apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I do open my mail daily, for the exact reasons you stated. It is part of my daily routine, which includes a light daily house cleaning schedule.

I do not keep my bills to be paid in a file though, because for me, out of sight, out of mind. However, I do place them all together in a stack which is ONLY for bills and then grab them once a week and pay the ones that will become due. That way I do not have to pay them immediately, but they get paid regularly and I don't forget about any of them or lose them because I stuffed them in my purse, or on the kitchen table, etc.

We have the recycling bins outside so before I come into the house I try to separate everything. The only problem is that there's no place to set everything else down outside while I sort through the mail. And we have no shredder outside. I hadn't thought about putting a shredder out by the bins. That might help a lot.

Once the mail comes inside, the intention was to place it in the little mailbox holes that were meant to be a part of our landing strip. But for some reason we've never used that wall-hanging/mailbox piece as a landing strip. I haven't figured out why yet. Something about it makes it not accessible enough.

I open mail everyday hoping for a check! I had to put an end to the catalogs really how many cb2, west elm, sun dance, and other mysterious places I would never by from need to keep recycling. I paid the 20.00 bucks and now they are gone.

I put my bills in a green folder, keep in my tray. I have two reminders on my ical that remind me to pay each bill. I lose track of time otherwise.

I have gone the route of paperless bills. That has saved me time opening my mail. I open my mail right when I get home. I sort or recycle it immediately.

I can't believe there are people in the world that DON'T open their mail everyday - whats the point of having daily deliveries if you don't open it immediately? - what if its something important?

Definitely organize/read every day. Magazines and catalogs go in a pile next to the sofa, junk mail goes in the recycling, and bills to be paid get posted on a bulletin board at my desk. That's even bills that get paid automatically - I keep them posted until the payment goes through, just so I can keep track of them and make sure they are paid.

I didn't know anyone didn't open their mail every day - shocker. I like to get to it and deal with it before the next day - but again, we pay most of our bills online, so there's not a ton of mail.

I guess I don't get enough mail to not open it every day. I usually only get a catalog in the mail, but most days the box is empty.

Please don't patronise us!

I live in a three story walk up and I'm on the third floor. By the time I reach my door my mail is sorted between trash and keep. Upon walking in my place the trash gets shredded (shreder located near entrance) that way I don't have to deal with that and what I want to keep and look at gets done while I watch TV. Bills are placed in a pile and catalogs (which I love) are reviewed and marked for things I'd like to have.

I, along with several of the folks above, am shocked that anyone would not open their mail every day. Where would you put it?

Ok ... for those who open their mail every day, I'll explain why some folks don't! I come home late and tired every night (seldom straight from work, often after an appointment or concert), and I carry the mail upstairs and set it on a table in the foyer. On a day that I come home a little earlier (or, more often, when the weekend rolls around), I'll sit down and open it. Yes, it does build up ... I actually bought an organizing basket from Target for that purpose, but seldom use it. I find that shredding is easier and more satisfying when you have a bunch of things to run through the shredder, and aren't turning it on for individual pieces of paper. Bills go in a wire holder on my desk, so they're visible. And oh, yes ... if I know there's a check there somewhere, I usually open it right away!

That's weird ... after I posted my comment, all 10 comments disappeared!

I'd like to second what Jane said. It's not that unheard of to deal with your mail once or twice a week.

Sorting the mail just isn't the first thing on my agenda once I get home. Rather, I have two dogs who are anxious to go outside immediately and do their business. Dealing with the mail quickly is a great idea, but it's not the realistic option for some people.

Well, I don't read my mail daily. I use a PO box (my local delivery person is rather unreliable) and only collect my mail from there maybe every 2 weeks or so. Most of my bills are paperless and I tend to have goodies delivered to work, so most of what's left is generally not that important. But I am guilty of leaving it in 2 piles for awhile when it does make it into my house - the file pile and the shred pile.

I guess I'm in the crowd that doesn't understand why people don't go towards paperless bills. That way you only either get junk mail (aka ads), letters, magazines, etc. Then you would have time to deal with your mail daily like you should.

I can give you one reason Chrisgal. Because I would forget to get them. With them coming in the mail I'm forced to deal with it. Also I no longer trust vendors especially credit card companies.

I was under the understanding that paperless (at least mine are like this) mean they just take the money out of your bank account the day the bill is due. They send you an e-mail a few days before they do it to give you a heads up. So there is no dealing with them at all really.

I refuse to have credit cards - I'd rather do without.

This is all very interesting to me, thanks for all the comments. I'm with the gang who opens mail immediately and deals with it. However, I understand when others don't. What I am a little less able to understand is paying bills with checks. It takes more time, allows for more human error and costs more money to pay bills by hand. I work with each and every client to transition to paperless first thing. It's so important to effectively managing your finances. If you are late a few times a year, that could cost you 100 points on your credit score which could result in a mortgage rate 1% higher than it otherwise would be. All of this translates into an extra $67,000 in interest over 30 years on a $300,000 mortgage. That's a lot of money.

The Art of Profit -- I'm just with the fact I hate to pay late fees on bills that I just might not get to (and I see this happening with lots of people who posted who don't open their mail daily) - and it does screw up your credit score to be just late a few times since it goes down.

People say they don't have time to go through their mail but yet they won't do paperless or just have it taken directly from their bank account. I would rather do that and not worry about anything - as long as I see the email saying the company took what they wanted, I can go along living without that stress.

I can't believe that some people still pay their bills by sending a cheque - this isn't the 1950s people! - what a waste of time - all my bills are direct debit from the bank - never had to even think about them - they just get paid automatically