Posted by : Sherri Cornelius Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Kreestee pointed out yesterday that I was a little over 1,000 hits away from 30k, and today I see I'm a little under a thousand away. What should I do to to celebrate that auspicious occasion? If a contest were the event, what would be the prize? Any interest in a kiriban? A giveaway? A signed picture (snicker)? I have at least a week, probably two, to come up with something.

Yesterday the city turned off the water yet again. They're always working on the lines without any notice. Sometimes the water will be off all day, but usually it's back on in time to cook dinner. It occurred to me maybe I didn't pay the bill, but no, I remembered standing at the city hall counter, the week before, writing the check. Once DH got home we bitched about the water always going off, and why wasn't it back on yet.

After we scrambled to get dinner, wondering the whole time what was going on with the city that would take so long, DH looked away from American Idol and said, "You went down there last week to make arrangements to pay Monday. Did you pay it?" Oh yeah. The thing I remembered signing down at City Hall wasn't a check but an IOU. Oopsie. I was there when they opened the door this morning at 8 a.m. and paid the entire amount, including this month's bill and the reconnect fee. Gah!

The dumbest thing is how many times I forgot about this stupid bill. I got it, put it in the bill place, and forgot about it. When I remembered, I wrote the check and put it aside so DH could drop it on his way to work the next day, but the check disappeared. I thought he'd taken it and he didn't know he was supposed to. Then we got a cut-off notice, so I went down there to make payment arrangements after pay-day, THEN DIDN'T PAY!

So after I got past my shame and embarrassment I started looking for easy and free bill tracking options, because if I'm honest I have to say I forget to pay certain bills all the time. Cable and water are the two most frequent. Don't know why. I used to be a bill-paying powerhouse, but the past year or two I've definitely fallen off. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

And what was that I heard just now? A bubbling sound? And there's a City truck, leaving my yard. Yay! Water!!! God, I have a lot of dishes to do...

{ 9 comments... read them below or Comment }

  1. I have a system. I make a list of what bills I always have and the approximate amount, and when my paycheck is deposited, I write the checks and put them in a safe spot (the same safe spot where I keep bills that are not yet due.) I don't mind if I overpay a bit or if I have to write a second check because the amount wasn't quite enough. The fact that the majority of the bill is not in the balance is the salient fact for me.

    Now, I know that this set up may be difficult for you, given your penchant for losing things, but if you make a habit of going to the checks when the bill comes in, putting them in the envelope, stamping it, and putting it next to DH's keys or directly in your mailbox, you are golden.

    Oh, and if it's a bill you forget because you have to visit their office? Just mail it. Pay the postage, because it's a lot cheaper than a reconnect fee!

    Hope that helps. I get paid biweekly, so it's always playing merry hell with due dates, and I am forced to stay on top of what is owed or I'll have late payments all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Water, schmater. Dig a well, I say. Stand by it with a shotgun when the city people come to take your meter reading, rocking in a wicker rocker with a corn cob pipe. Eye them suspiciously as they go about their work. Let 'em know your militia is hiding in the brush around your house and they'd better not make any sudden moves.

    ;) We all forget sometimes. Fal pays our stuff online and uses MS Money to track things. I think the water is paid with the rent here though, so it's hard to forget. Don't worry, love, you'll figure something out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To celebrate, record yourself singing Don't Stop Believin' and post it here for all to hear.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm right there with you on forgetting to pay the bills, especially the ones that aren't regularly occurring monthly ones like water. I finally realized that I'm inept at bill paying and automated all my payments to come out of my checking account. I keep a bit of extra cash in my chkg account in case 2 bills hit on the same day.

    Try out mycheckfree.com to see your bills electronically - I HATE PAPER BILLS and writing checks. You can pay from there or figure out some other way. I like getting the notices that I have a new bill from AEP (our electric co.) in my inbox.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, I just had an idea! You could get that little reminderfox thing and put in the due dates for your bills! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1191 You can jot in all the due date info and the little button will pop up - how ever often you tell it to remind you. Sits right in the browser, it's unobtrusive and you'll see it everyday because you're online. :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fal, that's so funny you said that, because that's exactly what I did! I like it already. The other bill trackers I looked at don't have alerts, and you also have to actually open the programs to look at the bills. Reminderfox just sits down there, popping up every little while.

    I pay most of my bills online, but the water bill isn't available that way. maybe that's why I have so much trouble remembering it. Back when I was working I paid bills as soon as they came in, but I guess it takes a little more finesse with only one payday to work around. Thanks for all your suggestions!

    WIGSF, I will consider your suggestion, since it's the only one I got.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As a substitute for "Don't Stop Believing", "Open Arms" is also acceptable. However, it must be a Journey ballad.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dang DarcKnyt. I wanna hear somebody sing Don't Stop Believin'! If you're wife won't, I'm gonna try Sherri. If she don't, I comin' after you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sherri - Yay it worked! I'm so glad for you! I like how you can create your own categories in there - I should do one myself for bills too. Wish I could change the ribbon color according to category though, oh well.

    WIGSF - We don't have a way to get video on the web ... IF I did any fool thing like record myself singing, I'd have to do a sound file, and you can't post those on WP.

    ReplyDelete

Popular Posts

- Copyright © Sherri Cornelius -Metrominimalist- Powered by Blogger - Designed by Johanes Djogan -