Do you prefer bills in the mail or in your email...

[MRAHoffman]

I currently get my bills sent to my email and have them set up on automatic bill pay, but have found that by doing this I tend to just file the bill away after putting the amount in the check book register , rather than thoughfully looking it over for mistakes and/or ways I can cut expenses, writing and mailing the check and then filing it in a drawer. I know technology is great and cutting down on paper is great (I belong to the Sierra Club, but I just find that if I have the bill in my hand and consciously have to write the check and mail it I have to mentally think about it (depressing though it is) and seem more aware of my money. What do YOU do and what are YOUR thoughts?

[cab54]

Actually I was going to say I prefer no bills at all. LOL>

But I prefer them in the regular mail. We pay most of them online.

[madhen]

Same as cab54. I like getting them in the mail, because when I get them via email, I tend to just see a reminder and write a check, but when I get them on paper, I look them over. Even PG&E bills and such, I'll look at them and look at the meter readings, and it makes me more conscious of how the money got spent. I have one horrendous cc bill, and getting a physical reminder of it every month does wonders for my resolve to knock that balance down! I do pay all my bills via computer, however, including an automatic bi-weekly payment to that cc!!

[VanVivCam]

I like getting bills in the mail. That way I don't forget to pay them!!! I pay all my bills online while hubby and I are having our monthly financial meeting.

[beks37]

For me, I'd prefer to get the bills electronically. Most of them are set up on automatic pay, so when I put them in the check register, I also look at the bill online. For me, it cuts down on the amount of paper I receive and have to file away.

[Nishu]

I don't get any paper bills any more. I still look over everything carefully, I just do it online. The only email bill I get is for cable. Everything else I just check every month.

[Cricketlegs]

Even though I pay almost all my bills through my banks online bill system I like a paper bill.

The only bill I can't seem to get my hands on is one of my dds student loans but they annoy me in other ways too lol. I just print off her statement to make sure I have record of payment. Pain in the rear, this company is....

I buy 12 folders and every month gets a new folder. On the left side is unpaid bills, my columnar paper all filled out with bills, amounts and other expenses, and also a mini budget for every check laying out what bill gets paid when.

As I pay bills, I tag them as paid with date and move the paid bill to the left, I add the amount paid to my columnar sheet and print out a copy of what is pending from the bank. When they clear I put the amount in the columnar paid under cleared and take a yellow highlighter and highlight the entire line.

This way I have my estimated bill amount, the actual bill paid amount and that the bill has indeed been paid and cleared my account. The yellow line helps me see at a glance what HAS not been paid or cleared the bank.

At the end of the month I put the entire folder in my drawer with the others. At the end of the year I staple the month bundles and reuse the folders.

I don't have a system for shredding them. After about 6 months or so if it is just a utility bill type stuff I just spend a day shredding them. Things like loans etc I hold onto.

[jas]

In the mail and pay online. If you get them by e-mail can you print a copy to file at home?

[Gotonenerveleft]

In the mail....I get so many emails each day and since I don't check my email every day it piles up and I miss the reminder. I only have one bill that I mistakenly clicked paperless and I so regret it. Give me paper every time and then I'll pay online.

[shoiji]

I only have one bill that is automatically deducted from my account. The rest I pay through the mail. I probably should just get my verizon bills set up for automatic payment since they are pretty much the same all the time.

My rent and utility bill I will keep paying the old fashioned way. I still do not trust the utility company.

[krbshappy71]

In the mail and pay online. If you get them by e-mail can you print a copy to file at home?

Yes or keep them filed in a folder on the computer until you actually need a paper copy. i.e. Electric Bill folder, Cable Bill folder, then put all the folders into one folder that says "Bills" and back up that folder to a jump drive every month when you pay your bills. If you did have a dispute, print it then.

I've gone solely online/electronic for everything. I do not let companies auto-withdraw, I use my Bill Pay feature. It emails me an e-bill alert, I check that the amount is correct (or what I was expecting) before I agree to send the bill.

You can still dispute charges before you send the money.

[lisaflex]

i like via mail bills. we dont have many except for gas, elec, phone, cable and 2 mrtgs. that way, i pile them up and pay them all via phone once a mth. cell bill i pay at verizon in cash as i know the due date is the 27th ea mth.

too much emails as it is!

i dont pay anybills via usps....no need.

[flashyMcGee]

I prefer mine online. I still view each bill online if I notice a increase in the bill. Due to a lot of mail thefts a few years ago, I changed all my bills to online. Now hoping hackers don't ever get my information.

[McD]

I prefer to receive the bill in the mail, but I pay online via my bank's online bill pay.

[zakity]

I get them all as emails. I have a special email address for "household business" that all that stuff goes to (amazon, bills, paypal, etc). I also have a spreadsheet that I track all the bills with. I use when the bill should arrive rather than the due dates. If the bill is what I expect it to be, then I just pay it. If it is off, even by a few cents, I go look at the bill online and see why. The electric bill and the natural gas bill gets looked at each month because they are always different.