Need help organizing bills/passwords, etc.

[Minnie_me]

My H left us in October. He also left us with a heap of bills. He's been in charge of paying the bills for 13 years, so I feel like I'm brand new at this (cuz back when I used to pay my own bills, there was no online bill-paying!). We pay all of our bills online, which I really do like.

But I'm having trouble with the things that get automatically taken out of our account -- they seem to pop up and surprise me and leave me short.

Also, H had different usernames and passwords for each account. I have them all in an email, but I need a better system.

It seems counterproductive to have any of this info written on paper, since I like the idea of having it all online and not having to keep a "book".

Suggestions?

 

[nunzia]

I have a little book that has all accounts and passwords listed as well as notes on what comes out automatically, etc. I only look at the book as a reminder. Once a month I add all our assets and see how that's going. I pay almost everything with BillPay. I have a little spiral book that I write a general budget for each payday so I don't forget when certain things are due. I write automatic payments out on the payday they'll come out, even if it's way early from the actual come out date. For example, my DVC comes out the 15th. We always seem to have a little delay getting paid and gettng it deposited, so I take out the DVC on the 1st as far as my checkbook is concerned.
On actual paydays I use a little paper pad and follow my general budget so I don't forget anything, but this one is the real spending plan, and takes into account things like utilities higher or lower than budgeted, extra things that may pop up, etc. I've looked at the online tools and such, but this plan has been easiet for me..and really the whole thing takes less than 20 minutes a payday.

 

[mousecruzer]

I also have an address book just for internet user names and passwords. I pay all my bills online with BillPay and deduct from my checking ledger each time. I also have a small calander that I write the name of the bill on the day it is due. That way I know which ones are due during the pay period depending on what days they fall during the month. This has helped me organize and then I am sure the utilities are paid and when an unexpected bill comes in then I know between what pay period I can squeek it in!

 

[Melynny]

I pay most of my bills with online banking, that means that I do not use the bill company to suck the payment out of my checking account. I use the Bank online account to either automatically pay the amount Or I just have them set as a "biller" and then I tell them when and how much to pay.

This is easy for me since I still get most of my bills as Paper bills, it won't be as easy if you have electronic bills, but it puts you in control of how much and when a bill is paid.

I also think you can log on to each company and tell them to not automatically take the payment out, but still pay the bill with them electronically.

I know this is a very simplified explaination, and you may already know this,but I thought it may help.. if you are starting from ground zero..

 

[Debbie]

I use Quicken, and, once you have set it up, you can see those monthly bills ahead of time (I have mine show up 2 weeks in advance usually) so that you can budget more easily. I've used the program for 10 years now, and, I love it. You can arrange for automatic updates of the online banks, too, although, I'm too controlling to do that. I update by hand. Quicken + online banking....

Another advantage to Quicken is that I can "hide" money in a savings goal, so I know how much money I have for bills, and still be saving! DH will look at one account, think that he has $500, and I'll show him the Quicken that says: Nope, you have $17.11 to spend, the rest is earmarked (for those bills that are coming out next week and for the vacation next summer )

 

[richmond282]

You need to make a budget not just a list of bills, but include things like groceries, clothing, medical, car maintenance. I just use a spreadsheet in Excel. Sock money away in each account (we use cash envelopes) each month. By having a budget written out, you are better be able to see exactly which bills are being paid and how much. I also agree with cancelling the automatic withdrawls. I like having the power to pay my bills online when I want them to be paid. We get paid once a month so it's easier for me to pay all my bills once a month.

If you want to work towards being debt-free, I recommend any of Dave Ramsey's books especially the Total Money Makeover.

 

[phred52]

Hummm, the first thing I'd suggest you do is get onto EACH site where you pay bills and CHANGE THE PASSWORD! Change the username, too.

THEN, consider the advice from everyone above. Excellent suggestions.

 

[debit34]

I agree with the previous poster, definitely change the passwords to something you can remember right away.

As for a plan of action on the bills, one idea might be to cancel all of the automatic payments for now and let all of the bills come to you through the mail so that you can easily form a budget and get your arms around all of the expenses. Then, you could use your bank or credit unions online banking service to pay all of the bills in one place.

Good luck!

 

[Planogirl]

My system is a spiral notebook! I have had computers crash or otherwise act stupid so I have no faith in them. I wouldn't feel comfortable not having a hard copy of my passwords and account history (no account numbers though) but I do keep this information in a secure place and destroy papers when I am finished with them. You might want to invest in a shredder.

I also dislike auto payments. It might be better to cancel those and pay them yourself. I pay everything electronically except one bill because that company refuses to allow online payments!

 

[fab5friend99]

I second getting Quicken! I love being able set up a schedule of the monthly bills that I can quickly look to see what's coming up that I might have missed. I also pay all my bills when I get the email that my new statement is available. It takes maybe 5 minutes a day, Much better than facing hours of doing them all at once, once a month. That doesn't mean the money is leaving my account at that time since almost every bill I pay I can set the payment date to be the actual due date which will be several weeks in the future.

I am an accountant and have always had a good handle on my money and didn't get Q until a few years ago thinking I didn't need it. I only initially got it to track my investments. I couldn't believe what I was missing all these years! It makes it so easy manage your checkbook and bills. No more late bills!

WHen you set up your accounts in Q there is a space to put in comments on the overview page. I put in my passwords and answers to challenge questions there for easy access. Of course Q and laptop are password protected so I feel pretty safe with the info there.

Also love, love, love the export to turbotax. Make is so much easier to do taxes.

 

[Swimalie]

I so agree with changing the passwords. Plus, cancel the automatic bill pay where they take the money out of your account. You have given them access to take money from you. You have given them control over your money. Not good. They have access to your account and can take more than you realize and then you have to fight to get it back. Cancel the automatic payments and set it up so you pay them through bill pay so you control the payments.

 

[vegasnative]

We have a file drawer. I have a file for "Allstate", "mortgage", "Honda" etc etc. Inside each file I have all the hard copy bills that come in the mail, or the receipts from when I pay them online. I have those paperclipped and the new one goes on top, the one from the back (12 months ago) gets shredded. I don't know why I keep files for a year, but I do.

Inside the jacket of the file folder I have the account username and password wrote down. So, for example, when I need to pay my Allstate bill, I pull the file, open it, and there is the info I need.

 

[kaywoody]

Logins and passwords make me crazy... and sometimes even the website addresses themselves, so I used a Google Doc spreadsheet and keep all my login info there. Then it is available from either work or home, and I don't have to concentrate so hard on making them all exactly the same.

 

[Mas17]

We have a seperate account for just bills. Everything is automatically taken out. Mort, elec, water, cable, church tithing, everything. Never another late payment. Always enought money in it because, we took all the bills we owe on a monthly basis, added them all up & deposit a bit more than what is owed. We even save money this way, which we can use for emergencies. It has worked like a dream for us.

 

[riley2008]

Up until November of last year, I paid the mortgage and childcare and DH paid everything else. Now we switched. I get paid once a month and I HATE getting things straying in, especially just before the next pay day.

I also didn't want things automatically coming out of my checking account, I went the credit card route. Everything gets automatically paid by credit card and I make one payment every month. I love this....and I've already made $50. (Bonus for me)

I still get the paper statements though, whenever I can. I don't seem to pay too much attention to on-line statements. (Still trying to figure out DH's cell phone plan...he may get that one back.)

I keep login-ins, passwords, account number, web addresses, phone number, etc in a word document table and print out a copy every time I update or change it.

I do like many of the above PP's ideas though too - especially the google document. Not sure if I'm ready for Quicken though.....