New job & new house = turning over a new leaf. Online billpaying ??

[moopdog]

I will spare you the details but let me just say that we're doing a lot of different things financially, my DH got a new assignment in June, and in two weeks I will have a new job too that gives me a very nice raise (much deserved thank you very much. We are also trying to sell our house and will finance our new house at a lower rate, etc.

For once we're trying to do the right things financially. Make actual effort, anyway. I think paying bills online is a good first step. Do you all got to each website individually and pay when due, or do you have it auto deducted or use some kind of service? I'm clueless on this. And just paid my Kohls charge for the first time online this weekend which was enlightening!

 

[disny_luvr]

I do my online billpaying through my bank. I just started doing this a few months ago when we switched to a new bank. It is so easy and convenient. The first time I paid my bills online I had to enter all the information - account #, company address, etc. I have it set up that each month the bill is deducted on the same date (unless it falls on a weekend), then when a get the bill in the mail I sign online and just change the amount to be paid. So for example, last month my gas bill was 21.xx and this month it was 24.xx. When I got my new bill I entered the new amount to be deducted otherwise, the amount from last month (21.xx) would have been deducted again.

I hope this makes sense. I'm not the best at putting things into words sometimes.

Give it a try. You'll love it and you'll never forget to pay a bill again.

 

[disny_luvr]

Oh, I forgot to add that about one week before the bill is deducted I get a reminder email from my bank. I also get one the day before and one after the bill has been paid. It is really easy to keep track of when bills will be paid and when the money will be taken from your account.

 

[My3Princez]

I prefer to have the business I owe automatically deduct the payments from my checking account. That way if something goes wrong and the payment is late, it's their fault not mine and I don't get any late fees. The only exception to this is any health club memeberships. It is notoriously hard to get them to STOP taking funds from your account if/when you quit the gym!

 

[nunzia]

I like BillPay through the bank where I manually enter in each bill.. I like the process I guess of choosing what and when to pay instead of having it done for me. I do make a paper budget that is general..simple really, just a piece of paper with a line down the middle and 15th and 30th on the tops. I then write down my basic budget guesses. Then on a small legal pad I write down the real budget after bills come in..like gas and electric are due the same pay period so I budget in $150.00..then when the actual bills come in they are written on the actual budget (good thing I keep close track..I got an electric bill for $191 YIKES and called them and the guy had read the meter wrong and it was really only $66 so glad I didn't just have auto deduct.) On the real bill I also have CC charges we have made so I can pay those..etc. Always, at the TOP of the real budget is savings...always pay yourselves first

 

[horseshowmom]

The majority of our bills are paid online through our bank. Some of them my husband has a set amount that goes each month. For example, he sends $150 a month to the electric company. Generally, that's enough to cover each month's bill (sometimes the bill is less, sometimes more, but there's overage built up). He does look at each month's bill just to make sure the $150 will cover it, if not, he adjusts the amount for that month (sometimes in the winter when the bill is higher, for example). Other bills he pays whatever the amount due it.

There are a few that I pay directly since we don't always have a balance on them (Kohls, JCPenney, Macy's, etc.).

I love online bill paying and think it's the best thing since sliced bread!

 

[Pembo]

I have them auto-deducted each month. I've found that it makes budgeting easier. Most bills are the same amount each month. The only ones I manually pay are the credit cards.

 

[Marionnette]

I do it a little different.

If the recurring bill accepts credit cards for payment without charging a service fee, then the bill gets automatically placed on a CC. If not, then I pay it thru my bank.

For my CCs, I have it set up to automatically pay the minimum payment by the due date if they have not received my payment by then. But I also pay my bill thru the CC's website. The automatic minimum payment is just set up as a safety net in the event that I either forget to make the payment on time or otherwise get hung up.

There are only two bills that I mail a check for...the electric bill for our house (because PECO could screw up a one car funeral so I don't trust them with access to my bank account) and the gas bill for my son's college apartment (because he only rents for 10 months at a time and it's not worth setting up autopayments for 10 bills).

 

[disneychrista]

I have all my bills "autopay" either through the website or through my bank. I never have to think about paying a bill. So much easier and no forgetting.

 

[bettymae1121]

I use my bank's bill pay feature (Chase) to pay all my bills. Never once had an issue with a payment not getting received on-time. Any bill that is the same amount each month (mortgage, car payment, insurance, utility bill that's on a yearly average plan, etc.) I just set up and it gets paid the same day every month. Anything where the amount changes (a credit card bill for example) I do enter in manually, but it only takes a second.

To help track it all, I also use Quicken. Those same bills that get paid the same day/same amount each month also automaticly pop up in my check register each month, and it downloads transactions from many of my accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.) so I don't have to enter them manually either.

All in all, my personal finances are pretty well automated. I do keep an eye on things of course, double checking to make sure nothing gets missed. but by and large it pretty much runs itself. It will take you a while to get things set up, but in a month or two you can get yourself up and running.

 

[herdtoDisney]

Something to think about...I know people think the online bill paying is so great, but you're one falling tree branch away from an internet outage

Many people here found that out this week !

 

[StephMK]

I don't like to use our bank because I want to know exactly when the payment gets applied. If I go directly to the sites, then I am positive it comes out on the day I tell them. We do auto pay for bills that are the same each month - power/gas/water are all on budget billing, phone, internet, etc. For the rest of the bills, I go to those sites and put in the payments. I do not mail any bills anymore.

 

[Melynny]

I also use the electronic bill paying option by my credit union. I absolutely love my credit unions system.. but I hate the system my husband's bank uses. I had to enter the information as a PP mentioned, but after that, its as easy as entering the amount I want to pay and what day I want that paid on.

I usually do this 2 times each month and leave plenty of time for emergencies.. such as internet outages.. either mine or the banks.. also most bank transactions actually are electronic, after your check gets there so I think I am just saving a step. I also think using electronic banking is going to be a bit safer than sending a check with all my personal information thru the mail. I have had my mail lost, mutilated and stolen, so each kind of payment has its own risks.

I have some payments set up for "automatic" and others I pay when I get the bill. My Credit Union also lets me send a check by them, they pay the postage, like say to my dentist, or to an individual whom I would like to pay.. Free! I love that service! Love it, Love it, Love it! I can pay bills in about 10 minutes. It's a great timesaver.. now if there would just be more money left!

Edited to add: If there are outages... either power or internet.. you can almost always pay ccard or other bills by phone.. sometimes there is a charge, but if there's an emergency and the bill must be paid on a certain day all you need is the bill, account number , your checking account number and bank routing number.

 

[Eeyore98]

Something to think about...I know people think the online bill paying is so great, but you're one falling tree branch away from an internet outage

Many people here found that out this week !

Yes, but nothing is stopping you from sending in a physical payment in that case.

I generally opt to get paper statements from the mortgage, utilities, CC, etc. But then I pay them using my bank's online billpay.

I also NEVER give a company access to take money from my bank directly. Depending on who the company is, you can run into serious problems with them accidentally posting multiple payments, continuing to take payments after you no longer have a relationship with them, etc. A prior poster mentioned gyms. My mother had a similar issue with the parochial high school she sent us to. Trying to get it straightened out is always a huge pain in the rear, and in the meantime, the money is gone from your account.

Slight disclaimer: I *did* do this with my student loans, because they offered me an interest break to do so. But I set up a totally different account just for them to take money from, and I transfer the payment over there from my main checking every month. Very easy to do with online banking. If they ever pulled too much, all I would risk was an overdraft fee, that would be corrected when everything was straightened out. And now after the banking reform, I don't even risk the overdraft -- they just cannot get any more money than the standard payment amount that I put in there every month.

My Credit Union also lets me send a check by them, they pay the postage, like say to my dentist, or to an individual whom I would like to pay.. Free! I love that service! Love it, Love it, Love it! I can pay bills in about 10 minutes. It's a great timesaver

My bank does this too - I love it! It lets me pay anyone with my online banking! We bought DH's parents' old car for their quoted trade-in price a few years ago, and paid them back over the course of a year. They live about 2 hours away, so we'd have had to mail them a check either way - we used this service to pay them. Worked great!

 

[herdtoDisney]

Edited to add: If there are outages... either power or internet.. you can almost always pay ccard or other bills by phone.. sometimes there is a charge, but if there's an emergency and the bill must be paid on a certain day all you need is the bill, account number , your checking account number and bank routing number.

During the extended outage this week (that is not completely resolved) the cell phone towers were having trouble at times. And for folks who had downed power lines, the phone lines are on the same poles-so the phone lines got snapped also. And sometimes the issue is on the other end, if they are having the outage.

I'm just saying, it's not 100% reliable, and people who pay online should probably keep a book of stamps around

 

[drjny]

I charge everything above about $20 to credit cards. I use cash for purchases less than about $20. I use autopay for my credit card bills since the bills are always due on the same day each month. I just have to make sure there is enough money in the checking account to cover the bills.

 

[tink2dw]

I had so much trouble with auto pay and bounced checks, yuck!

Then I went to paying by virtial check on each bills website! And that works very well. I check each site for the total, check my bank balance, then pay each bill on each website, then I print each paid bill.

In 2003 I had a health scare, so I taught my college age Daughter to help me pay the Bills. Fast forward today, more health issues so Dd pays the bills for me every month! And she is so computer smart she saves the paid bill on the computer saving ink and paper!!

 

[Swmr359]

I love my online bill pay! As soon as I get a bill I enter it in and set up the date to be paid (usually right after pay day). Then I set up a one time automatic transfer for the total amount of bills for that day.
When I was paying by check I never knew when the check would be cashed, now I get an email when the transfer is made and one when the payments are sent out. And because I do it all through my bank I can see all my payments in one place and see when they were paid.
I have one bill on auto-pay right now and I hate it, I always forget when it's coming.

As for outages...I enter my bills in the system as soon as I get them, even if they aren't due for a month. So if the internet went out I would have time to find another option-either wait a few days for things to come back up, or mail a check.

 

[Swimalie]

I pay each bill through my bank. I will not go to the bill's website and let them deduct. When you do this, you are authorizing them to not only deduct the amount due, but have access to your account. This is not recommended unless you 100% trust a company to do the right thing, never make a mistake - every single month. And a national guy even agrees with me http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/cla...ccount-debits-not-good-paying-monthly-b/nFgX/

 

[nunzia]

Something to think about...I know people think the online bill paying is so great, but you're one falling tree branch away from an internet outage

Many people here found that out this week !

good point..but I do still have checks and know how to use them if need be