Comments on: Don’t Get Electronic Credit Card Statements

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:26:18 +0000

Honestly, the exact opposite is true for me. If it arrives by email (and isn’t from a mailing list…those are handled seperately), it is either deleted or acted-upon within 5 minutes of me first seeing it in my mailbox. But if it arrives by postal mail, it could be many months before I look at it again. Honestly, with the exception of christmas cards and items I’ve actually _ordered_, I’d probably be better off putting all my paper mail directly into the trash on arrival…it’d keep the apartment cleaner, and since all my bills are paid electronically, it wouldn’t actually impact my financial situation at all. Every few months, I go through the piles of accumulated snail mail, making extra-double-sure that nothing important is in them (nothing important ever is), and then toss them. It usually fills four or five large garbage bags, and my place is always much cleaner afterward.

By: Consumerism Commentary: A Blog About Personal Finance

Consumerism Commentary: A Blog About Personal Finance — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 04:42:52 +0000

Carnival of Personal Finance #53

Welcome to the anniversary edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance! What a year it has been. The first Carnival of Personal Finance was posted on June 20, 2005. To celebrate the Carnival’s first birthday, I asked participants to submit two…

By: Dennis

Dennis — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:41:10 +0000

this is exactly why I flag all important emails and I’ve conditioned myself to double check any flagged emails.

By: raising4boys.com

raising4boys.com — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 12:47:28 +0000

I’m with Andy… I misplace or forget about snail mail at least as often as e-mail.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 18:00:37 +0000

Or you can set up rules in your e-mail program to shuttle the important e-mails to another folder.

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 17:16:08 +0000

One time management tip I’ve heard is to create folders in your email called -Action, -Reading. -Waiting For, etc. Then drag emails like credit card statements to the -Action folder. When you have time to pay bills, just look in the -Action folder.

I’m also looking into setting up reminders in Yahoo calendar to remind me to pay bills.

By: andy

andy — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 16:33:36 +0000

I am much more likely to (and have done so in the past) misplace a paper statement than electronic. Until I’ve made the payment corresponding to the statement notification, the email remains unread in a folder in Thunderbird, as a reminder.

This, coupled with setting up scheduled transactions in Quicken, has done tremendous amounts for me in terms of handling my payment schedules. I’ve found myself twice in the last 3 months rummaging through the house for a paper statement because Quicken said I was due to pay it and I thought I’d lost track of the envelope. In one case, I did find the envelope. In the other case, the credit card company just hadn’t sent it to me yet.

It’s just too easy for me to lose track of the paperwork. My desk is small and cluttered, and I have 2 cats that think they own every square inch of surface area they can find.