[Fern Modena]

I know it is coming to a paperless society. I get bank statements online, and I do online bill pay. I even do auto payment of my mortgage and and the bills that don't change from month to month.

Do any of you get "paperless bills?" If you do, how do you keep track of them before you pay them, or do you pay each one as it arrives, perhaps with a delayed date? I can't figure out quite how I want to arrange to do this. I don't use Quicken, etc., only my bank's bill pay.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me.

Fern

 

[Elan]

I know it is coming to a paperless society. I get bank statements online, and I do online bill pay. I even do auto payment of my mortgage and and the bills that don't change from month to month.

Do any of you get "paperless bills?" If you do, how do you keep track of them before you pay them, or do you pay each one as it arrives, perhaps with a delayed date? I can't figure out quite how I want to arrange to do this. I don't use Quicken, etc., only my bank's bill pay.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me.

Fern

I get paperless credit card statements. I just pay them immediately -- as soon as they arrive in my email inbox. I have them set up to arrive 3-5 days prior to the due date. I also have my email set up to auto sort these "payment due" emails into specific folders so that it's easy to see when I have a new one. Seems to work for me and I'm not known for being particularly organized.

 

[ronparise]

I used to toss all my bills into a drawer as they arrived in the mail. Then once a month pull them out add them up and with any luck there was enough money to pay them all.

Now as the bills arrive (via email), I label the emails "unpaid bills" and enter them to on an excel spreadsheet Then once a month I open that spread sheet, my bank account and my email...and with any luck there is enough money to pay them all. As they are paid I re-label the email, make an entry on the spreadsheet and watch the bank balance get smaller

Same system, different media

 

[1950bing]

As soon as I get notice I set it up for payment selecting a pay date.

 

[Talent312]

I use a simple spreadsheet for the current + following month.
I list regular monthly bills by due date. Headings look like this:

-- [Pd?] [Merchant] [Due By] [Est.$Amt] [Actual$Amt]
1. ....... ................ .............. .............. .................
2. ....... ................ .............. .............. .................
3. ....... ................ .............. .............. .................

I pay each one 7-10 days before the due date.
As each bill is paid, x's are put in the Paid? column.

For budgeting, I just total the amount columns.

 

[Passepartout]

My recurrent ones(house, car, insurance pmt) just get automatically paid 3-4 days before their due date. Then I trigger a payment, again 3-4 days before due for the non-recurrent ones like CCs, utilities, Dr bills. Those that still show up on paper like annual MFs, taxes, get thrown in a hat. If there's enough money at the end of the month, I draw one or 2 that get paid.

Jim

 

[dwojo]

I auto pay most bills with my air miles credit card and pay it off every month

 

[laurac260]

The computer was supposed to create a paperless society, but frankly I think it's done the opposite . I probably get 10 lbs of catalogs a week in the mail , around the holidays closer to 50 lbs a week , and they make it as far as my recycle bin in the garage . Along with all the junk mail . What a colossal waste of paper .

 

[Tia]

Where I work we input data on the computer then print it out, if you make a correction/addition you fix it on the computer then print all pages 4-6 again.....waste of paper.

 

[Elan]

The "paperless society" concept has gone over about as well as our adoption of the metric system.

 

[glypnirsgirl]

I receive almost all of my bills online. Then, I forget my passwords and cannot open them up to know how much they are. So, I have to reset my password to get the bill open. I then pay the bill.

Next month, I forget my passwords and have to repeat the cycle.

I have all of my accounts set up as a "payee" on my bank's bill pay website. The website requires telephone numbers and account numbers for every payee. When I get tired of resetting my passwords, I call the creditors and enter the bill pay information and make payment while I am on the phone - but I use my bank bill pay service to make the payment.

I think that I might as well forget about getting the bill online and just call the creditors every two weeks to figure out what I am going to pay.

Just write down my passwords? Nope. I am afraid to put them on my computer and I am unlikely to find the piece of paper that I wrote the number on.

I have been doing this for so many months that I am running out of passwords.

My advice? Don't do it like I do.

elaine

 

[UWSurfer]

I have a couple like car insurance which is autopay, slurped out of my checking account.

The fixed monthly bill, like the mortgage gets sent on the same day of the month automatically with the credit union bill pay.

Most, if not all the utilities are on a self created level pay plan. I figure out what the average usage is, then add $10 or $20 to that and automatically have credit union bill pay make the payment on the same day of the month. It's easier to budget for and I usually build up a bit of a credit. Come Christmas time I sometimes get to skip some of those bills simply because the credit built up too large and I can apply that money to presents.

What's left are the two or three credit cards which I pay the closest attention to and pay usually via bill pay a few days before their due.

Increasingly I get the bill amounts electronically via e-mail. MF's I also budget for by setting aside extra money each month in a savings account so it's available when they and the taxes are due. We also have separate savings sub accounts designated for different categories: mortgage/mf/tax, car repair, appliance repair emergency fund, vacation...which a piece of the paycheck gets transferred each month so that money is available when the need arrises.

For the most part the system is largely automated and I just keep an eye on it so balances don't go negative, and it's worked well for many years.

Sort of an updated version of envelope budgeting.

 

[Karen G]

Do any of you get "paperless bills?" If you do, how do you keep track of them before you pay them, or do you pay each one as it arrives, perhaps with a delayed date?

I deal with each one as it arrives. I schedule an online payment to meet the due date. I enter the amount in my checkbook and, if the pay date is several days or weeks ahead, I draw a little box next to it in the area where I normally put a check mark when a check clears. The little box reminds me that the amount is still outstanding and helps me find it later when the amount actually clears. When it does, I put a check mark in the box.

 

[klpca]

I auto pay most bills with my air miles credit card and pay it off every month

^This. I can count the number of bills that aren't set up on autopay on one hand. I haven't paid my mortgage with a check in over 10 years. I have never received cancelled checks in the mail and haven't received a bankstatement in about 7 years. I love it.

 

[dmharris]

My husband pays the bills and I cannot convince him to do online bill payment. He's afraid money won't be there if he sets up an automatic bill payment date as we're both self-employed as consultants and our income is based on project work which varies. We don't have a regular pay check coming in once or twice a month so it is very difficult to budget and arrange on-line payments if our clients have paid us in a timely fashion (a whole other topic).

I have done the research a year ago or so and found our bank (small regional) lacking in their ability to guarantee payment to the creditor in any time less than 7 to 10 days. I'm wondering if you all really can feel assured that your bank pays in 3 to 4 days as you've stated? I'd love for him to pay on line as it would save him time and postage. Old dogs - new tricks - oh me oh my!

 

[Sandi Bo]

I also have everything possible set up automatic. If they don't automatically take the payment (like utilities) I have them set up in my checking accounts bill pay (like 90 day same as cash from the furniture store).

I pay my credit cards off each month. I have them set up to automatically pay the minimum, in case I miss one. A safety net so I don't have to pay any late fees.

I keep thinking I'll set up my utilities to pay via my credit card, then pay my credit card (so I get more airline points ). Right now they directly draft my checking account. I think I could do that with my gas, electric, cable, and phone). I haven't gotten around to doing that.

 

[BevL]

Because so many of our expenses, including our home expenses, are tax deductible, I can't bring myself to go paperless. I bank and pay everything online but still get hard copy bank statements and paper bills. Otherwise I'd be printing them out to preserve them in case I get audited or something anyway.

THe procedure for me would be the same paperless or paper. When the bill comes, I pay it. My online banking has a feature where I can just go in and tell my account what day I want to pay the bill. Usually it's right away but once in a while I'll delay it.

 

[Talent312]

My small recurring bills - like cable, phone, utilities, Blockbuster & Netflix - are charged automatically to a CC or drawn from a checking account.

However, I won't do that with big ticket items like the mortgage or the monthly CC bill. If some calamity resulted in our death or a vegitative state, I would not want our heirs or executor to have to deal with stopping those.

To remember passwords:
I have a spreadsheet with all my passwords listed. Its protected by a password, so I only need to know that one to access the rest.

 

[geekette]

Fern, I think you were also an ING user?? Their bill pay does give you a history view. What I don't like, but have yet to ask about, is that when you pay and "file" a bill, you don't have easy access back to that particular bill. Where is that file cabinet??

Some of them I send to PDF and store.

I do like being able to pull a history, see what's queued, what was recently sent, etc.

I have as many set up electronically as I can, and some I have autopay set up, and some I pay as they show up (electric bill, for example, as it will vary each month, at least until I go to Budget Plan...)

For my mortgage, I have one autopay for last day of the month and another autopay to send $50/week.

I won't ever completely get away from electronic. and I'm fine with that.

 

[klpca]

I have done the research a year ago or so and found our bank (small regional) lacking in their ability to guarantee payment to the creditor in any time less than 7 to 10 days. I'm wondering if you all really can feel assured that your bank pays in 3 to 4 days as you've stated? I'd love for him to pay on line as it would save him time and postage. Old dogs - new tricks - oh me oh my!

I used the autopay feature from my credit union exactly once until I discovered (the hard way) that they mailed a paper check from their main office to pay a bill. Wouldn't you know it that was the one check that I needed a copy to prove payment and it took an act of god to get that copy.

Now I set up an automatic payment on the vendor site and have the bill charged to my card or deducted from my checking account. The credit card is also automatically paid in full every month. I use my Costco American express card, and I am quite pleased with their year end summary for tax purposes.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Well, I've been using bill pay for years. I'm not sure why some give the bank 3 to 5 days to pay as it isn't necessary especially if the bank has a relationship with the payee. Most larger banks do. I usually pay the day the bill is due unless it falls on a weekend. The bank has never been late. It is there the day it is due because they aren't mailing the bill unless they don't have relationship they are just doing a money transfer. Anyways, almost all of my bills are on autopay with a credit card except most of the utility companies do not accept payment with credit card so, I manage those. I normally print out the bill each month that I receive via e-mail and immediately schedule it for payment through my bank, record the reference number on the bill and then, file it away. I should probably just scan the bill and keep an electronic copy but I haven't gone that route yet but it is getting easier as many bills are in PDF and you just need to save them. All of our mortgage payments are on auto pay through our bank as well but we own rentals so, it is much easier to have those on autopay than to forget to make payment.

For my hard to remember passwords I just keep them in a locked file cabinet. For each bill I have a file folder and on the inside of the file folder I write down all the passwords and special information that you need. So, if my dh needed to pay the bills he could.

Now, if we could just get rid of those catalogs. I did read you could but you have to give up your SS# with this organization and I'm just not there. I can't tell you how many airline mile credit cards applications I get a week for my children who are all under 18. Really...

 

[persia]

When I get a bill I log into my bank (Wells Fargo) and setup a payment, usually delayed until a day or two before the due date. And yes, if the company receiving the payment doesn't have an electronic way of receiving payment they do mail out an old fashioned paper check, but that's ok since I don't pay for the stamp, envelope or check printing.

But here's my question, back in the old days you used to have this paper thing in your check book where you wrote these transactions down and balanced against them to check for mistakes. What do people use nowadays? I've tried several programs, spreadsheets, etc and I've always found them lacking. Is there an app for that?

 

[ciscogizmo1]

When I get a bill I log into my bank (Wells Fargo) and setup a payment, usually delayed until a day or two before the due date. And yes, if the company receiving the payment doesn't have an electronic way of receiving payment they do mail out an old fashioned paper check, but that's ok since I don't pay for the stamp, envelope or check printing.

But here's my question, back in the old days you used to have this paper thing in your check book where you wrote these transactions down and balanced against them to check for mistakes. What do people use nowadays? I've tried several programs, spreadsheets, etc and I've always found them lacking. Is there an app for that?

That's another reason that I still print out my bills and file them. I do check them against my credit card and make sure the correct amount was paid. I do check my online American Express acount at least a couple times a week to see if any weird things are going through. So, I like having most of my payments through my American Express bill so, I have one place to look for weird transactions. I'm still hesitant to allow autopay through my checking account. Although I have a couple of accounts set up that way I'm really uneasy about it. In fact I've changed a few to my sending in a payment through my bank's autopay. Unfortunately, mortgage payments don't allow auto pay through your credit cards so, I'm stuck there.

With Quicken you can download all of your bills into quicken. I find this very helpful.

 

[Karen G]

But here's my question, back in the old days you used to have this paper thing in your check book where you wrote these transactions down and balanced against them to check for mistakes. What do people use nowadays?

I still use that paper thing (check register) and I balance my checkbook monthly to see if I've got the same balance as the bank shows. My checkbook is right above my computer so it's easy to grab it when I want it. I check our bank accounts daily online to see if there are any surprises.

 

[hypnotiq]

Almost all my bills autopay with my credit card and the ones that I dont, direct debit from my account.

My credit cards I have set to pay the balance every month when it is due.

I do get notified when my statements are available so I can look for any problems before it autobills my account.

I dont remember the last time I wrote a physical check. :ignore:

I keep track of everything in MS Money.