carguy123 wrote:SVreX wrote: I held out forever, but recently caved on a couple of the big ones. My mortgage is paid automatically, etc. The reason is that I realized the impact of automated systems on credit ratings. 1 day late didn't used to mean very much. Now it can trigger all kinds of automatic dings on my credit report.1 day late can't hurt you, but 31 days does.
1 day later than 30 days.
I used to pay bills twice a month. I realized that a lot of companies have shortened their billing cycle.
Used to be the cycle ended on the 25th, the statements were received by the 27th or 28th, the payments were due by the 15th, which meant the statement could sit on my desk for 10 days and still have plenty of time to reach them by the deadline.
Then the statements started arriving around the 3rd, and payments were due by the 12th. That is just tight enough that my casually sitting down twice a month no longer works. I need to be worried about them very soon when they arrive.
Of course, the credit companies do this intentionally to generate late payment revenues. But they also set up automated reporting systems which ding my credit rating. I am assuming they don't really care about my credit, just their late fees. But the net result is pretty painful, and essentially 1 day did make a difference.
I spent 30 years paying all my bills on time with an impeccable credit rating. I changed nothing, but starting a couple of years ago all of a sudden my credit rating was getting dinged on stuff like this. Dropped my credit score by nearly 300 points.
So, I changed. Some online and automated payments solved the problem. But I don't like it.
the only time I have ever used auto bill paying was a car loan ( 2001 for 4 yrs ) loan was through my credit union and my checking account was with the same institution .... gained 1% point by using auto pay
JoeyM wrote:Javelin wrote: I don't think anybody here is regularly paying bills (besides GRM subscriptions) with a check.As usual, I'm the oddball.
that makes two of us.
80% of my bills are auto pay. Been doing it for years no problems. The bills that aren't auto I pay online. At this point I don't have a need for a checkbook.
The last thing I send on paper is the rent payment. And I don't use checks-I send money orders. I had a bad landlord once that wouldn't cash a check until three weeks after you'd written it. When I was broke, that was almost a guarantee that it was bouncy time.
I pay online, but I have a separate checking account that only gets just enough for the bills transferred into it. And I never use the card from the real account online.
Oh, and I never auto-pay. Old habit..when I was broke, I never knew in advance which bill would have to be skipped that month.
I like auto pay for fixed bills.
friedgreencorrado wrote: I had a bad landlord once that wouldn't cash a check until three weeks after you'd written it. When I was broke, that was almost a guarantee that it was bouncy time.
With all due respect, the fact that you don't keep your checkbook balanced is not your landlord's fault.
the only cheque I have on prepay is car insurance. Worth a $10 savings a month
pay my ins every 6 months... lots bigger savings than monthly + I use my credit card and get an additional 1% back
SVreX wrote:friedgreencorrado wrote: I had a bad landlord once that wouldn't cash a check until three weeks after you'd written it. When I was broke, that was almost a guarantee that it was bouncy time.With all due respect, the fact that you don't keep your checkbook balanced is not your landlord's fault.
You make a very valid point if someone is making a living wage, I just ask folks to remember that there are a lot of people who do not. Not so much in my case (my situation was due to high child support payments), but many of my neighbors then were in that boat through no fault of their own.
BTW: I'm not angry you said it..again, it's a valid point. 
Duke wrote: I pay everything online, but I absolutely *refuse* to do automatic payments for anything. I review my bills individually and have 2 dates a month set aside to log in to my bank and pay them. No *way* am I just giving them carte blanche to effectively pay themselves with my account information.
+1 Online bill pay is the tits. I pay bills when I want without the hassle of stamps. I schedule payments usually a month in advance which has done wonders for being able to budget how much money I have. I also monitor my account and balance my ledger almost every day.
I've only had auto payment once for a car loan through my bank - because they offered a 1% rate discount.
Curmudgeon wrote: The ONLY thing I have on auto pay is XM Radio since you can't get it otherwise. That's on my only credit card which is insulated from all my other accounts. Everything else I either mail or drop off a check or I will make one time online payments.
True. I do have auto-pay for a few things, a monthly donation, my ez pass bill, AAA... But I pay those through one of my credit cards.
One thing I do that helps on not being late is that when a bill arrives, I open it, and then write on the envelope the due date and amount. Then I add it to the stack. The stack is filed in order of due dates, with the soonest due at the top of the stack. The stack lives in front of the keyboard. Thus, every time I sit down at the desk, the soonest due bill is starring me in the face. My next bill due is August 5.
I also tend to pay them early if the cashflow allows. For instance, I paid the house payment a week ago, 2 weeks before the due date and 4 before the late date.
SVreX wrote:friedgreencorrado wrote: I had a bad landlord once that wouldn't cash a check until three weeks after you'd written it. When I was broke, that was almost a guarantee that it was bouncy time.With all due respect, the fact that you don't keep your checkbook balanced is not your landlord's fault.
Yeah, sounds like a good thing to me, more time to scrape up the money if you're not quite there on the first.
Javelin wrote:foxtrapper wrote: Huge difference between automatic payments and automatic withdraws.Not really. Unless it's you setting up the bank or CU to send in a pre-determined amount that you specify with specific instructions to not alter, the receiver can request a different amount and usually get it as it's all automated.
That's exactly what I'm talking about, and why it's a huge difference.
If I set up my bank account with instructions to PAY someone $50 a month, that's what will happen, and all that will happen. The person receiving the payment from me cannot ask the bank for anything. They cannot change the amount. I am in total control.
On the other hand, setting up an automatic WITHDRAW gives someone else access to my account, and gives them control. This is the one where they can hit my account for anything they chose. For it is effectively now a joint account. Very dangerous, and, very different.
^ yes.
agreed.
I still pay bills by check. I get paid bi-weekly, so if I can send the bills out early, I can. If I can't, I send them out the day or two they are supposed to be received by. I have 4 bills, (rent, lights, cable, cell phone) and can plan out when I send the checks out except for the rent. All the others get sent out around that one.
Here's a good example of why online payments can be a good thing...I got my credit card bill in the mail today, and discovered that last month's bill never arrived. It may have been lost in the mail or misdelivered (most likely, I have a terrible mailman) but in any case it didn't get paid, so this month's bill had a nice penalty charge and interest added on. 
Yes, I should have noticed that it wasn't delivered, but if I'd had my account set up so I'd receive an email when the bill was due I wouldn't have missed it.
You luddites do realize that the only information creditors need from you to set up an auto-debit are your account and routing numbers, which are PRINTED ON THE PAPER CHECK you send them every month, right?
Josh wrote: You luddites do realize that the only information creditors need from you to set up an auto-debit are your account and routing numbers, which are PRINTED ON THE PAPER CHECK you send them every month, right?
lalalala....I'm not listening to you
In reply to stuart in mn:
I know when my credit card billing cycles end and look at the online statement and schedule the payments before I actually get the bills in the mail.
Josh wrote: You luddites do realize that the only information creditors need from you to set up an auto-debit are your account and routing numbers, which are PRINTED ON THE PAPER CHECK you send them every month, right?
Yes, I know that. That is where I got the info from to set up my paycheck automatic deposit which is mandatory. We use paper checks still to track where our money goes and because my accountant (SWMBO) doesn't know how to use a computer to pay online. She's old school. Which you also have to put that same info in when you pay online so not really any difference.
I pay all my bills online, but NEVER automatic payment/withdrawl. That stuff creeps me out.
Josh wrote: You luddites do realize that the only information creditors need from you to set up an auto-debit are your account and routing numbers, which are PRINTED ON THE PAPER CHECK you send them every month, right?
No, it isn't. There is enough information for them to comit fraud, which is a different animal entirely. And you, the victim of this crime, are well protected from it.
The fraud they can commit is the passing of a fake check. Be it electronic or paper. It's completely different than auto-debit, and is a single event. Though it can be done multiple times.
To get access to auto-debit the account requires your authorization. That isn't on the paper check. They would need to pose as you at the bank, filing fake authorization, or do it online after hacking your PC and getting your account ID and password. None of which is on the paper check.
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