It can be found at http://orders.plainwhitepress.com/OnlineStore/product.aspx?pid=2010

Thanks for the advice JD,

Ali
http://www.plainwhitepress.com/en/blog

Most of my bills come electronically to my online bill payment service at the CU now, but those that don’t go in my “action” file the moment they arrive and I log in to the online bill pay usually within 48 hours. I set up payment for the bill for the day prior to the due date (I’m paranoid, and I got bit once by slow processing at the other end - although my wonderful CU would have refunded me the fees had my entirely decent CC issuer not already forgiven them for me) and then forget about it.

This is true for small bills like the monthly dog walker bills, and for enormous bills like my property taxes (which are already scheduled for next February), and for anything in between that isn’t already automated. I always review the bills themselves prior to the pay date (I get email alerts when a new bill arrives) to make sure there aren’t any errors, but I never have to find checks, find stamps, remember where I put the darned invoice, etc. It’s awesome.

If your bank doesn’t offer unlimited free online bill pay…get a new bank. Or better yet, a credit union - although check to make sure the CU offers the service, too. The automation of most billing is one of the best things that ever happened to the disorganized or the just plain lazy (guilty! on both counts, I guess).

I would say I saved the most time and money (on finance charges) when I used Paytrust to automatically pay my bills. However, I have not found a Canadian equivalent. So I try to remember to pay my bills twice a month. Sometimes, I’m a few days late and pay a finance charge, but most months I time it right. Anything I can set to auto-pay on a credit card, I do. My wifes strategy is to pay bills in advance. For example, when she is paying bills, she will send in about 6 months in advance on the phone bill, so she won’t have to worry about phone bills again for half a year. However, for me I find that gives me a 100% chance of failing to notice the month in which the account goes back into the red.

There use to be a time when you could expect bills to be due the same date each month, but now days I find most bills have random due dates, just to keep us on our toes.

I think that just having the bill-monkey off your back would be worth it! I paid 3 bills today - they now will not stare at me for the next week!

I feel that paying the bills when they arrive, much like doing a little housecleaning every day, makes the entire task feel like less of a chore.

Using the bank’s interest in a savings account or money market (especially in today’s environment) to your advantage just doesn’t turn out to be a big enough advantage. I’m not saying Marco’s method is terrible, but for someone like me, the risk of leaving the bill unpaid outweighs the coupon-esque benefits.

So every time I get a bill, I separate the money into a different account - an account that pays bonus interest with no fees. And when the due date comes - marked on my diary, or by automatic transfer the bill is paid on time.

Although the interest is small, it accumulates over time. Think of the savings you bother with coupons… you only save a dollar or two - what if you earn an extra dollar or two for every bill you get?

And in a way you are getting rich slowly!

Paying online is also a great way to see if you’ve missed something. Because we get loads of junk mail, sometimes bills get put places that they shouldn’t. Paying online allows me to review all of my accounts and see the last time I paid each.