Consolidate any scraps of paper in one pile. Begin going through each, transferring the information to your calendar, phone contact list, or home binder.

A GON Reader Asked:

I have a specific question about moving toward paperless bills. I request most of my bills in paper form, and have a solid, organized system for paying bills this way. Lately I've tried converting some of them to an emailed notification to save on paper and bypass the snail mail system, but find it's just more cumbersome.

Instead of the time it takes to open the bill and put it in my TO PAY file, I instead have to sign in to multiple different websites to retrieve the amounts (going through all the 2-step authentications and forgotten passwords even though I have a good password protocol), and then save something from that research (e.g. a screen shot to a digital folder) so I know what to record in my checkbook register.

Do you have any suggestions for making the transition to digital bills easier?

Thank you!

--Marcy Rao

Maria Gracia's Response:

Hi Marcy,

Thank you very much for your question! I know exactly what you're saying and no matter what, if you're going to be organized with paying your bills offline or online, it takes a bit of time and energy.

If you're hoping to take ALL of the work out of it, you can use a bill payment service that pays all of your bills for you. While some folks love this type of service, personally, I'm not comfortable doing this because it's easy to stop 'keeping an eye on' your finances when there is little to no action required on your part.

I get what you're saying about the 2-step authentications, and the need to verify by photo. Click all the photos that have chimneys or traffic lights...ugh! I know this is frustrating. Forgotten passwords can also be frustrating and time-consuming to figure out. That being said, I still like the control of paying my own bills because I always know what was paid, how much I paid (which helps if I want to try to reduce the amount of that bill or cancel the service), and how much is in my checking account at any given time.

Here's what I do:

1. Paper statements: I don't like my bill statements emailed to me. With email, it's too easy for a message to either not get through or to end up in a spam folder, never to be seen. So, if there's a paper option, that's the option I take.

2. I printed a one-page, month-at-a-glance, blank calendar page (perpetual) and numbered the days 1 to 31...for every day of the month. I wrote down the bills I receive and the approximate date they're due. So, if I'm supposed to get the electric bill on the 5th of the month (either paper or email), if it's the 1st of the month and I haven't gotten it, I'll still be able to go on the web site and pay it so the payment is not late.

3. I use a password service (1Password) so I never forget my user names and passwords. It has been a godsend. I never forget my information and the passwords are more intricate (lots of numbers, letters, lowercase, uppercase, and special characters) and more secure than what most people would chose on their own.

4. I've given in and have come to accept the 2-factor authentications and click the photo challenges. At least they're helping to keep my accounts safe.

5. I pay the bill online, and jot down the date and payment confirmation number on the PAPER bill statement: i.e. PAID, 4/14/22, #3490230239 and then I file the paper bill statement in my filing cabinet.

Hope my system helps you a bit! I know my method is not 'paperless', but it's effective for me, and doesn't take very long at all. Plus, it's easy and fast to retrieve that paper bill statement from my files if anything is ever in question.

P.S. Looking for a simple and effective way to get control of your paper chaos? You're going to love My Oh-So-Organized Filing System!

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___ 1. Do today's task on my April Monthly Organizing Checklist. The April 14 TO DO focuses on home touch-ups. Visit GetOrganizedNow.com to access my April Monthly Organizing Checklist.

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___ 3. Consolidate and organize your gardening tools. This Garden Tool Organizer can keep up to 40 gardening tools organized and easily accessible.

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