Monthly Bills

All my utility companies (gas, electricity, phone, etc.) are offering to accept bill payments online. Right now I still use traditional paper checks. Is this a good idea to pay all these things online ?

I pay all mine online and have for several years. For me, it's just easier and cheaper; don't have to buy blank checks or stamps. For the water bill, I do allow the city to just draft my checking account with no action on my part. But they send the bill before the first of the month and don'e draft the account until after the 15th of the next month, the city hall is less than a mile from my house with plenty of free parking, so if there's a problem I have time to take care of it. For the telephone, internet service, electricity, and satellite TV reception, I still check the bill before authorizing the payment. I also allow the mortgage company, a life insurance company, and my auto insurance company to draft my checking account with no action on my part. I pay the credit card companies online, but only after I review and reconcile the bills. So far, I've written 3 checks this year.

I pay all of mine online. I also use the paperless option because I do not like having bills in the mail. I would much rather print them if I need to. If you do chose that option you need to make sure to make a budget and write due dates and amounts. That way you will not forget to check it.

I think it is a great thing to be able to pay online. I have to pay $30 for checks when I order them so it is saving me money for the checks and postage keeps going up so I save money their too. I also save time by not having to shred the duplicates and bills like insurance and car payment come directly out of the account so I don't have to worry about it.

I pay everything online as well. It saves me a lot of time, energy and money. I don't have to drive to the post office and buy stamps, or waste money on checks. I love paperless billing too, nothing to have sitting around taking up space.

I pay almost all of my bills online. It saves me time, money on the stamps and I don't have to play the float game. You know mailing the payment 7 days prior to the payment being due. You can pay it the day it's due or the day before.

I have also being paying my bills on line for many years now. The only bill I have in which they take the money out of my checking account is the mortgage. The others, I have set up from my bank's website. That way I have more control. Most of the companies I deal with send the bill via email. I love the fact that I don't have to write checks or go buy stamps.

Sure. I started paying most of my bills online last year. It's safe and convenient and I never forget to make a payment which I used to do all the time. LOL. I would recommend it.

I get all my bills online and I pay them online. I keep all the payment confirmation emails in a folder in my inbox so I can easily access them anytime. Less documents to keep in the house.

I would just offer that you need to make sure you are using a safe connection. I pay most of mine right through my bank account, not through their websites. I'm not sure if that matters but I find myself a bit more at ease.

I pay all of mine either by initiating it myself or doing automatic deductions. However, I still get the paper statements in the mail. I don't trust the companies to keep that information available to me. As for checks, I barely use them now.

I used to pay all my bills online. But after I kept getting viruses I started asking for paper statements. I will still pay my mortgage and go to my banks site because they are safe. At least they told me they were when I called. I pay by phone for the ones that don`t charge me for it. I don`t like to send in checks because you have to send it at least 5 days in advance and sometimes my husbands paychecks just don`t hit on the right day.

My wife looks after all of our finances and she has been banking online for years now. She is on her computer all day so it's very convenient and of course it doesn't cost anything.

Oh, I do this too and not only bills, I do absolutely everything online from grocery shopping to buying clothes and electrical goods. I very rarely have to go into town to shop as I can have everything delivered. It's great!

Yeah, you do want to make sure you are using a safe connection. If you see a website that says "Https" then the s stands for secure. Paypal for example should always have that s. I was told by paypal that if I ever see it with out the s that it could be a redirect and never to log in with out the s. Every time I pay a bill I look for the s.

Oh yes, security is absolutely essential. That's why I don't do anything myself. My wife is very computer savvy and she knows all the scams so she also knows how to avoid them. My sister was caught not long ago and had her credit card details stolen!