It's all pulp fiction

I've yet to meet a person who actually likes filing; I know I'm certainly not one. I regularly make deposits into our bills drawer, blithely hoping they will magically transfer themselves - in an orderly fashion - into the relevant file.

But from time to time, I have to face the fact that while there may be shoemaking elves, there are no filing fairies. At least not in my home.

And so it was on Saturday that I tried to stuff yet another paper-based statement into the drawer. As I slowly inched the drawer towards me to make a nippy deposit, the contents exploded in the dramatic fashion of a special effects 007 movie.

Of course, there is a far simpler way to bring order to bills, courtesy of technology. And it's not exactly rocket science. E-mail or downloadable billing saves everyone time, money and frustration; it could even help us save the environment if that does it for you.

There are several formats that allow for secure e-mailing of statements and bills. Once received, or downloaded, all you need to do is 'drag-and-drop' or 'copy-and-paste' into the relevant folders. You could even backup onto a re-writable CD.

Even for the notoriously lazy - ie, me - this system shouldn't take more than five minutes at the end of the month.

As long as companies believe they can charge me for the 'convenience' of downloading my bills, I will refuse to move to this method.

Kimberly Guest, senior journalist, ITWeb

So why don't I use this less than ingenious method? Well I have several reasons.

First of all, not all companies have set up their systems to facilitate such delivery systems. And I just don't want to have to maintain two filling systems. I'm a fairly smart person, but trying to remember which company sends me documents in which format leaves me rather brain dead.

Secondly, I see no reason why I should have to pay for a delivery system that actually saves my creditor money. I mean really, how stupid do they think we are?

It's like Internet banking. Service charges on this online channel should be a fraction of those charged at an ATM or in-store. Think about it: the cost of offering online banking is significantly lower than the more traditional means. No rent, minimal staff per customer ratios, and very little in support costs.

Over and above these savings, electronic billing means companies eliminate high-cost printing and postage costs. I, on the other hand, would have to print these myself if I wanted hard copies of the documents. And let's not forget the high cost of ink these days.

I can almost see the strategy meeting: suitably attired, high-flying executive stands before the CEO and says: "I have a great idea on how we can reduce our print and postage costs and sell it to our customers as a service. We can start making money, where before we lost money."

As long as companies believe they can charge me for the 'convenience' of downloading my bills, I will refuse to move to this method. For me it's a question of principle.

Instead I will sit on my lounge floor, surrounded by veritable skyscrapers of paper and force myself to get the dirty job over and done with.

And with any luck, the bill drawer will explode on my hubby next, leaving him to tackle that chore.