"Oooooh, I'm in big trouble," Tom told his friend Jim as he opened his mail. "I keep getting hit with late fees. My check to the cable company bounced. They charged me a returned check fee, a late payment fee, and now they are threatening to turn off my service. I'm afraid to open my mail anymore!"
"Don't you make enough money to pay all your bills?" Jim asked.
"Sure I do," Tom told him, "but I just never get around to sitting down and writing the checks."
"Sounds like you need to get organized," Jim told Tom. "You need a system like I have."
"Hey, can you help me with that?" Tom asked.
"Sure, it's not really that hard. We can start right now," Jim said.
"Great!" Tom exclaimed.
It took Tom a while to find all his bills and his checkbook. Once he did, he and Jim sat down to work. First, Jim told Tom to make a list of all his bills. They went through the pile Tom found. They also looked through his check register. They listed all the bills he had already paid that month.
Next, Tom wrote the due dates next to each bill on the list. "How many times do you get paid each month?" Jim asked.