How do you organise your mail, bills, etc? Need help!

moggins

Yep, I do the same and even the stuff that can't be paid by direct debit I have set up for on-line banking. That way I just get straight on on the first of the month and make the minimum payments. If I have any leftover at the end of the month then I chuck as much as I can afford at it, eg credit cards etc.

nads

I pay most of my stuff through Direct Debit but all the mobile comapnies still send me a bill! One of them actuallly says "You do not have to do anything, you have a direct debit setup"

I think I'll get a concertina file hopefully there will be enough slots for each individual case .e.g current account, cc1, cc2

voodoozoe, lets get organised!

Yorkielass

voodoozoe your settee sounds just like mine - OH goes mad as things get piled up

Do have a concertina file though and put most things in there - just not always too hot on sorting stuff out when it comes in :rolleyes:

Have a low windowsill behind the settee so I'm currently 'hiding' quite a bit of stuff on that

Just going to have a little potter on here then I must get on with sorting it out - you've all made me feel guilty

Penny-Pincher!!

Open bills/letters etc daily, then all bills (not many as most are paid by DD) CC bills etc go into a drawer in cabinet, them monthly I move these into a plastic folder and shred the previous months as Ive put the new months in there IYKWIM. Seems to work for me, but I shred as much as possible but make sure I can access all accounts etc from internet.

PP
xx

Curry_Queen

nads wrote:

I have this horrible habit of not keeping on top of my mail, bills, etx and they end up being dumped into a pil until I can be botehred to go throught them in one huge energy burst, seems to have about once a quarter! :rolleyes:

SNAP!!! :rotfl:


Admin is one of my least favourite jobs, although I am very organised with my finances (online accounts/spreadsheets/MSMoney) and all bills are paid on time etc, but paperwork? ...PAH!

Letters often go unanswered ... junk mail gets recycled/shredded when the pile gets too big and the same with the filing. I probably end up doing it about 2-3 times a year LOL! :rolleyes:

voodoozoe

In the first flushes of romance me and OH used to sit on sofa TOGETHER but now he has a little control centre from his La-z-y-boy chair with telephone, remotes for stereo and TV and laptop on a lap tray...while I sit in my padded open plan office(sofa) surrounded by bills and cats

WE WILL GET ORGANIZED nads and Yorkielass!!!!!!!

nads

and Curry Queen!

I'm popping into Tescos later on tonight so I see if I can find anything organizingy looking.

That's my target set: Organise mail, bills and shtuff by end of week!... now lets put in my sig

Curry_Queen

nads wrote:

and Curry Queen!

I'm popping into Tescos later on tonight so I see if I can find anything organizingy looking.

That's my target set: Organise mail, bills and shtuff by end of week!... now lets put in my sig

LOL!

I was looking at Tesco online yesterday and they had a couple of expander file thingys quite cheap, but it's hard to tell how useful they are without seeing them in the flesh.

I've got a brand new shiny filing cabinet (thanks to Argos sales) sitting next to my desk now, but I've yet to put anything in it :rolleyes: :rotfl:

I have been working on it though this last week, and have sorted out various piles of paperwork ready for filing, and yesterday managed to find some old suspension files in a box upstairs I can use, so I will get there eventually

Still need to re-organise electric sockets and extension leads though so I can actually plug in the shredder to use, as well as my PC speakers! :rolleyes:

Zed42

I deal with post as soon as it comes in.

Plastic windows get ripped out of envelopes and binned, rest of the envelope goes in to recycling (gets taken out again at various times if I need to write a list), junk mail gets re-addressed to go back to the junk-sender (although I am registered with the Mail Preference Service, which has cut it down immensely).

Bank statements go in to a pile on my desk, business invoices / sales / bills go in to a filing tray on a shelf. Attempt to process each on the same day that they come in.

Once processed (reconciled in to MS Money) they get filed in a filing cabinet.

Receipts get entered in to MS Money and filed in a small cardboard box.

Most bills are done via direct debit. Gas / electricity / 'phone statements get sent to me electronically, so I can keep an eye on them and adjust dd's as appropriate.

Credit card bills get done via online banking.
Next directory the same way.

HOWEVER ...... the one thing I must do is go through the filing cabinet and rationalise it. How long should you keep statements for? I really am a hoarder, and somewhere I think that I should keep everything "JUST IN CASE", the problem is rationally, I can't work out what the "just in case" is going to be... any ideas anyone???

nicki_2

I contacted the Bankers Association and asked how long I should keep bank statements. They said you should keep at least 6 years worth as that is how far back the Inland Revenue can go back to collect funds etc.

As for other things, I'm keeping them until 12 months after our next house move. After the recent discovery that income tax for OH is wrong and having to go back and look at payslips etc from 2001 I'm not risking getting rid of ANYTHING!!!!!