Best Way to Pay Bills?

[honobob]

I use BOA and link all my other accounts through "My Portfolio" so I don't have to remember passwords. I specify date I want the check to be there and they get it there on time and debit on that day. Some accounts will "e-bill" with BOA and send them an electronic bill that I can view and payment usually takes 1-2 days. I can pay anyone anywhere. I never write a check. If I need to hand someone a check I have it mailed to me in their name.
"My Portfolio" keeps track of my net worth/miles/real estate market values.
I don't allow anyone access to my account and don't set anything on automatic pay.

Direct deposit or some balance gets it free! I can also transfer funds from credit unions or other banks.

 

[samclem]

Free4now,
Nice password system. I do things in a similar way, but hadn't thought of using a portion of the site URL as a portion of the password.

The advent of biometric ID procedures holds lots of civil liberties pitfalls, but it will sure be nice to say goodbye to passwords and PINs.

 

[jazz4cash]

BofA works very well for me. They have recently changed to a "deliver by" format and even my obscure (small credit union) accounts are paid in 5 business days. Most large accounts (utilities, etc.) get paid in 2 days. Funds stay in the account until deliver by date. Reccurring bill payment feature is fairly flexible and I am thinking about using it for everything that I can reasonable estimate.

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, I just switched to the recurring bill payment for those bills that are close to the same every month. This means even less babysitting the bills!

I really love how BofA does ebills - very slick.

Audrey

 

[Meadbh]

I use a credit card for Everything and pay it off via a on-line transfer once a month.

For all recurring bills like utilities, property taxes I have automatic withdrawals set-up on a checking account. I don't even have to think about it anymore.

I basically pay 1 bill a month - The credit card via an on-line transfer. - No paper, no stamps, no check writing.

Ditto. Preauthorized withdrawals are by far the most efficient way to pay recurring bills that don't vary a lot, especially if you are away frequently; that way, they are always paid on time. Just make sure your current bank account has sufficient cash without holds on it. I keep a money market account linked to my chequing account so that any surplus cash is earning more interest. I travel quite a bit so I can keep an eye on this from anywhere and can transfer funds between the accounts if necessary.

I use my (one) credit card for everything else if possible. And if, as I do, you have a credit card is linked to benefits (e.g. airline points), so much the better. I pay my credit card bill in full using online banking, always setting the payment date a minimum of 2 workiing days prior to the due date and recording the transaction number. I reserve cheques for firms which don't accept other forms of payment, so nowadays I use very few cheques or stamps.

The only time this didn't work for me was when I let things get too close to the wire and paid my credit card bill based on the cash flow from a cheque that I had deposited into my chequing account, without realizing that there was a 6 day hold on the incoming cheque. But, because I have private banking, the bank reimbursed me for the interest and I now have no holds on incoming cheques. Scotiabank: nice bank if you are a Canadian, and many international branches too!

Meadbh

 

[Goonie]

I have some of my accounts, like internet, life ins, and a couple others setup to Auto EFT on a given date. (new car loan will be starting next month)

For cellphone, satelite tv, CC, car ins, and a couple others, I use that vendor's site to pay online, either directly from my checking acct or using a CC directly linked to that checking acct. It takes me a total of about 15 minutes a month. Since I know the exact date that a new bill is posted for those accounts, I pay it that day and get it out of the way. That way I don't forget about it, or wake up in the middle of the night and think "Did I pay that bill"

I keep a ledger book with a section for each account, and record the basic info (current balance, balance due and/or minimum due, due date, amount & date paid or invested, current int. rate, etc) I have Quicken AND Money, but never really cared for either. I may be nutz but I prefer my 'hard copy'. (which, by the way, is kept in a waterproof/fireproof safe even though I could recover all that info fairly easily with a little time & effort)

It's nice to be able to grab my book and take a gander at where every cent of my hard earned $$$ is going, and at loan balances dwindling, and investments sky-rocketing....

This system works for ME...it may not work as well for others. Each to there own. But in all these years I have never missed OR been late with a payment. Not one....ever! And that makes me VERY happy!!! Also, that keeps my credit score and FICO score VERY high! And THAT makes me VERY happy, too!!! It also guarantees that I will invest on a very regular basis....and THAT will make me VERY, VERY happy later in life when I'm ready to start making withdrawals!!!

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Checks, envelopes, stamps. That's it for me.

JG

 

[Corporateburnout]

BoFA works great for me. They deduct the money from any account you specify on the bill's pay date you specify and it's all itemized on your statement. Never had a problem with this method except on a couple of occasions when I specified the wrong date..........

 

[bosco]

BoFA works great for me. They deduct the money from any account you specify on the bill's pay date you specify and it's all itemized on your statement. Never had a problem with this method except on a couple of occasions when I specified the wrong date..........

same experience here. And even when I screwed up, they were willing to reverse the charges once I convinced them it was just a dumb mistake.

 

[Goonie]

Checks, envelopes, stamps. That's it for me.

JG

You mean they still make those things

I had to dig out my checkbook the other day to write a check for the car payment (they said I HAD TO make 1st pymt by check. It's been so long since I'd written one, I had to sit there and think about how to do it!

That was my 3rd check this year....tied with last year. I had hoped to get it down to 2 this year, and 1 next year, and 0 from there on. Oh well...the best layed plans..... .....

 

[TromboneAl]

Same here. I have a real hard time writing out numbers in script (e.g. 3,921.00).

 

[BOBOT]

Checks, envelopes, stamps. That's it for me.

JG

Plus the delicious taste of glue. What do you wash it down with?

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Plus the delicious taste of glue. What do you wash it down with?

Bourbon. After a while, you don't care what you were charged.

JG

 

[Cut-Throat]

Checks, envelopes, stamps. That's it for me.

JG

Why? - Why not save a few bucks? - Not to mention the time and hassle?

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Why? - Why not save a few bucks? - Not to mention the time and hassle?

Technophobe............big time!

JG

 

[Delawaredave]

I pay all my bills via bankin on line. Works great.

Yet I still get "paper delivery" of the bills each month - I stack them and then log in and pay at once.

Does everyone get "electronic delivery" - I guess an email -of the bill ? I kind of like the paper record and I'd be afraid I'd miss if only came by email.

 

[Cut-Throat]

I pay all my bills via bankin on line. Works great.

Yet I still get "paper delivery" of the bills each month - I stack them and then log in and pay at once.

Does everyone get "electronic delivery" - I guess an email -of the bill ? I kind of like the paper record and I'd be afraid I'd miss if only came by email.

Why not use Automatic Electronic Withdrawals? - No need to even think about bills then! - No need to stack them, Log them in and pay them at all!

When I download transactions into my Quicken Account they are automatically entered into the register and catagorized for budgeting purposes.

 

[Goonie]

Does everyone get "electronic delivery" - I guess an email -of the bill ? I kind of like the paper record and I'd be afraid I'd miss if only came by email.

Some of my accounts send an email stating something to the effect "New Statement has been posted". But regardless of email notification or not, I know what date a new statement posts, (ins, CC, etc) so I just log on to their site, and pay the piper.

I have gone paperless on some, and am in the process of doing the same with the rest. They say that a vast amount of identity theft occurs through the theft of snail mail. I have not had that problem up to this point, and am making every effort to never have that problem. The mail doesn't have to be lifted from your mailbox either....sometimes it just accidentily gets drop at the wrong address. Ocassionally mail will stick together, and I will get some of my neighbor's mail, which for us is not a major problem since we pick up each other's mail during vacations or whatever.

So you get your paper bill, write a check, and drop it in the mailbox. Will it arrive at the proper destination on time? Or at all? There is no guarantee. You cross your eyes fingers, and hope so. With online payments at the vendor's website (ins, CC, etc) it's a "done deal" in a matter of minutes (or less) and they give you a payment confirmation number right then. Or use your Bank's BillPay option and get about the same benefit, except the payment doesn't post as quick...it may take a few to several days. But it is still more secure than a check through the mail.

In a nutshell.....Paperless is by far more secure!!! (IMHO)

 

[kaudrey]

peggy said: I have a combination of automatic withdrawals (mortgage, utilities, car payment) and otherwise use my bank's electronic bill-pay program.

-----

Me too! I get most of my bills through email too, less paper for me, the better. I haven't missed a payment by not getting paper.

karen

 

[LOL!]

I do not get the same satisfaction from e-bills as I do paper bills. With an e-bill, I cannot wave the statement in front of my spouse and say, "Look! Don't run the A/C so cold because it cost you an extra $638 last month!"


Sure, I could print out the e-bill, but why waste my time?

 

[BOBOT]

Bourbon. After a while, you don't care what you were charged.

JG

That's how I do my taxes!

 

[jazz4cash]

Does everyone get "electronic delivery" - I guess an email -of the bill ? I kind of like the paper record and I'd be afraid I'd miss if only came by email.

I get sooo many emails, these could get lost in the shuffle, so I stick with snail mail delivery and pay online with BofA. I would consider e-bills, but they gotta make me an offer to share the savings.......my minimum would be $1 per mo or some comparable consideration. My ex-phone co charged this much for paper statements. If I e-bill, I would get paranoid without having a piece of paper, so by the time I print the e-bills to scrutinize, breakdown my cost per unit volume, and extrapolate the results.........its costs me ink, paper, etc.

 

[Mwsinron]

We pay everything online through Bank of America. Works really well for us. We try to charge everything we can on one of our credit cards. At the end of the year we get a few hundred dollars back. If you dont carry a balance its free money

 

[audreyh1]

One of the best things about doing all electronic statements, electronic bill pay (especially the notification), etc., is that you don't have to worry about bills getting paid while you travel - assuming you travel with a computer, of course. Our lives got a lot easier a couple of years ago when we went with all electronic or automatic bill pay.

And now it's essential! It's much easier being a fulltime RVer when everything can be done electronically, as snail mail has to be forwarded and that really slows things down. I feel much more secure not having any paper bills forwarded (especially not credit card statements). And (almost) all my mutual fund statements are done on-line.

But they still have to send those darn IRS forms by snail mail! Major security problem IMO - I actually had some "get lost" in the mail early this year and had to do the whole credit freeze bit.

Audrey

 

[Corporateburnout]

One of the best things about doing all electronic statements, electronic bill pay (especially the notification), etc., is that you don't have to worry about bills getting paid while you travel - assuming you travel with a computer, of course. Our lives got a lot easier a couple of years ago when we went with all electronic or automatic bill pay.

And now it's essential! It's much easier being a fulltime RVer when everything can be done electronically, as snail mail has to be forwarded and that really slows things down. I feel much more secure not having any paper bills forwarded (especially not credit card statements). And (almost) all my mutual fund statements are done on-line.

But they still have to send those darn IRS forms by snail mail! Major security problem IMO - I actually had some "get lost" in the mail early this year and had to do the whole credit freeze bit.

Audrey

I don't even file paper tax returns anymore. If you use a financial software such as Quicken you can download your information into Taxcut or TurboTax software and e-file. This will even make it much easier for travellers don't you think?