bills

Saving Money On Utility Bills

February 25, 2021 By Joe Wallace Leave a Comment

Right now everybody wants to know about saving money on utility bills. The Texas winter weather debacle is a powerful reminder that it’s a very good idea to make sure your home is not robbing you of hard-earned money. The spikes in natural gas demand drove prices higher and people were suddenly forced to reckon with thousand-dollar-and-up utility bills.

When the power comes back on for these people, it’s entirely likely they’ll be wanting to learn how they can save money in the future with their utility bills, having been badly burned by things they didn’t see coming.

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Taking Stock Of The Home

After the initial shock of that dissipates, many homeowners and renters alike–myself included–want to double down on the efficiency of their homes to avoid losing money for preventable reasons.

My own version of this started by checking all my windows. Sure enough, mine were drafty. And it was below freezing outside when I checked, so you can imaging how that must have felt–realizing I’d been letting money literally blow away because of poorly sealed up windows.

Once I fixed that, I started looking at other things around the house; that drippy faucet suddenly had my full attention. The fact that my fridge needs to be turned up VERY high to keep my food cold means either I’ve got an overstuffed fridge (sometimes I do) OR a unit that needs to be maintained properly.

One area I was already thankfully squared away in? My thermostat. It’s one of the “smart” thermostats which have programmable timers and other functions designed to increase the energy efficiency of the home. This is an investment well worth making. If you have a “dumb” thermostat and own your own home, seriously consider one of these.

Saving Money On Utility Bills With Gadgets

One of the last things I did after fiddling with my already-fancy environmental controls (fancy for ME, this is one of the typical systems and not a “Cadillac of A/C and heating”) I immediately made the rounds of the house cleaning out the ductwork and grills, closing some and opening others to help maximize the airflow where it’s needed.

One thing I am glad I don’t have to change–most of my appliances are already those with Energy Star ratings. This is a good thing.

I don’t have any numbers to give you regarding how much all of this might save me–after all, this is a project I embarked on in the last week or two at the time of this writing. But the whole exercise left me feeling like my efficiency was on the rise and my money-wasting problems where the utilities are concerned are–with a bit of luck–fading in the background.

If you have never taken stock of your home in this way, don’t delay–you could be spending a lot more than you think unnecessarily.

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How To Put Bills Payment On Autopilot

April 23, 2020 By Kathryn Vercillo Leave a Comment

We only have so much mental capacity. When your attention goes towards tending to one thing, it’s at the expensive of other things. For example, if you constantly worry about when your bills are due, then you use up mental space that could be going towards creative thinking, project planning, family goals, or simply daydreaming.

Yes, of course, you do have to tend to certain things in your own financial life. However, you can also automate a lot of your financial life. For example, you can set all of your bills to autopay so that you don’t ever have to worry about them again, especially if your providers utilize public sector payment solutions. That takes that monthly hassle off of your mind and gives you the chance to use that brain space for something better.

Why Automate Bills Payment?

When you put your bills payment on autopilot, you save yourself a lot of trouble. For me, the benefit is mostly in relieving myself of the stress of having it on my To Do list. I like to keep that list as short as possible, allowing my brain maximum attention for other, more interesting, things. However, that’s not the only reason to automate bill pay.

One huge reason, of course, is that you won’t ever have late payments again. If you set up autopay then you can rest assured that unless there is some huge glitch in the system, your bills will all get paid on time. I’ve had my bills payment on autopilot for years and have never had such a glitch occur. Many people worry about this and the fear causes them to hesitate to automate their finances, but I’ve found that there are rarely problems with automatic bill pay. Furthermore, in the instances where problems do occur, they are usually easily fixed.

How to Put Bills Payment on Autopilot

If you’re ready to put your bills on autopilot, then all that you need is a little bit of time and your account numbers.

First, list out all of your monthly bills. These may include:

Rent or mortgage
Insurance payments
Utilities, phone, and cable
Credit card payments
Payments to other loans
Miscellaneous subscriptions

Set Up a Rewards Credit Card to Autopay Some Bills

Determine how you want to autopay each bill. Generally speaking, you can put utilities and subscriptions on a credit card. However, you have to pay your credit card with your checking account. I recommend paying all bills that you can on a rewards credit card to maximize the benefits of your payments. Then set that credit card to autopay with your checking account.

For example, let’s say that you have Hulu and Netflix subscriptions. Those are probably already set to autopay to whatever payment method you used to set them up. Go in to your account settings and make sure that you are using a rewards credit card for those accounts. You can also go in to your other online accounts and see if they accept credit card auto-payment. For example, I’m able to pay my AT&T phone and Internet bill using autopay with a credit card. However, my electric company doesn’t accept autopay with credit cards so for that one I can only pay with my checking account information.

Note that you can generally enter autopay information into the “payment settings” section of most online accounts. Each site is different, of course. The tab were you set up payments for Hulu looks different from the tab for setting up automatic payments for your credit card. Nevertheless, it’s all fairly straightforward on most sites. Look for the terms “payment” or “autopay” (such as “manage autopay”). You can search in a site’s “help” function if you have trouble locating the section.

Choose Your Terms for Autopay on Credit Cards

After updating all of your accounts that you can autopay with a rewards credit card, it is time to make sure to put all of your other bills payment on autopilot as well. This starts with your credit cards. Since you are going to have all of your other bills paid by autopay on your rewards card, you want to set it up so that you also pay that off each month using your checking account.

Go into the payment section of your credit card online portal. Follow the steps to set up autopay. You can typically choose from the following three options:

Pay the monthly minimum.
Pay the entire balance.
Choose another amount.

If you definitely have enough money in your checking account to pay the balance each month, then this is the top choice. Alternatively, you can sometimes set a cap. For example, “pay the entire balance unless it exceeds $500.” Often, you can set up alerts so you’ll receive a message when the payment is about to be made. Therefore, you can check your account to make sure you have the funds.

If money is tight, you can always set autopay to the monthly minimum. At least this will guarantee that you don’t accrue late payment charges. Of course, you’ll have to use some of your brain space to go in and pay what you can when you can. Nevertheless, automating the minimum payment will make it so that it doesn’t have to constantly be on your mind.

Automate Your Savings

In addition to paying your bills each month, you should also pay yourself. It’s easier to set aside savings if you automate this as well. I have set my checking account up to automatically send $250 over to my savings account every two weeks. In the past, I’ve also linked my checking account with a high-interest online-only savings account and did automatic monthly payments to that savings account.

First, make sure to automate all of your monthly bills.
Second, it’s time to automate your credit card payments.
Then, automate your savings.

Of course, you can also use additional tools to track your bills, savings goals, and investments. For example, you might use Mint to track your money and also Trim Financial to lower your bills. This is a great tool for people who have put bills payment on autopilot. It will alert you if anything doesn’t look right with your money. It will save the information for you for the times when you want to go back and check on all of your finances. And it will work quietly in the background of your financial life during the times when you are more interested in giving your attention to something other than your money.

It takes a few minutes to set up autopay on each of your accounts. If one of your cards expires, or if you change your checking account for any reason, then you’ll have to go back in and update those settings. Overall, however, it’s a minimal time investment that saves you a lot of time and mental energy in the long run.

10 Best Personal Finance Apps

July 12, 2017 By Mary Newton 1 Comment

Modern lives center around cell phones, so it only makes sense that our financial lives should as well. But how can you decide which financial apps are best for you? Here is a list of the ten best personal finance apps available.

Best Free Personal Finance Apps

Stash Invest

Stash offers a simplified approach to investing. You can start with an investment as low as $5, as well as receive personalized guidance for your investments. Stash also offers financial and investment education for users looking to learn more about investing. Stash is free on both iTunes and Google Play.

Mint

Mint offers a one-stop-shop for all your personal finance needs. It helps you track and pay bills, budget, track investments, and even check your credit score. Mint is free on both iTunes and Google Play.

Robinhood

Robinhood’s platform offers free stock trading for users. Their fast execution and real-time market data allows users to keep track of stocks and trade at opportune moments. Robinhood is free on both iTunes and Google Play.

Paribus

Paribus is a finance app that helps you “find” money. Essentially Paribus scans your inbox that you use for online shopping. Once the service has scanned all your receipts it checks price match guarantees, other deals and even if the item went on sale shortly after. Then Paribus contacts the company about you getting your money back. You don’t lift a finger. Paribus is free on iTunes with a Google Play app in the works.

Personal Capital

If you are an investor you may want to turn your attention towards Personal Capital. Personal Capital can give you a snapshot of your investments, savings and even help you plan for retirement. Personal Capital is free on iTunes and Google Play.

Best Paid Personal Finance Apps

Not all personal finance apps come for free though. Some apps are a bit more involved and, therefore, cost a little more than others. In some cases, though, it may be worth it.

BillMinder

BillMinder organizes your bills with reminders so you are always paying bills on time. You can also track where your money goes with comprehensive charts and graphs. The app even offers syncing capabilities across households. BillMinder is $1.99 on iTunes and $2.99 on Google Play.

Pennies

Pennies is an everyday money tracker that provides you with daily budgets. It helps you keep track of your spending health, as well as offering syncing across all devices and compatibility with any major currency symbols. Pennies is only available on iTunes for $3.99.

HomeBudget with Sync

HomeBudget tracks expenses, income, bills due, and account balances. The app offers budgeting support and analyzes your expenses and income. All of its features are integrated, and the app has a Family Sync option, which allows a group of devices within the household to exchange information and work within a single budget. HomeBudget with Sync is $4.99 on iTunes and $5.99 on Google Play, and also offers a free version with limited features on Google Play.

Money Pro

Money pro offers bill planning and account tracking, and can be used at home and even at businesses. Among its many features are account reconciliation, split transactions, detailed reports, and multiple profiles. Money Pro is $4.99 on iTunes and free on Google Play.

Income OK

Income OK is a basic app that allows you to input your income and expenses. It also has a partner app, Expenses OK, which just offers expense tracking. Income OK also offers a widget feature for easier access to information and input capabilities. Income OK is only available on iTunes for $0.99.

With so many apps out there, it is difficult to know which ones are best for you. Try downloading some of the best personal finance apps out there, and you are sure to find the right fit for your financial needs.

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A Life Without Debt: They Can

May 12, 2009 By Sadie Morris 6 Comments

I know someone who was recently visited by the repo man. He lost his job several months ago and hasn’t been able to find work that pays anything close to what he needs to pay his bills. He’s in pretty serious debt, having bought two cars, a house, and a lot of “stuff” that he really couldn’t afford when he was employed. Now that he is behind on his payments, everything from cars to furniture to stereo equipment is falling victim to the repo man. It won’t be long before the house goes, too, if something doesn’t change soon. It’s sad to see, but as I watched the repo guy haul away this person’s car, I couldn’t help but think of the title of that old song, “They can’t take that away from me.”

One of the biggest benefits of being debt free is that, when I look around my house, I see things that I own. I own all of my furniture and electronics. I own all of my books, clothes, appliances, and tools. I own my cars outright. I even own my home since the mortgage was paid off a few years ago. Nothing is financed, therefore no one has a claim to anything here. If disaster strikes tomorrow and I lose my job and have to plow through all of my savings, I don’t have to worry about someone coming to take my things away. As long as I can make enough to pay the property taxes on my cars and home, I can keep everything I have. It’s a good feeling.

The other benefit to owning everything outright is that my stuff is mine to do with as I choose. If I need to sell my car or house to generate some cash, I can do that without fear of being “upside down” or “underwater” on a loan balance that is higher than the worth of the item. When I choose car and home insurance, I don’t have to abide by what the bank wants me to carry to cover its losses, I can opt for much higher deductibles that I am willing to cover and save money on my insurance premiums. I can take my car to Mexico or Canada without a second thought, something a lot of loan companies will not allow you to do for fear of damage to their collateral. If I want to sell something like furniture, I don’t have to worry about continuing to pay the credit card company for it even after it’s gone. I can sell it and pocket the profits without worrying about using the money to pay down a debt. Everything I own is an asset that can be sold at any time in order to raise funds, should I need them.

It’s liberating to look around your home and see nothing that can be taken away from you. It’s a big weight off your shoulders, particularly in tough times or when you’re worried about losing a job. I never look around and think, “What if I can’t make the payments and they take it away? How will I live?”

Owning your things outright gives you tremendous freedom to do as you please. If you need to move in a hurry, you only have to worry about getting a fair price for your house, not getting enough to cover an outrageous loan balance. Same with cars or any other thing you own. If you want to buy something new, you can sell the old things without checking with a bank first or worrying about continuing to pay for both the new and the old items. You just sell the old thing, take the money you get from it, and go buy the new thing. You also have the freedom to give things away, if you so choose. A paid for car or furniture can be donated to a charitable organization and taken as a tax deduction. When you own things outright, you have the freedom to decide how they are used, sold or donated and no one can take them away or tell you what to do with them. I hear the old song in my head, now. “Oh, no, they can’t take that away from me.”

The Best Time to Pay Bills

July 25, 2008 By Shannon Christman 18 Comments

We still pay most of our bills manually, by which I mean we don’t have automatic payments set up. While I recognize the advantages of automatic bill pay (no postage, time saved in writing out checks, etc.), I actually enjoy the task of paying bills the old-fashioned way. I like writing out checks and recording the bills by hand; it helps me better monitor our family’s spending.

I generally pay bills the day I receive them. Due dates seem to be getting closer and closer to the date of receipt, and I don’t want to risk having to pay a late fee because the post office was slow in delivering my checks. By paying bills as soon as I get them, I break one of the personal finance rules my parents taught me – wait as long as possible to pay bills so that you can collect the interest on the money.

Is it better to wait or pay bills immediately? The question is moot if you don’t have the money available, but when you have it, the risk of late fees has to be weighed against the potential loss of income. For payment on loans, of course, it’s usually best to pay right away because your debtors will be collecting less interest on your money, but what about when the cost is the same no matter when you pay?

This week, the question of when to pay came up when I got a property tax bill for $2,700, which was not due for two months. If I had that money in a savings account earning 0.25%, I would earn just over $1.00 in interest. While I have been known to take advantage of opportunities to save $1.00, I wouldn’t risk forgetting the bill and losing the early-payment discount rate for that amount. My money market account, however, pays somewhat better – over two months, I could earn about $10, an amount I consider worth waiting to pay a bill for.

Even more significantly, by paying the bill early, I would lose out on the opportunity to make even more on that $2,700 through investments. Last week, my husband made $100 on a similar amount of money through a short-term stock market trade. Our $2,700 could earn a lot in the stock market in two months, but we could also wind up with a loss if we have to sell a stock that’s down when the bill comes due.

We have already used this tax money to our advantage by getting it out of escrow several years ago. When we received a notice that our tax authority had no record of receiving a check from our escrow account, we called the mortgage company and discovered that our responsible payment record and level of equity had earned us the right to close the escrow account and pay our own taxes – not only is that money now ours to invest until the tax bill comes each year, but our mortgage is also $200 lower each month!

I probably should have held the tax bill for a while before paying it, but I didn’t. Yes, I lost some money, but I gained some psychological advantages – a sense that I had one less thing on my to-do list, and one less payment to consider when figuring out what money we will need available in the upcoming months. I paid the bill within a week of receiving it – but I dropped it off at the tax collector’s office, which I passed on my way to the doctor’s office, so that I could save $0.84 in stamps.

Image courtesy of Aunt Owwee

Don’t Monthly Payment Yourself to Death

April 15, 2008 By Cortni Marrazzo 6 Comments

Most people are probably painfully aware that gas prices have been rapidly increasing over the last couple of years (and especially months), thus also increasing the costs of any items needing to be delivered from anywhere, the most common being groceries. Many people are feeling the crunch in their budgets as they find themselves having to pay more for the same amount of groceries and gas, yet not earning any more income.

So how can you lessen the blow of these rising costs on your own budget? I believe much of it has to do with how your budget is structured. For the most part, people can benefit greatly by not budgeting every last dollar they make. Now I’m not suggesting that you not have a plan for every last dollar you make — just that you don’t allocate every last penny to different bills that have to be paid each month.

When I first started budgeting as a single young adult, I totaled up what I made each month after taxes and used that to determine how much I could afford to spend on different items throughout the month. I have an extra $200 a month? Well I can subscribe to cable for $30 a month, buy more clothes with $20 a month, and buy a newer car with a payment that can be up to an extra $150 a month! It kind of felt like a game to me — figure out how to use every last penny I made in order to buy the things I thought I wanted. I even took on a second part-time job to make more money that I could spend each month.

When I budgeted this way, I felt every unexpected expense that came up (meaning I was definitely negatively impacted by it). Anytime extra money would come my way it would disappear as fast as it appeared and anytime there was an additional cost, I somehow didn’t have the money to pay for it. Handling my finances was a very stressful process because of this and I dreaded doing it. I seemed to always finish the budgeting process with the thought that I didn’t have enough money to pay for everything and it usually left me feeling depressed.

When I met my husband and we got engaged and started to merge our finances, I begged him to handle the budgeting because I found it to be too stressful. He did handle the budget for a couple months, but we quickly realized that I was simply better and more natural at it than he was, so I took over again and was right back where I started.

As we started our new marriage, we were focused on paying off our credit card debt and to do that, we took on the least amount of monthly expenses that we could. Because of that, we were able to pay a substantial amount off our debt each month. Money was still tight because most of our extra money was going to the credit cards, but at least they were getting paid off.

Fast forward one year and our credit cards were finally paid off. We suddenly had a bunch of extra money leftover at the end of each month. But somehow through the process of paying off those credit cards in a year, I learned a thing or two about budgeting and financial discipline and was not quick to find a place for all that money each month.

Since that time, we’ve kept our monthly expenses at a minimum and haven’t designated every dollar we make towards something that has a monthly bill. We have satellite tv, but we have just the basic channels. We have a home phone, but no extra features. We have no car payments because our 2 older cars run just fine. We set a limit for our grocery spending, even though we can afford to spend more. And the rest of our money goes into savings.

The beauty of our budget is that when certain costs rise, it doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to pay all our. Since our budget falls below what we make, we have wiggle room for the unexpected. Granted, I don’t like spending more money for the same amount of gas or groceries, but it happens and there’s not a whole lot I can do about it at this point.

With the rising prices and the economy where it is right now (with savings account rates dropping like crazy) I admit that I am putting a bit less money in savings than I have been. And while that doesn’t exactly make me the happiest, it’s ok because I wasn’t counting on that money for any particular thing and I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay my bills.

You might be thinking “Great plan — if you do make more money than you have budgeted out, but I’m not making enough to cover my necessities right now!” I understand that there are people who are genuinely struggling with a lower income and rising costs right now and I just encourage you to make this a goal — to under-budget your income. Understand where your income level is and live below that. If you have 12 million cable channels because you can afford it, maybe cut down on a few. If you only pay for the basic channels and are still having trouble, you can cancel cable altogether. There are certain things that are not a necessity and not worth the extra stress and worry that not having enough money brings.

The bottom line I would encourage everyone with is this: Don’t monthly payment yourself to death. Leave some room for the unexpected and the rising costs — or at least make it a goal to do this when your income goes up or when your debt is paid off. It’s amazing how much you won’t miss those extra little things when you have the peace of mind of knowing that you can pay all your bills each month.

Image courtesy of ::: Billie / PartsnPieces :::