Is autopaying your bills a good idea?
Although I wouldn’t describe myself as an early adapter, I have switched to automated payments for most of my bills— primarily because it’s convenient and, in some instances, generates credit cad points. Although there's something to be said for seeing a balance in front of you ans writing a cheque of paying online.
But, says Marketwatch, letting vendors reach into your wallet each and every month can be a problem since you may be setting yourself up for all-too-frequent fee hikes, surprise costs, and payments for services you never even use.
I do check, of course, and haven’t had many problems but maybe I’ve been lucky. Anyway, here are five fees you may want to worry about, Marketwatch warns.
Mobile Phone Bills. Perhaps the only thing more exasperating than getting your usual sky-high smartphone bill is getting a bill that's even higher than you expect after you've exceeded your plan's texting, phone, or data limits. How closely do you review those charges?
Insurance Payments. Aggressive advertising from insurance companies has conditioned people to look for the very best prices on home and auto insurance. Even though they only show up once or twice a year, shopping rates is difficult if you’re always doing it after the fact.
Utilities. Sitting down to pay water, electric, and heating bills may seem like an onerous chore, but those bills may be the first tipoff that something's out of whack, particularly if you’ve signed up for some sort of prepaid commodity rate.
Gym Memberships. According to a study done by Stanford and Berkeley researchers, most people dramatically overestimate the number of times they go to the gym each month — in essence paying $17 a visit with a monthly fee. Better to pay a la carte or packages of passes instead.
Cable Bills. Cable used to have a lock on the best programming, but that's not always the case. Instead of shelling out three figures every month to get your weekly Mad Men fix, consider individual purchases from iTunes or Netflix.
Do you pay your bills automatically or through a credit card? Problems? Suggestions?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: dan | Aug 22, 2021 11:16:26 PM
I am not a personal fan of these kind of services. You get to accustomed to having your money deducted that you do not even keep track of what changes are occurring.
http://www.wesisearch.com/blog/?p=54
Posted by: John | Aug 23, 2021 3:58:45 PM
I agree with Dan. Although it may be convenient to do automated payments, I prefer to be in control and pay on-line. I do not find this onerous.
Posted by: patricia | Aug 24, 2021 12:39:22 PM
I also prefer to pay as you incur, my present cable/internet provider wants me to pay 2 months in advance for services I haven't received yet. So far I have been able to pay for services AFTER receiving them. It may erroneously be my beleif that the majority of 'service providers' bill after you have received the service. Also their billing information is almost impossible to decifer,and I'm certain I'm not the only one having this difficulty. An example of billing AFTER service would of course include utility bills, credit cards etc. I am finding this practice of my ISP increasingly frustrating to where I'm contemplating requesting an audit from the CRTC. iN THE PAST four MONTHS i HAVE BEEN BILLED OVER 600.00 DOLLARS. do you think something smells or am I paranoid?