Question on household bills and clutter?

Question

Think of all the paperwork that comes in the mail....do you save the bills? How do you keep the paperwork from piling up? Do you file them? if so, how do you decide what to keep and what to toss, and for how long do you keep them?

There simply are too many good answers here for me to decide. Almost every answer has some great ideas. Please voters, read all suggestions before deciding so that everyone has an equal chance.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I keep all my bills in a mail rack on my kitchen wall, so when I get them I put them straight in the mail rack and I don't have to dig around for them. Don't keep anything your not going to use (credit card offers, sweepstakes, the usual junk mail). You can buy a shredder for those if you don't like to put them in the trash. The other really important stuff like insurance policies and stuff you can file away. I keep these on a different level of my mail rack. It has three levels. Hope this helps, although mail isn't the problem in my house it's all the other junk everyone always wants to keep but no one uses. Oh well, you can't have everything, I guess.

Answer 2

I don't know how long to keep receits. But when the fliers come, I only keep the ads of the stores I go to. But I keep Mags "forever". Just ask my husband. I'm just starting to REALLY keep tract of bill paying (long story). I have an accordian style file thingy in my car. As I pay the bills, I staple the receit to the front page of the bill and file it under phone, car, insur., gas, electric,ect. I just did an online payment. It was easy to do but I still have doubts. I DON'T DO CHECKS. If I just TOUCH a check, it bounces. It doesn't even have to be from my account. I'm SSOO NOT kidding!! I usally only do cash or money orders. And DO NOT! use cash advances of ANY kind ( they will only make things WORSE!). I hope I helped a little bit. Start good habbits early so they become a habit.

Answer 3

Handle all mail that day. Folder for 'Bills Due'; Folder for 'To Handle'; Trash excess. Save Paid Bills for the year filed away in folders (then keep only needed ones for taxes that year and keep 7 years). Decision on what to toss has to do with your write-offs, if any. Double check with your tax preparer or accountant. For instance, if you're a renter or W-2 employee, your utility bills are unnecessary to keep after the year.

Answer 4

I save my bills. I pay them with a check adn then write on the leftover bill "Pd. Ck # 1234" and then I file it in a folder that is labeled by the name of the company. For example: "Old Navy" or "Cingular" The files are alphabatized ina file box. After New Years, I box up last years files, and as the bills come in for the new year, I make them a new file. Very easy.

Answer 5

Some companies offer paper free billing. You can go online and get your bills. I do this with the phone co., electric co., some credit card companies. Try it. You can always print a copy of the statement online if you ever need it. I never have had any problems and have been doing this for about 8 yrs.

Answer 6

Well, my mom is an accountant and she says I need to save all of my bills for at least 7 years for tax purposes. Since she does my taxes I do save the bills. I file them by month - I put whatever receipts and bills that I have in folders for the month that i paid them and at the end of the year I put all 12 folders in a box and give them to my mom for taxes. When she is done I leave it all in the box and write Tax Records 2005 on the box and I put it under the bed or in the garage or office.

Peace!

Answer 7

I get 90% of my bills online via email. Saves alot of work.

When a bill comes in, I put it near the bill paying table, which includes a checkbook.

I only keep the canceled checks(statements online) so I do not file anything.

Answer 8

File it, or trash it. If it's a coupon that you want, save it. Once it expires, trash it. Paid bills can be kept for about six months, then trash them. Always write on the paid bill the date and check number used to pay it. If you pay your bills on line like I do, you never have to worry about that again.

Answer 9

pay the bills the same day you get them or the next.junk mail goes in the trash and mail from friends and relatives gets read and then depending on how important it really is gets trashed.the rest gets in the mail drawer then thrown away in a month.sales papers get looked at and thrown away.i keep one grocery store sale paper and look at it for deals then trash

Answer 10

wow, carole's got it down pat!