Paying bills

Discussion in Misc & Others started by Gelsemium • Dec 15, 2014.

  1. Gelsemium

    GelsemiumWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Threads:
    367
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    49
    I am still one of the rare (?) people that pays the bills in the ATM machine. One, I don't like that the money is taken out of my account when I don't know it, two, I use online banks, but for some reason I don't use it to pay my bills. How do you pay your bills?
     
  2. troutski

    troutskiWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2014
    Threads:
    139
    Messages:
    1,366
    Likes Received:
    115
    That doesn't make any sense at all. How would you pay a bill through an Automated Teller Machine? (ATM machine is a redundant term). If you use online banks, then you're wasting an easy bill-pay opportunity through them. If you don't know when money's coming out of your account, then you're not managing your money properly. Do you mean that you physically take out money in order to pay bills? Because that would make a lot more sense.
     
  3. LitoLawless

    LitoLawlessActive Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2014
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    218
    Likes Received:
    18
    Yea, this doesn't make the most sense. If you know how to use online banking then you know how to pay your bills online. The concepts are pretty similar. The only time that someone will take money from your account without your knowledge is if you utilize automated bill pay, which you don't have to. I pay my phone bill ever month online and it's not always the exact day that it's due. If a service you are using says that money will automatically be deducted then you stay away from them because that's not what you're interested in when paying your bills.
     
  4. Mockingbird

    MockingbirdActive Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2014
    Threads:
    24
    Messages:
    149
    Likes Received:
    19
    I pay my bills online. I don't like to set up auto pays because I had a bad experience one time with that, but over all almost all my bills I log into the company and pay it direct as a one time payment. Most company's do not charge a fee and it is faster then calling, which I used to do. The only company that seems to occasionally have a problem is Verizon, and even that has been okay now for quite awhile. I used to go in and set up the payment, get the confirmation and everything and then for some reason they would never process it. I could have to great months and then they would not do it. I never knew why, I just made it a habit to always make sure I saw it come out of the bank.
     
  5. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2014
    Threads:
    4
    Messages:
    2,799
    Likes Received:
    824
    Yea, I was also baffled as to how you pay bills via the ATM. I thought it might be a totally revolutionary method that's not yet reached these shores LOL Anyway, with modern technology what it is today I doubt many people still go in physically to service providers to pay their bills. I know I wouldn't do that now, we've been paying online for years via direct debit or online transfers. It's just so convenient and saves so much time! Money going out of my account doesn't concern me as I don't even count it as mine in the first place, anyway.
     
  6. teabwoi

    teabwoiActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2014
    Threads:
    5
    Messages:
    112
    Likes Received:
    2
    Well in the country that I am in you can pay your telephone bill from the ATM so I would not say that what he is saying does not sound right but I really think that if you already have online banking then I do not think that you have to go through all of the hassle of having to pay your bills at the ATM.
     
  7. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2014
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    1,793
    Likes Received:
    191
    I pay my bills manually. I don't like the idea of third parties disrupting the flow of my savings account. I'd like to be the one to control my money. Even if I know my bills are being taken care of, it still bothers me that someone else have the power to deduct money from my account. So I'd rather exert the effort to pay my bills manually, over the counter.
     
  8. missbee23

    missbee23Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2014
    Threads:
    16
    Messages:
    76
    Likes Received:
    3
    The only bill that I don't pay online is my rent. It is the only thing I write a check for. However, everything else I do is on a cash basis. So the only money that is in my bank is the money that I am using to pay bills. It makes things easier to reconcile when I only have 6 or 7 transactions to keep track of versus 50 or more for swiping my debit card every time I pay for something.
     
  9. valiantx

    valiantxActive Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2014
    Threads:
    12
    Messages:
    520
    Likes Received:
    27
    I used to pay my bills all in return letters my creditors sent to me, but now I mostly use "their" internet processes - I do not use third-parties ever. The reason I do this now is because sending a check or money order wastes a lot of time, money, and energy, which the internet sites can ease transactions for both parties. I for one am for more efficient means to do business, because my actions will help others live better too and create less waste. The only times I send bills in letter form is if the collector require me to do so or they company/agency does not have a internet billings process.
     
  10. Gelsemium

    GelsemiumWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Threads:
    367
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    49
    The reason why I pay on the machine is because I get the ticket proving I payed it, while if I pay with online baking I need to print it, and as I don't have a printer at home, it's and extra job and more paper for me to save. So I do it, I know it's strange, but it's my way.
     
  11. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2012
    Threads:
    52
    Messages:
    3,093
    Likes Received:
    240
    I pay bills online because it is fast and I can see the money amounts that come out of my bank account. But I don't schedule automatic payments because I have seen my checking account get overdrawn multiple times because an automatic payment came through that I wasn't ready for. I'll never sign up for automated payments again if I can help it, because it is really easy to forget that money for different bills is being automatically debited from your bank account on a certain day and you can easily get overdrawn.
     
  12. Gelsemium

    GelsemiumWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Threads:
    367
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    49
    I think that I need to start to do that as well, in fact there is not much point in me bringing the invoices to the street and paying them in the ATM machine, I guess I am just a person resistant to change lol, I need to organize and optimize my time better eventually.
     
  13. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2012
    Threads:
    110
    Messages:
    5,621
    Likes Received:
    378
    We pay the bills manually. I have no credit card or any subscription to a company, so technically, I have no bills of my own, since I still live with my parents.
     
  14. Allison2021

    Allison2021Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Threads:
    15
    Messages:
    194
    Likes Received:
    4
    I used to allow ATT and other utilities automatically delete the money I owed. Monthly they would take the money, and that way I was never late with a bill. However, back in 2008, for some reason I disputed a lot of those bills. I traveled that summer and hardly used any utilities. It was then that I stopped the automatic bill payment deductions. I began to go online with my bank, and point and click how much I wanted to pay. Now, that has been the way I pay my bills.
     
  15. TPhoenix

    TPhoenixActive Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2013
    Threads:
    37
    Messages:
    247
    Likes Received:
    3
    I have and will never allow pre-authorized payments for most of my bills. I trust myself to pay the money and however much than have it deducted from any of my accounts unless the bill is for a small amount of money, such as my Netflix bill. But anything can happen where I need the money I have and then companies could just go taking the last bit of money I have to spare myself for the month. I don't pay bills through the ATM though, I pay them through my prepaid credit card.
     
  16. Strykstar

    StrykstarActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2014
    Threads:
    140
    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    7
    I pay all my bills myself too, but I do it all online.
    I don't like to have them automatically paid so each month I'll go online and pay them one by one, it doesn't really take much time and I have a better sense of how much I'm spending.
     
  17. Gelsemium

    GelsemiumWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Threads:
    367
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    49
    That's what I do too Strykstar, it's not that much work and it allows us to control better the money that gets out of our account. Also, how many bills per month do we really pay, four or five at the most, so it's not that much of a trouble, it's more like a routine.