How To Pay With a Bolletino Postale

One of my first panic attacks came when I had to go pay the registration fee for my school at the post office.  Knowing very little  Italian I tried to explain that I needed to pay for school.  The lady behind the counter handed me a blank bolletino postale and expected me to know what to do.  I stared at this piece of paper and realized I hadn't a clue.  She finally offered to help but very begrudgingly and I paid.   So to help you to avoid this situation, I have the steps listed below.

First, you need to ask for a bolletino postale vuoto.  They will give you a piece of paper that is 11.75 inches in length and 4 inches in height.  It looks like the picture below.

There are two sections. Section 1 is the part they will give back to you and you will need to keep this as your receipt.  Section 2 is what they keep.

Section 1:

1. Here you need to put in the account number to where you are paying. 
2. The amount in euro that you are paying.  Remember, a comma in Italy is a decimal for those in the US.
3. Here you need to put in the correct name including any initials after it.  You should write in all capital letters.
4. Here you put in your name, address and codice fiscale if they ask for it.
5. This is where you put in the reason for the payment.
6. This area is where the post office will put their stamp with amount paid, fee paid and date.

Section 2:

1. Account number as in section 1
2. Amount in Euro
3. Pay to the order of as in section 1.
4. The reason for the payment
5. Your full name
6. Your street address
7. Your zip code
8. Your city or town

Luckily, many times when you have to pay a bill (phone, electric, gas, TV, etc.), they send you a completed bolletino postale so all you will need to do is bring it to the post office and pay.