How to keep your monthly bills in order

This is just a simple way of keeping your bills and receipts in order . I am not always very organized when it comes to keeping track of receipts. I usually come home from shopping with a pocketbook full of receipts shoved into a black hole. But after many years of being frustrated when it came time to get bills and receipts ready for my tax preparer I finally had a simple idea.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 12 manilla envelopes
• black Sharpie Pen

1. Take your twelve manila envelopes and with a black Sharpie pen label the top of each envelope. Just start labeling each envelope January, March, and so on.
   When you have done all of your envelopes put them away. I keep the current month envelope out at a convenient area where I can get to it.
2. When I come home from shopping I take out all of my receipts from my pocketbook, or out of the packages that I had purchased. I sort through them and put them into that months envelope. When I do my monthly bills I write out a check and then enter check No., date, and amount paid onto the bill and put that into the designated manila envelope. I continue to do this with all my bills. Then at the end of the month I put that envelope away and bring out the next months envelope.
3. I know this sounds like a really simple minded thing but for those of us who have trouble with organization it really does help.
   Then when its time for me to have my taxes done I simply bring in my twelve envelopes and give them to my tax preparer. She has never been happier with my new organized way of life. No shoe box full of crumpled up pieces of paper.