Are You Doing The Paper Shuffle?
BOSTON (CBS) - You know, The Paper Shuffle, where you move your piles from one place to the next and maybe back again when you need the dining room table.
Are You Doing The Paper Shuffle?
Let's talk about the bills first. If you are getting charged late fees because once you open your bills you forget about them, consider setting up a system where the unpaid bills go into a folder and you sit down twice a month to pay them.
Schedule a time on your calendar to pay the bills just like you do haircuts or dentist appointments. The 4th and 20th works for me.
Consider banking online. Most of our bills are monthly. And those such as your mortgage, rent, insurance, or school loans are easy. You have the bank automatically send the payment in each month. As for the others, the bank has all of their information so you just type in the amount and click PAY. And you are done in minutes.
Consider using your credit card to pay your bills on time. I have as many monthly bills automatically charged to my credit card as I can. I charge all my telephone services, the oil company, cable, and Internet connections.
I also charge almost everything I purchase, including my groceries, doctors' co-pays, and gas. For one thing, it is convenient and at the end of the month I have a tally of my expenses.
I get one bill and send one check. By doing this I have cut down the number checks going out and I have lots of credit card points, all of which are going to my granddaughter's 529 plan.
Take the time to set up a system and you'll never be late again!
One more thing:
ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS, VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES
Operation Money Wise Is Designed for Those with Military Backgrounds
The state's Office of Financial Literacy announced that registration is open for an upcoming "Money Conference" geared specifically toward veterans, active military members, and their families. The Conference will commence at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 22nd in McKenzie Auditorium at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley.
The free first-ever Conference, dubbed Operation Money Wise, will provide instruction on matters such as how to sharpen spending and saving skills, how to protect assets from predatory lending practices, and what financial tools and benefits are available to service members and veterans. State officials said that, particularly given the complexity of the military benefit system, some veterans and service members might not take advantage of the financial benefits available to them or might expect to receive a benefit for which they don't qualify.
The event is jointly sponsored by Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, the Massachusetts National Guard, and the Financial Literacy Trust Fund.
A free continental breakfast and box lunch will be made available to people attending the Conference. For more information and to register, interested parties can visit www.mass.gov/treasury/operationmoneywise or call (617) 367-9333 Ext. 615.
