Why You Should Create a Bill Schedule

Ok people. No matter how organized you think you are, start using a bill schedule!

What is a bill schedule?A bill schedule lists all of your monthly, bi-annual, and annual obligations, in order by date that they are due.  Sounds like a simple concept, and it is.  What is not simple is the radical difference it made in my financial life.

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Is a Bill Schedule right for you?

• Do you pay bills after the due date more than twice a year?
• Do you struggle to find the money to pay all of your bills before you receive your next paycheck?
• Do you overdraft your checking account more than once per year?
• Do you have trouble remembering which bills to pay?
• Do you and your spouse have trouble communicating about which bills have been paid?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then a simple bill schedule could help immensely!

Above, you can see an example of what a bill schedule should look like.  Every monthly bill is listed on the left of the bill payment schedule, in order by due date, along  with the amount.  As the bills are paid, you put an “x” in the box that corresponds with the current month and bill.  Super simple, right? (This is last year’s schedule, not our current one)

Down towards the bottom we now put Home and Auto Insurance.  The Home Insurance is paid annually, but we prepare for this by dividing the annual premium by 12 months, and move that amount to savings at the end of each month.  The same goes for Auto insurance :-)

Putting a bill schedule together is not easy – but it is so worth it!

1. Put all of your bills in one place – We keep a basket on the table right inside the door we use most, that all of the mail gets thrown into .  Then, once or twice a month, we throw out the junk, and organize the actual bills into our bill folder…
2. The bill folder – This, obviously, is the place where we keep all of our bills.  We don’t really organize them by date in here, because, seriously, who time for that?  Inside the folder we have the bill schedule, bills, passwords and usernames for online payments, checks, stamps, and envelopes.  Everything we need to pay bills!
3. Put into excel – If you’re an Excel whiz, great!  If not, check out this cool template!  Grab all the bills from you mail pile or bill binder, and plug them in according to due date!

I understand that this sounds super easy, but bear in mind that you might run into some problems.  Say you start keeping all of your bills in one place, but then a week later, it is time to pay some of them, or they will be late.  It’s ok!  Just plug in what you have!  Do this every time you get paid, and pretty soon you will have a comprehensive bill schedule!

Now that you have all of your bills on the bill schedule, try it out for a month!  I paybills twice a month – each time I am paid.  If I am paid on the 1st of the month, I know that I have to pay AT LEAST all of the bills that are due between the 1st and 15th of the month – plus leave some extra for gas and groceries!  Generally, we pay as many bills as we possibly can each paycheck.  The result is that we are gradually “ahead” on bills and will eventually be a full month ahead!  How amazing would it be to not have to pay bills for whole month and know that you would be completely fine!?!

Click here  to earn money shopping online so that bills are never a worry! 

Tips for SAVING $$ these holidays w/out looking like a GrInCh

Need to know

• Keep your Christmas spending under control. Make yourself a budget, allocating a certain amount for gifts and stick to it. Overspending and impulse buying leads to parents spending an average of $300 on presents per child!
• Think tactically when buying for kids, if you start buying them expensive, advanced, electrical pressies from a young age, you'll have nowhere to go when they get older
• Use comparison sites like shop.com/prettysmart when you're shopping online to find the gifts for the best price. Remember to factor in delivery cost
• You can get branded gifts like watches, clothes and even toys with up to 70% off from Secret sales sites. BUT some sellers can be VERYslow to dispatch-  an estimated delivery date should be given at checkout but it’s safer to expect them to be late, if it’s getting close to the big day you may want to shop elsewhere
• In mid-December shops will start cutting prices, Black Friday which has MASSIVE online discounts is Friday 28th November. For the BIGGEST discounts shop from shop.com/prettysmart to catch the January Sales. If you’re meeting up with family after Christmas wait and grab their pressies then
• A cashback site like shop.com/prettysmart will give you money back as you shop. Confident credit card users should consider a cashback credit card with their favorite regular stores. 
• Homemade gift ideas
• • Well presented homemade gifts need never look cheap. Check out shop.com/prettysmart for ribbons and cellophane wraps) and get creative!
    • Infused Olive oil or Vodka is SUPER easy, check out allrecipes.com for recipes and shop.com/prettysmart for posh bottles to decant into
    • Christmas Cake Pops and Gingerbread men will go down a storm with kids and foodies. Make your cake pops ahead of time and freeze them (with or without dipping.  We’ve found thawing them in the fridge prevents them from ‘sweating’)
    • A 52 Reasons why I love you set of playing cards is a lovely gift. Just stick a reason on the back of every card of a pack. 
    • A GREAT Retro gift could be buying a pretty jar (again try shop.com/prettysmart) and filling it with the recipient’s favorite penny sweets
    • Cut an offshoot of any veg, flowers or herbs you grow, put it in water and after it has grown its own roots, transfer it to a personalised pot – great gift for kids as it turns into a project. Or, use a few pots and shoots to create a small indoor garden for adults!
    • Here's a REALLY easy reciepe for a GREAT body scrub: 
    1. Buy a pretty jar (or EVEN CHEAPER decorate a jam jar)
    2. Fill it with granulated sugar
    3. Fill the jar with rice bran oil (great for your skin), you can infuse this oil first with a couple of drops of essential oils (shop.com/prettysmart)
    4. Let the oil settle and then top up
    5. Present with a ribbon and a label

Why is taking a vitamin supplement important?

A vitamin may be broadly defined as a substance that is essential for the maintenance of normal metabolic function, but which is not produced in the body and therefore must be consumed from a source outside the body.

They are necessary elements in the process of converting food to energy and in the growth and repair of body tissue. Reduction of vitamin levels over extended periods can result in vitamin deficiency.

These shortages may lead to symptoms which can include loss of appetite, loss of body weight, increased irritability and sleeplessness or constant drowsiness. Deficiencies of this nature can be easily avoided by adequate vitamin intake.

Isotonix formulas are also the fastest and most effective ways to receive multivitamins.

Try a sample and become prettysmart. First round's on me:)

Don't be stupid.

1) Save $$ for shopping at 3500 of the stores that you ALREADY shop at. shop.com/prettysmart 
OR
2) Try our kickass brands like Isotonix and Motives cosmetics
OR
3) *most challenging/rewarding**leverage time and $ and run your own little biz!   claire@shopprettysmart.com