Going paperless can save money but make sure you know the potential pitfalls ; Personal finance|CANDICE CHOI

Having your bills mailed to you month after month is bad for theenvironment. But many of us can't break the practice because paperstatements are key to our financial housekeeping.

With Earth Day on Friday, you're likely seeing an uptick inbanks, utilities, and other service providers pushing you to receivestatements online. The benefits of going paperless are obvious -it's environmental, cuts down on clutter, and lets you access billswherever you have an Internet connection.

Making the switch can even save you money. More businesses arewaiving certain fees for customers who go paperless. But beforemaking the leap, understand the potential pitfalls and whetheryou'll need to adjust your financial habits. Consider these threetips:

Don't go on autopilot: When considering e-statements, the primaryconcern is how it will affect your vigilance about paying andreviewing bills.

One reason for the slackened oversight is that routinenotifications that a statement is ready can be easy to ignore. Sobefore agreeing to go paperless, consider the account in questionand what type of action it requires from you.

Another option with electronic bills is to set up automaticpayments. If you go this route, be careful about slipping intocruise control. You don't want to get in the habit of deletingnotifications about scheduled payments without clicking on the linkto scan the bill.

Another factor to keep in mind when transitioning is that youmight have more user names and passwords to remember. One way toavoid this is to download a program such as Last Pass or RoboForm.These programs store user names and passwords on your computer andautomatically fill out login pages. All you do is enter a masterpassword. LastPass (www.lastpass.com) is free and RoboForm(www.roboform.com) costs about $30.

Know how to get older statements: If you keep detailed financialrecords, one concern with going paperless is how long electronicstatements will be accessible online. The answer varies depending onthe company.

At Citibank, for example, customers have access to three monthsof statements for checking accounts and 12 months of statements forcredit cards. Other banks let customers search much farther back.

If you want a printed copy, there's likely going to be a fee.

Access to older bills and statements varies at service providers,too.

Claim rewards for switching: Companies save big when customers gopaperless. Not only do they save on postage and mailing costs, butthey also increase the odds that customers pay bills on time andlower marketing expenses since materials can be sent online.

So before you agree to go paperless, see if there are anyfinancial incentives for doing so. Companies offer perks and prizesto encourage customers to switch.

Candice Choi writes for the Associated Press.

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