I pay bills twice each month, in batches, then check the balance in 8 days or so to make sure there are no stragglers. I jot down the current balance I've calculated -- I treat all spent money as spent. Most bills (electric, telephone, insurance etc.) get slightly overpaid each month; so I see a small (approx. $3.00) credit on on the statement. I know then not to hunt for balances -- I pay only face value on the new bill each month (plus that slight bit extra to see a new credit on the following month's bill). I pay every recurring bill (electric, phone, etc.) with a slight overpay, as I said -- but I do it with the same fraction of a dollar, which varies each month. So in January everyone gets $33.21, $29.21, $69.29; in February they get $34.52, $28.52, $71.52 -- like that. That way I know I authorized the payment -- they're very easy to spot on the statement because of the pennies and dimes columns. I only glance at those. Finally I do a survey after 45 days, looking for improbable disbursements. Those surveys are done once a month, at the time I've checked up on the second sweep through the bills (usually right before the 1st of the month). So I end up accessing the account records twice each month (to verify) and twice each month (to make payouts). Why twice? Why not just once? It used to be that any utility bill that was paid within 40 days (or so) raised no strong flag at the utility company; they basically gave the full 30 days to pay, plus 10 days grace. Lately that number shrank in half; I'd get a bill on the 7th of the month to be paid by the 27th of the same month, but claiming to have been sent out on the 28th of the month prior. Whether it was really printed and mailed on the 28th became suspect (as I was receiving it on the 7th, rather than on the 2nd or so). My answer to this was to pay bills in 2 batches, spaced 14 days apart, each month. It doubles my work (the time set aside for bill-paying seems almost independent of the number of bills to be paid) but it saves me from research time (because I know I'm generally current on everything -- no loose ends to track). arf