The last time I checked being late on a credit card payment can cost you as much as $29 each time. In some cases this is more than payment.

Most banks and loan companies also charge some sort of late fee. Even my electric company tacks on 10% if you don't pay on time.

The bad part of this is that most of time making late payments can be avoided. That's because they are simply a result of a lack of organization. If your bills and receipts aren't kept organized there is a good chance you will eventually be late on a payment.

There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a bill for something you know you've already paid and not being able to find receipt or cancelled check. In this case, if you can't prove you already paid it then you still owe it.

You have to have an organized filing system that you keep up with faithfully. At Budget Stretcher I have a system so that you can have your budget, bill paying and filing system all in one convenient 3 ring binder.

To use this system you will need to setup a budget using The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer. This organizer is available free at http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html . I would suggest visiting this page to setup your budget before you try to set up your organizer.

Whether you decide to use my Bill Organizer system or another system you need to have one. I am going to go through my system step by step.

Keeping track of your bills each month can be a headache. How to organize your bill paying and keep track of those receipts, canceled checks, loan papers and other important paperwork can be made easy.

Below is a list of supplies you will need. These are available at all department and office supply stores.

1 - Three Ring Binder 1 ½" 3 - Document Protectors(Designed to insert in 3 ring binder) 15 - Pocket Dividers 1 - Write on Tab Divider

SETUP

Step One: Open your three ring binder. Insert your pocket tab dividers. In front of pocket dividers, place 1 Write on Tab Divider. The Write on Tab Divider is designed to provide support while you are writing on Monthly Bill Summary.

Step Two: After you complete your Budget as outlined in The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/BBOonline.html label dividers. Start by labeling first divider, Bills to be Paid. Then label rest of dividers with names of your bills. See below sample:

Divider Tab's Labels Bills To Be Paid House Payment Car Payments Utilities Telephone etc.

Continue this until you have a divider for each bill. If you don’t have enough dividers I suggest that you combine similar bills. This could be all car payments, utilities or credit cards.

Step Three: Place your Budget Form, Monthly Bill Summary and Page 2 of Monthly Bill Summary in document protectors. Then place them in three ring binder in this order:

Monthly Bill Summary (this will be first form you see when you open your binder) Budget Form Monthly Bill Summary Page 2

USING YOUR BILL ORGANIZER

Investing, for some, might be just a hobby, but it can sure be an expensive one. Yet, if you're like many of us, you know there are opportunities for putting your money to work and having it grow. Nonetheless, investing, like any business (and it is a business) has its own unique challenges. Her are what I consider to be top three.

1. Intelligently Deciding What to Buy

When it comes to Mutual Funds, there are today over 13,000 choices. You're going to check out each one, right? Yeah, right. And even for those you do check out, what are you going to look at? Past performance? What else can you look at? But as it says on bottom of every prospectus, past performance is no guarantee of future results. And in these days of cockeyed cooked books, past performance is barely a guarantee of past results! So you need to decide not only what to buy, but you have to be darn sure you know when to sell it when future results of an investment don't match your expectations.

Sure, there are investment rating services that provide a false sense of security to Buy & Holders. But fact is that pretty much every investment that rating services have touted over last few years has lost money. So much for depending on that sort of expert advice.

2. Determining When to Buy?