I don’t know what I did with my life before I had e-mail. As sad as that sounds, there’s no doubt in my mind that my life would be a complete disaster without my e-mail accounts and the implementation of electronic bank statements, bills, newsletters, and coupons.
You see, before I had the capability to get my important documents online, I was constantly annoyed every time I opened up my mailbox. The sheer amount of paper crammed into the mailbox was annoying enough, but then I was forced to sift through piles of junk just to get to the (unfortunately) necessary items, like bills and statements. Now, after I’ve signed up for pretty much every available kind of electronic notification, I already know that 99% of the paper in my mailbox is going to be crap that I don’t care about. So, it’s now MUCH easier and faster to toss unwanted items into the recycling bin.
Since I get all of my bank statements online, I no longer need to keep a bulky filing cabinet around to store them for 7 years (which is the recommended amount of time to keep them, by the way). I have them e-mailed directly to me and my handy GMail account just files them directly into their own little folder in case I ever need them. Voila! The bank doesn’t need to waste paper by sending me a thousand sheets every month, and I don’t need to waste my time (and space) by opening them up and filing them myself. Same thing goes for my bills – I don’t have to worry about losing my paper billing statements and having to call the provider for the amount I owe. I just open up my GMail account and look at my statement so I can enter the amount into my online banking for billing. I love it!
Plus, it’s so much easier to stay in contact with long-distance relatives through e-mail. I know that snail mail is a lot more personal, but I can’t resist typing a quick “hello” or “happy birthday” ON the day I want to the ones I love. That eliminates the hassle of having to plan ahead to make sure they receive it on time. You can’t beat that kind of modern convenience!
But despite all of these pluses, there are still a lot of people out there who refuse to buy into the power of e-mail and the electronic age. If you’re one of those people, then you shouldn’t be scared of it. I know it’s a tad unsettling at first to see all of your information through your email or through a website, but there are security measures in place to protect you. Just be sure that you thoroughly understand about some of the scams out there before you proceed, and the rest will come with good, old-fashioned common sense. E-mail and other electronic conveniences have been around long enough by now, so why not just grin and embrace them? I assure you, they will embrace you back!
Article by Jill Tooley
Jill has been obsessed with words since her fingers could turn the pages of a book. She’s a hopeless bibliophile who recently purchased a Kindle after almost 6 years of radical opposition, and she loves stumbling upon new music on Pandora. Random interests include (but are not limited to) bookstores, movie memorabilia, comic book conventions, and adorable rodents. In addition to managing the QLP blog, Jill also manages the content development team and the company’s social media accounts.
