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!