Anyone outsource bills/budgeting?

[PhilnCedarPark]

Trying to eliminate my time wasting and procrastinating - one of my biggest issues is budgeting/consolidating and getting bills workflow under control. Just have a scattering of stuff - dr. bill here, cancel a subscription there - a big pile i just go through when it gets to painful.

I would really like to take the whole box of paper and have someone organize, balance, and forecast for me. Accountants charge WAY too much, and I don't really think shipping the box to India is an option. Anyone else successfully automated this?

[cheez avenger]

The easiest ones you can do now would be to use automatic bill pay with whoever you owe money too.

Credit cards, cable, gym, etc.., usually have this type of service. They also eliminate paper monthly statements.

All you gotta do is make sure that there is enough money in your account to cover the bills every month. You wanna avoid overdrafts.


-cheez avenger


Trying to eliminate my time wasting and procrastinating - one of my biggest issues is budgeting/consolidating and getting bills workflow under control. Just have a scattering of stuff - dr. bill here, cancel a subscription there - a big pile i just go through when it gets to painful.

I would really like to take the whole box of paper and have someone organize, balance, and forecast for me. Accountants charge WAY too much, and I don't really think shipping the box to India is an option. Anyone else successfully automated this?

[PhilnCedarPark]

Yeah, my problem isn't the bill paying itself. Its collecting all the bills (the one-time ones from doc, dentist, etc as well as the recurring ones), organizing the pile, doing the budget, etc. I have a lot online with the CU to pay the recurring ones (actually have several like my cable going to my cc for the points). Tracking down my several paltry 401k's s I can transfer them. Getting me a system set up for me.

[cheez avenger]

I see...

Well, how many of these sporadic bills do you have? I only have 1 at this moment; weekly chiropractor visits. It's no big deal. If you're swamped... then I see your point.

If they're small, but many, I would pay those off in bulk all at once, then automate the rest. Now if you owe 5,000 in medical bills-set up an automatic plan.

I'm dense. :o

-cheez avenger

Yeah, my problem isn't the bill paying itself. Its collecting all the bills (the one-time ones from doc, dentist, etc as well as the recurring ones), organizing the pile, doing the budget, etc. I have a lot online with the CU to pay the recurring ones (actually have several like my cable going to my cc for the points). Tracking down my several paltry 401k's s I can transfer them. Getting me a system set up for me.

[PhilnCedarPark]

Imagine a big cardboard box full of car recall updates, frequent flier program statements, recurring bills, receipts for things I want to return, warranties I will need to find when something breaks, account receipts I need to reconcile, etc. When an important bill comes in I pay it online and shred it - but I have no long-term plan or the ability - as suggested in the book - to count up assets and liabilities and have any plan. Its not lack of $$$, its lack of PLAN IN PLACE. And frankly, I would rather give the huge box to someone else and let them figure out the plan.

[cheez avenger]

Gotcha!

Well, I doubt you'd be able to do that with a VA. Hire a friend or family member to do it for you. Is it something that will be ongoing? Like, will they have to keep constant track of all that misc. stuff regularly?

The simplest way, I can think of... get a filing system going with some manila folders clearly labeled and store them somewhere safe for easy access.

1. Folder for doctor bills

2. Folder for warranties

3. And so on, and so on.

Yeah, hire someone you know that's trustworthy.



-cheez avenger

Imagine a big cardboard box full of car recall updates, frequent flier program statements, recurring bills, receipts for things I want to return, warranties I will need to find when something breaks, account receipts I need to reconcile, etc. When an important bill comes in I pay it online and shred it - but I have no long-term plan or the ability - as suggested in the book - to count up assets and liabilities and have any plan. Its not lack of $$$, its lack of PLAN IN PLACE. And frankly, I would rather give the huge box to someone else and let them figure out the plan.

[cartoonfan1983]

Gotcha!

Well, I doubt you'd be able to do that with a VA. Hire a friend or family member to do it for you. Is it something that will be ongoing? Like, will they have to keep constant track of all that misc. stuff regularly?

The simplest way, I can think of... get a filing system going with some manila folders clearly labeled and store them somewhere safe for easy access.

1. Folder for doctor bills

2. Folder for warranties

3. And so on, and so on.

Yeah, hire someone you know that's trustworthy.



-cheez avenger

I have a system just like this that I've set up in a portable file box. It took a couple hours to set up. I used the book "Getting Things Done" as a model, but just simple folders works well. I usually go through all the files once a year to see what I no longer need. It's amazing how much junk a person can accumulate over a year.

[wildsoul]

Ultimately, you have to get yourself off of the paper-based treadmill you're on. That's going to take a real live person. (And I 2nd the recommendation for Getting Things Done.)

I absolutely loathe my bookkeeping tasks, almost as much as I hate QuickBooks.

A colleague of mine has a muse, if you will, though he wouldn't know that term. He has a remote bookkeeping service. I'm a customer now.

I paid for my own version of QB, which is hosted on a server that the outsourced bookkeepers, my new accountant (works for my friend) and I can all access online. The bookkeepers are offshore, and update my books every night (downloading statements and all that jazz.)

I've been working virtually for several years, so most of my transactions are already w/ credit cards, and I'm doing a final clean up now to eliminate paper bills. When I get an email receipt, I forward it to the bookkeepers, which is fast and easy. If I have paper receipts, then I scan them and send as email attachments.

So I outsourced most of the bookkeeping, and also hired my friend to do a business budget for me. He's a specialist at forecasting, which was AWESOME when I added subcontractors this year and had to figure out how much to pay them. Totally worth his fee. Once a week, I get a email with stats on how I'm doing in relationship to my budget.

My colleage is Monte Zwang at http://www.wellnesscapital.com

Now that I'm set up, it's going pretty well. When I eliminate the rest of my paper, I'll be very happy.

[Drewkerr]

Look for a BookKeeper. They are not licensed and don't charge as much as me. Make sure you get some good references. But I use to use one that only charged me $50 to do a monthly budget and pay my bills for me.

I just had to once a week fax or email all my bills to her. Then she would pay them with my card.

Drew