Go Green with your bills

Have your bills e-delivered.
The same principal and advantages apply to your credit card, utility and other monthly bills as apply to financial statements. You get timely notification and access through a secured Web site.

With e-bills, you don't have to worry about lost mail. That means you can be sure you will know what you owe in plenty of time to make a payment. You'll avoid costly late charges on your credit accounts, while protecting even more trees from a needless death.

Pay your bills electronically.
Once you're online looking at those charges, it just takes a couple extra clicks to make the payment.

In addition to helping you become a prompt payer, which will help your credit score, and saving even more forests, e-payment can help you make a little money. Because you'll be able to make payments later in your billing cycle, your money will have more time to earn more interest for you.

You'll also save on stamps -- 15 stamps a month for a year equals almost $75 -- and last-minute trips to the post office that consume not only your precious time, but also fuel that adds to greenhouse emissions. An added bonus: You protect yourself from identity thieves who cruise streets, looking for curbside mailboxes full of bill payments and checks with all that personal information.

There is one thing to watch out for here. Even though it usually saves creditors money, too, a few still charge extra for e-payments.