Online Bill pay vs. Snail Mail

[swanson719]

We pay all of our bills with checks in the mail. We have done the online bill pay route, with a monthly auto withdrawal set up. Problem was that Ford double dipped my car note, caused me to over-draft, didn't put the money back under the premise that they just wouldn't bill me the next month, then the next month billed me again. Basically forced an extra payment out of me which I didn't have budgeted. That was about 2 years ago. Ever since, we've been paying postage. With stamps nearing 50 cents each, it's getting expensive to go buy a book every couple months. So I was wondering if there is an easier solution that I don't have to worry about our accounts being double tapped with auto withdrawal, but am not paying postage either. We've tried calling customer service for accounts and doing pay by phone, but the "Convenience Fee" of doing that is usually higher than the price of postage.

Is there a way to pay bills via paypal or something like that, where I don't have to worry about overdrafting?

[Confetti]

I use mycheckfree.com for a lot of my bills. My electric company sent a notice that in order to pay online, you had to go through them. Once I got there, I searched and found other bills like insurance and cellphone that I was able to pay there. I really like it. They tell me my bills, I tell them how much to pay and when to pay it. It's a real time and money saver.

[asmom]

Why don't you do online bill pay without the auto-pay option? Just sit down every month like you do now and instead of writing a check, send it online.

[elessar78]

Yeah, I agree with asmom, you don't have to give them auto access to your account.

[Confetti]

That's what checkfree does. You have to manually go there each month and tell them what to do and send the payment.

[kork13]

Why don't you do online bill pay without the auto-pay option? Just sit down every month like you do now and instead of writing a check, send it online.

That's what I do. I've got written down when each of my bills are due, and as each one comes up, I take the 5 minutes to go online and pay each one individually. This allows me total control over when and how much money I'm sending off, and it's impossible for me to be surprised when the withdrawal hits my checking account. I love using the online bill-pay, and have never had an issue with it.

[red92s]

I find it oddly satisfying to sit down, break out the checkbook, write out checks, and stamp envelopes. I guess since pretty much everything in my life can be handled online, I derive some weird pleasure from doing things the "ole' fashioned" way. Credit cards and such where a snafu in the mail could cause major problems I do online, but for my $11 natural gas bill and my $23 power bill I'll do it "manually". I can and certainly have paid them online before, but luckily I have the free time to unplug and write out checks every now and then.

[MonkeyMama]

Agreed with others - I don't give anyone automatic access to my accounts. But I pay all my bills online ("manually," every month).

[buildmybudget]

Pay them manually

Either the billowy manual approach or paying them online one by one should solve your problem. No one has access to your account, you can easily pay your bills, and you know they are making it on time safely and securely.

[sandrark]

I use mycheckfree.com too, and have never had an issue in 2+ years. Highly recommended as a FREE, online "push" tool.

(My bank charges for online bill pay, and my mortgage company wants $9.95 to accept online bill pay - so I still send that one via USPO).

Sandi

[feh]

I pay as many monthly bills as possible w/ our credit card. The only time I have to send a check is when the company (State Farm, for example) doesn't accept a CC for payment.

Our gas/electricity, DSL, phone, etc. are all automatically charged to our CC.

[creditcardfree]

My bank, USAA, allows me to go in and pay a bill online. That's what I would do, to avoid the stamps and the errors that come with giving out your bank information.

[elessar78]

I use mycheckfree.com for one of my bills. Does the company you're paying have to be a participating merchant? Or can you pay anyone through mycheckfree?

[asmom]

I pay as many monthly bills as possible w/ our credit card. The only time I have to send a check is when the company (State Farm, for example) doesn't accept a CC for payment.

Our gas/electricity, DSL, phone, etc. are all automatically charged to our CC.

I agree 100% with this. I pay almost all of my bills by CC then pay CC with online bill pay. The only exception is the water bill; government agencies by law must pass on the credit card processing fee to the consumer and I refuse to pay somebody to take my money so I pay them online through the bank.

I am surprised that State Farm doesn't take CC for you. I always pay State Farm by credit card (online of course).

[Confetti]

I use mycheckfree.com for one of my bills. Does the company you're paying have to be a participating merchant? Or can you pay anyone through mycheckfree?

Yes, and you can search their list of companies at the site.