Staying On Top of Your Monthly Bills

Paying monthly bills is much less stressful if you keep them as organized and automated as possible. Below are some tips to help you stay in control of your household bills and statements. Plus, read through to the end for free tools from SSB to help make bill-paying even easier.

Designate an "important mail" basket.

When you come home from work, grab your mail and immediately sort it. Put junk mail in the trash, and read through any personal mail. Any mail that requires attention, such as bills or notices, should go into a designated basket or organizer.

Keep the basket in plain sight so you remember to go through it at least once a week. Never go longer than a week, or you may miss a payment deadline. 

Schedule and set reminders.

If you're not paying your bills right away, write down the due dates in a planner. Even better, put them in your smart phone or an online calendar system, like Google Calendar, which can send you reminders. This is especially useful for recurring expenses that you don't receive bills for, such as rent or loan payments.

Set up paperless billing.

Many of your bills, such as your utilities and credit cards, may offer digital statements. Check your paper statements for information about setting up online billing, or go on the company's website and look for e-statements or online billing. 

Make sure you understand the terms of setting up e-billing, such as when you receive your statements and if there is a delay before you stop receiving paper statements. Also be sure to actually open these emails!

Set up automatic payments.

In addition to setting up digital billing, you can set your bills to automatically withdraw from your account. This eliminates the stress, hassle and time associated with paying bills manually. 

Be sure to check your statements frequently to make sure your payments are being applied correctly and that your monthly payment has not changed. Update your payment information if your account information changes or you get a new credit card. Also make sure you have adequate money in your account when the payment processes, and keep track of any confirmation emails you receive.

Put SSB's Online and Mobile Banking services to use.

If you have an SSB account, you can set up online banking or download the mobile banking app. These free tools allow you to set monthly payments, view your transactions to make sure payments have processed, make payments toward SSB loans and more. With these easy and simple tools, you can stay in control of your monthly bills and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.