Autopay is a godsend for those of us who forget to pay bills on time. 🙏💸 No one likes a surprise electricity shut off during your favorite show. Even if it's just reruns of Seinfeld. It's the Summer of George, after all. 🌞
However, there are some bills you might want to take off autopilot and get a little more hands-on. 🧾
Here’s Five Fast Facts on what not to put on autopay:
- 💡 Kill the Lights - Utility bills may seem like a harmless thing to put on autopay, but there's a catch. When you pay for your utilities automatically, you might miss out on tracking your usage, which spikes from time to time. Paying your electric bill manually helps you take a look at where you overspend. It also helps you switch providers more easily if you're unhappy with cost or service.
- 📺 Unsubscribe - Have you checked in on your subscriptions lately? Streaming services and apps love to get you enrolled in automatic payments ASAP and get your money. Make sure you know what you're getting into when you sign up so you don't get roped into something that's a pain to cancel. Also, get in the habit of reviewing your subscriptions every month and ditch anything you're not using.
- 🥷 Credit Card Crooks - Putting credit card payments on autopay helps you boost your credit score and avoid late fees, but be careful. If you're making automatic payments, you might not be monitoring your accounts as often as you should. You could miss out on fraudulent charges, and crooks these days often charge small amounts to fly under the radar.
- 💳 Debt Danger - Automatic credit card payments could also be a slippery slope to a mountain of debt. If you're only paying the minimum payment each month or a set amount that's lower than your overall balance, you'll rack up interest real quick. If you can, get in the habit of paying off the entire thing.
- ✅ Spend Smarter - If you're one of many Americans living paycheck to paycheck these days, the last thing you want to deal with is an overdrawn bank account. If you have too many things on autopay, you could wind up spending more than you have…and then some. Make sure you always have enough in your account before paying bills so you can avoid those pesky overdraft fees.
🔥Bottom line: Look, we're not saying autopay is a total no-no. It works great for a lot of folks. All we're saying is use it wisely, spend safely, and protect your paycheck. You work too hard to spend your cash on late fees and that random subscription you never use. Wanna know how much money you need to live snug-as-a-bug-on-a-bearskin-rug in the USA? Check out this article!
What do you currently have on autopay?
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