How do you pay your bills?

[cross22]

Originally Posted by Matt

my maid does it.

 

[nootje]

online and auto debit.

there is actually one payment in particular for which I have made a different arrangement. The company in question only allows auto debit payments, but have in the past shown that they cant be trusted with that "responsibility". i.e. they debited too much a couple of times, and have charged my account twice for the same bill (at least twice). In the end they all worked it out correctly, but for me it was just too much. So ive got a single account with no money on it for them to charge. Naturally every charge they make bounces, and they send me a reminder with a bill attached, which i allways check.

 

[mm84321]

I've always done everything online. I've never written a check in my life!

 

[Gibonius]

Online for everything except rent. They want to charge a $20 convenience fee for online payment

 

[DerekS]

online and over the phone...usually late. hahaha

 

[Egert]

I pay everything online.

When do you pay your bills? I ususally tend to pay them last minute, so on the due date or one day before, even if I could just pay it when the bill arrives to the mailbox... Wonder why

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Forgot to say: I do everything online but only my car insurance is an auto debit. I prefer to have "control" over when a payment is submitted.

I can't remember the last time I paid for something with a check. Sometimes I'll use them if I owe somebody a few bucks and have no cash, but that's about it.

"control" is overrated.

Its not like you don't have control when it happens automatically. At the beginning of the month you get a notice that says "here is what you owe for last month, this amount will be paid automatically on this date" and then 3 weeks later, it happens. Anywhere in the middle you are free to look at at the bill or cancel the transaction. You have exactly the same amount of control--you have only changed the default.

I used to think I wanted "control" but then I realized that I had the same amount of control either way but it was much more preferable to have to do zero work if I look at the bill and everything checks out (which happens 99% of the time) and to be sure that if I forget or am on vacation...the bill still gets paid and I get no late fees.

All regular charges get this treatment. I am going to be making the same student loan payment for years...ditto for the rent or the internet and electric bills (they may vary a bit but will stay within a range). The only thing I don't pay automatically right now is my primary credit card (other cards are automatic) which has the potential to overwhelm the buffer I keep in my checking account so I line the payments up with my paychecks (my bi-weekly paychecks and monthly amex bill don't line up well enough over time to automate) and make only the minimum payment automatically to avoid potential late fees due to forgetfulness.

 

[mm84321]

Originally Posted by Gibonius

Online for everything except rent. They want to charge a $20 convenience fee for online payment

That is hilariously ridiculous.

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by Gibonius

Online for everything except rent. They want to charge a $20 convenience fee for online payment

My old place wanted a convenience fee for paying online with CC (understandable I suppose) but my new place won't take online payments at all.

The solution to both is to just have my bank mail the landlord a check right before the end of the month. Citi does this for free (they even eat the postage) and others probably do too. Never asked permission to do this and have never had any complaints.

 

[aharmon]

Online - tremendous time savings relative to old school checks and stamps.

 

[thekunk07]

sporadically

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

sporadically
Did your dog eat the ones you missed?

 

[dragon8]

online and a check every now and then

 

[yjeezle]

mixture of online bill pay and auto debit

 

[henrikc]

Online. No auto debit, but I do get some of them filled out automatically and I just have to click one button to pay them.