Photo Credit:  Krittersinthemailbox

Handling your snail mail six days a week can turn into a majorly disorganized mess if you let it. What seems like a minor irritant today, can be tomorrow’s “late-payment” nightmare.

Having a system in place, that works to make this on-going task not only manageable but efficient, is invaluable for you when time is precious and you are over-committed, over-worked, and needing more time to decompress.

How to create an action plan for speedy mail handling is not as simple as you might think, but it is do-able. When other family members interact with the mail that you receive, or have their own mail and no system in place, you could have the beginnings of “clutter-creating-chaos” on your hands.

What you need to put in place, right now, is a small distribution system for the mail; so that you and your family members will know where the mail is supposed to go, what is pending, what has been paid, and what must be filed.

Start by:

1. Creating a desk top stackable (tray type) filing system

2. Clearly label each file appropriately for Bills, Pending, TO BE Filed, Family Member etc.

3. Open bills immediately and pay them promptly. You can clearly check mark the portion of the bill that you retain for your records, with the date paid, and check number. Be sure to review all credit card statements for charges that are mistakenly added to your account. Also, check that no late fees have been applied, if they are not warranted. Late fees add up, and they also negatively affect your very valuable FICO Score and good credit.

4. Find a specific and convenient storage area for magazines, bulletins, and newspapers. Keep these items for a (mutually agreed upon) time and then purge them regularly, to your recycling bin.

5. Toss out the junk mail immediately. Anything that you receive as solicitation, or advertisement, or the stuff you get that you have no interest in, just throw it away, right away.

6. Informational mail with necessary times, dates and deadlines for activities, and appointments can be noted on a highly visible calendar, that can be positioned where it becomes an easy reference for not only yourself, but the whole family. Then toss out the mail itself.

7. Mail that must be read by other family members should be placed in their own individually labeled  stackable tray. Make it part of this system, that they are responsible to act on their mail in a specific and timely manner.

8. Find a place where everyone gathers and keep a bulletin board of sticky notes for pending activities and bills that need to be discussed BEFORE clearly marked DUE DATES. You might want to designate a specific time or date each week to discuss the issues that the mail creates.

9. Make copies of important mail and then file everything that is irreplaceable in properly labeled files. This would include Social Security Notifications, Medical Billing, immunization records and insurance receipts or forms, anything notarized like paid school loans, or paid off notes to lending institutions, and all legal documents which you may need to have copies of, at some future date.

10. Toss those catalogues! Don’t tempt yourself with these beautiful and motivating books that are budget busters, and take up space that soon becomes clutter.

Today, you don’t have 30 days to pay bills, and prompt action is the only way to pay timely, without incurring some kind of penalty or increased interest rate. Often a billing cycle can now be 18 days or less, and credit card companies and utility companies don’t seem to need a reason to raise rates (interest or other).

You need your very good credit score these days as if it were made of solid gold. Therefore, how you handle the mail can be critical to your financial well being. Setting up a system for sorting, sharing and taking action with snail mail is very necessary.

It takes a certain amount of effort to continually re-sort, file and dispose of the mail. However, creating a system that works well , will not only save time, and help you keep control of your paper shuffle, it will become a great habit and viable routine for everyone in your household.

Tags: action plan, bulletin, bulletin boards, calendar, clutter, credit card, credit cards, daily mail, due date, family members, label, mail, mail order catalogs, managable task, organize mail, payment system, storage, system development, the daily mail