I've been looking for a better way to remember when my monthly bills are due. I don't like having anything automatically deducted from my checking account and would rather keep track of when the bills are due and then pay via billpay or pay directly at the billers website. I carry a calendar to remember various appointments or meetings and I also use it to keep track of bill due dates. Using this method has a couple of drawbacks. Due to lack of space, I am not able write down notes about the bill like the amount due, account to be paid from, bill website or any other important notes. Unfortunately, if I forget to take my calendar with me, I do not have the due dates readily available.
I was contacted by the publisher of a program by the name of The Bill Manager. This is a free program that allows you to keep track of your monthly bills. I've used the program for about a week and I'm very happy with it.
Program Benefits:
- No cost. There is no fee to use this program. Nothing beats free!
- Easy to Use. Even, if you are not internet savvy, the program is still very easy to use. If you can point and click, you can use this program.
- Anywhere Access. If you have access to the internet, you have access to the bill manager. Go out of town? You can still access your account.
- Payment Reminders. You can get an email reminder to make sure you never miss a due date.
- Expense Manager. Manage your budget with the amount of your monthly bills conveniently calculated for you.
- Weekly Articles. Each week, there are a number of helpful personal finance articles via the main website or by RSS feed.
Head on over to The Bill Manager to check it out. Please note, this is not a paid review. I'm actually using the program and find it really helpful.
What method do you currently use to handle your monthly bills?
MyPoints: Earn rewards for shopping online, reading emails and more.
Reminder: Please subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.
I like this idea! I'm pretty good about keeping track of my bills, but every once in a while the mail gets delivered to the neighbors, and my garbage bill gets forgotten. I think this would help in those situations. I'm going to check it out!
I do 2 things. First when the bill comes in, I automatically go to my bill pay. I set up the payment for a day or two before it's actually do. I also have a bill organizer where I track each bill, the due date and the amount is due. When the bill has been sent to the company for payment, I get in email saying so. I then mark it off as paid in my bill organizer. May sound like a lot of work but it works me for to make sure that everything gets paid on time.
Hey you have a new page lay out...I must have missed something.
Anyway, I am usually good at remembering to pay my bills. Some times I am like "oh snap, this is due tomorrow" but I haven't been late yet.
I am going to try this new system out. Its better to be safe..
You could also use Google Calendar, which allows you to enter in the necessary information, and will send you an email the day before (or up to 1 week prior) to remind you.
It can be used for any type of reminder, there is room to enter lots of details, and it can be accessed from any computer.
I've got almost all of my bills on auto-pay from my bank account. And I've talked to the billers to get the bills all onto cycles that work for me-- most come on the 2nd of the month and the rest come on the 16th.
The only bills I write checks for are due at the beginning of the month. On my first payday each month, I sit down and do those all at once, then move money into savings, then do my net worth.
I have the dates recorded on my outlook calender, as well as my Google calender. My cellphone is also synced to these calenders. I have automatic reminders set up to notify me when a bill is due. Also most of my service providers send me an email notifying that my newest statement is ready and when the bill is due and how much money.
I receive all of my bills via mail or BillPayView here in Australia,
I just set the bill to get paid 3 days before it's due date then. Easy!
Hi everyone, I want to thank single guy for writing this review. I'm glad my website has been helpful to him, and hopefully many others who heard about it here. I'm also glad to see that others found ways to manage their bills, as for me, all other programs I used initially either had too many features I didn't need, or not enough. At the end I decided to make my own and make it free for everyone else to use, even after I received offers to package the application and sell it, or make subscriptions payment based (where's the savings in that?).
Anyways, I just wanted to let you all know that I welcome any ideas, or suggestions you have, especially from those who use other programs. If there is a feature I could incorporate, all the better.
Regards,
Javier
thebillmanager.com
Oh, man. I am so low tech. My monthly budget is set up by pay period. So, I know what bills to expect when. When I pay a bill, I cross off the number on my budget. I've gotten in the habit of checking my budget every week to make sure I'm staying on track. If I see that something isn't crossed off when it should be, I go hunting for the bill.
I'm addicted to google calendar...Plus, I have the majority of my bills automatically paid (utilities charged to cc, rent and car payments automatically having checks written).
It took four simple steps to get our mass of bills under control:
Utilities, set bills: paid ahead enough so any monthly fluctuations are irrelevant; Since balances rollover, actual due dates don't matter, I'm always ahead (negative balances). I pay a set amount each month.
Revolving credit accounts: called every single one and had CLOSING dates set as close to the 28th as possible. Since any payments after the closing date/up to due date will be credited to that month, gives me at least a 3 week payment window. Pay a set amount monthly.
Student loans: set auto pay date to the 28th. Set amount monthly.
Use Automated Bill Pay service PayTrust: cheap way to pay all bills through EFT, check, whatever. ALL bills paid on the 28th. Only had to set up once, now have ongoing payments without me doing anything.
The other half of the equation was equally easy: we transfer a set amount (we know how much our total bills will be since payments are preset amounts) from each biweekly paycheck to an ING savings account.
On the 28th, the monthly amount is tranferred to ING echecking and PayTrust pays all from this account.
Any random bills, e.g., medical, personal, are also paid on the 28th, the bill amount having been set to transfer to ING echecking from its appropriate ING subaccount on the, yep, 28th.
MINDLESS, PAINLESS, No tweaking neccessary.
I see comments about Google Calendar. I didn't see any about Google Spreadsheet. I use it with several sheets. A main sheet for month bills, then gifts sheet. For all those birthdays, Christmas and Thanksgiving. We host my father-in-law side of the family.
Which I see all the finance blogs talking about paying down debt. I don't see much reminders about non-monthly bills. Like birthdays for some is big. I have 5 other siblings, there kids and my wife's family. Then there is our on 4 and usually 3 foster children. Property taxes, I did not want the mortgage payment to vary. There is others of course.
Might point is some readers on new to these budgeting. Those non-monthly bills can knock most beginners of the budget wagon.
(sorry, if its word, but I have never post to a blog before.)
Thanks for all the comments guys! People handle their finances differently so its good to have different points of view.
*Rod: I am extremely honored that this is the first blog you've posted a comment on. Please visit and comment often.
I use three reminders. Google Calendars, billq, and clearcheckbook.com
This is so I have no excuse of not knowing my due dates. Although, I am pretty good at tracking/paying those bills on time.
Every single one of my bills is paid automatically from my checking account each month. I don't even have to go in and "click to pay." So I don't really think about it...
All my utilities, my gym, my phone, even my mortgage company offer this service. Give them the info once and they'll pull out what you owe every month on the due date. I do the same with savings and charitable giving by setting up automatic investments.
Buy a whiteboard calendar from an office store and velcro/hang it to your wall - use this to keep track of the dates bills arrive. Since it's hanging on your wall you'll always be able to check it at any time (even with the electricity being out). For example, if your credit card bill arrived on the 14th, chances are next month it'll arrive on the 14th give or take a day. After one month you'll know the dates specific items should arrive in your mailbox. Also, write on the side of the board when other non-monthly items are due to be paid (e.g. car insurance 8 March, 8 Sep) that way when those dates approach they don't slip your mind since they're not monthly items. I just don't keep a static calendar on when specific items occur, I update my calendar weekly (and since it's a whiteboard - they're easy to write on and erase) and keep track of my bills. I just don't use this calendar for bills but believe me if a credit card bill doesn't arrive when I expect it to it gives me a heads-up that maybe it got lost in the mail or it was delivered to a lazy neighbor who rather than reposting it just trashed it (the bastards).
Joe W
I’ve been using billstrust.com as a complete way to not having to remember due dates or paying bills. You can auto pay any bill in essence by the due date. It works off paper bills, acknowledging that most people still prefer to get them that way and stick them on the fridge.
Just stick on a qr code sticker that they send out and then fax or scan/email the bills away – you get an SMS when the bills are paid or can view them all queued up online. Great for people/business wanting to manage cash flow and just to free up time by not having to enter all the bill info and manually pay – but want control of their bills at the same time