Comments on: 5 Ways Paperless Personal Finance Saves You Money

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:47:15 +0000

@ Lazy Man:
Do you have Gmail? One of my favorite things about it (besides the unlimited space, threading of conversations, and Google search) is that you can star or categorize emails for follow up later.

@Dave:
I just switched to ING’s Electric Orange and really love it so far. They will mail paper checks for you at no charge, and they also offer free “electric checks” for direct person-to-person payments. Granted, some situations still necessitate a paper check on the spot, but I still have some from my B&M bank. Which I keep open “just in case.” Also, if you search around, ING is offering a $50 bonus when you sign up for electric orange.

By: » 10 Smart Student Credit Rules

» 10 Smart Student Credit Rules — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:30:50 +0000

[...] leave your cards lying around, don’t leave your statements lying around (in fact, go the paperless finances route), and treat the credit card as you would [...]

By: Dragon Lady

Dragon Lady — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:06:34 +0000

I used to have the same problem with missing paper “pay now!” notices. What I’ve done is make a small reminder that I stick on my desk/cubicle wall/computer (wherever you do your work) that states what bill is due on what day. Two columns: bill on left, date due on right. I use a small post-it sliver to cover over the line with the last paid bill, so I’m always looking at the one that’s due, even if it isn’t due for two weeks. And I “pad” the schedule by a week so I have extra time in case the payee’s server is acting up. (A rarity, but possible.)

I have the URLS I need on files at work and at home, so I’m not to worried about computer problems. And being able to pay a bill literally the day before it’s due, without that “three days for a check to clear” problem, is worth its weight in gold.

By: dunnright

dunnright — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:43:30 +0000

LazyMan said:
——–
I find that Reason #2 is backwards for me. When I get an e-mail, I’m usually doing something else too busy to be bothered with it at the time. Then it gets forgotten because new e-mails come in and bury it.

Paper on the other hand is a physical reminder that I need to pay the bill. It doesn’t get buried.

I know I just need to revamp my system, but I’m not sure how I can get a paper-like results from electronic notification.
——–

I make sure that whenever I get one of these emails, if I AM too busy to make the payment then, I mark the email as “Unread” or wait to read it untill I do have the time.

I also have several different folders within my email box designated to my different bills.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 03:10:01 +0000

I pre-pay small bills like water and garbage 3-6 months at a time if there isn’t an electronic option. Figure that the postage is about the same as the lost interest–then I just trash the statements that still have a negative balance.

By: K

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:05:57 +0000

So true and yet so many resist this. I did until I was assigned to one of our overseas offices for a year. I got in the habit of paying all my bills online except for two that did not offer that option (I set up auto-pay for them but shame on you M&I Bank and State Farm!!!). Also I never used my debit card for anything. Now I write maybe one check per month (checks are not cheap) and when I need a stamp about once every two months I go into the PO and put 41 cents in the machine.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:24:01 +0000

I went to paperless and using online banking, and there is another advantage that no one has mentioned. I make extra payments to my credit card bill every week to reduce the principal. This is something that I could never do with a paper statement, I could only pay once a month!

Now I use my credit cards like a debit card, and I make a weekly payment that covers my purchases, and I also add extra to reduce the balance. Easy!

My credit accounts are at banks with local branches, so if the websites are down, I can make payments at the local branches.

By: Becki

Becki — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:55:35 +0000

Answer to Ed,
I would have the computer ,DSL anway,the firewalls too. It just makes it more reasonable to use it for the paperless option for me,I still get the paper bills,for now,but the only bill I mail now is my mortgage payment,which if they didn’t charge for paying online, I’d use that too.
My family and friends are everywhere from Alaska to China, so I have the email for keeping in touch. The only worry I have is ,what do you do if your server goes down? I wouldn’t have the paper bills to keep up the payments and to mail payments. Am I the only worrier about this?

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:09:04 +0000

You talk about saving 30 bucks a year going paperless. Now what about the 540 dollars per year for broadband? And what about the 1,000 dollars for the computer? And what about the trojans, viruses, worms, rootkits, etc that can hack your every keystroke and send it off to Poland?
Do you guys ever think things through?

By: Master Allan

Master Allan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:53:20 +0000

Jill – I recently hit the paperless home office/ finance system. Years ago I thought I was truly organized with utility, insurance, and Discover card statements organized into yearly binders (and dozens of binders cluttering up my closets). In the last month everything has been either scanned in (old statements) or re-downloaded as PDFs (more recent). The PDFs are fantastic. With an Adobe search, I can tell you when and how much I spent at Target throughout the year in 2006.

My finance reports will never fade, never get lost (remember to backup your computer data occasionally) are easily available for reference, and much safer from data theft. Can’t ever see going back to receiving a bill, writing a check, and wasting a stamp.

By: Jill at housewifery.wordpress.com

Jill at housewifery.wordpress.com — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:04:55 +0000

Having a paperless office/finance system is a tremendous goal (indeed, one I’ve yet to attain).

DAVE – I support ING’s Orange account (and savings accounts too) — for their strong interest earnings and sound security protocols (customer service proves top quality as well). I rarely use checks however yet their account-to-account transfer system looks direct and simple………Jill F.

By: mommy

mommy — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:06:28 +0000

Lazy Man,
You could do what I do and print out the email (just the first page). That isn’t technically “paperless”, but its a close second.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:51:55 +0000

I find that Reason #2 is backwards for me. When I get an e-mail, I’m usually doing something else too busy to be bothered with it at the time. Then it gets forgotten because new e-mails come in and bury it.

Paper on the other hand is a physical reminder that I need to pay the bill. It doesn’t get buried.

I know I just need to revamp my system, but I’m not sure how I can get a paper-like results from electronic notification.

By: Hawkmoon Nine

Hawkmoon Nine — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:11:38 +0000

Don’t forget about AutoPay too, not only do you not have to remember to pay, they take the money out on the last day it is due! I think half of my bills are on AutoPay.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:50:17 +0000

Jim, your post today was spot on. I actually changed over all of my banking and brokerage accounts to paperless yesterday. I’ve also filled up two garbage bags full of shredded bank statements, paid bills, etc, which was the real reason I decided to go paperless in the first place (I hope I’ll never have to do it again…). I was wondering if you have looked into ING’s Electric Orange checking account. It seems to me like it might be a good idea, but it concerns me that you cannot have any paper checks. I need them from time to time, even though 99% of my bill pay is electronic.