| |
Back
to Education Center Index Save
Time & Money: Put your Payments on Autopilot
by
Center for Personal Finance editors
Streamlining
your finances is a good idea anytime, but it’s especially important
when your budget is under pressure from high gas and food prices.
A few simple changes can make a significant difference, and one
change is to put your bills and other payments on autopilot, according
to the Credit Union National Association center for personal finance.
The most recent Consumer Bill Payment Survey, sponsored by CheckFree
Corp. and released January 2007, revealed that online payments made
up 39% of all bill payments among online households. By spending
some time enrolling and setting up payees, you'll reap the following
important benefits:
-
Simplify
bill payment. You won’t be scrambling to find envelopes,
stamps, and paper statements.
-
Save
time and money. If you pay 10 bills each month,
that’s more than $50 a year just for stamps, not to mention
the time it takes to write the checks and deposit them in a
secure mailbox. Stamp prices have also been on the rise.
-
Avoid
late fees. If you’re prone to paying late,
stay away from paper checks and snail mail (CNNMoney.com
June 10). This also helps avoid credit-score dings.
-
Schedule
bills to be paid ahead of time. When you get the
bill, you can designate when you want the bill to be paid and
then forget about it.
-
Automate
recurring bills. If some of your payments are for
the same amount each month, payable at the same time, schedule
them to be automatically paid. If you have to evacuate your
home for any reason, this feature helps ensure that your bills
continue to be paid even if you’re in temporary quarters elsewhere.
-
Maintain
flexibility. You can manage your payments from
any computer at any time.
-
Stay
safe. You’re more at risk paying bills with paper
checks than using online bill pay. Paper checks can be lost—or
stolen—during the mailing process, putting you at risk of identity
theft and other types of fraud.
-
Help the environment. Paperless bill
options will help save the world’s dwindling forests and overflowing
landfills.
Related
Links
Learn more
about Telesis online Bill Pay!
Sign up for Telesis e-Statements!
|
