Recent lawsuits allege Morgan Stanley Technology fund was influenced to buy and hold stocks of companies that delivered huge investment banking fees - or could potentially bring big business - to investment bank.

According to lawsuits, Morgan Stanley fund followed biased recommendations of firm's analysts - decisions that have cost shareholders millions of dollars since portfolio's October 2000 inception.

The fund lost 48 percent in 2001 and was down another 50 percent during first nine months of 2002. While Morgan Stanley strongly denied allegations, I fail to see how management of fund is somehow distinct from other divisions of Morgan Stanley. Ultimately, they all work for same boss.

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