Avoid paying same bill twice

#Middlebury

AARP, known as the American Association of Retired Persons, the organization set up to protect the interests of seniors, is coming under fire for sending us too many renewal notices. And it’s true. My own AARP membership expires every August. Yet, beginning in February, I start getting renewal notices every few weeks.

The big problem is that too many seniors see a bill in the mail and immediately write a check. In the face of continual renewal notices, it’s possible that we can send AARP (and others) multiple checks every year. Even worse, we can end up with multiple AARP accounts, and pay on all of them.

Here’s an idea: In a small notebook that you keep handy (maybe in a kitchen drawer or where you sit down to write monthly checks), keep a list of expiration dates. Consult that list every month. If your credit card is due to expire in October, you’ll know when to start watching the mail for its replacement. If your car inspection sticker expires in July (especially if you live in a state that doesn’t mail notices), make a note to get it taken care of ahead of time. Check magazine mailing labels. The expiration date will be right on them.

Because important things do get lost in the mail, here are a few more things to note on your list: property taxes (if you don’t pay them with your mortgage), any quarterly payments, bank box fee, ending period for any discount you’re getting on your Internet service or zero-interest credit card, furnace or HVAC inspection, last date to sign up for something important … and so much more. Once you start using a list like this, you’ll wonder how you managed without it..

(c) 2017 King Features Synd. Inc.