How Do You Pay Your Bills?

[Green Panda]

 I was surprised wen chatting with some friends and family, as some don't use bill pay. A family member has the most of her bills automatically deduct from her checking, but she has instances where the bill took the wrong amount.

We use ING's Bill Pay and schedule payments near one of the deposits (beginning and middle of month).

[Flexo]

I use auto bill payment options where I can.

Electric: Automatically charged to checking account
Cable: Automatically charged to credit card
Netflix: Automatically charged to credit card
Insurance: Automatically charged to checking account
WNYC membership: Automatically charged to credit card
Rent: Manual check written monthly

Credit cards are automatically paid in full each month (charged to checking account)

[SuburbanDollar]

Everything I can I pay via autopayment, the few bill I have which must be mailed I send via BillPay at my bank.

[SimplyForties]

I pay all the bills I can online but still have a few I have to do the old fashioned way (snail mail) and 2 local ones (water & gas) that I actually have to drop in the pay drop at their offices.  Pretty small town!

[Flexo]

What kind of services do you use if you pay bills manually online?

Your bank's bill payment system? The vendor's website? A third party website that processes the transactions for you?

[SimplyForties]

I use the vendor's website to pay online manually.  Most of them have one but a few don't.

[Green Panda]

Do you guys prefer bill pa or auto debit? I like bill pay for the majority of our bills. My mom has been burned by companies who took a different amount than agreed.

[SimplyForties]

The only bill I have on a auto-pay sort of thing is my electric bill.  Haven't had any trouble with it until recently.  It's due on the 4th or 5th.  Last month, though, they took out about 1/2 of the total due on the 22nd of the previous month and then the balance of the bill on the 4th or 5th as scheduled.  Weird.  Good thing I had that money in there or it would have been a major disaster.  I only found out about when I was reconciling my bank statement.

[Penelope Pince]

I try to automate and pay online whenever I can, but like Simply Forties, I live in a pretty small town and water and gas have to be walk-in, mail-in or by phone. I always try to pay bills with a credit card (Amazon rewards) to earn points or cash back.

• Credit Card: Manually online each month
• Cable (internet): Auto charge credit card
• Cell phone: Auto charge credit card
• Electric: Manually via electronic withdrawal at the SCE website
• Mortgage: Manually via electronic withdrawal at the IndyMac and CitiMortgage websites
• Insurance (auto & home): Automatic debit
• Gas: Phone w/ credit card
• Water: Phone w/ credit card
• Taxes (income, property, sales tax): Mail in check b/c convenience fees to pay by credit card are exorbitant!