Somehow I feel I've been unusually slow this January with getting "restarted" on some of the usual tasks to do with entering a New Year.
One thing I've probably been doing all my adult life in January is to set up a new ring binder for bills and bank statements and such. No - I don't save them forever, or I'd be drowning in them by now... I have a few, and each January I empty the oldest one to reuse. (The only bills I save longer are some to do with major purchases like furniture or computers etc - and especially if they came with guarantee/insurance.)
Anyway... What hit me when I finally got round to this "starting over" job for 2025, was that in spite of all the computer technology, keeping track of bills and subscriptions and other payments these days just seems to be getting more and more complicated.
Ever since I first moved away from home back in my youth and got bills of my own to pay in the first place, I've had a simple system that used to work fine for me. Back when all bills came by post, I just opened them as they came, and then put them in a special paperclip for bills on my noticeboard. Towards the end of the month, I took that down, went through the bills and paid them. (In the previous century, by filling in a special form by hand to mail to the bank. Later on, by logging into my internet bank.)
-001.jpg)
"Kom ihåg" = Remember
This week, when trying to get reorganised for 2025, it hit me that I feel I'm losing control.
This month, the only bill that I got sent to me by post so far (a small annual fee), is telling me that if I don't change my method of payment, next year they will charge me extra for sending me a paper bill. I'm not surprised, since over the past few years, this has become the norm rather than the exception.
When I sat down and pondered the situation, this is what I arrived at:
Certain important bills are paid automatically from my bank account (like my monthly rent, and electricity), and have been for many years.
Some bills get sent directly to my internet bank account, but do not get paid automatically. I need to remember to log in and approve them individually.
With some email bills I get all the details in the email;
but with others I have to log into the respective company's website for the full
details.
An increasing number of companies are now offering auto-payment via
bank card. It's usually not made clear from the bill if I have approved auto-payment or not for a certain
subscription. (Usually it just says "IF you have signed up for auto-payment" etc...)
All in all it is becoming increasingly difficult to remember which bills I have approved for some kind of auto payment, and which I still have to remember to log in and pay manually.
So far I don't think I've actually missed any payments; but it has become quite a mess to keep track of everything. Not all easy to rationalise it either, as different companies offer different payment options.
I've got started on making a new updated list of what payment method I'm using where, though...
Do friends in other countries recognise this, I wonder?
Or has Swedish bureaucracy become particularly messy in this respect??
January is full of bills to pay for me. I am not accustomed to initiate the CPD requirement for my professional membership as well. Everything gets reset in January. Not a fun time
ReplyDeleteRo, January, following the holiday season, is no doubt a tough month for many.
DeleteAlmost everything annual or periodic with me is on Direct Debit so they take the money from my account. The usually give notice and must inform me if there's an increase.
ReplyDeleteGraham, it sounds like you've managed to get things sorted in a way that works for you.
DeleteWhat a mess! We have the same problem, but not as bad as you. Plus, all the payment websites have their own user I.D.'s and passwords.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I too have a lot of different user IDs and passwords. Good for security as long as one remembers them, I suppose ... But a nightmare when one forgets!
DeleteI understand what you are saying Monica. You sound like someone who is naturally pretty organised and careful about money matters but in this brave new world it is easy to lose one's focus. They don't make it particularly easy for us.
ReplyDeleteYP, while they often *claim* that that's what they're doing (making thing easier), my doubts about their motives keep growing... ;-)
DeleteI don't know about others in Germany, but for me, it is still easy to keep track of my bills, as all the regular ones (like in your case) are automatically withdrawn from my bank account, and the rest I have to actively pay or authorise.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have a year-based system to keep track of bills and other documents, especially in relation to health insurance and everything that has to do with taxes.
Meike, you make it sound easy. (Perhaps by using the word "easy"...) You're still young, though :) while I'm beginning to feel that it's getting hard to keep up with all the new "options" that keep popping up. (Especially those that aren't really options at all, but enforcements...)
DeleteMost bills and subscriptions are paid automatically from our bank. Some things, like insurances, have to be renegotiated annually.
ReplyDeleteJanice, it's probably mostly my "subscriptions" of various kind that I should try to get more consistently organised. If possible...
DeleteIn my case, some bills are paid by direct debit from my bank (such as energy, local taxes, telephone etc. Other bills are sent in paper form to me (I insist on paper as I like to keep paper copies in case my computer stops working!) plus I can decide when to pay them or whether to negotiate a different rate with another company (such as insurances). I think the drive to computerise everything is bad - particularly with cyber attacks happening more frequently.
ReplyDeleteAddy, I too still like to have certain things on paper, rather than having to login here, there or "everywhere" to access them. So I often end up printing out bills etc that nowadays get sent to me by email...
DeleteAll my important bills are paid by Direct Debit, but the list seems to grow each year, as more and more need to be included. I have the added annoyance and inconvenience that my nice friendly little bank has now moved to another town 15 or so kilometres away, and isn't easy to access. All in the name of consolidation and convenience as far as the bank is concerned. Never mind the inconvenience to the customers. I've now decided to change banks, but am worried about the odd payments that might be missed in the changeover.
ReplyDeleteCarol, here we have very few banks left that one can walk into without having made an appointment first. Many of them also don't even handle cash any more (and certain shops don't either). While at the same time, other authorities still tell us that it's important to keep some cash in circulation, in case of crisis...
Deleteseems all of us have similar problems with bill paying. I have two credit cards, water bill, power bill that I log on and pay them when the bill comes in email. the others, are on auto charge to my credit card. I can't bring myself to let any direct debit from my account. I only have to pay 4 bills, the ones mentioned above, the other all hit my charge card, and on the 28th I pay the card off for the month.
ReplyDeleteSandra, I use my credit card for some things too. But that card is about to expire in a couple of months, which recently made me put a couple of monthly subscriptions on debit instead. I think I might review things again when I get the credit card renewed!
DeleteIt does feel to get more complicated. I'm always afraid I'll lose the documents when I only have them online. (I don't have a printer so can't print them off.) To keep track of things, at the beginning of each year I draw up a paper grid, with all the payments I need to make, whether monthly, quarterly, annually and whether automatically debited or needing actually to be authorised, and when they are due. Then I tick them off when I've paid them. It works for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny. I might end up with something similar... I'm getting started on making a list of what payment method I'm currently using for what, anyway...
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned paper receipts and bills, I really in this day and age do not understand this. Surely in an effort to save paper and trees being cut down the relevant companies should "get with technology" and send their stuff by email like most other companies do. Luckily I don't have heaps of bills, probably 5 in total and they get taken care of automatically by being permanently set up in my online banking every 2 weeks when I get paid, then I don't have to worry about them.
ReplyDeleteAmy, what primarily gives me headache just now is the increasing variety of *different* digital billing and payment solutions. (Not always up to myself to decide.)
Delete