Going paperless

For someone who depends so heavily on technology to do her job, I can be a real Luddite when it comes to my private life.

That, I suppose, is why it took me so long to begin paying my bills online.

But I've been doing it for a few months now, and it's been great. No glitches! In fact, it's been a cinch.

First, I set up my account with my financial institution by listing and providing account numbers for everyone I normally pay bills to — PECO, the phone company, the trash hauler, etc.
Now, I just log on, select the company, the amount and the date I want to pay them and push a button. Presto! It's done.

It doesn't even take as along as writing a check, and I don't have to pay for a stamp. (Not to mention whatever share of the fuel needed for the mail delivery trucks to take my payment wherever it's going.)

Plus, I can take care of the bill when it comes in, but tell my financial institution not to pay it until it actually comes due. How easy is that?

If I should ever be stranded in Paris or marooned on a tropical island, as long as I had internet access, I could still pay my bills. (As if that would be at the top of my mind.)

Anyway, millions of pounds of paper annually go for bills, and who can doubt it? Collect what you get yourself in a month, and you'll see.

PECO, by the way, has a calculator for electronic bill payment. It says that if I get and pay four bills a month electronically, in a year I'll save $20.16 in postage (well, only half that if I just count the stamp I'd stick on the outgoing envelope) and spare the world three pounds of carbon.

If just 100,000 of PECO's customers signed up for paperless billing, according to the calculator, it would be like planting 150 trees, and having 33 fewer cars on the road.

So this week I took a deep breath and a big step. I dedided to sign up to get my bills electronically as well. I was a little nervous about this. I thought I might miss some due dates. But we'll see.

I hope a few trees will be thanking me.