Keeping bills and such in order. (pay, taxes, credit, account)

[LovingSAT]

How do you keep your bills and things that you have paid in order? How long do you keep them?

I get my bills - throw away all the junk parts - write the check and on the statement my copy I write the check number the amount paid and the date. I then keep everything in a big box. I never know when to throw thngs away so I keep them forever and I really need to purge.

How do you keep them and if you have any tips to keep the paperwork in better order, do share.

[wheelsup]

I pay online and toss the bill right there. A lot of things I have set up on recurring and auto pay, so no need to even worry about the bill. I hate paperwork. When we moved I found bills that were 5 and 6 years old in boxes. WTF?

[Pitt Chick]

I have files that correspond to the line of the 1040 tax return.

If it applies, it goes into the appropriate file.

If it does not, it goes into a general file that I keep until we do the taxes the next year.
(Sometimes in doing a return, I need to find a receipt!)

[gizmobizmo]

I have a filing system.
There are separate files for each credit card, utility, medical bills/receipts, dental bills/receipts, my pets vet records, etc.....It takes a bit to get it set up and to sort everything the first time but it is so much easier to keep track of things.

Utilities - I keep old bills for up to six months.
I DO have a list of monthly utilities that helps me keep track of expenditures. It helps to see how much/little I spend on something month to month like water or electric. It's easy to forget.

Credit cards- six months. I also compare them to my receipts and check off everything. Somebody tried to slip a sneaky charge onto my CC once and I caught it.

Medical/Dental bills and receipts - one year. You never know when the insurance company will come back and say something wasn't paid.

Bank Statements- a year.

[thegirlinaz]

After I pay them I file away the bill in our desk drawer. We have seperate files for each company.

[skahar]

I have a file for each bill and that gets cleaned (shredded) out after a year. I keep them in case there is a billing error and I can easily go back and find out whose fault it is...theirs or mine.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

I pay online and toss the bill right there. A lot of things I have set up on recurring and auto pay, so no need to even worry about the bill.

I also pay online, use auto-deduct, auto-charge, or bill-pay.
In addition, I have most of my bills come in eMail so I don't have paper to deal with.

If I need a statement of some kind, I just go to the appropriate site, usually the bank or credit card company, and print one out.

[sierraAZ]

All my bills are paid automatically - every single one. Anything I can put on a cash back credit card, I do, and I pay it off each month, of course. I always say I wish I could shove the mortgage there, too. I still keep the paper bills for some time, in their respective folders. Utility and phone bills get thrown out quite often. No sense keeping them. Credit card and bank account statements I keep for a long time. Mortgage statements are being kept indefinitely. Same goes for tax returns.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

If I need a statement of some kind, I just go to the appropriate site, usually the bank or credit card company, and print one out.

They don't always go as far back as you might need.

[skahar]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

They don't always go as far back as you might need.

Or they charge you for doing so.