Anyone with ADHD / ADD, and anyone else who this may benefit, should really consider doing as much of their financial management / bill payment / banking / online as possible. I have a horrible time with paperwork. I am not alone:)
Before I did more and more of my payments online, I would often just drive my bills to where they had to go, yes, seriously. It was actually easier than keeping track of a checkbook, keeping track of the paper bill, writing out the check, finding a stamp, finding time for all of this plus keeping track of how much money I had to spend on each bill. I'm not good with mailing things, anyway.
You should have seen the incredulous look that C's lawyer tried to give me when I presented photocopies of my notations of checks written, yes, back as many years as I could locate. (Oh, I have them all, but finding them?). She wasn't too happy that I paid my utilities online, either, as she wanted the hard copy bills to see if I was behind and in risk of being cut off, etc. Sheesz, sometimes it's poor money management, and sometimes, it's lack of money -- and if her client was paying more, I'd have had less trouble. Then again, I showed her the online print out of my payments:) It is all I'd saved.
At this point, I don't even use a checkbook. Court people may think I"m nuts, but oh well:) The online stuff keeps it all for me, it's all there, it has the balances and other "quieries" right there. I don't have to find anything, no little slips of paper that are no more secure than online is, IMHO. (I've had my bank statement stolen once, and yes, they did then withdraw money several times from my checking account.) Online, my accounts are updated daily, so I just need ot keep track once in a while of new items not yet cleared. Somehow, they are easy enough to keep in my head, and usually that's for just 1 day or so, anyway. I suppose when one lives close to the edge, financially, one learns to remember every outstanding payment. That I"m good with figures likely helps, too. For example: $57.61, yep, I remember that, and it showed up today as pending, and will clear by tomorrow, yep, I knew to look for that (M's latest feis registration, wow, expensive but b/c she's in two figures sets plus her solo dance competitions.).
I digress. Naturally.
I can even set up my checking account to mail out a check FOR me, no envelopes or stamps for me to worry about! It's not a perfect system, how they have it set up, but it's working mostly. Otherwise, oh yes, online bill paying directly with each "vendor." :)
Another working, single mom of a Montessori child, who has ADHD or ADD herself said, "Honestly, my credit was in much worse shape before online banking. It truely [sic] saved my life! LOL."
I know it's really saved my financial life, too. I can even put little reminders on my e-calendar, this is due date z for x amount. Then when I pay it, mark it paid on date w. It's a great tool:) Anyone with organizational difficulties should seriously consider it.
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