Receive bills electronically.

Right now, I would say I do this fifty percent of the time.

Because I have my own business, I like to keep some paper bills for taxes. But, if I think about it, there really is no reason. I could pull up any bill on the senders site if need be. That would save stacks of paper for taxes each year that I would no longer need to store, plus save postage and paper for the company sending the bills. I know that some companies even reward you for getting your bills electronically.

The only issue I have had with receiving my bills electronically is missing the emails informing me they are due. To solve this, I have a huge calendar on my counter and write in all the normal dates my bills are due. When I see the email, I write down the exact amount on the calendar. At the end of the month, I transfer all the bill dates to the next month and just leave any amounts I am unsure of blank, so I can fill them in later. If I see an empty amount, I know to look for the email- I must have missed it. This system has worked great and no payments are missed. It is also nice when you pay something off and don’t have to transfer it to the next month!

So, my goal for 2020 is to get my bills sent electronically from as many companies as I can. I am also going to try to opt-out of some junk mail I have been receiving. It is especially frustrating when I am receiving a piece of mail from a company telling me that I will be receiving another piece of mail in my mailbox soon, so I should watch out for it! What a waste of money and paper!