Paying Bills With a Credit Card?

[AKL_Megs]

I am just curious how everyone does this.

We are getting a Disney Rewards Visa, and plan on using it for the next 11 months to pay for EVERYTHING.

Obviously, we won't be using other credit cards, so we don't have to worry about that, but we do have the cable/internet bill, the cell phone bill, the electric, gas and water bills, car payments, as well as our rent (although I doubt our apartment takes credit cards ... but it wouldn't hurt to ask!)

I remember once, when our cell phone bill was going to be late if we mailed it, we called to pay it on time, and they charged us $15 to pay over the phone.

I want to say our gas and electric company has a surcharge for paying over the phone, too.

So, with all of these surcharges, how do you all do it?

 

[mnrose]

And, they are automatically charged to my credit card on the due date (I have 10-15 days to look at the bill to ensure that it's correct...I can call the utility if I see a discrepancy). There is no charge for this. If, however, I were to make a one time payment, several of them would charge me for the use of the credit card.

Investigate having them put to auto pay.

 

[OhMari]

You can pay your Disney VISA bill online or by phone.
Let's say you get paid on Friday. You pay your gas/phone, water/sewer bill on Friday using your DISNEY VISA. After you paid your bill with your card, call DISNEY CHASE and make a payment from your checking account that same day or within the next couple of days. That way, you are not paying on a daily balance for any interest.

I just wish Chase would let you make a payment with my debit/credit card. Then I would get rewards from my debit card. But their option is only your checking account. I could be wrong though, but I know by phone, it is only payable by your checkbook.

 

[JR6ooo4]

the easiest for me is to pay online through my bank. I can do an auto pay the same amount every month or individual payments.

Some banks charge for the service. Keep an eye on that.

Mikeeee

 

[laurie31]

And, they are automatically charged to my credit card on the due date (I have 10-15 days to look at the bill to ensure that it's correct...I can call the utility if I see a discrepancy). There is no charge for this. If, however, I were to make a one time payment, several of them would charge me for the use of the credit card.

Investigate having them put to auto pay.

This is what we do. The surcharges are for paying over the phone. We have all our bills on autopay. Everything possible goes on our card for the rewards. There's no need to pay off the card until the due date, so we just have one bill per month instead of all those little ones.It's much easier to manage. However, not everything can go on a credit card. The mortgage, for example (and not just because of current event...lol), and also the power and gas bills can't go on there, for us anyway. YYMV

Remember, to make your rewards cost effective, you must just buy what you would normally buy anyway. If you start racking up charges, your interest will be more than your benefit. However, if you pay your balance in full, on time, then just sit back and watch your reward points mount, just for buying the things you already buy (phone, cable, gasoline, groceries, etc.). It makes paying the bills a bit more palatable.

 

[ford family]

We pay everything with a credit card where payment doesn't attract any additional charge and then have the credit card set to full autopay each month. That way we never incur any charges and we get 2% cash back every January.

ford family

 

[Ohiodislover]

I do this a lot with my chase card for the free southwest miles. Quick way to rack up the points. You do need to take a look at the fees to each place though.

For instance, my cable and cell have a fee if I call and speak w/ someone to make the payment. If I do it online, or call directly from my cell phone to pay ATT, than there isn't a fee. Many of the bills I pay don't have any fee at all.

 

[Veronica Lodge]

I do autopay for my cell phone plan.

I think I am also able to pay my Verizon or electric bill on-line, which I do every month.

I have several bills that I cannot pay for with a cc, so I do it on-line directly thru my checking acct. I set up the bill-pay thru the creditor sites and pay no fees for any of them.

And I still have about 2 or 3 bills that do not accept any form of electronic payment and I have to use paper checks.

 

[Green Tea]

I have cable, Sirius, cell phones set up to automatically pay. This is from each provider's individual site.

I wouldn't think you could pay your car payments with a credit card though. Seems like the car loan wouldn't want to take an unsecured payment for something like that.

 

[jel0511]

We do this for all our bills, we really rack up the rewards this way

You can pay your Disney VISA bill online or by phone.
Let's say you get paid on Friday. You pay your gas/phone, water/sewer bill on Friday using your DISNEY VISA. After you paid your bill with your card, call DISNEY CHASE and make a payment from your checking account that same day or within the next couple of days. That way, you are not paying on a daily balance for any interest.

This is incorrect, as long as you pay the card off EVERY month, and don't carry a balance month to month, there are no daily finance charges leveled on your card. I pay off my card EVERY MONTH and have NEVER been leveled with finance charges.

 

[OhMari]

We do this for all our bills, we really rack up the rewards this way

This is incorrect, as long as you pay the card off EVERY month, and don't carry a balance month to month, there are no daily finance charges leveled on your card. I pay off my card EVERY MONTH and have NEVER been leveled with finance charges.

Sorry, I just got done paying for a package deal at WDW, that had 6 months of free financing. One month I waited till the bill arrived and they charged me daily interest, because of the outstanding credit I had yet. Sorry, I just find it easier on myself to pay both at once, that way, I don't forget.

 

[jel0511]

Sorry, I just got done paying for a package deal at WDW, that had 6 months of free financing. One month I waited till the bill arrived and they charged me daily interest, because of the outstanding credit I had yet. Sorry, I just find it easier on myself to pay both at once, that way, I don't forget.

See there lies you problem. You were carrying a balance, albeit a zero percent one, but still a balance month to month. That's how these companies get you. If you have a 0% promo rate on your account, ANY monies paid on the account, goes towards the promo first BEFORE any other charges are paid off. Also, by having the 0% balance you lose the normal 30 day grace period for interest free for paying off your charges. IF I use a 0% promo rate, I immediately stop using that card for daily purchases, that way I won't get hit with unnecessary finance charges.

I understand you wanting to pay it off so you won't forget, I personally find it easier to pay it off at the end of the month. Too much to do it when things get paid, to me that defeats the purpose of having every thing autocharged, I only have to pay bills once a month now.

 

[clutter]

I also write all of my charges to my credit card in my checkbook to ensure that I don't overspend my monthly budget. (Makes reconciling a bit of a chore, but it's worth it.)

 

[ead79]

We run as many bills as possible through our American Express so we can accumulate rewards. Of course you should check the terms and conditions of your own card, but with ours you don't get hit with any finance charges as long as you pay the bill in full at the end of each statement--with ours there is no need to call and make multiple payments each month.

It's nice to get something for nothing when it comes to rewards points. We have the Starwood Preferrred Guest Amex, and it's been great for earning points for free nights at the Swan/Dolphin.

 

[Green Tea]

See there lies you problem. You were carrying a balance, albeit a zero percent one, but still a balance month to month. That's how these companies get you. If you have a 0% promo rate on your account, ANY monies paid on the account, goes towards the promo first BEFORE any other charges are paid off. Also, by having the 0% balance you lose the normal 30 day grace period for interest free for paying off your charges. IF I use a 0% promo rate, I immediately stop using that card for daily purchases, that way I won't get hit with unnecessary finance charges.

That is true with most any card EXCEPT the Disney Visa. You truly can get the 6 months on this card. You can pay the other charges, plus 1/6th or however of the vacation balance. The money is first applied to the regular charges, then extra goes to the vacation balance. Generally these promos are not consumer friendly, but the Disney one actually works like it sounds.

 

[rgf207]

I pay most of my bills online using the merchant's online service (phone, directv etc). I use my disney visa for a couple reasons:

1. We get reward points
2. If there is ever a security breach on these servers, I don't want my debit card number on there since it's harder to recover those funds. If they get my disney visa number it's really easy to dispute and reverse charges.

I pay my Disney Visa off after that and we get the reward points.

 

[FireDancer]

Every sincgle thing I can pay with a credit card I pay with my Chase Freedom. This includes my DirecTv, insurance, cell phone, home phone, groceries, everything. I get 1% - 3% cash back so it is like a getting 1% - 3% on every single bill. Of course this only works if you pay the card off entirely every month so you don't have to pay any interest.

 

[Pakey]

We pay for everything on our mileage card; utilities/phone are on autopay but we do groceries, medical bills, all large purchases (furniture, art, even a new automobile) and vacations on the card. I collect enough points that every other year when my husband and I take our adult children/spouses on vacation, I have enough miles to buy all of the plane tickets.

As long as you pay that card in full every month, it's a great way to get some free benefits.