SubscribeSun 11 Nov 2007
It’s been a while since I’ve had a “One Topic.” Today’s topic, Online Bill Pay/Auto Bill Pay. This topic is particularly pertinent for me this past bill cycle. I tend to screw up my bill payments when I go on vacation. A few months ago, I decided to take preventive measures. I had an automatic payment directed at my credit card, I was able to avoid missing a payment while I was on this past vacation. However because my automatic payment was only $50, I did as a result end up carrying a balance which has resulted in a finance charge. I’ll gladly pay that small finance charge yet avoid the late fee as a penalty for my carelessness. Here’s what others have to say about online bill pay.
- Boston Gal talks cites some risks to automatic payments. I tend to avoid anything that has a renewal provision as an automatic payment. In general I tend to favor “push” payments rather than pull payments. “Push” payments are payments that you initiate rather than a “pull” payment that is initiated by the service provider.
- Young Money answers if Automatic Bill Pay will hurt the credit score. Short answer - No!.
- MakingOurWay ponders if automatic payments weakens the ability to dispute a charge.
- Ten Minute Tip: Setup Bill Pay, courtesy of Blue Print For Financial Prosperity
- Bill Surfing by Big Cajun Man Not sure why the Big Cajun is in Canada, but he offers a creative if slightly complicated method of managing payments
- Consumerist reviews Mint.com For people using online bill payment, Mint is a nice service to monitor your accounts if you’re not worried about potential security issues.
- Aundi at Queercents discusses the benefits of Online Banking and Bill Pay
- Rocket Finance lets in on a bunus for existing Chase customers to get a $50 bonus for using online bill pay.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to the RSS feed
November 13th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Any deep thoughts on finance software packages? I’m considering Quicken for budgeting and bill payment. What’s your thoughts ?
November 14th, 2007 at 1:54 am
I rarely forgot my payment due dates, but still I have preferred to use my citibank visa one bill service for all my monthly bills.
Trust me, It keeps simplify your life, keeps your heads clean and you can always focus on other important things like your family care or even thinking on how to make more money!
But always remember your card rules on charges & penalties, some may cause trouble if you don’t know them right.
J.C. Carvill
Email: support@cosmosing.com
URL: http://www.cosmosing.com/jeanclaudecarvill/index.php
November 14th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Ernesto, I used to use Quicken, but I found it for me too much work personally getting all the information in reconciling everything. Other people love it.
I use Yodlee.com to aggregrate almost all my data and then download into an excel spreadsheet. I find that system works best for me. I don’t reconcile anything though - I merely check the transactions, and make sure things seems to add up right.