Question All Automatic Deductions

[heydude]

Do you have any bills that are automatically paid for each month?

I used to think this was a cool "set it and forget it" feature.

BUT...these things can be deadly.

If you have to send in or go buy something every month ALL BY YOURSELF and not with the aid of those "computers" doing it for you, well, you will QUESTION it more.

Watch out for anything that is bleeding your bank account on a regular basis.

Automatic gym payments? QUESTION IT!

Automatic phone payments? QUESTION IT!

Question all things that happen on auto pay.

If you don't have to work to pay it, then you'll probably end up paying for more service than you wanted or were able to emotionally/physically/life energetically keep up with.

[Tammy]

How about my automatic electric bill payment? $64 a month. Budget plan. I see no way for that to be a trap ...

[heydude]

Maybe if you had to mail it in every month you would find ways to save on electricity?

unplug items not in use.

switch to CFLs.

turn lights off when not in use, etc.

[RosieTR]

We did this for some bills, esp mortgage b/c it's the same each month and has high consequences for missing it. Right now there's not much way of getting out of it short of winning the lottery or something so I don't see the problem. As for the Netflix, yeah you're right. I could be OK without it but I get sucked in 'cause it's there, and probably not worth the cost. Hmmm.

[Tammy]

Perhaps ... But 64 a month year round (includes heating and cooling) in phoenix is pretty cheap. I have friends who pay over 500 in the summer.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I was seriously thinking of switching to automatic bill pay, and then my usage on the gas bill was off by a factor of ten, so in burning hot August there's this $100 something gas bill, yea I got it corrected and decided I don't think I ever will go to automatic bill pay, so much for laziness, I guess.

[SteveinMN]

Nothing wrong with automatic bill payment so long as you're willing to review the bills anyway. Almost all of our bills are electronic unless they are for taxes or some small vendor that does not offer such payment (and I'd pay taxes electronically if they didn't charge extra for the privilege). When I get the notification that a bill is in, I look at it, check charges I don't understand (or which seem out of whack, like ANM's gas charge), and then pay them. From my perspective, the best of both worlds.

[shadowmoss]

I prefer to have to go into the account and push it with bill pay for mortgage and truck payment, and go to the other sites and pull it after reviewing the bill. I get paid once a month (today!) so it is a regular round robin once the check hits my account. I'm enjoying seeing mostly zero ballances on the credit cards now. It also has me checking things on a regular basis even if I don't owe any money to make sure there isn't anything unusual going on. I'm about to go to a different cell phone plan (pay as we go) because I'm getting tired of going to AT&T's site and paying every month. I see this as a good thing.

[flowerseverywhere]

you should check your bills diligently.

Last month DH noticed there was an automatic withdrawal for his cellphone carrier for $47 for overage charges. He is very careful not to go over his minutes. He tracked it down, a transposed number (with a different name) was withdrawn from his account. A few phone calls and it was take care of. We also look at water, electric bills etc for any unusual activity. It takes a few minutes and could save a lot of money.

I remember reading about an elderly woman who for many years was renting her phone for $10 a month, until one of her kids noticed it on her bill. She had paid hundreds for a phone through the years unnecessarily.

[ToomuchStuff]

I don't do automatic bill paying at all. Heck I don't even bank online (tried it and the account kept getting locked due to too many high security passwords I use). The closest I have come to it is I can pay the house taxes online, by entering the bank account and check number information, which they then do as an electronic check (no extra charge, where they charge extra if you pay with plastic).
I have heard a few horror stories and while I understand the reasoning behind it, unless your bills are such a minute portion of your income, I find it better to get it in the mail so you actually look when you open them.

[creaker]

I do automatic payments - but I set them up to push from my checking account, rather than letting companies pull the payments out of my account.

The drawback being it's not great for variable payments (utilities, etc), but it works great for fixed monthly payments.