Autopay is the sure-fire way to pay any bill on time to minimize the risk of late fees or forgetting the due date. If you don’t want to forget payments and face the penalty of late fees, you can set your bank account to pay your bills automatically.
However, setting up an automatic payment deal doesn’t work for every expense. It can only be ideal for your car or mortgage expenses because these payments don’t fluctuate every month. You should keep track of what you’re paying for.
A study revealed that an average American spends about $237 per month on autopay subscriptions, and a number of them underestimate what they think they owe.
Therefore, before you decide to place all your expenses on autopay, there are certain bills you should keep a closer eye on. You shouldn’t include these bills in your autopay.
Utility Bill
It’s safer not to set utility bills on autopay. Your gas, water, and electricity do fluctuate every month. You can sign in to your account every month, which grants you access to review statements before making payments. As a result, any unusual price accumulation will easily be noticed.
For example, you could notice an unprecedented increase when it comes to your water bill, and that could be associated with a leaky spout or running toilet. This will enable you to repair the loopholes so they won’t constitute your bill. Monitoring your bills will also help you cut some habits that are likely to retain more energy than usual.
18 thoughts on “You Should Never Put These 9 Bills On Autopay! ( Here’s Why)”
Some of your mentioned that you shouldn’t put on autopay is automatically deducted every month whether you want it or not. Amazon and Ancestry are automatically deducted as is Newspapers.com and local newspaper. Had to choice. I did put electric and cell phone on automatic BUT still get the paper copy of the bill each month. You have to request they keep sending you the bill even though on autopay. That way I can keep watching the charges.
I do the same.
Totally agree with Abby. It’s not very difficult to change a autopsy if it’s not working.
I am 100 per cent against paying anything with auto pay; reason ; if you get hurt or die auto pay goes on till someone finds out and stops it ; you go for a quick swim in the everglades and get eaten by a gator ; go for a hike on mt Everest ; and you get eaten by a bear; or fall in a hole or fall off the mountain ; nobody knows your missing for weeks; months; or years AUTO PAY goes on ; and if your on SSI or retired with a pension; it could go on for E V E R !!!!!!!!!
If your dead, why would you care?? If you have a spouse, or other person close to you, they will probably resolve these issues. But again, if you are dead, you don’t care.
You got a point there, Bart. I have a folder, 5 pages long that shows all my accounts and what charges are hitting my checking account, so if I do get eaten by an alligator my kids will have an idea what’s transpiring.
Abby I respect what you’re saying. But from what I gather from responses given you can stop the auto pay anytime. Some of us move so fast with family, jobs, and school so sometimes we do forget. How I learned how to w/bills with auto pay is every month I decide if I’m pleased w/service and want to keep. And I don’t use my credit/debit card. I put just enough money to take care of it. Why, because my check maybe short for a bill.
Be leery about auto pay renewals. The company doesn’t inform you that the bill is due. They take the money out and this can account for overdraft fees.
Hi Elizabeth.
Said my note didn’t go through. If you receive two, sorry!
Do you know what this is? It is all over every platform. Most of the people I know say it’s a scam. I never open it. I will kick myself if it isn’t a scam but I figure you know everything in the world of finance. Thanks. Pat
Coming: $3,708 Home Stimulus
All homeowners are due a large stimulus this month (but only if they
claim it)
Saving Report
Open
The IRS has ur information. And any past stimulus that u already received, you didn’t have to claim it. They just automatically sent to ur bank account or mailed you a check. I would think it was a scam but if your convinced it’s real then contact the IRS and inquire with them. They would be your BEST source to ask.
Utilities and mortgages you have to pay every month but nearly anything you buy on line or subscribe to you do not. Things like Classmates.com for example. I would also add to never use your debit card to pay for any subscriptions, memberships, or well, anything on line as they can decide on their own to debit your account for something. Banks constantly deal with unsolicited charges made on debit cards. Use a credit card instead, where you can dispute a charge and it doesn’t ruin your bank balance, cause overdraft fees, and well, havoc!
My cellphone bill is on autopay, which I needed to get the T*Mobile 55+ plan. 2 lines, unlimited everything, $60 a month including all taxes and fees as long as I keep their system or this plan. And I have it on Autopay with a credit card that gives me 5% back on cellphone bills PLUS loss and damage coverage (with a small deductible) on my cellphones. My Internet is also on the same credit card / autopay which gets me the 5% back on that expense also.
😊I am interested to find out what this all about.
I have always kept a written record of all my bills, even before I had a computer. I agree with your list, but most of those bills are not in my budget. I don’t need them. My electric bill is on average billing, but I check it for spikes in usage and choose to pay it manually. I pay my credit cards manually because I usually pay more than the minimum.
Criminals are getting good. They stole my debit card info when I used mine at a local pharmacy. It took months to get my $90 back. So I stopped using my debit card. I have a credit card which texts me every time it is used so I can catch the criminal in real time. I pay it off every month. It also shows me how much I spend by category. This peace of mind is priceless and free.
Anything I put on AutoPay gets put in my Google calendar, so I always know when it’s coming up, especially those annual charges, which could be easy to forget. I also do this for payments to a limited time discounted trial of a service (like a streaming service). This is especially convenient when it comes to tracking a trial as I may think the discounted monthly price is worth paying, but definitely not their usual full monthly price. I usually cancel a month ahead, just to be safe. For the ones that allow me to, I also get a monthly paper bill so I can monitor what I’m being charged for and how much.
Ooookkkkk, you do have a valid point however, I wish I didn’t have to pay rent with auto pay but it’s the only way my husband said, if I live longer than my husband I don’t no what I will do and others say sometimes that’s the only way you can partake of a certain thing.
I use auto-pay for bills that are set, same amount every month. But I have a couple that I refuse to put on auto-pay because their systems have double billed me. I keep on top of my bills and when they are due as my husband is on SSDI and I am on SS. With these 2 checks coming in on set days, I know what gets paid and when.
You cut out a lot of bills here. Most companies send you the bill in advance of the autopay so you have time to correct the bill if it is wrong. Autopay simplifies my life and as I have all the money coming out of one account I can track it easily. One thing I do not like to pay on autopay is my mortgage. That is a big sum and I like to control it when I pay it depending on my money flow.