Bill Release

on April 24, 2012
in All Posts

I know that paying bills online is faster, more economical, and environmentally-friendly, but I seriously love the act of writing checks.  Anyone else? Despite the fact that I’m terrible at math, I control all of our finances and bill payments purely because I love writing checks – thank goodness for Excel.  I spent about 20 minutes this morning writing checks, stick stamps on envelopes, and affixing address return labels.  It was so cathartic.  Like a massage or a big glass of wine (okay, I don’t really remember what a big glass of wine feels like after eight months of pregnancy…).  Weird.  I know.

 

Lunch.

IMG_8845

Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods… but I always kind of forget they exist.  So tasty in a stir-fry though.

IMG_8842

In the mix:

 

Quinoa

Carrots

Spinach

Mushrooms

Chickpeas

Balsamic dressing

IMG_8844

Healthy Tipping Point Book Giveaway Winners

 

The winners of the Healthy Tipping Point book giveaway are…

Healthy Tipping Point

  • Abby, who grew up on a farm and had show pigs named Bacon, Pork Chop, and Hamala.
  • Marie, who’d give $1000 to her good friend who just had a baby boy so she could start a college fund for him.

 

Congrats!  I’ll be sure to run another giveaway for the book next Monday.  I love reading everyone’s answers to the FAQs – they are so funny.

 

Psst – If you’re in Columbus, Ohio, check out this Girls on the Run 5K giveaway.

 

Any other envelope lovers out there? Or is online bill payments the way to go?  Who else is bad at math but in charge of the family’s finances?

{ 33 comments }

 

  • Krista April 24, 2012, 2:24 pm

    I agree, I love writing out checks for the bills. I don’t do any online payments, I like having control of when to send them out.

  • Sara April 24, 2012, 2:34 pm

    I like writing checks, but I don’t like buying stamps and I like having a couple extra days until the bill is due, so I pay mostly online. AND in my marriage, I’m probably the least skilled in math, yet I too control every aspect of our finances. I think if I wasn’t around, my husband would never be able to figure out my system and would be truly lost.

  • Elizabeth April 24, 2012, 2:40 pm

    This was a sign!! I am from Cbus!! And I have been looking into Girls on the Run! I want to help coach!! Thanks for the push/sign!!

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:46 pm

      Yay! I hope you have fun 🙂

  • Whitney @ Whit Likes Fit April 24, 2012, 2:53 pm

    I love writing checks! I use to be in charge of our finances but my husband said I was bad at it (I think he spent too much money and it just made it look like I couldn’t manage things hahah). He’s all about online bill pay but I still have an allowance that I can write checks from.

  • Laine April 24, 2012, 3:00 pm

    I do online bill pay, which takes about 1 minute. I love it.
    I love mushrooms too, but lately my body has quit digesting them (fun!) which is sad. So I chop them into tiny pieces and eat them anyway.

  • Rebecca April 24, 2012, 3:10 pm

    I love sending letters!

  • Lindsey April 24, 2012, 3:16 pm

    I do everything online. I used to do all the finances, but realized I hated it and since my husband is in the banking industry I gladly gave it to him 🙂

  • Katie @ Peace Love & Oats April 24, 2012, 3:18 pm

    Haha I love writing checks too! I was treasurer for my sorority for 2 years and had this huge checkbook that I wrote checks out of!

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:46 pm

      Ooo that sounds super fun 🙂 Writing checks when it’s not my money is even better!!

  • Halley (Blunder Construction) April 24, 2012, 4:03 pm

    Hilarious – I actually do love writing checks (not spending the money on bills though.) No joking, when I wrote May’s rent check last week I thought, “I could write out a whole year’s worth of checks AND envelopes RIGHT NOW” but decided against it. Cathartic is a good way to put it.

  • Karen @ Run Shop Travel April 24, 2012, 4:14 pm

    I am the exact opposite – I hate writing checks! My rent is the only one I pay the “old fashioned” way anymore and its only because I have to!

  • Emily April 24, 2012, 4:21 pm

    online automated bills for me! i keep my feelings of accomplishment to clearing the laundry and other such things that I sadly can’t automate 😉

  • kathleen @ the daily crumb April 24, 2012, 4:21 pm

    i love writing checks! my husband on the other hand thinks they are pointless, i doubt he’d even know how to fill one out 🙂

  • Kelli April 24, 2012, 4:27 pm

    I use online banking. It’s the best of both worlds- I control when I send money to pay bills, & you can also use it to pay stuff like rent or your sister who paid for a gift you went in on, etc. Those types take longer, but the your bank foots the bill for postage, too. Win win!

  • Kerry April 24, 2012, 5:08 pm

    All online definitely – no stamps to pay for! I’m sure cheques will be extinct soon, I don’t even have a chequebook

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:48 pm

      REALLY?! That’s crazy. But you’re prob right… checks are going the way of landlines.

  • Kendra @ My Full-Thyme Life April 24, 2012, 5:14 pm

    I don’t even use a spreadsheet! I hand write everything down on notebook paper and keep it in my purse. It is organized very nicely on the paper but still… should probably come up with another system. My hubby and I split the expenses straight down the middle and we are responsible for certain bills. I do pay online, that is cathartic for me! BTW – what type of balamic dressing do you use??? It always looks soooo delicious!

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:48 pm

      It’s Simply Dressed and it is SO GOOD.

  • Rebecca April 24, 2012, 5:46 pm

    My parents both kind of share the bill paying, although it seems like my dad does more of the keeping-track stuff. He has a notepad that he uses to keep track of which week it is and how much money is allotted for what (groceries, entertainment, etc). He and Mom did Financial Peace several years ago and they still follow most of the guidelines, if not all, which is cool. But my mom does our taxes, being the accountant in the house. 🙂

  • kristin @ wounded fawn April 24, 2012, 6:01 pm

    I don’t really love writing check or paying bills in fact I despise it and sometimes just don’t do it because I dislike it so much (I know I need to just grow up) but my boyfriend was in jail for 6 months and I loved writing him letters and addressing them and stamping them. I also grew to be quite Obsessive Compulsive and where and when I mailed them. For instance I will never use a mail drop box in my neighborhood but I will walk 15 minutes to the post office to have them hand stamped and put in out of town mail.

    He just got out on Friday and I think from time to time I will still mail him a letter to remind us of what we’ve been through and how love got us through it. We learned so much about eachother over the past 6 months through usps that I am not ready to stop now.

  • Dominique April 24, 2012, 7:29 pm

    I love the act of writing cheques and preparing envelopes but I do all of my banking online because it’s convenient. I miss mailing stuff all the time though–especially since I used to work at a post office.

  • jen April 24, 2012, 7:54 pm

    Caitlin- can you make this am’s SPP with a flax egg? Thanks so much!

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:49 pm

      Probably? I’m not sure – if you try it, let me know what happens!!!

  • Linz @ Itz Linz April 24, 2012, 8:09 pm

    i still pay bills the old fashioned way but that’s becaues of pure laziness of not setting up online bill paying!

  • Jess April 24, 2012, 8:47 pm

    Thanks so much for mentioning the giveaway, Caitlin! I appreciate it.

    Also, side note, am I the only person who just can’t do quinoa? I’ve tried it several times, and to no avail. Just can’t get on the bandwagon.

  • Erin April 24, 2012, 9:10 pm

    Have you ever heard of bucket filling? Its a great concept to use with elementary and middle school girls talking about sharing positive comments and helping others. I’m an elementary school counselor and the students love bucket filling week where the whole school works on “filling each others’ buckets” as a school. The book is Have You Filled A Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud in case you want to check it out! Highly recommended for anyone working with children.

    • CaitlinHTP April 24, 2012, 9:50 pm

      One of the girls mentioned that before, I should check it out! Thanks for reminding me of it.

  • Ellen April 25, 2012, 9:44 am

    Mushrooms used to be my absolute favorite foods too! My dad “hunts” for them through out the spring and summer and dries them and makes spectacular meals, but ever since I became pregnant I cant eat them!!! That was the tip off to my parents that I was pregnant…I wouldn’t touch my dads mushrooms. I am hoping my love for them will come back in August when the baby is out.

  • Amber K April 25, 2012, 12:53 pm

    I use Excel too. I like to pay my bills online, but I do like the bills that I can’t pay online because then I get to write out the check and put it all together. It can definitely be cathartic.

  • Theodora April 25, 2012, 2:34 pm

    I always buy cute checks (this time, I got puppies) so that the act of giving someone my money is a little less painful! I mostly only use them for rent or paying friends back for things, though.

  • Dental Accountant May 1, 2012, 3:00 am

    I also love writing checks but I agree that is has more advantage if we pay our bills online.
    Oh I also love your lunch. Can you share the recipe of that? 🙂

    • CaitlinHTP May 1, 2012, 9:20 am

      It was just all the ingredients mixed together – no real recipe!

Previous post:

Next post:

Search The Blog

Read by Month:

Read by Topic:

Healthy Tipping Point