This article is part of our 52 week journey through Bill’s latest book, The Graduate’s Guide to Life and Money. Each week, a full excerpt from his book will be presented from beginning to end. To get your copy of his book, visit www.TheGraduatesGuide.com .
Last week discussed how to get organized, what files to create, and the one place you should NEVER have your social security card. This week we will cover how to organize your regular bills, discuss key strategies for staying organized, and look at ways to avoid identity theft.
In a separate file, you may want to keep a bill organizer. Bill organizers can be purchased at low cost at almost any office store. You can organize your bills by due date or by keeping all the payment stubs of each kind together and keep your bills that are still due in another folder. You can also use one of those desktop organizers that have at least 31 slots. That way you put the bill in whichever slot corresponds to the due date (or the date you want to send the payment). I also like to keep a chart that lists all of my bills and their due dates. That way each month when I pay them, I place a checkmark in that month’s column. Just try to find whatever method keeps you from missing your payment due dates.
Receipts may be one of the biggest pains you’ll deal with when you try to stay organized. Unless you use your receipts to track your spending, you can just throw away any receipt from a purchase made in cash...
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