Auto pay ain’t for me

[Magdump]

Man I watched this and cringed at the thought of something like this happening to me. I’m likely the only person I know that still pays all bills by mail and check.


https://youtu.be/W_rh3LHiUHs


It goes deeper for me. I like to maintain control of my finances as much as today’s world will allow. I’m sure very few people ever worry about anything ever going wrong until it does. If something like this doesn’t prove how easy the tap could be turned off I guess they’ve already got us. If nothing else it’s another good reason to keep a substantial amount of cash where you can get to it. I remember the first time I had to call my bank to ask permission to spend more with my debit card than my $2500 daily limit. I was pretty frustrated and it didn’t get any better when they told me it was their policy and there was no getting around it without calling and confirming. But everybody loves the electronic age and all the pretend money, so....

 

[Kraut]

Yeah, I don't do any autopay at all. Back in the day, when my bank automatically issued me a debit card instead of a standard, PIN required ATM card, I went in and specifically demanded the old style because I didn't want to chance someone having access to spend funds straight from my account if I happened to lose it or have it stolen. That card rode my wallet until it was breaking apart. They won't even do any non-debit options anymore, looked at me like I had a third foot growing out of my forehead when I asked.

 

[iomg8]

I have autopay, cause I used to work remotely, and sometimes internet was barely there. I only had one issue, and it was actually my banks fault, They double charged everything on my debit, they fixed it that day. Won't use debit card for purchases any more.

What I end up doing is, I have enough money, plus a few extra hundred in my checking, the rest stays in saving, in another bank. This protects you both ways. One if someone does 10 autopays, well who cares, i might be negative, but now the bank has to fix it. I can still open another account and pay my other bills elsewhere. And the other thing is, not all my money is gone. Maybe a good bit of it, but it isn't all of it.

 

[farmerjim]

Almost everything is credit card, but no autopay. I write about 6 checks a year.

 

[WhereIsIt?]

Wtf is a check?

 

[JBP55]

No auto pay here, All Bills are paid by check monthly.

 

[Bmash]

I autopay the smaller items, but not my credit card payments. House payment was draft when I had a mortgage. Never had an issue. I am having so many issues with usps I can’t imagine mailing payments! I use very few checks and when I do pay directly I use credit card or electronic payment through my banks online system. And I agree that you need to keep funds available in a separate account - and your safe.

 

[JBP55]

You should keep enough cash on hand to buy a 6 pack of Glocks.

 

[peak98]

You should keep enough cash on hand to buy a 6 pack of Glocks.

^^^This is sound advice that I learned after Katrina, keep a couple thousand in small bills handy, preferably split between two different secure locations.
peak98

 

[Bigchillin83]

At normal price or post covid-19 prices... that does make a big diff lol...

You should keep enough cash on hand to buy a 6 pack of Glocks.

 

[Oilman]

I never use autopay, never, never. You know how sometimes there may be an error in a bill and it might be several hundred dollars more that it should. I don't want any autopay stealing that from me. And with all the hackings of the records of so many companies with customer's information going on these days then if your credit or debit card info or your routing and acct numbers stored on their system then you stand a chance of fraudulent charges on your acct. I had someone in Saudi Arabia drain $3,700 from one of my checking accts one time. It was easy to convince the bank I have never been to Saudi Arabia so they reversed the charges. No, no, never use autopay. Since that happened I never opt to save my payment info on any website I order things from. I do pay monthly bills by phone app sometimes but I do not store the information. I always use the option where you have to enter the info every time. I travel often for work and since I am paid as an independent contractor and not as an employee I have to pay the hotel up front myself and get reimbursed by the company I work for. I have had cards get cancelled by the credit card company while I was traveling because someone made fraudulent charges on my card. How do you pay a hotel and the end of the week when that happens? So I always have two cards on me and a couple of grand in cash in an envelope in my sock whenever I am away from home for work.

 

[T-Rigger]

Agree! Thanks for the link. No auto pay for me! Learned my lesson several years ago - fell for the "new easy way" and signed on to save a few bucks a month. When I terminated the service, they kept debiting my account. It took 2 months to get it stopped and another month to get the money back.

 

[Stew15948]

Wtf is a check?

^this!...except for the tithe.

 

[XD-GEM]

No autopay, and no debit card either. Credit cards have WAY more legal protection against fraudulent or unauthorized use.
i had my bank remove the debit function from my ATM card. It took going very high in the company to get it done, but they finally did it.

 

[AustinBR]

Oh boy you guys...

 

[Mannelite]

I used to not use autopay for anything as well, I did it for years (I'm only 28) but finally I was paying so many individual bills that every now and then I would forget to pay one and would get hit with a penalty or something.... so now I have most things on a credit card doing auto pay, not a debit card. So at least I have one step of protection there, they've been really good as well the few times I disputed charges they didn't doubt me for a second and took the disputed charges off immediately.

 

[bjeepin2]

i have some auto pay to my credit card but nothing out of my bank account.