The Absolute Easiest Way To Track, Pay & Organize Your Household Bills...No Filing Involved!

For years, I kept our household bills filed in file folders in a file box..... just like hundreds of other people.
Let me also confess that I have gone through periods in my life where bills were 'filed' in a grocery bag hanging on the back of the bedroom door.
Yep. Sad but true.
I have seen many examples of how to organize & 'file' bills around blogland lately.
But I want to share with you a different way.

 Two years ago I switched to this method...and I like it much better.

And here's another dirty little secret about me....although I love to organize... I HATE, with a capital 'H',  filing!

I like not having to go through different files to find things or put them away.
This system helps me avoid that!

Let me introduce the Household Bill Binder.

It's a simple method..... it's fast and it works.

I just get out the binder when I am ready to sit at the computer to make on-line payments with our bank.
And then I put the binder away. No filing!

***
All that is needed is a 3 or 4 inch 3-ring binder.

 A few other things are handy to have in the front...a calculator, a pen, a red pen, a pencil and eraser. I have these stored in a  3-ring pencil case in the front.

Dividers are placed inside with labels for all the types of household bills.

When bills arrive, I place them in a box on my desk. Once a week I schedule time to open them.

As I open each bill, I write down the amount due and due date on a calendar page for the current month in the front of the Household Bill Binder.

The calendar page provides a great visual of what the month looks like.

I keep the unpaid bills in a pocket at the front of the binder until it's time to pay the bills. I pay the bills on the 1st and the 15th of every month.

As each bill is paid, I write  'paid' in red pen with the amount and date, punch 3 holes in the bill and pop the paid bill into the binder in the appropriate section. I also use the red pen to cross the bill off the calendar so I know that it's paid.

Easy Peasy.

And then I put the binder away.

That's it.

No filing. None. Zilcho.

At the end of the year,  I clean out the binder, and keep only those things we need for income tax.

I store those items for a whole year in a file folder labelled with the year.

For example, everything from 2013 goes into ONE file at the end of the year.

Another thing about this method  I like is that when my husband and I want to look at and discuss bills, I just get out the binder.

 I don't have to spend time rifling around files. I just flip pages.

And I like the simplicity of the calendar pages in the front for tracking. I print off 6 months at a time to have in the front of the binder to record bills as they arrive.

{You can find free calendar pages to print HERE.}

The calendars pages can be formatted in whatever way you like.

They are the pages that I use...just simple black & white.

I hope if you hate filing, like me, you find this method a little more helpful in rounding up those household bills.

Super simple.


If you liked this post, you may also like these posts:
Organizing A Kitchen Into Zones
The 10 Best Ways To Save on Groceries Without Couponing
5 Easy Steps To Packing School Lunches
Revolutionize Your Laundry Routine

And these full-of-ideas boards on Pinterest:
Organized Homes
Organized Bathrooms
Organized Kitchens
Freezer Meal Ideas to Love

Everyone Needs A Little Mu Shu...

I just love this meal. It comes together so fast and everybody likes it.

I am talking about Mu Shu Pork.

My kids laugh when we talk MuShu' for dinner.

I think there's even a Veggie Tales song with Mu Shu in it...can't remember the name of the song though.
{oh yeah...it's called Do the Mu Shu}

Mu Shu Pork

1 large pork tenderloin {about 1 pound}, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlice sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin {I have used regular mushrooms}

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 14 oz. bag coleslaw mix

1 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons dry sherry

3 scallions, sliced thin for garnish

1 pkg. bean sprouts for garnish

8 8-in flour tortiallas, warmed

1. Pat pork dry and toss with chili-garlic sauce. Heat 1 tb. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until pork is no longer pink-3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to plate and tent with foil.

2. Add remaining oil and mushrooms to skillet and cook over medium high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and cook until fragrant...about 30 seconds. Add coleslaw mix and cook until wilted...about 3 minutes. Stir in pork, along with and pork juices on plate, 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, sherry and cook until sauce in slightly thickened..about 1 minute.  Spoon pork mixture onto to warm tortillas. Sprinkle with sliced green onion and bean sprouts for extra crunch and flavour. Pass remaining hoisin sauce at table.

***

On Sunday night, I opened the fridge and found this:

Yes. It says 'TOUCH & DIE'.

Hunter developed a special cupcake recipe as part of a project for school and these are the samples that she is taking to school.

I think she was worried that they would not survive the night!

They do look yummy!

A Sweet Treat for Teacher...

Can I just say first how much I LOVE this project?

Small, little gifts are just the best....in my opinion.

But alas, I cannot take credit for this idea....I was inspired by this post over at Eighteen25 Blog.

Those girls are just amazing! 

Doesn't your brain just swim with possibilities for this idea?
Wouldn't it be a great treat box for a birthday party with brightly coloured candies inside?
Or office supplies? Or hair accessories?
Or costume jewellery? Or a 'Barbie' theme? Or Lego? Or Hotwheels?
Just so fun!

***

This project starts off with a trip to the Dollarama for these boxes...

And while there, grab some little chocolate treats and office supplies.

I went with a RED theme for Valentine's Day.

Inside are Certs, paper clips, mini erasers, chocolate hearts, hersheys kisses, a large paper clip, & push pins. I also tucked in a small emery board and anti-bacterial hand gel from Bath & Body Works.

 You will need some scrapbook paper. I chose Valentine paper to go along with my theme.

A corner round is a good thing to have too...for trimming the corners for around the box.

 Stickers are great for adding a name. I always look for stickers with lot and lots of vowels!

Then play with your papers to cover the top of the box.

If you scrapbook already...this is so easy.

A few quick measurements and a few quick cuts.

Add a name too if you wish!

I finished up my projects with a  RED ribbon and a pencil.....cause to me...it's all about the packaging!

I just love PRETTY.

 I made 3 of these for each of my son's teachers for Valentine's Day.

I hope they enjoy their little teacher 'goody' boxes!

A Journal Project That Will Tickle You Pink....

So the Craft & Hobby Association Show just concluded in California this week.

That's where all kinds of new craft and hobby products are debuted for the first time.

There has been lots of buzz about this new product from K & Company/EK Sucess.

I just adore it!

It's a journal for all your special little things of life.

The journal is hardcover with a coil binding and comes with a dual-tip pen...one end for writing and the other end~ glue~ for putting stuff in.

I think every teenage girl I know is going to get one of these for her birthday or for Christmas this year.

In her favourite colour of course!

I hope you LOVE the video as much as I do!

For more info, visit the blog at http://www.smashstoriesblog.com/


And just to let you know....these are not available until April 2011.

I Am Guest Posting At Tatertots and Jello today...

I am so happy to be able to share this project with you over at Tatertots and Jello today!

A Valentine's Day 'Tree of Love'...

Here's a little sneak peek:

I invite you to go over to Tatertots & Jello to have a look!

Have a wonderful day!

A Simple Way of Organizing Photo Negatives & Printed Pictures & My Goal for 2011...

Almost  6 years ago, I moved 3000 miles across the country.

It was a big move.

One of the things that I wanted to make sure made the move safely were my precious picture negatives of my babies growing up.

I made the decision to hand carry my negatives myself in my carry-on baggage.

This way I knew that they would make the journey safely...with no danger of being lost or damaged by the moving company.

So I organized my negatives into a binder using protective negative sleeves.

 I moved all my negatives into the negative sleeves, and arranged them chronologically.

 I attached the contact sheet for each film on the appropriate protective sheet so I could quickly identify the negatives in the sleeves.

And I numbered each contact sheet/sleeve so that I would know the order of the sheets and where each belonged.

I used scrapbook adhesive to attach the contact sheets {the miniature sheet that shows whats on a roll of film}to the protective sleeves.

 This binder held 70 sheets, or negatives for 70 rolls of film.

 This method worked great for negative storage....and all my negatives arrived safely with me to our new home.

I started scrapbooking in 1999...... and organized photo storage is so important for pursuing that hobby because you can't scrapbook if you cannot find the photos you are looking for!

 This is the way I have been storing my photos for years now.

Lots of people use this method.... basic storage boxes.

The photos are stored by year and arranged in chronological order.

 I keep all the photos in their developing envelopes.

 However, I make sure to label all the envelopes with the date and what's inside.

I use simple white labels adhered to the envelopes and a pen.

This makes it easy to look for photos when scrapbooking too.

Easy Peasy.

For years and years people kept unorganized photos in old shoe boxes.

One of the big pushes behind the scrapbooking movement was encouraging people to get those photos organized and stored properly.

But then....enter the digital age.

Many, many households have switched to digital photography, but I think that many of us have exchanged those old shoe boxes for j.peg files that are not stored or backed up properly.

I know I am one of those!

I came across this article in the February 2010 issue of Real Simple Magazine and I saved it because it was so inspirational. It shows how one mom, Michele Bender, has all of her digital photos organized and labelled on discs.

This picture is just perfection...don't you agree?

So now....one of my goals for 2011 is to get my digital pictures off my computer and organized into a storage system like this!

I have pictures from 2006 onward to tackle.

I know that it will take some time and effort.

And I also want to get into the habit of printing pictures monthly.

 I am determined.

This post is linked to:

How I Organized My Greeting Cards....

So today I scheduled in a little time to tackle this project that I have been wanting to do forever.

Not really forever. But at least since I re-organized my office space.

I had greetings cards 'thrown' into an Ikea storage box.

Every time I wanted a card, I had to rifle through the whole box to find what I was looking for.

No more.

 I took some bright pink cardstock and my index tab punch.
I love that index tab punch.

{I chose bright pink cardstock because it's easy to see and doesn't blend in with the cards.}

I cut the cardstock with the paper trimmer to make 'dividers' to fit the box and punched tabs from white cardstock for each divider. I stapled the tabs to each divider.

Then I sorted the cards into piles and wrote on each tab the contents.

Then I filed each card pile into the appropriate spot.

 Now I have this:

 This project cost nothing since I used things I already had...a paper trimmer, cardstock and index punch.

{You don't really need an index tab punch....you could just use small squares of cardstock.}

And here's one hint:

I buy most of my cards at the dollar store and the size fits nicely into this box.

If you buy more expensive cards...they are usually bigger and won't fit into this system as nicely. They may even be too big to fit into the box this way. So if you have bigger cards, you may want to buy a bigger box.

This post is linked to:

Weekup Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello.