How far ahead are you on your bills?

[Judique]

Coupon books?
I had my first mortgage in the mid 90s and the payment was always just withdrawn from my account. Never heard of sending cheques for a mortgage payment.

That's what they did back in olden days. We had our first mortgage in the 70ties and we used the coupon book and checks sent by mail.

Still had a coupon book for a different house in the late 80ties until I refied in the early 90ties with the same bank I had my checking, savings accounts with and they would direct debit.

 

[dclpluto]

Still haven’t gotten the august tax bill. Mayor said on Facebook it should be out this week.
I’m not on bragbook but that’s what I heard from a couple of people. You like to pay ahead but some things you have no control.

 

[megveg]

did they give you a nice discount for doing it? if not you might want to look at other carriers b/c i get significant pay in full discounts for my home, auto and umbrella policies.

I did get a discount for paying it all up front

 

[nolatravelgirl]

I pay my bills in full each month when they are due. Most are set up for auto payment, so as not to incur late fees due to my forgetfulness. Any excess funds are in a savings account. I don't earn much in savings interest on my buffer account but I am not trusting anyone with my money hoping that they will continue to be in business by prepaying for utilities, etc. If you feel good about letting other companies hold your money and it works for you then great for you. I just prefer to have control over my money and then I have the ability to reallocate as needed.

 

[Masterbetatesta]

Yep, agreed. Not sure why people would do anything else besides what you and I do. Speaking of savings accounts, check out Alliant. .55APY interest. Even their checking account has an interest rate.

I pay my bills in full each month when they are due. Most are set up for auto payment, so as not to incur late fees due to my forgetfulness. Any excess funds are in a savings account. I don't earn much in savings interest on my buffer account but I am not trusting anyone with my money hoping that they will continue to be in business by prepaying for utilities, etc. If you feel good about letting other companies hold your money and it works for you then great for you. I just prefer to have control over my money and then I have the ability to reallocate as needed.

 

[mrodgers]

There are all kinds of different ways to make or save a few bucks. My electric company allows paying ahead but charges a fee for credit cards. The fee is $1.75. So I pay the maximum of $600 for $1.75 on a 2 % cash back credit card. I 'earn' $12. minus the $1.75 or $10.25. Checking or savings does not pay that on $600 if I were keeping it in my account. My provider is a 'direct' provider so unless I decide to change to another company, it's highly unlikely I'll have any problems using my credits.

Hmm, never thought of this. The electric company here also charges for credit card payment (though a lot more than your $1.75, somewhere around $5 if I recall) and never thought to pay a large payment once paying the cc charge and getting the reward. Then again, the reward for me would only be 600 "points" and I think it would only be $6. Not sure if the hassle is worth it for 1% and a $5 cc fee.

 

[Judique]

Hmm, never thought of this. The electric company here also charges for credit card payment (though a lot more than your $1.75, somewhere around $5 if I recall) and never thought to pay a large payment once paying the cc charge and getting the reward. Then again, the reward for me would only be 600 "points" and I think it would only be $6. Not sure if the hassle is worth it for 1% and a $5 cc fee.

If they charge $5, I agree with you, especially if you don't have a card with higher rewards. It works for me. But, another note, I keep a lot of records and have the time to do this since I'm retired for 3 and 1/2 years. It's also a little bit here and a little bit there that adds up. When I was working I could easily do a few hours of overtime and then not bother or worry about smaller savings.

 

[mrodgers]

When I was working I could easily do a few hours of overtime and then not bother or worry about smaller savings.

Yup, that's definitely me and my thoughts. Back in the constant coupon and grocery cost threads here, I spent hours and hours every day hunting and gathering coupons. Went to the actual grocery store where they double coupon. After spending an extra $100 on groceries due to it being the grocery store and not Wallyworld and using my coupons, I said to the wife, "I punched out at 3:05 today and that 5 minutes of overtime netted me twice what I saved with the hours and hours of coupon clipping." That doesn't take into account the $100 higher cost trying to coupon either.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I pay homeowner's insurance yearly, life insurance yearly, and car insurance every 6 months to get the discount. Saves around $400 a year. I pay the upcoming house payment the first pay of the month prior, I'll pay my Oct 1 house payment on the first Friday of September. Citi offered 25x points on utility payments in Q3 2020 and Q1 2021 so I maxed out the points and paid ahead. As of now, utilities are month to month as our water and electric rates increased 12%, but my paychecks haven't, so it's not the easiest to come up with the "extra" money where there is no additional benefit.

 

[dclpluto]

We were told this week at work for the rest of the year we will probably only get 40 hours a week. They are having a hard time getting material in that we need to run. Hopefully things will get better early next year. Will probably just try to hold steady on my bills on where they are at now. Was going to try to get a year ahead and keep it about a year ahead. Things change that’s why it’s good to get ahead never know when it will get bad.