Frugal Tip - Online Bill Paying and Statements

I've mentioned before how much I hate filing. So I've started enrolling in online bill paying and statements. I love this method because I don't have papers to file. I save an electronic version of my statement on my computer.

To keep those files organized I have them in folders by year and then the file names are the name of the company and the date of the bill. For example, my AT&T Bill for April would be saved as "ATT Bill 2009 04.pdf". This makes it easy for me to find the bills if I need them. I also save a pdf file of my confirmation of payment using the same file format, example "ATT Rcpt 2009 04.pdf". It's oh so easy and I don't have to file anything.

Another benefit of this method is that you aren't using a stamp to mail your payment. You may think oh, it's just a stamp, but keep in mind that one year of postage as $0.43 a month adds up to $5.16 a year. So this can add up really fast. Plus, if you pay for your checks you're saving money by not using a check.

For those of you that don't like going to each site and setting up your payments, some banks offer free online bill paying where they will mail the check for you. You still save the postage and a check. It's certainly worth checking in to.

Note: I used $0.43 as the postage rate above because that is what the new postage rate will be on Monday, May 11, 2009. So, if you do need stamps I suggest heading out and picking up a pack of Forever stamps before Monday.

Edit: Postage is actually up to $0.44 today (May 11th) I had the wrong rate. Aargh!

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