That Smith

I suppose I am lucky in that I have never had to face the shame of being late on one of my bills. This is mainly because I am very finicky when it comes to keeping track of what needs to be paid and when. I recently discovered though, that my neighbors are not as shrewd. I found this out because their power is now off.

I talked to one of the neighbors yesterday about their bills and how he and his roommate keep track of them. He is 20 years old and shares a two bedroom apartment with one of his friends. Neither of them had a job until about a week ago, but he now makes $8.50 an hour working maintenance at an apartment complex. He said he usually pays the bills that are in his name (such as his cell phone, cable, and rent) and his roommate pitches in for the others.

They keep track of what is due using what I like to call the “In Plain Sight” method. Essentially, they remember they have to pay a bill sometime in the near future because it is sitting at eye level directly in front of them as they walk through the front door. They have been roommates for a little over two months and are already having problems remembering to actually pay the bills, so clearly this is not the best way for them to keep track of their expenses.

Laura and I, on the other hand, keep track of our bills using a variety of methods. First, when a bill arrives I immediately put the amount in the calendar on my cell phone, and set an alarm for a couple days before it is due to provide time for the payment.

Second, whenever I am at the computer next, I open an Excel spreadsheet I made that contains our account balances, income, and expenses to ensure the correct day and amount appears there as well. Most of our bills can be paid electronically, and only the amount of our electric bill changes from month to month so I typically know how much money we will have at any point in the month.

Once this has been done we pretty much sit and wait for the bills to come due and we pay them. I tend to have a bad memory, and at times worry that maybe I forgot something, but as long as we “process” the bills as soon they arrive then they shouldn’t be a problem. Also, the alarm on my phone serves as a reminder in case I do manage to forget any of them.

My method works just fine for me, and because I always know how much money we are going to have, we are able to pay some bills early so we won’t have to worry about them later. My neighbors don’t have access to a computer, so my method won’t work for them. My question for all of you is how do you track your bills? Also, what suggestions would you give my neighbors?

If you need a better method for keeping track of your bills here are some helpful sites to get you started:

• Organize Bills with Napkin Holder
• billQ - The easiest way to keep track of your bills
• iOWEYOU - online calculator for expenses sharing
• BudgetPulse - Simple Online Money Tracking and Budgeting
• Buxfer: Track Your Money
• BillMonk
• Wesabe: Get to Know Your Money

I would also suggest tracking your expenses in Google Calendar. You can add a bill like you would any other event and can have it send you (and perhaps your roommate or spouse) a text message before it’s due.

Photo: alykat