How to Organize Online Bill Payments

Paying your bills online is quick, easy, saves you the cost of postage and it assures that your bills are paid on time. Often bills are mailed in plenty of time, but don't arrive on time and chances are you will be hit with a late fee. This also may affect your credit rating. Paying your bills online is all about convenience. The secret is organizing and centralizing all of your online bill payment information such as log ins, passwords and any other pertinent information required by the company to which you are making a payment to.

Things You'll Need

• Loose-leaf notebook
• Dividers

Instructions

1. Purchase a loose leaf notebook, lined paper and some dividers. You can also create a word-processing document or spreadsheet with the information, instead of using a notebook. This is your decision and it is whatever you feel comfortable with.

2. Create dividers with bill payment categories such as utilities, phones, waste services, water bills, credit cards, insurance and mortgage payments, etc. (That is if you have chosen to create a notebook---if you choose to put it in a computer document it should still be categorized.) This way it will be easy to find the information that you need when paying your bills online. Information such as website, log in, password and any answers to security questions that you created. Each site has different requirements when it comes to log ins and passwords.

3. Fill out a page on each account that you are going to pay online (once you have jotted down the information.) Such as website, account number and whether you can set a date when the bill will be paid. Some online bill payments only allow you to pay the bill that day. Other payments can be scheduled. Also note if there are any fees for paying your bill electronically. If there are you may choose to not pay it online and go back to the old-school way of mailing it in. You will have to weigh your options.

4. Begin writing down your information as you pay each bill online for the first time. Note your user ID, password and security questions. Keeping all of this information in one place is essential in organizing your online bill payments.

5. Record all of this information either in your notebook or in your computer document. There may be some bills, such as insurance, that you pay quarterly and that information will be recorded at a later date. Keep all of this information in a secure place. After all, this contains credit card and banking information. Organization is critical to your online bill payment. Keeping those log ins, passwords and security questions organized and in one place are key to your success in paying your bills online.