Hello and Welcome to my sixth attempt at the AtoZ blogging challenge.
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
Bills are something that simply have to be paid in the stipulated time. Thankfully, we now need not stand in queues to pay for various services that we use.
As a care giver, we need to be alert about bill payments of residence of our ‘wards’ and also our own homes and offices.
This is the place to make full use of all available technology.
Let me elaborate.
Use online payment methods via a laptop/desktop or mobile phone whichever one you are comfortable with. Many offer prescheduled payments or automatic payments when a bill is generated. For those who do not wish to use automatic payment options, check if it is possible to make an advance payment to over upcoming monthly bills. This can be used for electricity, phone, internet, annual property taxes and so on. Grocers, Newspaper, domestic helpers, cable/satellite TV also have to be paid on time.
Payments will also have to be scheduled for any medical services for the ‘wards’ – as in monthly medications, for helpers/nursing or physiotherapy services availed.
Occasionally payments may be required for services of a plumber/electrician/mason etc.
The above relate to the home of our ‘ward’ but the same bills have to be paid at our (care giver’s) own residence as well – assuming the care giver has his own separate home. Things like income tax need personal attention so one has to make time for it. If one is running a business, then additional attention to employees Pay and reimbursements and incentives need to be calculated and scheduled.
Its best to use a diary or put in reminders on your phone calender. Tick off as as you go along so there is no repetition. Every family will have different headings to be paid and I have only made a general list on the basis of what I do.
Always keep another responsible family member in the loop so they can take over in case needed.
I would love to hear more ideas on managing bill payments.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Encouraged by my first drawing, I purchased a notebook.. the store only had a ruled variety and undeterred I began sketching in earnest.
Here is another of my efforts!
My theme this year is Caring for the Caregiver. My posts are based on my experience and are not meant to be a comprehensive guide on the subject. I would love to hear your experiences..
You can catch up with my previous posts here.
With each post, I am sharing a sketch that I have done as a means for stress busting.
Bills are something that simply have to be paid in the stipulated time. Thankfully, we now need not stand in queues to pay for various services that we use.
As a care giver, we need to be alert about bill payments of residence of our ‘wards’ and also our own homes and offices.
This is the place to make full use of all available technology.
Let me elaborate.
Use online payment methods via a laptop/desktop or mobile phone whichever one you are comfortable with. Many offer prescheduled payments or automatic payments when a bill is generated. For those who do not wish to use automatic payment options, check if it is possible to make an advance payment to over upcoming monthly bills. This can be used for electricity, phone, internet, annual property taxes and so on. Grocers, Newspaper, domestic helpers, cable/satellite TV also have to be paid on time.
Payments will also have to be scheduled for any medical services for the ‘wards’ – as in monthly medications, for helpers/nursing or physiotherapy services availed.
Occasionally payments may be required for services of a plumber/electrician/mason etc.
The above relate to the home of our ‘ward’ but the same bills have to be paid at our (care giver’s) own residence as well – assuming the care giver has his own separate home. Things like income tax need personal attention so one has to make time for it. If one is running a business, then additional attention to employees Pay and reimbursements and incentives need to be calculated and scheduled.
Its best to use a diary or put in reminders on your phone calender. Tick off as as you go along so there is no repetition. Every family will have different headings to be paid and I have only made a general list on the basis of what I do.
Always keep another responsible family member in the loop so they can take over in case needed.
I would love to hear more ideas on managing bill payments.
There is no one size fits all solution.
Every family has to find something that suits them best.
At best, posts such as mine will inspire a family to come up with their unique workable plan.
Encouraged by my first drawing, I purchased a notebook.. the store only had a ruled variety and undeterred I began sketching in earnest.
Here is another of my efforts!
See you tomorrow folks with my C post!
Bills are not my favourite things, but you've got to do what you've got to do. It's a real relief not to have to queue in front of counters for hours to pay telephone/utilities bills. Thank goodness for technology.
When I took over my mother's affairs, I was fortunate. My husband handled our bills … I didn't have to focus on that at all. Mom's life was simplistic – nothing complicated. So it was an easy task to manage her affairs. It did get a bit more complicated when she was in Nursing Care – the bills were enormous – took a bit more effort – but by that time I was totally focused on her health and welfare, and my sister, who is an accountant was able to take over the financial piece. I guess I was lucky in the regard to 'bills'.
@Nilanjana Bose – that's so true. Technology has made things easier! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
@Retired Knitter – yes, you are very lucky! Its good for care givers too have a support system! Happy that you could stop by 🙂
Nice idea to post about caregivers taking care of themselves. A very tough job when we go through it. What did we do before auto pay??? So glad to see you taking the time to draw. Getting into the "zone" is so beneficial. Nice work.
Thank you so much Linda. Happy to have you read my blog! 🙂