pay my bills on time

Method: Keep track of bills in iCal/CheckOff. As soon as I receive one, add it with (due date – 5 days). Also make a note of it in my month-specific review file. Every Saturday, review bills I have or have not received by looking at this review file, and pay everything that’s coming up. Make a note in the file of the review date so I can ensure that the Saturday review becomes a way of life. Also keep any paper bills I receive in my little silver desk thingy so if necessary, I can check the hard copy for the month, then at the end of the month I will file all bills in one big file, each month paper-clipped together. At the end of the year, I will rubber-band the whole year together. (I’m starting from where I am: no back-filing.)

My success criteria is that I have paid bills on time and reviewed bills weekly for 6 months.

My full roster of bills:

- rent (monthly)
- electric (monthly)
- gas (monthly)
- water (monthly)
- phone/internet (monthly)
- credit card (monthly)
- S.O.’s storage space (monthly)
- bursar (intermittant)
- dental (intermittant)
- savings (monthly)

I’ll make an entry every month telling if I was late on any of my bills. After 6 months of no lateness and regular review, I will be done!

Well, I discovered a bill I forgot about, due the 18th, so now I’m minus a $39.00 late fee…this thing is now moving into priority position! Having switched to using iCal to record dates and Checkoff to record things I need to do, I’m going to start entering bills and due dates into both the second I get them, except that the due date will be minus a week so I’ll actually pay them early. This is the plan. Gearing up in 3…2…1…