Which method do you use to pay monthly bills?

[forktender]

Old school paper checks?

Pay online through your bank?

Credit card to accumulate points for travel and airfare? I want to explore the route for future travel and airfare.

Other? Explain please!!!

My next question is which card offers the best rewards?

Thank you.
Dan.

 

[jcam222]

I do online automatic payment on all my bills via my bank (PNC)

 

[mr_whipple]

I do all via my bank online, Navy Federal.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I use both checks and a credit card. Some online bill paying charges a fee to use a credit card. My county and the county where I own a tract of land both charge a fee to pay property taxes with a credit card so I mail them a check.

I have a Capitol One credit card and get 1.5% cash back on all purchases which I always apply back to the card. With this card, I can create virtual cards which are linked to my actual card and I use them for online purchases. I use them and then lock them so I don't have to worry about anyone getting the number.

I also have a Citibank card that my wife uses, I never use it, but I pay the bill, and I get reward dollars that can be used. The rewards are reimbursed after proof of purchase.

I'm not comfortable giving anyone access to my bank account...

 

[chef k-dude]

Credit cards for the points wherever possible. Direct bill pay through the bank for others. Once in a while we still have to pay by check, but even small time entertainers these days have the cube to swipe cards in the back alleys for their merch.

My cardiologist is a pain to pay, they need to upgrade their stuff. Kind of frightening that they work on your heart, surgery if needed and yet cant process a credit card. They charge enough to cover the fees!

We're not rich enough to travel for leisure. We have stuff around the house and property that needs replaced/repaired, thats where extra money goes. Where we live, there is nothing to "escape" from. People would air B&B our place to "get away from it all". But, pay attention to your cards, most of them have different rewards each quarter. If you are on top of it you can get up to 5% on some purchases but you have to enroll for each quarter and know which cards to use at which vendor. We got a Sam's club master card (in addition to several others). That gives 3% on all Sam's purchases. If you are Sam's Plus, add another 2 points for 5% on anything Sam's and the three percent works at other gas stations and restaurants year-round.

 

[normanaj]

BJs credit card for everything mostly for the fraud protection vs using a debit card or check. The points are nothing more than a welcome bonus when I hit up BJs.

 

[Charlene G]

on-line banking. I just sit back and watch the city tax dept, utility companies and the insurance companies CLAW the money out of my account. LOL Everyday there is a new offer for a new card with mega points....that get you virtually nothing. You need to accumulate 3 billion points to get a $10 credit.

 

[clifish]

Credit cards for the points wherever possible, otherwise online through the bank. Need to find a new everyday CC, we average about $4500 - $6K/mo in charges. My current one we used for the last 20 years added a $95 annual fee and we get nothing additional for it.

 

[Hijack73]

Mortgage, credit cards, and vehicle payment ACH out of a checking account
utilities, internet, phone - credit cards

day to day living expenses, really all purchases - credit cards. Cash back cards. All of mine are 1.5% cash on everything, except one little low limit $500 card that I hand to my daughter when she needs to buy something for the house.

 

[JckDanls 07]

My Wife ...

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I try to set all mine to automatically pay. Except my CC that I pay at the bank each month.
I did mail a check for my truck payment each month for 5 years. After bank that I have accounts gave me hassel and extra charges to set up automatically.

 

[forktender]

As of now, we are paying 90% of our bills by check, and a few direct withdraw from bank.
Once I find a C.C that has a decent awards program, I plan on going that route.
If I find anything good, I will post up about it.

Thanks guy's, this is all new to me, I'm very old school, so it feels a little weird, but I want to simplify monthly bill paying to make things easier for us.

Dan.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I have a couple credit cards that I use for the cash back. That is very limited to a few things that I can get cash back from. Otherwise, I do the online ACH payment. I haven’t had any issues with that.

Well, accept for the one company that didn’t withdrawal the 34 cents, and then tried to charge me interest for the full balance. I threatened to take them to court because I authorized the full payment. They decided to not charge me the interest. They still haven’t withdrawn the 34 cents.

 

[Fueling Around]

I don't pay my monthly bills by CC. The fee they charge is larger than the cash back or rewards from a CC.
The bulk are on-line via Automated Clearing House (ACH) for Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) which is the long winded way of saying E-Checks.
I still pay the VISA card by phone via ACH. I used to pay Discover the same way, but they really messed up last year and didn't notify me of a problem. After 2 very long phone calls, I got them to admit they had an internal problem and to retract fees and retract the notices to credit agencies. I since switched to on-line payments.
The only bills I pay with paper check is our water bill and property taxes in MN because they aren't setup for ACH.
I only have a single automatic payment and that is our cell phone bill to get the lowest rate AND they take a CC without an added fee.

Our primary credit card is a Disney (Chase) VISA. We use the Disney rewards as we are annual pass holders
I would dump the Discover, but it is my wife's legacy (first CC). Discover is mostly used for Amazon. The cash back goes back to Amazon.

 

[MileHighSmokerGirl]

I login to said account and pay with debit card.
Only the mortgage is an ACH transfer.

 

[MileHighSmokerGirl]

Credit card to accumulate points for travel and airfare? I want to explore the route for future travel and airfare.

My next question is which card offers the best rewards?

Thank you.
Dan.

Dan,

I implore you to give this a read before you consider this route.

The Truth About Credit Card Rewards

Credit card rewards may seem like a no-brainer, but who’s really paying for those perks?

www.ramseysolutions.com

Also

Do I Need a Credit Card?

Do you actually need a credit card? Discover the top reasons people use credit cards—and if you really need one or not.

www.ramseysolutions.com

How to Survive and Thrive Without Credit Cards

Living without credit cards is not only possible—it’s better! Find out how to ditch the plastic for good.

www.ramseysolutions.com

Dave Says: A Corporate Con Game

Dave Ramsey talks to a woman about companies that expect employees to take out a credit card for business travel.

www.ramseysolutions.com

FYI: I haven't had a credit card since Feb 2020. Paid it off, closed it out, received email confirmation, printed a hard copy for my records, saved a copy on my hard drives, cut the card up, then shredded it.

 

[forktender]

Dan,

I implore you to give this a read before you consider this route.

The Truth About Credit Card Rewards

Credit card rewards may seem like a no-brainer, but who’s really paying for those perks?

www.ramseysolutions.com

Also

Do I Need a Credit Card?

Do you actually need a credit card? Discover the top reasons people use credit cards—and if you really need one or not.

www.ramseysolutions.com

How to Survive and Thrive Without Credit Cards

Living without credit cards is not only possible—it’s better! Find out how to ditch the plastic for good.

www.ramseysolutions.com

Dave Says: A Corporate Con Game

Dave Ramsey talks to a woman about companies that expect employees to take out a credit card for business travel.

www.ramseysolutions.com

FYI: I haven't had a credit card since Feb 2020. Paid it off, closed it out, received email confirmation, printed a hard copy for my records, saved a copy on my hard drives, cut the card up, then shredded it.

Damn!!!
I read the first two articles, I'll read the rest in the morning.
Thank you very much, we might not go the C.C. route after all, even though we do pay them off each month normally.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

My Wife ...

Beat me to it!

We decided shortly after we were married in '08 that one of us would pay the bills so there was no confusion or double paying. She volunteered and was pretty insistent so that's the way it went.

Mostly everything is plain old checks and mail but sometimes they are not delivered on time so I will hop in and pay with a CC over my phone. It does not happen often but just enough to keep my online accounts active. Usually it is Spectrum internet or SCE electric that fails to mail on time.

She has for the last couple of years ordered all of our medications from Kaiser online. We get them in the mail so no more trips to the pharmacy. 100% success on that so far. We have a very secure gang mailbox now for our group of homes after some junkies busted into the less secure one a couple years ago. Luckily I was the first to report it so we have mailbox #1 of 25.

 

[Mike Duty]

I use the hat method. I put all my bills in the hat and pull them out until I'm broke. If anyone complains I take their name out of the hat

 

[sandyut]

I run everything through my Wells Fargo Active Cash card. Gets 2% back. A couple bills charge for credit cards, those I set to auto pay from checking.

Side bar, We also have the executive Costco membership that gets another 2% back. And try to buy as much there as possible for savings. the 2% covers the membership cost. Then use the Wells card there so its actually 4% back at Costco.