It sometimes surprises me how people don’t take advantage of technology to save money. I realize some people aren’t great with computers or shun the online world for a lot of reasons, but when it comes to saving me cash, I’m all in. Take simply paying your bills online, whether through a free bill pay program from your bank or through the company’s website. Let’s do some math shall we:
If you mail 100 bills a year via good ol’ snail mail:
- 100 stamps would cost $49
- 50 security envelopes would cost $2 {assuming at least half of your bills come with their own return envelope}
So right off the bat you are saving over $50, not to mention the cost of checks and any possible late fees if the payments are lost in the mail. Then there’s security to think about. I know some of you are cautious and uneasy about putting your info online, but statistics show personal information is much more vulnerable to theft if it’s on paper and physically moving through the postal system.
Another perk? You can use your credit card to pay many of those bill online and rack up points or miles! So there are all sorts of reasons to pay those bills online. For me, there’s no going back!
Do you pay your bills online or do you prefer the Pony Express method?
~Mavis
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Barbara Jones says
We just had our banking accounts viewed from someone in Australia. Our bank contacted us – all our accounts had to be changed. Nothing has happened yet. Security software run and checking our credit reports. We just have to be more vigilant.
Mavis says
That’s so scary. Technology is awesome, until it turns on you. Glad your bank caught it!
Melissa says
Online! I love technology!
Kim says
My local credit union offers free online bill pay. For payments than the system can make electronically, it does for and for those that a check needs to be generated and mailed to, they even pay the postage. I’ve been using the system for a few years and it’s a huge timesaver over handwriting checks. At first it was hard to believe that the service was free, the postage was free, and the credit union that I’ve been banking with for many years doesn’t charge account fees — love it!
Lisa L says
I do everything online but I actually prefer automatic bill pay. All my bills (except for one) come out automatically on the same date each month. No cost to me and less time because I do not have to log in to numerous companies to pay my bills.
Jeanette says
Online and automatic bill pay.
Dena says
I prefer to be old fashioned & pay my bills by checks in the mail. First off, I write a check & I have a duplicate for records as well as inquiries (I’ve had to use). Second, I mail only at the post office, through the box into the building, for theft determent (note I said determent, not absolute, positive safety – but nearly so.) Third, as you buy locally fresh fruit & produce, to support local farmers, I still send things by mail, to support locals in my community by keeping them in jobs. Sure it costs to mail, but I buy forever stamps which support breast cancer, & have a po box for securely receiving mail. My little po usually has one post official, & has a beautiful, secure program for receiving Fed Ex, UPS (street address of the po- without leaving a package unattended on my front porch), as well as USPS. Best of all, these individuals working at the po, give me excellent advice for sending packages, if it’s better to get a return, signed post card for something important, or just a different form of making sure something arrives somewhere; they know it all. Even though the USPS is a federal job, it’s my friends & neighbors that I support through my sending things the old fashioned way; it’s part of my community.
Marsha M says
Don’t forget the cost of checks! Those can be expensive and I have it narrowed down to 2 bills a month that I have to use a check for. Everything else either comes out automatically or I pay online. Never have had any problems but I check my online banking regularly and tie it to my budget.
Lisa says
Many bills can also be paid by phone with an automated bill pay. Credit cards often incur a fee but linking directly to a bank account does not.
Jen Y says
We still have a few bills that charge a fee if you pay it online – so we pay everything online that does not charge a fee & mail in the rest.