Comments on: Lazy Money Mistakes and the Importance of Automation

By: Eden

Eden — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:12:49 +0000

@Kelly – I use ING Electric Orange for mailing some paper checks, which is free through them, which is great. However, I still get stuck with this one student loan company that wants me to mail in a payment stub and a paper check. Haven’t found a way to automate that yet. On the other hand, with only one paper check to mail, you’d think I could do a better job with it.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:42:31 +0000

I have a few bills that require mailing checks-how old school!

I use my bank’s billpayer so I don’t have to write an actual check, and my bank is awesome since it tells me when the check will arrive.

If you need more ideas/advice on automation, try Ramit Sethi’s book and site: “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.”

By: Eden

Eden — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:21:46 +0000

@Annie G – that sounds like a solid method. I use OmniFocus to manage tasks and reminders, which works well, except it does require me to be on my computer of course. A printed schedule might be the perfect backup for me. I’ll have to give this a try. Thanks for sharing.

By: Annie G

Annie G — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:15:44 +0000

I have most of my bills on autopay (many straight to credit cards that earn perks). Since we have never had a credit card problem (always paid in full), this method works fine for us.

Still, we have a wonderful printout of a one-page spreadsheet that we use for paying bills and tracking payments. It’s simple. Just split any bills you have into “due on 1st” and “due on 15th”. Of course, if a bill is actually due on the 1st, it has to be paid on the 15th if it needs to be mailed. Twice a month we pull this out, pay any bills that are done the old-fashioned way and check that the others have posted (either to the credit card or checking acct). We even have the less frequent bills there with the months grayed out when they aren’t due.

It’s about a 15 year old system and still works great! The only time we were late paying a bill was in the middle of a move, and that was our own fault for being so preoccupied that we didn’t notice that the 15th had passed.

By: Eden

Eden — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:31:49 +0000

@MoneyFunk I completely understand your fears. I was in the same situation before I built up a buffer in my checking account. I agree that you should avoid automation until you can safely plan to have payments go out without leaving you short on cash for other bills.

By: Carnival of Personal Finance: The House of Rose Edition

Carnival of Personal Finance: The House of Rose Edition — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:20:16 +0000

[...] from Finance and Fat presents Lazy Money Mistakes and the Importance of Automation, and says, “Thanks for taking the time to consider my [...]

By: Money Funk

Money Funk — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:27:26 +0000

I am afraid to automate. Fear that I will not have enough in the bank to cover the w/d. Having to keep track of what is coming out of the account and when.

I would love to automate my bills. If you have an easy way to complete that transition, please let me know.

By: BillyOceansEleven

BillyOceansEleven — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:10:43 +0000

I have automated payments for all of my bills of consequence that allow it, with the exception of AT&T and Dish Network. I find the billing for both companies screwy and I’ve had to call them enough times for adjustments I don’t trust them to automatically draft my account.

This is wonderful for credit cards. I have all of my cards on an AutoPay for the full balance each month so I don’t get caught by my own forgetfulness or if they change the due date on me. I still get the paper statements in the mail and review them, and you can still dispute an item on the bill even if you’ve already paid in full.

The only card I don’t have on AutoPay is my Bank of America card because when I checked into it they wouldn’t allow an automatic payment except from a BofA checking account.