Managing Monthly Bills Part 1 of 2

This is the first of a two-part article examining how to manage your monthly bills.

In college, the only things that were constants were exams. In the real world, it gets worse. There are bills. At first, it can be overwhelming to be expected to pay certain expenses every month, without fail. The harder part is probably to budget them into your monthly expenses. Speaking from personal experience, I can say that the first time I was expected to shell out over $1000 for my one-bedroom apartment (I live in the DC area), then, on a different day, $50 for my cell phone, then Internet, I was definitely overwhelmed.

When I think about my first months getting used to paying bills, the following problems stick out:

• The timing of different bills against each other
• The timing of all bills against my paychecks
• Factoring bills into other monthly expenses
• The variability of some bills.
• Automating payments.

This article will explore the first two issues.

• Timing of bills against each other: If you are like me, all of your bills come at different times, enough to make it uncomfortable for you to track them or easy enough for you to forget them. My rent bill comes around the 22nd but has to be paid by the 1st. My credit card bill is due the 23rd. My electricity bill is different. You get the picture.

One of the best ways to create order is to track your bills for a month with a solution such as The Bill Manager. Write down the dates on which your bills occur, and when they need to be paid, as well as the amounts for each. Make sure to keep all of the bills you receive when they arrive. Set aside a drawer or a special box for them so that you can look back at each bill and figure out when they are due. Make a list of all of the bills you have to pay.

• Timing of bills against your paychecks. Do the same thing with your paychecks. Set aside a special place for them and figure out when you get all of them. A good idea is to also enter your bills into The Bill Manager. Another solution for more hands-on people is to get a HUGE monthly calendar, such as this one: http://www.printfree.com/Calendar_3month/Feb08print.htm. Track all of your bills in one color and your paychecks in another.

Then, figure out a good time to pay your bills. A good idea is to do it twice a month. Call the companies whose bills don't coincide with your planned schedule and ask them to move their billing cycles for you. This shouldn't be a problem with items like rent and cell phone bills, especially for places where your customer satisfaction could be a deciding factor for you to switch from their service and to a competitor's.

Some companies, such as credit card carriers, tend to change their due dates in order to trick you into late payment fees. Keep an eye out for this.

Done! Your bills are all in synch and they are also in synch with your paychecks.