Should You Put Bills on Autopay?

My husband and I have combined finances, and I’m the budgeter/bill-payer in the family. Recently, we sat down for our budget meeting, and he asked why I don’t put bills on autopay. He said if something happened to me and he had to manage the finances, he would use autopay to avoid missing payments. I respect that and know many people love autopay and use it extensively. However, there are several reasons why I don’t use it frequently.

Don’t Like the Business Storing My Credit Card Number

I don’t like to store my credit card number with numerous companies. The more I save my credit card number for autopay, the greater chance my number and information could be exposed if there was a data breach.

Want to Review My Monthly Bills to Catch Problems

I like to review my bills each month before I pay them. If there is a billing error or a higher-than-normal bill, I want to know about that before making the payment.

In addition, if you live paycheck-to-paycheck and there is a billing error that results in a larger bill, you could have your account overdrawn and have to pay penalties and fees for that. I’ve heard of people who are on autopay that have this problem.

Have a System Set Up So I Don’t Miss Payments

Some people who love autopay say that if they get their bills electronically, the bill gets lost in their email. I understand that as my email is also bombarded with spam that clogs up my account and makes finding important documents, like bills, difficult.

However, I use You Need a Budget for my monthly budget. Near the end of the month, I scan the bill columns, and if I notice I haven’t paid one account, I will either go to the company’s website or check my email for the bill. Using this system, I have not missed any bills even though I don’t use autopay frequently.

Risk Late Payments If Your Card Is Compromised

I have a few bills on autopay—our monthly farm CSA, Internet, and cell phones. Recently, our credit card was compromised, so the company canceled the old one and sent me a new credit card. Unfortunately, I had not yet gotten the new card when our autopay for Internet tried to run. As a result, the card was declined (because the credit card company had canceled it). In turn, I was fined $20 for a payment that didn’t go through.  Of course, if I hadn’t had that account on autopay, this wouldn’t have been an issue.

Final Thoughts

Set your finances up in a way that works for you. For many people, that means taking advantage of autopay. However, I prefer to avoid putting bills on autopay and handle paying my bills manually.

Do you have your bills on autopay, or do you prefer to pay them as you get them throughout the month?

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