Been juggling multiple vendors lately and honestly losing track of who gets paid when. Set up a basic spreadsheet but it’s getting messy with all the different payment schedules.
Anyone found a system that actually works without being overly complicated? Need something that keeps me organized but doesn’t eat up half my day managing it.
Stop overthinking this. Get a basic accounting program like QuickBooks and set up your vendors with their payment terms. It automatically tells you who needs to be paid and when.
I tried all the calendar tricks and batch payment stuff. Waste of time. Just punch in your bills when they arrive and let the software sort the due dates. Takes me maybe 5 minutes to see what’s due this week.
Pay the bills, mark them paid, done. The program tracks everything and you can pull reports if you need them later.
Phone reminders work fine too. Just set them when bills come in and deal with it then.
Spreadsheets always turn into a nightmare once you have more than a few vendors. Here’s what saved me:
Set up a simple calendar system instead:
I use my regular calendar app for this. Nothing fancy. Just treat vendor payments like any other appointment you can’t miss.
For tracking actual expenses, I keep one simple note on my phone where I jot down what I paid and when. Takes 10 seconds after each payment.
Way less maintenance than updating spreadsheet cells every week.
Batch your vendor payments instead of doing them as they come up. I learned this the hard way after spending way too much time scattered throughout the month.
Now I pay everyone twice a month - 1st and 15th. Vendors either get paid on the next payment day or the one after, depending on their terms.
Keep a folder (physical or digital) where you dump all the bills as they arrive. On payment day, pull everything out and knock them all out at once.
The key is training your vendors on your schedule. Most don’t care if they get paid on the 1st vs the 3rd as long as it’s consistent and within terms.
Cuts my payment admin time from random daily interruptions to maybe 2 hours twice a month. Plus you never forget anyone because you’re looking at the whole pile each time.
I just pay stuff when it shows up in the mail.
A simple notebook works well for tracking payments. Write down the vendor name, amount, and due date for each bill.
Cross it out when paid. It takes about 30 seconds per bill. Keep the notebook near your mail to stay organized. No need for apps or complicated systems.